Surprise!

Linda knocked on the nicely carved mahogany door. Two series of two short taps, gentle on the ears of whoever was at home, yet loud enough to get their attention. She wished people would knock that way when visiting her. And not as though they wanted to break her door because she owed them money. As she awaited an answer, her eyes scanned the beautifully serene environment and she thought, ‘Mike is a nice, hardworking guy, doing well for himself’. She hoped her mission here would be successful.
Inside, Michael checked his lip in a bathroom mirror. He’d given himself an uppercut while hurriedly putting on a t-shirt to answer the door with. ‘Something I’m still gonna take off in a few minutes’ he thought. ‘How bad is it?’ his eyes asked the mirror. ‘No harm done, you’re still a fine boy’, the mirror replied... He'd been mildly surprised when Linda called saying she was coming over. He was expecting her alright, but not so soon. He’d returned just last night from his two week shift with the petroleum engineering firm he worked and the next two weeks were to do with as he pleased. He had missed spending time with her, and so happily welcomed the visit. Another ‘assignment’ was at hand, he thought eagerly...and though he hadn’t got a ‘pencil’ to ‘write’ the assignment with, he would write it all the same.
He let her in with a ‘welcome honey’, and promptly shut the door. She looked prettier than he remembered; this light skinned, brown eyed beauty before him. She had a great personality, and her dress sense was on point. So what if she was a ‘runs girl’ passed to him by a friend; though she didn’t know this. But as he provided everything she needed, she had changed with time. He himself was no angel, and was willing to overlook her past. Wow, could this be the girl he would settle down with? He moved closer and kissed her on the cheek. The scent of her made him dizzy and his head felt light for right then he hadn’t enough blood to power two things at once...
They were on his living room sofa and Linda felt uncomfortable as Mike kissed her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. Now he had his arms around her. She had to start somewhere but wasn’t sure how. So she took in a deep breath, and said in a tiny voice.
‘I’m pregnant’
The kisses stopped.
‘You’re...what?’
‘Pregnant,’ repeated Linda, back flat on the sofa, eyes locked onto his. He was half bent over her, an arm on either side of her, closing her in. Making her feel small, making her feel vulnerable. He wasn’t looking angry though, just confused. Maybe it hadn’t hit him yet. But she wasn’t angry either so she wondered why he’d be.
Michael paused for some blood to crawl back up to the brain where it was needed but it obviously wasn’t moving fast enough for he heard himself stutter: ‘So...so how...how...how do you know this. How do you...how do you know for sure? And how far gone are you?’
‘I had the feeling, so I went for a test. I’m six weeks gone.’
Some mental maths proved the six weeks coincided with a weekend spent together though the actual date of delivery would confirm the period of conception. What was he to do? ‘Michael say something, anything,’ he thought.
‘Err...Wow! That’s...great.’
‘So you don’t mind?’ asked Linda, and she let out a sigh of relief as Mike brought his head down to hers until their noses touched.
‘Not really. Not at all, in fact. I’m the last child of my parents and they want to see me settle down. And you’ve been really good to me. I love you so much. I really do.’
‘Thank goodness. I thought you’d suggest an abortion. I’m scared of those things. And I’m almost done with final year. I’ll be through with exams before it starts showing major signs. Our people can start marriage talks by then.’
‘Yes dear, all will be well. I have no doubt you’ll give birth to a fine, strong boy.’
‘And if I want a girl?’ Linda teased.
‘Ah! A male child should come first. All others can be girls if they wish...’
They talked in whispers as though the walls had ears, as though these walls would divulge their secret to every passerby. This was their business and nobody else’s.
‘But there’s also a little something to do right now. Just to get things started,’ Mike added.
‘Something like?’
‘It’s a surprise; be back in a minute!’ And he hopped off the sofa and slipped into his bedroom.
She sat up, curious to what the surprise was, but didn’t have to wait long for in less than a minute Mike was out with a small calabash adorned with strings of beads, palm fronds and chalk markings. He pushed the magazines lying on a side table down to the floor and planted the object firmly on the table. He opened the lid. It contained a colourless liquid.
‘Uh...Mike, please what’s this!?!’
‘It is holy water my dear, from a sacred stream in my mother’s hometown, provided by our native doctor. Every son in our family, including extended family, has such a calabash. And once ours is old enough, we shall definitely get one for him. It’s to protect babies and make sure of safe delivery. But the only problem is that if I’m not the father of the infant in your womb, both mother and baby will die’ he said, placing a hand on her knee.
‘Holy water?’, ‘Native doctor?’, ‘How do those two go together?’ came Linda’s barely audible reply after a minute’s silence in memory of the tragic demise of the ‘undying’ love she thought she had for him up until a few moments ago.
‘You heard me right’ a plain faced Mike replied. ‘So are you going to drink it or not?’
‘Please I’m not drinking this...this rubbish. How do I know you’re not simply trying to poison me to get me out of your life or something?’
‘It’s this simple, if I am the father, you must drink this potion’. ‘If not, I suggest you leave my house’, and he stood up, like someone about to get angry.
‘But I thought you’re a Christian. Why are you doing this? It’s your baby, I swear.’
‘Then drink!’
‘Mike, please believe me’, Linda said as she began to cry. ‘I have no-one else besides you. Nowhere else to go...’
Michael had rehearsed this scene a dozen times, where a girl comes claiming she’s carrying his baby, and how he sends her away. Especially university girls, for they maintained campus boyfriends. He had even gotten pointers from funny home videos, like the stupid calabash for instance. But this was real life and not a movie. Linda’s crying was muffled and suppressed, but the way her body shook with each sob told of something more violent going on within. He put his arm around her and told her to stop crying, then walked to fridge to get them both a drink.