ONE WRONG TURN
EPISODE 22
“When you left, he demanded for his money or another girl. But I guess your friend here has spent all the money. So they settled for Hannah instead, without her knowledge. Apparently Hannah refused to ‘accommodate’ two guys at the same time, so they resorted to coercion. They forced a substance into her mouth and nose. I’m not sure what it was, but from the description, it might be cocaine. Anyway Hannah passed out, she had no idea what happened. When she woke up, she was bleeding and acting abnormally. So they brought her here and disappeared. Well, your friend suffered from the effect of cocaine and the trauma she also passed through. She had a miscarriage too.” Her last sentence shocked me, I almost jumped out of my seat.
“How is that possible?” I asked, with tears falling freely from my eyes.
“Well she told us she was six weeks pregnant, and Sarah here has been giving her pills to terminate it. I guess she has succeeded now” I stood up from my seat with uncontrollable anger, and grabbed Sarah by her collar. I wanted to choke her badly.
“What have you done, you devil. If anything happens to Hannah, I will kill you myself ” I screamed at the top of my voice.
Sarah sat helplessly, making no effort to defend herself. The gravity of her actions must have sunk deep into her head. The nurse ran across to us, and freed Hannah from my grip.
“Calm down, Hannah is stable now, the worst has past” she said as she pulled me away from Sarah.
“Can I see her? “I asked calmly.
“Follow me” she ordered.
The three of us walked out of the office, as she lead us towards another room. She stood by the entrance, and directed us to go in and be brief. I opened the door and walked in, while Sarah held back. She was reluctant to see Hannah. Of course she had to be, it was difficult to predict what Hannah’s reaction will be.
I got closer to the bed and called out to Hannah gently. She turned her head towards me slowly. Her pillow was soaked with tears, her eyes were pale and swollen. She looked nothing like the girl who left school with me this morning. She was still sobbing quietly when she signaled me to come closer.
I walked up to her and bent down to listen.
“Tell Sarah that I‘ll kill her and myself when I leave this hospital ” she whispered into my ears in between sobs. I could feel the pain and anger in her voice, she never deserved this. I’d kill Sarah too if I had the courage.
“Please don’t bring my parents into this” she continued, as she burst in another round of tears. I held her hand, and we cried together for a while. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had left the room. Sarah and the nurse were still standing outside. I looked at her coldly, with hatred and anger clearly visible. I felt the urge to choke her again. The nurse placed her hand on my shoulder, and spoke in a gentle voice.
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“You have to help Hannah, we need to contact her family, this is a psychiatric hospital. We have done our part, we need to refer her to the teaching hospital, she needs an ultrasound which we can’t do here. So if you know any way of contacting her parents, please tell me.”
I thought about it for a while, if Hannah’s parents entered the fray, it will only be a matter of time before my parents would know too. All our dirty secretes will be exposed. I’d probably get the beating of my life. But all that didn’t matter, I had to do the right thing, even if it would be a disaster for me. Hannah needed help.
“I know her house” I blotted out.
“Fine, I will get my keys” she replied, and headed for her office.
“What are you doing? you are going to expose all of us” Sarah whispered. I had no idea how to reply her, I simply swung my hand around and struck her face. The slap startled her, but she made no attempt to retaliate. She simply held her cheek. My reply was clearly delivered I suppose. I knew our little hide and seek had come to an end, but what I was left to anticipate was my parent’s reaction when they find who I had become.
I was still deep in thoughts when the nurse returned, with a bunch of keys. She signaled me to follow her. Sarah simply refused to follow us. We climbed down a flight of stairs leading to the exit. Her car was packed in front.
“Where are we going?”she asked, as we both took our sits in the car.
“Ikeja” I replied. She started the engine and our journey started.
As it progressed, I placed my head on the dash board, thinking and sobbing. A lot of thoughts flashed through my head. Hannah was pregnant, she was sold by our friend, drugged and Molested. I imagined the horror she went through, and her eventual hospitalization. I wasn’t left out of the suffering either. I had lost my virginity and pride to a boy who had moved on very quickly. I was caught in a hotel room with a boy, like a common prostitute. I also wondered what would have happened to me if I didn’t have the courage to escape from the hotel. In all, my life had taken a negative turn, I hated who I had become. Is there any way back for me.? I wondered, as tears fell freely from my eyes.
I felt the car slowing down and pulling over. I knew we hadn’t gotten to Ikeja yet. I lifted my head from the dash board to see what was happening. It all seemed clear in front of me, there was no reason for us to stop. I turned towards her with my tear filled face, wondering why she stopped. Her attention was solely focused on me. She had a look of sadness and pity registered on her face. Her gaze provoked more tears, as I started sobbing loudly.
“Here, stop crying” she said, handing over a white handkerchief.
“I can tell that you are different from your friends “she continued.
" How did you get involved with them? ” she asked
“I don’t know, I thought we were friends “I replied in between sobs. I couldn’t control my tears anymore, I was already crying bitterly. The reasons for my tears were many, sadness and sorrow overwhelmed me. I just felt like dying.
I opened the door quickly and ran out of the car, I had no idea where I was or what I was doing. I came to a stop a short distance away from the car and fell on the shrubs. I felt I was going mad. The nurse walked up to me, and held me up. She hugged me, holding my head tightly to her shoulder.
“It’s okay, I know this must be difficult for you, just know I’m here for you.” she said, in the kindest voice I have ever heard.
I laid helplessly on her shoulder, crying profusely. My tears soaked her white uniform. We were beginning to get attention from passers-by. She held me by my waist and lead me back to the car, and held the door open for me to sit.
“Ruth, talk to me, what have you girls been up to”? She asked again. I felt a little bit more comfortable, there was nothing else to hide, the truth will soon be out and everyone will know. I revealed all the events of the past few weeks, including all the minor details. I told her about our regular escape from school, and how we usually pay the gate man. She did not seem shocked to hear any of it, not even the escapades with Matthew. She listened patiently and quietly to my story.
“But why Ruth? Why did you choose to follow this path, why ignore your parents discipline? “She asked, looking straight at my eyes.
“I just wanted to be loved, I wanted someone to understand me. He was just there for me, he……. ” I stopped to wipe the tear from my eyes and control my weeping. She held my head up, and turned it towards her.
“I’m sure your parents love you, just give them a chance, you can be a better person”
“They don’t, no one has ever spoken to me like this. ” I replied coldly.
She let go of me and turned towards the windscreen.
“No one is a perfect parent, my daughter was about your age when she gave birth. ” she said, as a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her. I wiped my tears when I heard those words. I simply decided not to cry anymore, knowing that it could have been worse. She looked at me again and said
” you can be a better person, don’t give up on yourself.” She started the engines, and our journey continued.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 23
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