I and Jide’s parents decide not to inform the newlyweds about his arrest, not to bring a damp spell to their beautiful day. Instead, I follow them to wish my mum and stepdad a happy marriage and say their goodbyes while promising to catch up with them at a later date. I excuse myself as I am seeing them off. Thankfully, the newlyweds didn’t ask us about Jide’s whereabouts because I don’t know if I would have been able to not burst into tears in front of my mum.
Once we are outside and at the car park, Jide’s father immediately starts making calls while his mum’s phone starts going off. I guess the news had spread widely everywhere now. I stay by their side as they get as much information as they can.
My phone starts ringing, and it’s an unknown number. My heart starts beating fast as my hope soars, praying it is Jide who is calling me. I nervously pick up the call.
“Hello?”
“Sewa, hi it’s Coker.”
“Oh, Coker. Hi, I didn’t know you had my number.”
“Jide gave me in case of emergencies.”
“Oh.”
“Are you alone right now?”
“No, I am not.”
“Okay, that’s good, I don’t know how—”
“I know, I’ve seen the news. I’m currently with Jide’s parents. We haven’t been able to reach him all day, and we are all worried”
“Wow, with his parents. You guys have gotten so serious.”
“Yes, we have. Have you heard from him?”
“No, but I have heard from his lawyer. I will send you his lawyer’s number also.”
“Yes, please do that. I will give it to his parents, too.”
“He’s okay, don’t be so worried. His business got mixed up with some bad people. Don’t doubt Jide. He’s a good person, okay, and I’m sure he’ll talk to you as soon as he can.”
“You don’t know how much weight you have taken from me with that statement. I know he’s a good man. It’s the Nigerian authorities I don’t trust.”
“He’s also a smart, well-educated, and extremely rich man, so trust they can’t do anything to him and think they can get away with it. His legal team is also bulletproof. The Nigerian authorities don’t stand a chance against them.”
“I hope you are right.”
“I am. I’ll call you later to check in. Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Coker. I really appreciate your call.”
“Just being there for my future sister-in-law. By the way, tell the Harrimans that I said everything will be fine.”
“Okay, bye.”
I hit the end button and turn to face his parents who are waiting to hear from me. I fill them in with what Coker told me and watch as they relax a little bit, glad that I have good news to share with them. As I am providing them with this new piece of information, my message notification tone rings out. It is Jide’s head lawyer’s phone number. I share it with his parents, and his dad immediately calls her.
Mrs. Davis, his lawyer, informs us that they are currently out of the state and are at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja. Jide will be released on bail tomorrow, and then, he will get in touch with us.
She assures us again that he is all right and all the charges against him would be cleared and dropped soon as she will ensure it. We tell her to relay our greetings and prayers to Jide, as well as informing him to contact us as soon as he possibly can.
I believe we can all sleep a lot better tonight now, knowing that Jide has things covered already. I say goodbye to the Harrimans, hugging his mum again before they finally enter their car, their driver patiently waiting. I watch them leave, knowing that I have to return back to the party because my girls will be waiting and anxious for me.
As soon as I step back into the hall, I am instantly called by one of my mum’s friends to assist with something, and my happy façade immediately goes into place. I manage to escape after seeing to her need and make it back to my table. Once the girls see me, they perk up and give me all their attention, so I reclaim my seat dramatically and also fill them in.
It is clear I am in a better mood than I was previously, but I am also so done with this wedding party. I tell my girls that it’s time to go, and they all agree. Mum isn’t coming home tonight—she and Mr. Saludeen have booked a suite at Orientals Hotel, so I don’t expect to see her anytime soon. I find Demola, and we all go and tell the couple we are leaving.
The newlyweds are happily busting moves on the dance floor, and when we approach them, they can tell we are coming to say goodnight. Mum stops dancing to hug each of us and tell us thank you for being part of her day before she gives her blessing for us to leave.
Nafisa is meant to be my ride, but Tosin offers to drop us at home, especially since he is also as done as the rest of us with the party. I am pulled into a group hug by my friends before we part ways.
The ride home is silent on my part as I spend it lost in my head while Tosin and Demola talk about whatever it is they are discussing. Until my attention is drawn by the mention of Jide’s name from Demola’s mouth.
“What?”
“I asked, why didn’t Jide come to the wedding party? Are you both fighting, because you have been angry all day.”
I am surprised Demola noticed my moodiness. He is more observant than I give him credit for.
“No, Jide and I are doing fine, thank you very much. It’s just that he’s caught up with some legal issues and won’t be around for the time being. It’s just unfortunate he couldn’t make it to the party.”
“Okay. I know when Mummy sees him, she will have a few choice words to say to him.”
“That’s between Mummy and him.”
Once I say that, Demola takes the cue and lets me be. I thank Tosin for dropping us at home, and he waves it aside and declares he’s doing what any other brother would do because he is now legally our brother.
The first thing I do is call Jide’s parents when I get to my room. I confirm that they got home with no problem, and I thank them again for coming to the party, before wishing them goodnight. After that, I answer a series of calls from my friends and Coker before my phone becomes silent again.
I go through my nightly routine, of cleaning and rehydrating my body, before I settle down for the night. I pick up my phone and go through the messages Jide and I have sent to each other to cheer me up because I miss him so much. This is the first day since we officially met that I haven’t spoken to him, and it makes me so aware of how much our constant attention to each other plays a role in me having a good day. I just hope he is okay and as comfortable as possible while being detained by Nigerian authorities.
I don’t know when exactly I fell asleep, but I am glad I did because I had found it so hard to sleep the night before. Despite sleeping late, I can’t help but wake up at an early hour, due to my body being used to waking up early for work.
My aunties are staying with us, so I know I can leave the house without worrying about Demola destroying it without any serious authority watching him. I may be worried about my boyfriend, but he’s a grown man, and I have to trust he’s going to pull through whatever problem that is thrown his way. Today isn’t about me—I have to be there for Onyinyechi. We all have to be there for her.
Nnoli and Nafisa arrive at my house a little before eleven a.m. We have been chatting with each other on the group chat, making sure Onyinyechi keeps us in the loop. She plans on telling her parents the news when they get home from church at their Sunday family brunch.
Church ends by eleven a.m., so by twelve p.m., they would have returned to her parents’ home and settled down for their meal, so we plan on heading there by one o’clock and hopefully get there to good news from Onyinyechi.
I am a mess who is constantly checking her phone, waiting for a new update on Jide. His parents have not heard anything also, and we are all waiting because Mrs. Davis hasn’t answered any of our calls today. My constant fidgeting and checking my phone has it taken hostage by Nafisa, who says I am not helping myself. She switches off my phone, ignoring my cries of protest.
“I’m going to send a message to Jide’s phone, to call me if yours is unavailable because you’re with me.”
I don’t say anything and let her do what she wants to, because I know there is no way I am getting my phone back from her.
It’s a little after one p.m. when we get to Onyinyechi’s. We came fully prepared to camp outside of her house, with snacks and drinks. Nafisa even brought her laptop in case we felt like watching a movie because we didn’t know how long Onyinyechi will be inside for.
Fifteen minutes later, I am listening to Nnoli rave about a new film she recently watched on her recent trip to the cinema when there’s a knock on the driver side window. It’s Abdul, Onyinyechi’s gateman. Nafisa winds down and smiles cheerfully at him. It seems we have been noticed by the Igwes.
“Good afternoon. Madam say, make I tell you, say you na dey come inside.”
I start laughing because Onyinyechi knows us so well, and if she’s asking for us to come inside, then it has to be good news and her parents aren’t acting very drastic because she’s pregnant outside of marriage and the guy didn’t even stick around. I really hope Onyinyechi is coping and not succumbing to depression. I’m just glad she has a great support system around her because many other women aren’t that lucky.
The Igwes are eating at their patio, and we notice that they have also set tablespaces for the three of us. Mrs. Igwe gets up to hug us when we reach the table. We gladly hug her back, before she tells us to take our seats. We greet Mr. Igwe who smilingly replies us before we focus on Onyinyechi who is doing everything but looking at us.
“Onyinyechi told us I think my girls are coming, but I’m not sure when. And here you are. It’s so wonderful how you young ladies have each other’s backs. I wish I had friends like you lot when I was growing up.”
Clearly, Onyinyechi had told her parents about our baby, and it seems everything was fine. Her mum was looking at us with so much happiness, we all couldn’t help but blush a little.
“Onyinyechi, you can’t greet us abi? You’re feeling so important now because you predicted we would show up,” I say to her, but she just rolled her eyes at us, yet her lips formed a small smile.
The Igwes piled us with food until we couldn’t eat anymore. Afterwards, Onyinyechi marches us into the deserted downstairs parlour so she can narrate to us how telling her parents she is pregnant went.
“They were in shock. You know, they didn’t think their baby girl was having sex, so I think I scarred them permanently. Mummy didn’t know what to be. She was disappointed yet also being supportive. I could tell she wasn’t expecting me to be pregnant yet since I’m not even married, but she hugged me and said everything will be okay. Daddy wanted to know immediately who the person was and what our plans were, so when I told them I was alone and the guy ran, it cooled their blood, and they asked me what I wanted to do, with Mummy reminding me that since I am a grown woman now, it’s my choice and they will stand by me whatever my decision is.”
As soon as she finished talking, she burst into tears, and I know she’s feeling so relieved because she was worried about how her parents would take the news. But I had no doubt her parents would stand by her. We all were raised by supportive and understanding parents, even though they were a lot more overbearing and protective when we were growing up, but we saw it for what it was, their love for us.
Nafisa hands her a tissue, and we give her time to collect herself. It’s clear that we are all relieved, and nothing can take away the smiles from our faces. Onyinyechi wipes away her tears before she smiles at us, a look full of joy and positivity on her face.
“I guess we are having a baby!” Nnoli and I scream exactly at the same time, making all of us laugh, because it’s too much of a coincidence that Nnoli and I shouted the exact same thing at the same time.