“I am not comfortable with this Nnayi” Amara’s mum said as she changed into a night dress.
Amara’s father recounted the money over and over again. “You don’t have to be comfortable. You are in love with poverty, but I am not. If you want to spend your life shamefully, and then count me out of It.” he countered.
“But we are putting Amara at risk. She nearly found out the truth today. What would happen when she finds out that she is not our child?”
“I don’t care. She should be grateful to us for picking her from the dustbin where her real mother dumped her. If we hadn’t she might not be alive today. I don’t expect her to be angry; in fact, I might tell her myself if it would make her feel compelled to help.”
Amara’s mum shook her head. “You are wicked”
He hissed. “At least I am not people with it”
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Tola knocked the door of Lisa’s room softly and the door opened quietly. Everyone including Tina had gone to sleep and Tola wanted to be careful. She did not want to be seen. She entered Lisa’s room and closed the door quietly.
“Thanks for coming” Lisa said. “You are making the right decision”
Tola shifted nervously. “I don’t want to harm Amara. She has been really nice to me. She –”
“Shut up!” Lisa said sharply. “What do you mean by nice?” she growled. “She is just using you and that senseless Tina. Just because she bought you few clothes, you are falling for her? Here” she opened her bag and extracted a large sum of money. She threw it at Tola and she hastily grabbed it with wide eyes. “That is one hundred thousand Naira. You can use it to buy anything you want, anything. If you are on my side Tola, you would really enjoy” Lisa planted a pleasant smile on her face.
The money seemed to convince Tola, even though she felt bad for what she was about to do. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
Lisa’s face lit with a genuine smile. “Good girl.” She opened her bag again and extracted a sachet of drugs. “These drugs look exactly like the ones Amara uses” she stated.
Tola’s eyes widened. “I can’t kill her o. God forbid”
“My friend, shut up!” Tola almost yelled but managed to keep her voice down. “It is not to kill her but to make her lose her baby. You just have to replace these drugs with the ones with her. She won’t notice the difference”
Tola shook her head furiously. “Oh my God, this is bad. I can’t do it. My conscience would kill me” she threw the money on the bed and turned to leave.
“If you leave now, I would make sure you leave this house first thing tomorrow morning. Amara is not around, so there would be no one to save you. It would be your loss because, I would change the drugs myself and what you are trying to prevent would still happen” she said sternly. “And you won’t be able to report me to anyone or the police for that matter because I would have you killed immediately you leave this house. You know my intentions already Tola, you can’t go freely. Your only option is to do it, or face the consequences”
Tola’s feet could not hold her. She relaxed against the door for support. “Don’t be a fool Tola, just help me. The child is the only thing that ties that slut and my husband together”
“But they are married”
Lisa smiled. “Leave that. Are you ready to do this or not?”
Tola swallowed and turned to Lisa with a look of contempt on her face. “Do I have a choice?”
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