CONSEQUENCES

CHAPTER 3

“Pregnant? You’re pregnant? Why do you have to bring such disgrace to this family?” Nancy’s father, Theophilus Drew’s voice roared through the living room as he scolded her.

Once she got back home to Emerald Bay, she opened up to her mother who told her father everything when he returned from work and he was seriously berating Nancy.

“Calm down Honey, your daughter just made a mistake, it’s not like she killed someone,” Her mother, Thelma Drew, defended her.

This wasn’t the first time her mother was defending Nancy from her father’s wrath. Her father was a strict disciplinarian and a very principled man. The only person he often broke his code for was his wife and Nancy took advantage of that so well over the years.

Theo sneered. “You’re the reason she’s like this Thelma, you’re always defending her.”

“I’m sorry baba, I didn’t mean to bring you shame and disgrace,” Nancy said as she clutched his legs, apologizing on her knees.

Her eyes were a mess. She cried in the Taxi all the way from Coral city to Emerald Bay and even now the tears wouldn’t stop.

“But you have, haven’t you? How could you lie to us like that? Living with a man all these years while we thought you were in school? I knew I was right to protest against it but your mother always wants you to have your way, now look at the result,” Her father shouted, pushing her away from him. His eyes were full of pain but he looked at her like vermin.

Nancy had gone too far this time, he always tolerated her excesses but not this one. He was a deacon in Church. What would people say about his daughter having an unwanted pregnancy in his own house? Something he preached against strongly from the pulpit.

No, there was no way he would allow her continue to stay in his house. She had to go back to the man who got her pregnant.

“Baba, Please forgive me. I always felt you were too strict with me and caged me. I wanted to be free, to do my own thing and make my mistakes. I know I went overboard with what I did but I’m still your little pea Baba, surely you won’t cast me away.”

Her father walked closer to her and crouched in front of her where she was kneeling. His eyes were pooled with tears but he wouldn’t let them drop.

He held the back of her head and stroked her hair, looking at her straight in the eyes with a stoic expression.

“Little pea, this mistake you made is one you’re going to have to bear the consequences alone. From today henceforth Nancy, you cease to be a daughter of mine.” His words were almost silent but they carried all the seriousness in the world.

“No Theo! you can’t do that,” Thelma cut in, shaken by the words he just said. She knew him more than anyone else and she knew with the way he said it, he meant it. It would take a while for her to convince him otherwise.

Nancy felt like her world was collapsing in front of her all over again. Her knees couldn’t hold her and she crashed to her bum, wheezing and struggling to breathe.

“Please Baba, Please,” She begged, even as panic seized her. She had nowhere else to go. Her family were the only ones that could protect her from Lloyd.

She was scared of what he will do to her if he found her or worse, what he would do when he found out she was still pregnant.

“Thelma, I’m going to shower now. When I come down for my dinner, I want this woman out of my house or you’ll be joining her too,” Thelma’s eyes widened at Theo’s words. Was he really that upset that he wanted Nancy gone so soon, even threatening her, his wife in the process? Theo turned his icy gaze to Nancy. “Welcome to the grown up world, where people pay for their mistakes.”

Thelma hugged her daughter on the ground as her father climbed up the stairs. She loved Nancy so much but no one dares to defy an angry Theophilus. The man rarely lost his temper but at times like this when he did, it was best to give him time to cool off.

“Nancy, stop crying, listen to me,” She said as she wiped her daughter’s tears. “You can go to Brandon, my home country. I have family there, they will look after you for now. I will talk to your father, just give him some time to cool off.”

Nancy looked up at her mother. Mixed feelings of gratitude and regret punched her heart at the same time. She couldn’t find the words to say but her eyes said it all and her mother hugged her one last time,sobbing and hoping to God that she would be able to convince her husband to go back on his words.

************

Back in Coral city, Lloyd was trying hard to find Nancy and bring her back to him. It had been two months since her escape and he was yet to find her. He couldn’t involve the police because if they found her and she told on him, he could be prosecuted since abortion was illegal in the country.

Of course his money could shut them up but he wasn’t willing to take the risk, so he hired a team of private investigators but they gave him nothing concrete, only the fact that she went to Emerald bay and then disappeared.

Lloyd suspected she might have left the country and he used his connections to every search every airport departure during the time she went missing but nothing came up matching her identification.

Nancy had left by train and not by airplane since she couldn’t afford the flight tickets thanks to Lloyd freezing her accounts a day after she left, in an attempt to force her hand.

Lloyd was slowly growing miserable at Nancy’s disappearance. At first, he was in denial and his pride wouldn’t let him admit it but as the days passed, regret and anguish slowly but surely started squeezing his heart.

“I was at your office earlier today Bro, your secretary said you hadn’t come to work in over two weeks. Don’t tell me it’s because of Nancy,” Kyle, Lloyd’s best friend, queried him.

Kyle, like Lloyd was also a rich heir, they have been friends since high school and even went to the same college, so Kyle was aware of the whole situation with Nancy. Lloyd told him everything. Well, everything except how he truly felt.

Lloyd hissed. “Nancy? Do you really think a woman would make me miss work? I’m just taking a little break, that’s all,” Lloyd tried to say this casually but the tone of his voice and the look on his face betrayed him.

Kyle shook his head, feeling bad for his friend but someone had to tell him the truth. “What you did was horrible and I think you’re beginning to regret it. Honestly, there’s a part of me that hopes you don’t find her, even though I hate to see you in this state.”

Kyle wasn’t afraid of Lloyd like most people were. One of the reasons they were best friends was because they always told each other the truth. If Lloyd had told him about his plans for the abortion, Kyle would have discouraged him.

Lloyd slammed his fist on the table.“Shut your mouth Kyle, I said it has nothing to do with her. If you have come here to spit trash, you might as well get out of my house,” The coldness in eyes could have easily frozen the ocean over but Kyle wasn’t fazed one bit.

Kyle took out his phone, opened his front camera and put it in Lloyd’s face. “Look at you Bro, you’re a mess. Just taking a break isn’t the same thing as having a break down.”

Lloyd truly was a mess. A stark contrast with the way he used to look. His natural shiny black hair that was always combed up had formed small locs and it was dry. His lush and sexy lips were dry and charred from all the heavy smoking. He hadn’t shaved in over a month and he barely even ate and he drank a lot causing him to look emaciated.

It wasn’t exactly the regret of taking Nancy for an abortion that was eating Lloyd up. He still thought he was right to do so. He just never imagined her abscence would affect him this much. In fact, he never thought Nancy would have the courage to leave him because of how much she doted on him.

It was even worse for Lloyd because for a very strange reason, he couldn’t be with other women. A few days after Nancy left, when he was still in denial, he tried to hook up with several women to try and stop thinking about Nancy but once he touched them, he would see Nancy’s face, sad and in tears, just like the last time he saw her.

Blood would rush everywhere but to his middle region and he would remain limp, unable to perform.

Lloyd grabbed Kyle’s phone in anger and threw it across the room, sending it into a wall and shattering it.

“Asshole,” Kyle yelled, hurrying towards his phone and picking up what was left of it. He merely shook his head at Lloyd. It was a waste of energy getting mad at him in this state.

“I told you to shut your mouth, why the fuck are you even here? If you have nothing else to say…” Lloyd pointed towards the door, delivering the last part of his message.

Kyle reached inside his suit pocket and dropped an envelope on the table. “I ran into Dr Souza this morning when I went for my monthly checkup. He asked me to give this to Nancy but since we both know she’s not here, I brought it to you instead. Now for why I am here, the quarterly shareholder meeting for our joint venture is tomorrow. Get your shit together and be there,” And with that, he left the apartment.

Dr Souza was the doctor who sent the text results to Lloyd after confirming Nancy’s pregnancy.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Lloyd tore open the envelope on his way to the meeting. He had managed to shave and comb his hair. The three piece custom made suit he was wearing hugged him loosely because he had lost some weight but he honestly didn’t even care about that.

The envelope contained two letters. One was a general reminder from the hospital, reminding Nancy of the importance of prenatal sessions especially since she was entering her second trimester and the other was a personal letter from the Doctor emphasizing the importance of removing her IUD if they were keeping the baby as it was a huge risk to leave it in.

Lloyd felt his knees go weak and his mouth went dry. He gulped but there was no spew.

‘Fuck! what have I done.’

His eyes stared at the letter in agony. This whole time he thought Nancy secretly removed the IUD so she could get pregnant against his wishes.

When they first met, it was only supposed to be a one night stand but Nancy stayed with him for over two weeks. When she left and returned after some months, he didn’t expect her to move in with him and stay for years.

He wanted to object but he found himself attracted to her so he decided against it and rather chose to just be cautious with her.

Nancy’s submissiveness and her willingness to do anything to please him further made him skeptical. He thought she was working an angle and was only after his money like most girls who slept their way into a rich guy’s life.

He waited and waited for her to ask for something big but she never did and he slowly started dropping his guard. Nancy seemed happy and content playing his house wife.

So when he found out she was pregnant and coupled with the fact that she lied about it, his insecurities resurfaced and he thought she removed the IUD to get pregnant and trap him with a child. To Lloyd she played the long game and he felt like a fool.

As realization hit him, he felt a gut wrenching pain in his chest, like a double arrowed spear was being plunged into his heart repeatedly.

He clutched his chest and screamed and then he started wheezing because he was finding it difficult to breathe. In a matter of seconds, his vision clouded, he saw only darkness and he passed out.