Those where the spoken and unspoken words on the lips of everyone who lived on *Anjola street, whenever they saw 13years old Silifa with her protruding stomach.
Those with guts, mostly the women of the pepper seller's association which Iya Silifa belonged to asked, “Iya Silifa, ki ni on wo ti Silifa fi ni oyun mo e ni ara?”
“Iya Silifa, oloriburuku wo ni oki Silifa mole bani ajosepo, se ko ri wipe omode ni Silifa ni”
Iya Silifa lived in a one room apartment with her daughter for 5 months and had no idea about the growing womb. It was an amebo on the street, who called Iya Silifa one day and said, “Iya Silifa, se o ri wipe omo e ti fera ku ni”. Iya Silifa was angry and insulted the woman, calling her a jobless idiot who was ever poking nose in other people’s business. Despite the outburst, Iya Silifa decided to start watching her daughter and she soon realised from signs that her daughter was truly pregnant.
The onlookers and gossipers waited impatiently for the animal that would come to claim the child as his own. People wondered what was enticing about Silifa to the man; she was just a child, a dirty one for that matter. Asides from the fact that she was chubby, every part of her body pointed her out as child, her breast actually grew bigger because of the pregnancy.
Iya Silifa at first cried rape, but Silifa countered that story, apparently it was not a onetime affair and some people said she was not sure who was responsible for the pregnancy as she had slept with more than 1 man.
Silifa went back to life as she knew it after the birth of her child. After all she was still a child herself. The responsibility for taking care of Silifa and her child whose father’s name was never mentioned or known was on her mother.
The child was a cute one and everyone loved to carry him whenever they visited Iya Silifa’s stall to grind pepper. If you do not know the story, you just assumed the child is Silifa’s younger brother.
The incident had almost been forgotten until 2 years later, at the age of 15, Silifa was pregnant with another child and the tongues starts to wag again but this time the father is known. He was the mechanic’s apprentice down the road.
*names changed to conceal identity
Photo Source: Google
Lara
