Okay Boss, whatever you say,’ he teased. ‘Please tell me about your appointment with the doctor? With this traffic congestion, I think we can discuss anything, even national issues,’ Badou asked, throwing along a joke.
This is it, she thought in panic.
She didn’t expect that at all, and it came as a complete shock.
She was standing in front of her large mirror when the question hit, and she instantly took a step back and gingerly patched herself on the edge of the bed.
Should I tell him the truth? If I do, then I automatically stand a big chance of losing him forever.
But also honesty is the best policy. Maybe if I tell him he will take it in good faith and will stick to me if he truly loves me.
I think I should not tell him, because then I can have a chance to figure out a way to get cured, maybe through marabouts or other more professional doctors.
Her unarranged thoughts poured, her eyes flashing with fear, her body trembling from head to toe.
‘Hmmm, I thought you would forget to ask sah. Well I did my tests and later met the doctor,’ Sai began to narrate with a pretentious voice.
‘Uhu, and what did the results show?’ Badou was becoming impatient.
‘Well, nothing serious. He mentioned some minor problem, but I can’t remember the details. You know I am a novice in medicine,’ she said, keeping the conversation as basic as possible.
‘Hmm, thank God then. I hope he’s prescribed good medication for you?’ Badou asked with a sign of relief.
Badou got home that evening feeling very excited for having heard from Sai, his fiancée. ?His house, which is located in Busubi just around Gam Juice, has three bedrooms, a store and a kitchen. It’s a simple house though with just the basics. He moved from his father’s house in Bundung a couple of months ago after he had completed building his own house.
Badou is a humble man and never lives a life of competition or extravagance. He lives a simple life, and only competes with himself.
He took shower and quickly got to the kitchen to prepare something for himself as hunger was striving so hard.
Fast forward, Badou and Sai got married and it was a colorful ceremony and money was squandered like never before. Badou made sure that Sai was given everything she needed during the ceremony. It’s now three years into the marriage, and Badou’s patience is indeed running out. His thirst for a child was getting stronger and needed it to be quenched.
He was worried and beginning to have different unpleasant thoughts. The pressure from his parents too was mounting. Sometimes, he doubts himself and other times he doubts his spouse. With all these doubts, he never felt comfortable relating it to Sai, fearing the consequences of such accusations.
Whenever he spoke to his wife about it, Sai would use religion against him stating that it’s God who hasn’t given it yet and that whenever He wishes it, it will happen. Badou is the soft type of a husband and hardly loses his temper. He’s well collected, well composed and well mannered. To Sai, this is the type of a man she needs in order to get her plan to work out without issues.
At this point, Maimuna – Sainabou’s sister – was back home from Italy where she bagged her master’s degree in Ethics.
The Ethics program entails exploring multidisciplinary processes and the study of seeking answers to deep philosophical questions and concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and the like. Since her return, she has been working at the National Human Rights Commission where she is advancing Health and Social Justice, and pursing law, compliance, and policy in the public interest. Mai is smart and brilliant and making her mark in the annals of history.
It was on a Friday noon and Mai had just closed from work. She quickly made up her mind to go straight to Tabokoto to chit chat with her sister at the shop, considering that it was Friday and that she had closed early. She doesn’t have a car thus struggles like most Gambians, scrambling for vehicle here and there. Just like me, Mai is so impatient with drivers, so it’s continuous bickering from the point of boarding to the point of destination.
To us, most drivers are capable of eating people alive if presented the slightest opportunity. No pity for anyone, but that is beside the point.
‘Assalamualaikum, suma Darling Sister,’ Mai greeted, injecting a joke compliment.
‘Walailum salaam warahmatula,’ Sai responded with a poker face.
Mai got in to the shop straight away and perched in her favorite sofa, where she gets a clear view of the highway.
‘Sai, is there something I need to know? ‘ Mai prodded, ‘because I am pretty sure that this face is not your usual cool and happy face.’
‘Mai, God knows I am worried,’ Sai gave in instantly.
‘What is it about? Gaweh ma yow,’ Mai was getting curious and impatient.
‘Shortly before I got married to Badou,’ she began, after she positioned herself beside her lil sister, ‘I did a test and it was confirmed to me that I am not in a position to conceive. So fearing that Badou might abandon me forever, I hid this information from him.’ She continued brokenly, gaze downcast.
‘What,’ Mai freaked out; the expression on her face was one of amazement.
‘I thought that I could come out with a solution before he finds out, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.’ Sai tried to justify her action.
‘Wait… How could you live a lie for this long? Would you have died if he left you for saying the fact?,’ she pressed for the truth.
‘You are not just my sister, but my close friend and consistent confidant. However, this time you have crossed the line and has made a serious injustice to Badou,’ she growled out, her gaze turning irritated.
‘What I need now is a solution and not you going all berserk on me,’ She uttered, acting all frenzy.
‘Alright, if you know the person I am and what I represent, then you probably know what I am going to do. ‘
‘What are you going to do,’ she was inquisitive.
‘I am going home, and I will sit Badou down and tell him the truth and then whatever is supposed to happen will happen,’ she assured, in a strong tone as she pulled herself off the sofa with her handbag hung on her shoulder.
‘What the hell just happened,’ Sai was completely flabbergasted, her eyes wide open, ‘This girl is not even mad to relay this information to Badou, she is not. No she is not…’ She kept murmuring to herself.
If Badou hears this from any person other than me, then I am finished. I am dead, she thought as she began to sob.
She instantly dropped down on her knees and raised her hands to the skies praying to God for a miracle. She was so immersed in it that she wasn’t aware of the happenings in her surroundings. Several kind passers-by stood to watch how she sincerely submerged herself in prayers. It was a pandemonium.
In the busy traffic along the Coastal Road, Mai was riding shortgun in a Mercedes Benz, and the driver was on high volume with audios of Mufti Menk. She was relaxed and calmly enjoying Mufti Menk’s eloquence. All of a sudden, something clicked. She began to think through all what has transpired.
Don’t you think you are overreacting? Is this your story to tell? Are you supposed to risk your sister’s marriage by teling Badou?
Her thoughts poured.
She immersed herself in deep thought and eventually realized that she was just taken by surprise, and that she needed to use her wittiness and not be unnecessarily obtuse. She began to use her brain, thinking outside the box. At this point, she was already at Turntable Junction where she needed to switch cars. She was now calm and felt bad that she acted the way she acted towards her big sis.
Alright, I know of a particular doctor from Senegal whom I met while studying in Italy, maybe I need to involve him. Yes! Let me involve him, he is extremely good in his field. He is a professional connoisseur, and possibly he is the only chance we have, she thought, with a broad smile.
Badou was not at home during this time, he was with his parents in Bundung. This was one of those invitations where talks about Badou’s plight take center stage. You know, how African Parents take the issue of ‘being unable to conceive’. It’s always a big deal and they never relent in talking or seeking remedies for it. Badou was truly honored and respected by his parents. They see him as a hard working son, compliant son, well-disciplined and well-mannered son, and naturally it became hard for them to be hard on it. So when it came to this issue at hand, they just brush the topic for Badou and give him hints.
