“So, tell me. What happened between both of you?” I asked.

“Actually, nothing much happened between us. We met just once and that was it. I have never

seen him again, and neither do I know where he is.” She replied.

“How about his contact? Have you managed to talk to him recently?”

“No, I have never talked to him.”

“So, you are saying that he doesn’t know he has a daughter?”

“No, he doesn’t.” She replied sadly.

“Wow!! That’s queer.”

“For real.”

“So, it was just a one-night thing and it entered.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you use a condom? Didn’t you think it was risky sleeping with a man without a

condom?” I asked.

“Some men don’t really care about a condom, and the position in which I was at that time, I

couldn’t make the decision for him.”

“Hmm! So, how did you meet him and where?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Make it short for me.”

“Ok, it was about two and a half years ago. At that time, I was still living in Douala with my aunt.

As you may have realized, I don’t have a lot of immediate family members. My parents were

both of late, and I was the only child. I had dropped out of school after I passed the GCE

Ordinary Level Examination because there was no money to continue my education. So, my

mother’s only sister, Auntie Grace, took me to Douala to live with her.”

“It must have been terrible for you.” I commented.

“Yes, it was. I went through a very difficult time in her house. She made life a living hell for me.

However, I was grateful to her because she gave me a roof over my head.”

“At least, but that was not enough. She was supposed to treat you like her own daughter, since

you are the daughter of her direct sister.”

“You may say that, but the reverse was true. Instead, I went to hell and back. One day, a girl in

the neighbourhood whom I had become friends with, introduced me to the hookup business. I

had never lived such a life before and it wasn’t easy for me. It took me a long while to finally

make up my mind to engage in that business.”

“So, you have been into hookups?” I asked wide-eyed.

“I am still telling the story. The first day I was introduced to a man, I couldn’t stand him. When

we got into a hotel room, I shivered and trembled so much that he pitied me and didn’t touch

me. We spent the night together, but he didn’t touch me.”

“That is hard to believe.” I spoke.

“Not everyone is like you.” She laughed.

“Waka there!!” I laughed back.

“Anyway, he got someone else for that night. It was in a suite. So, he asked me to go sleep in

the living room while he got another girl. He was a very kind man, I must say.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because in the morning, he gave me money. He gave me three hundred thousand and told me

to stop doing that kind of business. He said it was not for girls like me. He warned me and

schooled me against the dangers of being a call girl and urged me to use the money he had

given me to start up a business.”

“Wow!! I am at a quandary as to how to evaluate that man. On the one hand, he was kind, but

he still did hookups. So, that made him a bad dude, too.” I laughed. “So, did you use the money

to start up a business?”

“Yes, I added my small savings to it and started doing MTN Mobile Money Business. However,

my business was suffering because as soon as my aunt realized that I had started earning small

money, she started collecting all the profits. She said it was my own contribution to the running

of the home. There was nothing I could do.”

“She must have been crazy.”

“She still is. So, one day, a fine gentleman who looked rich and had a resemblance to the man

who had given me the money to start a business, came to my Mobile Money place to conduct a

financial transaction. One thing led to the other and he took my number. He was the one who

later introduced me to Chloe’s father.”

“I see. So, have you been able to contact the man? At least, you should have tried to contact

him.”

“Yes, I tried but his number was picked by a female who said she was his sister. I begged her to

connect me to her brother, but she insulted me and told me to backoff from her brother. I

persisted and told her that the matter had to do with pregnancy, but she blocked me. I used

another number and called her again, but she called me a gold digger who wanted to hang my

pregnancy on her brother because he had travelled out of the country and blocked the number

too. Then, one day, the number became unavailable till date.”

“That is alright. I know you feel bad to have found yourself in that kind of situation. So, what

happened after you realized that you were pregnant? I mean your aunt’s reaction.”

“You can guess that for yourself. She threw me out of her house and that was how I found

myself back in the village. See, I suffered. I suffered so much that I almost died. Giving birth to

Chloe was a miracle. I thought I was going to die, but God saw me through.”

“That was really bad. I wish I had met you earlier. By the way, how did you find yourself back to

the city?”

“In the village, I met with one guy who was a construction worker at one of the companies that

were operating around that locality. He was nice to me and to Chloe. However, I figured he just

wanted a taste of me.”

“How do you mean?”

“As soon as his contract with the company expired, he moved back to the city and stopped

communicating regularly with me. When I complained, he apologized and asked me to come

see him in the city. When I got to the city, his number stopped going through and I became

frustrated. That was how you found us.”

“What a tale!! Anyway, now that I have found you, everything will be fine. Wipe your tears and

smile again. You will never go through suffering again for as long as I live.”

“Thank you, Big Baby, for being understanding, and thank you for everything. God will always

bless you.”

“Amen.”

A week later, I was in the living room watching a movie with Chloe. Jane was sitting in another

sofa and she was browsing her phone and smiling sheepishly. I kept looking at her and

wondering what the matter was. Suddenly, she sat up with a start and exclaimed:

“Thank God.”

“What is the matter now, babe.”

“Good news, Big Baby. Guess what?”

“I despise guessing games.”

“Okay, I have found the guy who introduced me to Chloe’s father.” She spoke excitedly.