The Meadow 77 “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you. I love you, Bola mi.” I am tempted to respond so I switch off my phone, climb into bed, and let the arms of sleep wrap themselves around me. The second and third beatings had come shortly after the first. The third was the most memorable. My husband left me on the bathroom floor while blood gushed from my lower half in torrents. Our baby didn’t live past three months. Dr. Amadi, the attending on duty that night at LUTH, confirmed the loss hours after Tobi decided to drive me to the hospital. When Dr. Amadi called a week later to check on me, I repeated the same lie I had told at the hospital, that I tripped in the bathroom. Although he told me to be more careful, something told me he knew exactly what had happened. He just didn’t have the courage to bring it up. I didn’t have the courage either to tell anyone what had happened. How would I explain that my husband had kicked me several times in my stomach while I lay curled up in a fetal position on the bathroom floor and did my best to protect our unborn child? My mother still isn’t speaking to me. Except for the time she told me that I had to return home while eating breakfast, she hasn’t said any other thing. With Bunmi on an errand, the silence in the house is suffocating. I tell my mother I’m going to plait my hair at Iya Matthew’s salon nearby. Anything to get out of the house and not give in to her manipulative silence. She simply shrugs and continues reading her newspaper. Iya Matthew is excited to see me when I arrive at her salon. It hasn’t changed much except for the addition of an external room where her employees are attending to other customers. Iya Matthew leads me into the main salon, her hands bouncing with excitement. “Bolanle, long time no see o. Is it not just yesterday when
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