Part Two

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Daphne's POV

It took me thinking throughout last night and talking to Bella for two straight hours on Skype, to finally surmourn the courage to go to Timmi's house. Which was something I haven't done since the day she got pregnant.

Even when I never saw her in school again for NECO examinations, I tried calling but she never received any of my calls. She also never bothered to reply my messages. Despite all that, I never stepped a foot in her house. During our send-forth graduation ceremony, she obviously avoided me and every effort I made to talk to her. That was when I decided to call it quits, I wasn't going to have her treating me like filth when she used to be my very close friend.

The good thing was that Bella took my side. She told me that if your presence doesn't bring people peace, quietly exit yourself from their lives because everybody has a right to live a peaceful life. And having thought about it, I saw sense in what she said and stayed away from bugging Tims life any further. It was until recently when I read an article that featured on adverse effects of depression and today's teens, especially the part that hammered about exhausting yourself until you realize that you've reached your elastic limit, that I decided to give it another trial. At least one more time before I leave for school.

I was to live in one of the lodges located around school so as to meet up in time for my lectures. University of Lagos main campus at Akoka was nowhere close to the locality mom and I lived in. After dealing with transportation to-and-fro for two weeks, missing a lot of morning lectures and eventually coming home very late after lectures, dad decided it was better I stayed closer to school. Mom agreed since it wasn't like she needed me around for anything.

I used to love the idea of staying in a lodge when I was in the secondary school because I thought all my friends were attending the same university but sadly, life has changed for all of us. I hardly kept in touch with them these days, infact, I no longer kept contact with them. It was simply a 'hi and how are you doing?' text message between us once a while. I didn't bother to ask if Jade gained admission or whether Amara had started learning her fashion skills. If they saw it fit to tell then they'd share, if not, I wasn't bothered.

I decided to visit Timmi one more time before I let go. Once I travelled to stay in the lodge, it would be a whole different life for me. Everything has been arranged. Dad, mom and Mr Esan were all in the house, arguing on the best travelling arrangement. Mr Esan wasn't keen on letting me go with my real father because he was afraid that mom would want to come with us thereby leaving him no reason to join along. While dad, on the other hand, didn't want me to go with Mom and Mr Esan because he was afraid that I'd get too attached and find Mr Esan to be a better replacement as a father.

I didn't actually care who we rode with but I didn't also want to make any of both men feel bad. After I announced my decision to ride with my father and insisted mother go with Mr Esan, I felt that settled it a little. So, I told them that I was going to Tim's house to visit. Mom didn't approve of it at first but she hasn't got much to stop me from going anyway. Yes, she knew about what happened with Timmi and she was aware of how that affected me too but she realized it would serve as a good closure for me at least.

After I assessed my outfit and found it good enough, I strapped the small yellow handbag on my right shoulder and left the house for Timmi's house. Trekking to her house from mine was about a minute or even less because both houses were just a stone-throw from one other. Thankfully, it didn't take so much effort convincing Ibrahim to let me in. After I made it past the gate, I headed for the main door of the magnificent building. The house stood in majesty amongst other houses located in the estate even though it was a duplex.

I couldn't actually place where their wealth flowed in from. Her dad always dressed a simple man, mostly in jeans and shirt. Though, I've had suspicions that her mother could be the reason. From what I've gathered and heard, Timmi's mother was a minister in one big ministry like that. Tims never liked talking about what her parents did for a living but one could only draw so much conclusions after observing for a while.

It took exactly a minute and fifteen seconds for the door to open after I pressed doorbell. It was Ronke—one of Timmi's cousins who opened the door.

"How far?" she started.

"I'm fine. How about you?" I replied.

"Fine oo, just firing up for the almighty WASSCE," she related as she opened the door further apart to let me in.

"WAEC is not that hard as much as students are made to think, the fear alone to write the exam is what makes majority of students to fail the exam." I related to Ronke in all honesty as I felt.

"Shebi? I should believe you oo, you that took the exams," she said before pointing to the sofa by the left end of the living room—adjacent to the LED TV.

I sat down and looked around, trying to make sense of the things around me. Timmi's house has always given off the cold and lonely vibe because the family were rarely together but now, everything seemed even worse.

"Is Timmi around? I want to see her," I asked.

Ronke looked uncertain for a moment. She chewed on the insides of her cheek.

"So?" I quirked a brow in anticipation.

"Uh, Daph, not to seem bitchy or anything but Timmi is a very sensitive topic in this house these past few months," Ronke related.

"Why, is she not around?" I feared for a second that something untold must have happened when I wasn't too concerned about her anymore.

"Just that uhm... I don't know everything but ehh..." she drawled, hesitating to tell me the entire truth.

"If it's because she got pregnant in secondary school then there's no need for you to hide it from me, I'm well aware of that fact." I snapped.

"Okay, don't be so angry about it, these days I just don't know what to say and what not to say that has to do with Timmi. I need to be very careful of how I tread."

She scanned and surveyed the living room very carefully before positioning herself beside me.

"Tims no longer lives here, she now... Don't tell anyone that I told you oo!" she warned, her voice a dreaded whisper.

"No problem, just say it."

"They married her off,"

I gasped at the revelation.

She continued, "When her mother found out about the situation, she refused Timmi to have an abortion. She insisted to know the man responsible for it and well, I don't know the entire story about what happened but I know she was made to marry the man. She lives with him and his family now... I heard he used to teach in your former school?"

"He was a corp member, not an employee of the school. By the way, where is she now living with her husband?"

"I don't know, my mother doesn't want to say that part to me for fear of the information getting into the wrong hands."

"Since when has she been gone?"

"A month after her graduation, his people came and did the necessary traditional rites and she left with them, no big weddings no large gathering, nothing."

"That's sad," I lamented.

Even trying to imagine myself in her position was bad enough, I don't know what to do with myself if I eventually fall into that situation.

After hearing that devastating news from Ronke, I realized that my vibes were no longer the same. I was no longer enthusiastic to go to my new lodge. The entire day played before my eyes like a boring sermon that has been going on for too long. I didn't even enjoy the farewell moment between my parents and I.

Mom and dad made me promise to keep in touch and especially if I needed anything. They gave me final words of advice and stayed up in my room for a little while before they left.
For my first night, I had the room to myself. It didn't feel right even though I used to stay in one room alone in my house.

I spent the night relieving everything that I heard today. I couldn't believe that the same Timmi that had high hopes of attending one of the best universities in the country was the same girl who unfortunately wouldn't be going to one anytime soon. All because of what she brought upon herself.

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