Capítulo 11: CHAPTER 11
The news of Ephraim's disappearance to the faraway northern part of the country spread around Umunze like a wildfire. Ugomma listened with great trepidation as her mother narrated all she knew to Nwanyi Sunday, whom she knew was indirectly being sent to town with the dissemination. Ugomma was mortified with fear.
Ephraim was gone? What would then be her fate? She must act fast. She must do something drastic before it becomes late. She must terminate the pregnancy. It would be better to live with the shame and secret than expose her family to the ridicule of Umunze and the Church, she argued with herself. She had witnessed, firsthand, the jeers and snide attacks Nwamaka and her family had been subjected to. Certainly, she must not allow such a fate to befall her and her family. The thought of Nwamaka filled her with remorse and pity; Nwamaka had indeed suffered. She decided to go and see her at once.
Nwamaka sat unmoving, uttering no word as Ugomma disclosed her plan to abort the pregnancy to her. After pondering for what seemed an eternity, she heaved a deep sigh and muttered, "I will do it."
Ugomma looked sharply at her. "Do what" she queried, scrutinizing her friend's face.
"I will get an abortion, too; I will follow you, Ugoo. Where is the place, and when can we go?"
Ugomma was shocked and tried to dissuade her. "What would you tell your parents? She argued. "People already know about your pregnancy; can you imagine what will happen when they find out about this?"
"They won't find out. I will claim I had a miscarriage," she said flatly before adding, in a sorrowful tone, "God, please forgive me."
Ugomma tried as much as she could to dissuade her friend, but Nwamaka remained resolute with her decision. She took her leave, promising to get back to Nwamaka once she had got the arrangement in place. She herself was in the dark on how to go about it. Abortion was an almost unheard-of abomination in Umunze. Oh well, except for that recent rumor that a girl from Ndiokoro attempted it. She could remember vividly the consternation that incident caused in the land. She must make discreet enquires; that girl will be a good place to start.
Nwamaka was stuck back with her thoughts as her friend departed. Was she making the right decision? But what was she supposed to do? Wait and give birth in her father's house?
"Abomination," she spat out.
Leave the pregnancy alone and hope to be married off to any man that came along to 'Rescue her'? She felt like throwing up at the thought. Aborting the pregnancy was for the best, she reasoned. She could pull it off as miscarriage; she kept telling herself. The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy, the disappearance of Ephraim in particular, had caused her tremendous stress. She had heard that too much stress might induce miscarriage. If she was lucky, these might add up in her favor and persuade the people into believing she miscarried.
She looked up and whispered, "I am very sorry, Lord, please forgive me".
Ugomma returned a few days later to inform her she had concluded arrangements with one Mr. Polycarp, a patent medicine seller in a neighboring Isiokpo village. A diminutive middle-aged man in his early fifties, Mr. Polycarp, had returned to the village about two years earlier after several years of sojourning in the city, to establish a dispensary store in the village. Mr. Polycarp went into the treatment of any ailment brought to him, as long as there was money to be made from selling his most often nameless drugs to the patient. He was also reputed to be an expert in treating sexually transmitted diseases, especially gonorrhea, but had later dabbled into the more complex area of abortion. It was to him that Ugomma was referred to in the course of her discreet inquiries.
They arrived early on the appointed day as instructed by Mr. Polycarp. After giving them some pills and a concoction to ingest, he instructed them to return home and feign sickness and make sure they lay down in one place. He informed them they might experience heavy flows but sternly warned that on no condition must they reveal what happened to anybody. To effect compliance, he threatened that if they breached his command, he would not avail them of the necessary drugs needed for the cleansing and safety of their wombs after the abortion. If he did not give them these drugs, the chance of future conception for them would hang in the balance, he warned. The girls gave him their words and hurried home before their parents returned from the market.
That night, Nwamaka experienced great agony. The piercing pain in her stomach was unbearable, but she stoically bore the agony and managed a few bites of her dinner. Her mother was most helpful, offering every manner of assistance she could fathom for her ailing daughter. She put her discomfort down to the early pangs of pregnancy and tucked her to bed early after administering some pain relievers to her.
Nwamaka twisted and turned in pain. She was very hot; inside of her felt like a raging inferno. After some time, she went numb; the pain seemed to have suddenly disappeared. She closed her eyes in an eerie calm and slept.
* * *
The following day, Mrs. Eunice left early for morning Mass, taking care not to rouse her daughter from sleep. She was glad she finally managed to catch some sleep. She was indeed filled with worry, and her eagle eyes were permanently trained on her daughter while she twisted and writhed in pain. Only after she calmed down and slept did she manage to get some sleep herself.
"Let her sleep more," she reasoned and tiptoed out of the house.
The church service was barely winding to a close when Victor flew into the building like one pursued by the devil.
"Mama… Mama …" he was wildly shouting and panting. "Mama, Ugomma is dying…, Ugomma is dying….."
The hysteria threw the congregation into pandemonium. Madam Theresa dashed out without asking questions, racing home as fast as her legs could permit, in great panic and complete disregard for the finesse of a female race. Most of the women followed suit, unable to ask for details from Victor, who had already made a detour and was now racing back home ahead of everyone else. They arrived to behold Ugomma lying on the floor; obviously, she had fallen from the bed covered in the pool of her blood. Writhing in pain like a wounded snake, she foamed a mixture of bloated saliva and blood from her mouth. Wailing erupted from the women while Madam Theresa was berserk. Cradling her blood-soaked daughter, she implored both the heavens and the earth to tell her what had happened. Finally, with great difficulty, her throat gaggling with blood, Ugomma spoke. Instantly, all fell silent as they strained to pick her words.
"Sorry, Mother," she murmured with great difficulty amidst spurting blood.
"I…., I….., I was also pre… pre…gnant for Ephraim. He deceived us, Mother. Nwa…., Nwamaka….., we…we… decided to remove it". Her eyes rolled white as she spoke. She was in great pain and breathed heavily.
Madam Eunice, who had joined the crowd to Madam Theresa's house, heard Ugomma's words. She did not waste time for clarification and was already embarked on the second part of the race, as fast as she could afford, to her house. She rushed into the room and threw herself on her knees beside her apparently yet sleeping daughter.
"Nwamaka, why?" she cried as she shook her gently to rouse her from sleep. Nwamaka remained still. She shook her again, this time more vigorously, yet no movement. It was then she noticed she was kneeling on caked blood that had drawn irregular patterns around the mat Nwamaka had preferred to sleep on the previous night. Nwamaka was long gone.
Mrs. Eunice let out a piercing scream that sent neighbors rushing out in panic into her house. They met her rushing out wildly from the house like one possessed by evil spirits while repeatedly shouting 'Ugomma'. She rushed back to Madam Theresa's house, where sympathizers had mobilized, and rushed Ugomma to the clinic, where she finally gave up the ghost, not until she had divulged all that happened with great difficulty.
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