It started with a failed attempt at a joke during dinner; the paradox events of that fateful night.
What was meant as a simple question, one that only required a similar answer had suddenly turned the tides of that evening. Perhaps, if he’d taken the jest for what it was, and had replied in the same manner, things would have gone entirely differently. Dinner could have ended with a bottle of wine, and then we would have gone ahead to spend some quality time watching one of those cheesy sitcoms we both love so much.
Alas, none of this happened. Why? Because Andy, like his usual self, took a molehill and transformed it into a mountain.
I had only playfully told him that he had an amusing way of eating with forks and if he continued, he might make a record as the first man in his 40s with no teeth in his mouth. I had said it with all smiles expecting him to laugh. My bad. I shouldn’t have.
His voice thundered through the room as he accused me of being wicked, called me a witch, and insisted that I deliberately did a poor job of picking the beans, so that his teeth would become damaged, after all, they’d always been fragile.
After his astounding performance, he stormed out of the house. I heard as his car drove away and I knew I’d been left alone, once again.
Aware that there was no way I could finish eating dinner alone, not when it’d all been ruined, I decided to clear the table and retire for the night.
That was when things took a turn for the worse. As I tried to rise to my feet, a sharp, indescribable pain struck through my midsection, pushing all the way to my lower back. A yelp flew out my lips as I grimaced and instinctively, my hand cradled my rounded belly.
“It’s nothing,” I tried to assure myself as the pain receded. It couldn’t possibly be what I feared it was. I still had a month left until the due date, I thought to myself. Admittedly, there had been complications as I’d been going through so much physical and emotional stress. Hence, the doctor had placed me on bed rest. However, I had helplessly flouted his orders because Andy wouldn't get a maid.
“It can’t be today, certainly not,” I told myself again as I managed to step out of my chair. Andy was gone with the car. I didn’t know where he kept the keys to the others, because he had said he didn’t want me driving while pregnant with his child. Our nearest neighbor lived four blocks away. Who would come to my aid if things went awry?
As though the heavens wanted to prove a point. The pain struck again. This time, I had hardly recovered when the third one seared through me. Fear gripped my heart, as I knew, deep down inside of me that the baby in my belly wasn’t ready to wait one more day. It wanted to get out and it would, by any means necessary.
My fears were confirmed when in the twinkle of an eye, I felt warm liquid trickle down my inner thighs. My eyes bulged, my throat becoming instantly dry and I knew I could no longer afford to be shaken by my fright. I had to act! Fast! I needed to get myself to the hospital somehow.
I picked my phone and started dialing Andy’s number as furiously as I could but the damn bastard, he wouldn’t even pick! No doubt he thought I was calling to apologize or beg him to come home.
Furious and wanting no more to do with him, I ended the last call and began to search for my purse. I found it easily and one foot in front of the other, I began to make my way to the door. I didn’t exactly know what I was doing, but it was better than doing nothing at all.
I dragged myself through the exquisitely furnished sitting room with chairs made of mahogany. Until finally, I reached the golden plated mahogany door that had been imported from Italy only six months ago. I heaved a sigh of relief then, glad that I’d managed to achieve my first conquest.
Fighting through another contraction, I managed to make it to the gate to unlock it. However, as the iron panes came open, I was met with a sight that had me staggering on my feet.
There was a masked man, dressed like the night, standing right in front of me. His black eyes were filled with evil intent, and his hands, occupied by heavy ammunition. I was too dazed to make out what type of gun he was carrying. I only knew that he seemed just as shocked to see me.
Crazily enough, I felt no fear. I simply told myself I was going to die one way or the other; whether from the labor pains, or his gun. What difference did it make?
Just then, another contraction wracked through me, almost taking me to the ground. I screamed as I held my waist, and my belly. It was the worst so far, and I didn’t know how much longer I could bear not being on epidural for it all.
Even in my distress, I could see that the young man was confused. He had very expressive eyes that made me privy to all his thoughts even though he said no words. It was how I knew when he made the decision to help.
He was gone in a dash and when he returned, his guns had vanished. He put his arm around me then, and led me to a black Toyota Camry parked just after our compound. After making sure I’d gotten in, safe and comfortably, he got into the driver seat, and started the engine.
He started to drive. All the while, he kept his eyes on the road, going as fast as he could.
My contractions seemed to have ceased, giving me a break, so I was able to feed my curiosity about his person.
“You came for the money, didn’t you?” I asked. Andy had brought home a huge Ghana-must-go a week ago. I’d been pretending to sleep then, so he didn’t know I knew about it, or where he’d kept it for that matter.
When the masked man said nothing, I pressed on. “He stole that money, did he not?”
For a very long while, I’d been suspecting that my husband was not an honest man, and that his wealth was questionable. How else could a broke graduate afford all the luxury we now enjoy?
“Not all of it”, the man responded, his voice gruff. “Some of it belongs to him, but most of it,” he shook his head. “Your husband is a dubious businessman, madame Meredith. He lures in business partners with flamboyant promises, gets them to invest and their money and resources and when the investments finally yield returns, he takes all the profit for himself and claims that the project failed. He messed with the wrong people this time.”
We soon reached the hospital but finding a parking space proved difficult. By the time we eventually got one, I felt warm liquid trickle down my inner thighs yet again. Panicking, I looked down and saw that I had started to bleed.
“Blood!” I shouted, fearing the worst. Tears rolled down my eyes as the young man got me out of the car, with an urgency that said he knew exactly what was at stake.
When his call for help proved futile, he lifted me into his arms and began to run.
“Help!” he shouted as we entered the hospital. “This woman is in labor! she’s bleeding!”
The nurses came rushing then, putting me on a stretcher and fixing drips. Even though I was starting to become disoriented, I didn’t miss the look of shock everyone was giving him.
He too must have noticed it for his eyes suddenly widened in horror as he glimpsed his reflection in the mirror. It was obvious that he had forgotten he was wearing a mask. He hurriedly left as they wheeled me away.
Hours later, my screams and pains, a thing of the past, I stared at the child in my arms. He was so beautiful, and so small, and so special, and I couldn’t believe I had almost lost him.
Placenta previa, the doctor had called it. If I had arrived five minutes later, it would have been too late. Who would have ever thought that an armed robber would end up being my savior? What an unlikely hero indeed.
As for my husband, Andy, I had made my decision. When morning came, it just happened that the bag of money wasn’t the only thing he’d lost.
This is my entry into this week's @theinkwell writing challenge