A DANCE TO THE RHYTHM OF MISTAKES

Episode one

As I sit beside the door, the cool breeze blows across my face, bringing me back from a deep thought that I have been in for fifteen minutes or thereabouts. Slowly, I run my hands on my protruding belly in which a seven-month old lives,if I'm not mistaken. The baby kicks me viciously like it seemed to know that I've always wished it was dead before now. And as a speak of the devil, it kicks me whenever I conceive an evil thought pertaining to its death, reminding me that it was still and will always be alive. Somehow, I think I can almost hear it whisper some words like" I have come to stay, so dont try terminating my life because if you do, you'll get hurt".
Though I am weak, I managed to get up from the small empty "Komkom", a "Milo" tin which I was sitting on, to lie on the mat I laid on the floor- just beside the door side. The tin was already compressed before I got up which is apparently what it should be like after carrying a woman as fat as I am, coupled with the baby in my tummy whom some people refer to as "heavy load". Well, I really do not get upset when they say so even though some people say that just to mock me, because truly it is a heavy load I am carrying inside of me. Mmesoma, whom I was pregnant with some years back did not weigh as much as the child in my womb though my mockers called the pregnancy then, a heavy load and I wasn't even as fat as I am then.
I lied down on the mat carefully so I don't hit my belly on the floor. As I lied down, I insouciantly raised above my head the the pink blouse with blue patches that I am wearing, placed my left hand at the back of my head for support as I continue to rub my belly in a circular motion. I have no pillow nor bed to lie on comfortably except for the old mat I was given by Dike, who used to be my "oyoom" until now. I am in the dark alone with no mother, father , sister ,brothers, aunts nor uncles. Not even with my used to be oyoom, Dike, nor my first child whom I got out of wedlock,mmesoma, from whom I got my first bitter pregnancy experience and still did not learn from it. Now, I am scared of the dark, I have no hands to cuddle me not even the hands Dike promised to cuddle me with before he got me into this mess. Still, I need to sleep and the only way for me to do so is to continue rubbing my belly but as it stands right now, it seems I'm been punished by the god of sleep if there is any because I can't find sleep. For how long will I continue to hide in this thatched house with Dike? How do I explain to my children that they are from different fathers? These and many more are questions that runs through my mind as tears flow down my cheek uncontrollably.....
Next time on your super interesting Janky tales
"Aunty please forgive me, it was the devil's doing"......
"Ndidi! Oya pack your bag and leave my house immediately. I cannot and will not leave with a ........."
Get to know the speakers of the above in other episodes .