#StoryTuesday: Shalewa (The End)

Today, we publish the last episode of our story titled SHALEWA. If you missed the previous episode please goto > #StoryTuesday: Shalewa (Episode Ten). Enjoy episode eleven below:
Inspired by a True Life Story

Hearing the news that Shalewa was pregnant really broke her father’s heart but the effect was more on her mum. Just when she thought things were beginning to look great between the both of them, she was already getting her hopes up and she was willing to allow Shalewa visit her dad. So when she heard that Shalewa was pregnant she lost her mind, she didn’t know if she should blame Shalewa or herself, all she could say that very moment was this “Shalewa why have you bring shame upon me?, how could you have done this?, how do you expect me to break this news to your father?, Shalewa you shouldn’t have done this.”  

BEFORE SHE BROKE THE NEWS TO HER MUM

After waiting two weeks to see if her period would come and it didn’t, she picked up her phone to call Bode to break the news to him though it wasn’t as if she had confirmed it but since she was naturally meant to have her period three days after that night and it being two weeks she hasn’t she could only assume the worst. So she called Bode and the conversation didn’t go well. After ending the call she called Kikelomo to come over and when she did she explained everything that happened that night to her. After that night they had only seen twice as Kikelomo was very busy running some errands for her mum and that didn’t give her much time to spend with Shalewa, though she noticed something was off about her and she also noticed she spoke less about Bode but she was flabbergasted when Shalewa finally revealed what transpired that night to her.

She had wanted to play the I told you so card with her but when she saw the expression on her face she decided to keep the lashing for later and help her figure out what next to do. Of course the next thing to do was to confirm if she was pregnant after which then they decide how best to tell Shalewa's mum, for the next three days she took a home pregnancy test and they all read the same result, positive. On the third day after she took the test, she called Kikelomo again to confirm to her the result of the test and what will be their plan on how to tell her mum. 

Kikelomo couldn’t make over to her place that day because of the errand she had to run but before the week ran out she was there and together they finally figured out what they thought will be best for her to say.

Shalewa mum didn’t buy their story, not that she didn’t believe it could happen but she just felt something wasn’t right about the whole story, so she pleaded and pressed Shalewa real hard until she and Kikelomo cracked and they told her the truth. 

“Mum I swear I told him to stop, I tried to push him off but he didn’t listen, I am very sorry mum” she said as heavy tears rolled down her eyes. Her mum was mute for over two minutes trying to process her thought and the exact thing she was going to tell her dad, telling him Shalewa was pregnant wasn’t the problem but how she got pregnant. This is a girl that never had any serious relationship while she was with him in the States but after spending months with her, she not only have a boyfriend but she is pregnant. 

To say she was devastated would be an understatement, she knew exactly the kind of shame and disappointment the issue would bring on her. “Do you know his house I need to speak with his parent” these were the words that came out of her mouth when she finally spoke. The tears that ran down Shalewa’s eyes were more than the one she had before because it was at this point she also realised she has no idea where he was living. Most time when they met, it was in Dave’s house and Dave isn’t in the country right now and even if he was she didn’t want to take the issue to Dave because of the whole media attention that it might get so she didn’t even mention the fact the Bode was in anyway related to Dave.

The way she trembled when her mum said “both of you get out of my sight” it was like a force had pushed her, she nearly fell to the ground she had never seen or heard her mother that angry. She knew she had broken her heart and that was when the thought of how her dad will react ran through her mind. 

After her mum thought it through, she decided she was going to tell Shalewa's dad what really happened, she had first thought telling him their daughter was raped was going to be good but after a lot of consideration she knew that would only make matters worst. At this point she knew anything she was planning to make Shalewa come back for visitation is now out of the window though she wasn’t sure if that was the painful part or the fact that Gbemi will never see her as capable of taking care of their daughter, she was indeed traumatize with the whole situation but she had to deal with it one way or another.  

The reaction she got when she told Gbemi that Shalewa was pregnant was everything she expected, the insult, the name calling, as a matter of fact it was more than she expected but she was able to hold it together, she felt she had no choice. 

“I should never have trusted you with her, you didn’t want her then, why did I think you would care about her now?” these were some of the response she got from Gbemi before he finally said “I will tell my mother to come pick her up tomorrow and I myself will be in Nigeria next week.” 

Immediately she had these words uncontrollable tears began to roll down her eyes, Gbemi coming down to Nigeria wasn’t an issue though they haven’t seen each other for over 19 years now but what drove her to tears what “I will tell my mother to come pick her up”. Gbemi's mother had never been a fan of her, so she knows Shalewa going over to her grandma means she won’t ever see her again and that was what broke her heart the most. She didn’t know the phone had dropped from her hand it was the buzz of the phone when Gbemi called back that drew her attention to the fact that she had dropped the phone.  

Just like Gbemi had said his mother went over to pick up Shalewa and just as expected she didn’t go without raining insult on Shalewa’s mum and this made Shalewa felt feel bad. She knew all this was because of her and there was nothing she could than to say “mum I am sorry, please forgive me”. 

Her mum on the other hand was crying as she watched Shalewa being taken away from her, she didn’t believe this could happen, not when she had started to get use to her and when the idea of her coming over on holidays was in her mind. Once again she felt she had failed as a mother, she wasn’t ready to be a mother then neither is she ready to be a mother now, that was her thought. 

Shalewa’s dad wasn’t able to make it to Nigeria till after a month that he was told she was pregnant but he kept in touch with his mother constantly to know how Shalewa was doing. Shalewa’s mum came visiting Shalewa at her grandmother's place but she met with insults and wasn’t even allowed into the house, Gbemi had made it clear she mustn’t be allowed to see Shalewa for no reason and Gbemi’s mum was more than happy to obey that instruction given the fact that she wasn’t a fan of Shalewa's mum in the first place. It was hard on Shalewa’s mum because not that she could not only see her daughter, she also couldn’t speak with her, based on the order from her dad, her phone was seized from her the moment she stepped into her grandma house.

Kikelomo had somehow found a way to get Bode's address but it was rather too late, when her dad got to Nigeria his first line of action was to arrest Bode but that didn’t go as plan when they got to the address that Kikelomo got, it was discovered that those that resided in that address had relocated some few days agp. 

So there it was, Shalewa was pregnant and the person responsible was nowhere to be found, aside from asking her what happened, her dad never spoke to her since he got to Nigeria. Life was unbearable to her, her dad was pissed at her, her mum had been banish from seeing her and Bode who she thought was the love of her life was nowhere to be found. 

During the two weeks her dad spent in Nigeria, he didn’t goto see Shalewa’s mum and everyday he would continue to tell Shalewa how disappointed he and how he should have never let her come stay with her mum. 

One day Shalewa sat alone in her room as always and she began to think about how messed up her life is, how she allowed one simple mistake ruin everything for her, her dad who had shown her noting but love all her life now despise her to the point that he didn’t want her back in the States,

 “Shalewa you would remain here with your grandmother……..” this was part of the decision her dad made. Her mum that she had started to build a good relationship with has now been cut off from her life completely and school wasn’t even an option again at least not for the next two years and if she would go “you would have to fund yourself, I am cutting you off” so said her dad. 

She was all alone, no one to talk to, the only time she was spoken to was when they lashed out at her, though her grandma tried talking to her dad not to be too harsh on her but he couldn’t help it. Her grandma was lenient but when she speaks with her, she would also say everything that is happening is her mum's fault, constantly she would insult her mum at every chance she got and that really hurt Shalewa the more.

Right there that very night when she couldn’t take it anymore, she decided life wasn’t worth living anymore, “I am a disappointment in my dad, I have broken my mum's heart and I have destroyed my future, I see no reason why I should still be alive”. Those were are last thought before she hung herself to death.



Thank you. We will begin a new story next week.