A Wave Of Nausea
By: Damilola A Dahunsi
Tags: Teens, Youngadult, Mothers, Mothers And Daughters

A Wave Of Nausea

It was as if everyone caught the flu except the boys, few girls and me of course. The whole college was shaken with the occurrence.

It was a long holiday and a compulsory one at that due to the incessant strike. People in Federal universities and colleges in Nigeria can relate.

So the holiday was really long and everyone kept praying that it should be over except of course those who had caught the flu before resumption. When school finally resumed, we would see many sisters, even holy sister, cladded in thick cardigan in the terrible heat and others would be left wondering about the unfelt cold. At first people just wondered and let it slide but as time went by, it was becoming more weird because the number of cladded sisters increased.

No one knew what was happening. No one understood except the patients or maybe victims. It was as if there was a wave of nausea in the college. Many girls were vomiting here and there and they refused to visit the clinic. Some were looking very pale and thin, others robust and extra fresh. The changes were obvious except for those who we learnt went to a spiritualist to help them hang the result of their actions until the due date.

At first, I was scared of the wave of nausea that hit the school or the unknown cause of the flu. However, people like me kept wondering why the main target of the flu were girls.

I remember a time when we year three students were in the hall receiving lectures, a chick-looking girl suddenly rushed outside to puke. Some of her friends went after her to help her steady herself. No sooner did she enter the hall than she went out again to puke. She went out about four times to puke and I began to wonder when puking became a hobby. Now, that was not the peak of it. About five other girls went out at different times to puke and each time they did, all the boys will go, "hmmmmmmm."

Later, the heavily cladded sisters could no longer hide their bulging stomach no matter the number of clothes they put on and everyone were saying, "I said it! I knew she was pregnant, I just knew it! No wonder the thick cardigans and extra-large clothes." Someone like me just pretended to be righteous and not judgmental and I was like, “oh, don't be harsh, that doesn't make them the worse people on Earth. People make mistakes, so stop staring and exclaiming." However, in actual fact, I was surprised myself and I couldn't help but wonder why they made such mistakes especially those so-called holy sisters among them. Even though I told people not to stare, I couldn't help it when I had the chance to stare. Like I said, those sisters had to give up hiding their pouch, everyone knew it already: they were pregnant!

After those sisters accepted the reality of their pregnancy, those ones who were taking turns to vomit in the hostels and lecture halls, took over from the previous sisters. We started seeing them in thick cardigans and very extra-large clothes and everyone including the boysoh yes majorly the boyswill go, "hmmmmm hmmmmm." I didn’t tell you that while many of them felt ashamed, there were those who saw their pregnancy as a medal. They flaunted it at the slightest opportunity. After all, they were the girlfriends of the rich Yahoo boys. They had no worries. As a matter of fact, they saw it as a means to secure their position and get an assurance from their boyfriends.

Among those who caught the flu, there was this very young girl I pitied then. She was one of those holy sisters, and you would never imagine that she could get raped let alone willingly give herself to a man. It is not that I know the real or true story behind her predicament but I can just say she was really pitiful. She was pregnant and was delivered of twins! Before her pregnancy, she was not rich and was most of the time poorly dressed. During her pregnancy, her clothes could barely fit. Most of the time, it would stay on top of her belly exposing her protruded and round pouch. People felt sorry for her but I doubt that she got more than pity.

After she was delivered off her child (oh I meant children), her situation became worse. The children were most of the times exposed to harsh weather’s because they didn’t have proper clothes. They were scantily dressed both during the cold and heat. The girl was not left out. She and her children looked malnourished. The most painful part was that, the lecturers would not spare a chance to ridicule her. Many a times, I would see her outside the lecture hall trying to nurse her babies while the lectures are going on and I would wander how she would possibly learn, wondering if her coming to classes wasn’t a waste. After lectures, I would see her going home with one baby strapped on her back, the other on her right arm, a bag of books and a bag for the babies on her left arm. Sometimes, I would wonder where the father of the babies was, I would wonder what he was doing...

During the time of the flu, my college was called a poultry of babies. I was angry at the many guys who laughed at the girls because I was so sure that among them are those who impregnated the girls. An incident happened right in front of me. I was in the college market, at the side were the salons were situated. I saw a girl with a baby in front of a barbing salon and a guy suddenly approached and exclaimed, “ahhhhh Kemi! So you are the one, you already have a child? When? Where? How?" The girl was clearly embarrassed because he was shouting on the top of his voice. He went on to say that despite her shakara she got pregnant, an unwanted pregnancy at that. The girl, overly embarrassed, was trying to persuade him to stop making a big deal out of it but he insisted that it was a big deal. He took his time to insult and exposed her to everyone who cared to listen. I really don't know what has transpired between them in the past but the scene he created was overly embarrassing.

Now the thing that remains annoying is the fact that no one talked about the irresponsible guys that caused the flu. They blamed it on the girls, asking why they couldn't or refused to protect themselves. They wondered why they sold their self so cheap... Meanwhile, all those talks and accusations are cheap too. While some were totally unprincipled, some fell prey to those they trusted the most. It is a pity that most of the guys who impregnated those girls are living a normal life. They go to class whenever they should, they can be attentive without any distractions and of course they have no attacks from crazy pregnancy hormones. Some of the girls saw another side of life because some truly lacked good principles while some made mistakes they never thought they could make. Well, it still leaves us ladies at being principled and maintaining total abstinence because it is the only and best precaution!

So the turn of events made us realize that it wasn't a flu after all. The wave of nausea was only the results of pregnancy. To those who hung their pregnancy, very funny isn't it? That was the rumor (I am laughing real hard).

The pregnancy couldn't stay hung forever.

We saw the result!