THE MENACE OF CHILD MARRIAGE By Favour Osemudiamen Idahor

“I’m sorry Mrs. Mba. We tried our best but we lost her”.
The words hit her like a sharp stone, well aimed by an enemy to bring down his rival.
“No!”... She screamed, grabbing the doctor’s shirt with tears flowing generously from her eyes.
“She’s been gone for some minutes now, she couldn’t withstand the complications. However, we saved the baby. please accept my condolences” he said gently taking her hands off his shirt.
“ O naghi emé... Nke á anaghi emé. This can’t be, this isn’t happening”. She sank into the ground wishing it would open up and swallow her. “Please take it easy madam” she heard the doctor’s voice trailing off as he walked into his office.
Just then it dawned on her that she had played a part in her daughter’s death; she had blood on her hands.
She vividly remembers Ada’s plea “Mama, please do something, this isn’t the life I want. I want to go to school and become a lawyer.” She had tried to console her daughter. “I know my child, I know but my hands are tied”.
Now she wished she had tried. She wished she had protested against her husband’s decision. She cried as she cursed under her breath.

                                   *****
Ada was a tall light skinned damsel. She was slender and hippy and she possessed a striking body; the type the locals usually refer to as an hourglass shape. She was beautiful and so was her body.
She was just 15 but could pass for a 19year old when she was married off to one Chief Obiagwu; a wealthy merchant.
Ada was the sacrificial lamb upon which her father’s business and ego was resurrected .

It was two days after her marriage clocked one year. Ada had told her husband that she wanted to go stay with her mother until she delivered; her second trimester had begun.

Deep down, she wanted to explain to her mother how she had been abused severally; about those nights she laid still in surrender after trying to battle for her body’s peace. She wanted to tell her about the sharp pains she felt in her lower abdomen. She was 4months gone and the pains were unbearable, they got worse by the day. “Mama would know just the perfect herbs to take care of me”. She thought to herself.


                             ********
Mrs. Mba was oblivious of the fact that her daughter suffered from Eclampsia. She had done her best to take care of Ada in the traditional way; mixing concoctions and massaging her body to help soothe the pain.
She now wished she had brought her to the hospital earlier, rather than relying on just herbs.

“Madam”. The voice of the nurse brought her back to consciousness. “Please, come with me”.
She trailed slowly behind the nurse who led her to the ward where the baby was.
She looked at the child wrapped in a fine cloth, her eyes were bright and they had the same spark as her mother’s the day she was born; fresh drops of tears ran down her cheeks.

She carried the baby and just in the moment, she vowed to protect her. She vowed to stand against the ill practice of child marriage and its menace. She had learnt the hard way and now, she wouldn’t even wish this on her enemy.
“Your name shall be called Adanne and you’d be a voice” she whispered as she kissed the child amidst sobs.

#fiction
#Prose
#SayNoToChildMarriage
©️Deevine