Chapter 9 Leila

I was a month pregnant already and thankfully, it was still too early for me to start showing. So apart from my usual morning sickness and how easily I get tired, you wouldn't know I was pregnant except if I told you of course.

My friends were super supportive and they all made sure I was okay..... from buying different kinds of fruit or whatever I was craving to bringing back my class notes for me to be able to follow up.

The big question that I didn't want to answer was 'if I wanted to keep the child or not?' I still refused to go to the hospital to sign up for antenatal care if by the end of the day I decide to not keep the baby.

It wasn't something I was proud of, but was it going to be worth the shame and embarrassment that would come with it when other people, especially my parents find out?

"What's going on? You look so deep in thought." Alex asked.

I wasn't even aware of when she came in. I just offered her a smile to tell her I was okay but she wasn't buying it.

"That's not even a real smile. And I thought you'd be happy that I'm going to make fruit salad for you." She said, pouting a little.

This time, I gave her a big smile because she got me exactly what I wanted.

"Is there strawberry there?" I asked.

"You bet."

She got to work immediately, washing all the fruits she bought and making sure I didn't help she said, and I quote:

"I don't want you stressing my godchild."

When she was done, she gave me a small quantity while putting the rest in the fridge so it'll get cold.

"Thank you." I said.

"You're welcome sweetie." She replied, and you could see the sincerity on her face.

Later that evening, when the rest of the girls came back from their various outings, I decided to have that talk with them.....the one that has the ability to change my future.

"Guys, I don't think I want to keep the pregnancy." I said.

I avoided looking at their faces, scared of the look that they'll give me.

"Why? You'll be a great mom. And you have us if you need help." Regina said.

"What she means to say is that no matter what your decision is, we'll support you anyway." Riley added.

Her words put me at ease, making me realize that I've met a set of people I could always count on.

"What if we look for the father? I mean, you left the hotel room he paid for. What if he'd gone back to look for you?" Naomi said suddenly.

"Makes sense, but I don't think we can recognize him. We were wasted."

"We can ask the workers if anyone came looking for me." I suggested.

I didn't want to give myself high hopes and later have them crushed but I couldn't help but think that there's a possibility the father wants to be in the child's life.

Thinking about it again, I didn't know if finding the father would change my mind about keeping the baby.

"Why don't we go to the hotel first and try our luck?"

We all agreed to go the next day to try our luck. Alex brought the remaining fruit salad which we all ate while waiting for the food we ordered.

I woke up the next morning with my head in the water closet vomiting again but I wouldn't let that stop me.

Soon enough, I was fully dressed and ready to go but the girls were still running around trying to look good.....I wondered what the actual mission was.

"Are you ready now?" I asked, after waiting for one hour.

"Yes, let's go."

We head out fully determined to come back with the baby's father.

The cab we took dropped us in front of the hotel and compared to the people leaving, I felt so underdressed and I saw exactly why the girls were trying to look nice..... traitors.

"Where do we start from?" I asked.

"Anywhere. Do you remember anyone from the last time you were here?" Alex asked.

"Not really, I only spoke to one person and he was the person who brought my food so I doubt he'd be at the reception." I replied.

"They just let you leave like that?" Naomi asked.

"Probably because I was in their records." I suggested.

We were beginning to draw attention to ourselves, five girls looking like they lost their way.

After a lot of suggestions, we entered the hotel under the guise of visiting the bar area but we also made sure we promised each other not to take any alcoholic drink.

"Are you sure we can afford anything here? It looks expensive." Regina asked.

Though she made a point, it wasn't what I wanted to think about.

I don't know if we'll be asked to leave if we didn't get something, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Besides it was still morning, who visits a bar in the morning? Except those already there and I'm sure they didn't need to work but would still manage to make a living.

"Of course, how expensive can it be?"

"Besides, we're only here for a while, not to spend the whole day." Riley said.

"Don't you think we should come up with a plan?" I asked. "We can't exactly ask them to show us their records without getting sent out."

"Then what do you suggest?" Regina asked.

Half an hour later, we were as blank as we were when we came in. No idea looked efficient enough to get what we wanted and we already had different pairs of eyes on us, but it wasn't from the workers but the people we met there.

"Lord have mercy." I thought.

The way the men kept staring at us was becoming very uncomfortable. It was as if they were imagining us without clothes and just the thought of it was gross.

I was okay with just staring until one of them, not quite old.....to be truthful, a little good-looking started walking towards us.

"What the fuck does he wants?" I thought.