Too Good to Be Real

chapter 15

They say bad things happen in threes, and Oma's third was yet to come. She had been ditched and left to carry a baby as a teenager, but after that, every other thing seemed to fall in place. It was in her last year of high school that she would believe the saying.

Oma woke up to the sound of Phil's loud crying. She quickly rushed to his side to comfort him. A day before, he'd just returned from a long week at the hospital of being attached to drips and what not. It was so hard to see him like that without breaking down. For God's sake he was barely a year and half and his whole life already revolved around hospitals.

It was three months after his birth that they'd realised the problem with him. Why he was always sick.

"Stop crying. It'll be okay." She whispered rubbing his head softly. Like magic, his sobbing slowly stopped and he let out his tiny hands for her to carry him.

Phil had sickle cell anaemia. Apparently, she and Dan were both AS. She chose to  believe that was also why his head was shaped the way it was shaped and why he always had trouble breathing, and not that her attempts at aborting the child had left him in complications. Although it meant he got sick all the time, Phil was lovely to be around when he wasn't sick. Oma always looked forward to the end of school to see him and so did he. He hadn't started speaking yet so the issue of whether or not he'd call her mommy never came up.

"See my tummy. It's flat like a board. Do you know you were once in there?"
She asked Phil, looking at her naked reflection in the mirror. It was a habit she'd never grown out of - being naked around Phil. He just kept babbling and laughing at each thing she said. Phil was her favourite person to talk to. Although he never really replied with real words, he was her best friend.

Although she'd told herself she'll never grow to love him, on the day of his birth, that all changed. The way he clinged to her and looked up at her for the first time warmed her heart. From that that day, they'd formed a strong bond. Even Nia had grown to love him. Who wouldn't? He was a happy baby. Always laughing, except when he got sick. It was always so depressing when he got sick.

She watched him grow, although she had to resume school a month after she was born. According to Nia, she couldn't miss a whole year of school and she had to join Union high after the first term. Each day he grew, he looked more and more like Dan. A happy Dan, a different Dan. She would raise him not to be a coward.
Now she was done with school. The only thing left was to collect her results and sign herself out from the school.

She dressed herself up and him quickly, and carried him with her. It was the routine. Because they'd left Owerri to Asaba, Nia was only around during the weekend, so Oma had to prepare something for them to eat, take Phil to his school, before branching off to her own school every morning. Today was different. She would get to see her WAEC results.

Dropping Phil at his kindergarten class was the saddest part of each day. The way he looked at her when he realized she was leaving, the way he held her with all his might and cried out his lungs was utterly depressing. But today was different. He didn't cry. He still had that big smile on his face as he waved her goodbye for the first time.

Now she was the one that wanted to cry. She knelt on one knee and kissed him on the lips right in front of his teacher who looked with disgust but was wise enough to mind her business.

"Don't worry, today is my last day of school. After today, we'll get to play for as long as you want." She said still hugging him. "Bye bye Phil." She got up.

When she was outside the building, Phil was still rooted on that spot, with that smile on his face.

When she looked away from him for the last time, she could swear she'd heard him say.

"Bye bye mommy."

***

Each student in her class was gathered in groups debating the universities and courses they'd chosen. Oma was also in a group of her own and from the looks of things, her dream school was the school almost all her classmates had applied for.

From the beginning of time she'd always wanted to go to AUN. It was the best college as far as she was concerned. It was literally an American University in Nigeria. But lately, it was what every single person at Union high was talking about. She couldn't possibly imagine attending the same university with any of them. So she decided she'd change it as soon as she could. Maybe she could discuss her odds with her mum and Phil or find better options on the internet.

She smiled as she thought of Phil. Her mother was to pick him up today since she had a lot to do at school. She had to sign off all her property and do a whole lot of other complicated things before she could collect her result, but the end would be better, she knew.

When she saw her results, she was so surprised. She'd somehow managed a C in each course. She knew her mother would be excited. She'd once been the girl that bottomed the class but now she'd passed every single subject! It was unbelievable.

She had to hurry home but she looked back at her class. At the few people she'd considered friends for almost two years. It'd probably be the last time she'd see them before their graduation. A little chat with them wouldn't hurt.

Just as she was about making the bold step, her phone rang. It was her mother. It was four o'clock. She had to go home.

"Hello, mummy I'm already..."

"Oma! Don't go home. Come to the hospital!"
Her voice was frantic and she sounded like she was crying. Oma felt a very cold shiver run through her body.

"Wh...aat what happened?" She stammered.

"It's Phil."

***