We were both at the university when we fell in love. She was my course mate and later became a study mate. During our final days in school, we became inseparable. That was when I proposed to her and she said yes.
A few months later, we graduated and left the school.
Finding work became very difficult for her. Luckily for me, I was maintained at the institution I did my National Service. As usual, I was there for her, providing support whenever I can.
I got a hint of a job opening from a friend. They were looking for qualifications Suzy (My girlfriend) had so I asked my friend to help her get the job. After series of interviews and aptitude tests, one afternoon, a call came through that she had been offered the job.
You can imagine our joy. She was given a very good offer—a better salary than even mine. That made us even happier.
After her first day at work, she told me; “I think I like the place. Everyone was friendly to me and were ready to help me out. The only issue I would have to deal with is the accent of those Chinese. I could barely understand what they say.” “It’s only a matter of time,” I said, “You would get used to their accent and even learn to speak Chinese yourself.”
We both laughed it off.
Three months into her employment, we had a conversation concerning our future. She said, “Now that we are both working, what stops us from making marriage plans?” “Nothing,” I answered. We only have to put things together and plan on when and how to make it happened.”
And then the worse thing happened…
I had a call one dawn. It was a call from Suzy. “At this time? What could make her call me at this ungodly hour? When I picked up she said, “I’m pregnant.” I screamed, “What!” “Yeah, you heard me right. I’m pregnant. I have in my hand the test kit. The two bars turned red after the test. That means I’m pregnant right?”
“But…but…” I stuttered. “My period has delayed for a week now so decided to test it and my worse fears came true.” She said. For about three minutes, I stayed on the phone and had nothing else to say. I was thinking of what next to do. The only thing I came up with was “Let’s talk more about it when we meet later today. I’m confused now.”
I told my parent about it and she also did the same. We finally agreed that since we were not yet ready for marriage, I could present a drink and do the customary knocking. That way, we could wait after delivery so we go on with the marriage ceremony. I did just that.
Suzy didn’t have it easy during her pregnancy. A lot of sicknesses here and there and some other weird medical issues. During the last trimester of her pregnancy, she was kept at the hospital for the fear of doing something that would make her lose the child. I was scared for her and for the baby. I wanted them more than anything.
And then finally she delivered.
The news got to me early in the morning from the hospital that my wife had delivered a baby boy around 3am. I couldn’t hold myself together. I wanted to see them immediately so I rushed to the hospital.
Before getting into the ward I met a nurse. With a huge grin on my face, I said, “My wife delivered this dawn and I’m here to see her.” She asked, “Who is your wife?” I mentioned my wife’s name. The nurse gave me a dry quizzical look and asked, “You are sure that you are the father of that baby?.
I got confused. I didn’t know how to answer that. All I said was, “I’m here to see my wife who delivered this dawn.”
The nurse led the way. When we got to the ward, she pointed at my wife’s bed and said, “There she is and inside the cot beside her is your baby.”
I rushed to the bedside and took her hand inside mine and asked: “I hope you are ok?” She only nodded. There was something about her demeanor—she didn’t look happy to see me but I guessed she was too tired so I let her be and turned to the baby’s cot.
My first glance at the baby got my heart racing. I turned back to look at Suzy but she shunned my gaze. I looked at the baby again. This time I watched him very closely. I wanted to pick him up but my hands got wobbly. Something didn’t look right. Yes, my son didn’t look right.
He had brittle hair, very fair and seemed to have no eyelid—Chinese baby.
I kept staring at him as he slept peacefully. I turned back to look at Suzy again and this time I caught that nurse staring at me through the window. I didn’t want to make any scene so I went closer to Suzy’s bed, bade her goodbye and left. She couldn’t say a word back to me.
I cried on my way home—it was as though the world was crashing down on me. A lot of questions started flooding my thought. “How did it happen? Who among the Chinese in her office got her pregnant? Was I not good enough?”
In the afternoon, I had a call from my mom. She said only one sentence, “It might be hurting but take heart.” I started crying again and then hang up the phone. Later in the evening, Suzy’s father called to apologize and asked me not to leave her daughter at the hospital at the time that she needed me the most. I was so broken I couldn’t say a word.
I didn’t want to see her again but something in me wanted to know why and how it happened. She was discharged the next day so I went to see her. When we were left alone, I asked her, “What happened?” She couldn’t look at me in the face while she was talking. She said, “There’s nothing to say. You already know all there’s to know. What else could I say to make any difference?”
“You were dating any of the Chinese in your office?”
“I wasn’t dating anyone.”
“So what happened?”
She was silent for like two minutes, sobbing. Then she said, “It happened on
ly once. You might not believe me but that’s the truth. He’s a friend. I paid him a visit one afternoon and somehow it happened. We realized our mistake and resolved not to do it again and truly we never did but I guess the damaged had already been done.”
I later got to know the man’s name. He’s Xiu and was the department head of the department Suzy was working. The news got him rattled and left the country without saying a word. Not even a goodbye to Suzy.
Suzy couldn’t return to the company after her maternity leave. She was too embarrassed to return so she resigned.
Today, She’s a proud mother of a boy everyone calls “Kofi China.” We couldn’t have our future together but nothing hurts now.
