MELODY 9

Sunkanmi noticed that it has been a while he heard from Toke who has been in a very devastating mood ever since she found out about her health issues and Uche breaking up with her because of that, she couldn’t even make it down to work, the thought of everything demoralized her so bad that all she just wanted to do was stay home and worry about her predicament. Sunkanmi made sure he put a call through to her just to know how she was doing, she was with Aisha when the call came in

“Hi” She said as she picked the call

“Hi Toke, it’s been a while, hope you are good?”

“Yes I am, I’m okay, how’s Melody?”

“Oh Melody is great, she is still with my mom”

“Alright, my love to her”

“Sure, em, are your okay? you sound kind of awkward”

“I’m okay, thanks for asking”

“Okay, well actually I was hoping if you won’t mind hanging out with me, well that’s if your boyfriend won't take an offense in that or I hope you will be available”

“I don’t know, I’m at a face in my life that I don’t want to do anything fun”

“Oops, I’m so sorry if you are going through a lot right now, I just wish to spend some time with you, but its fine if you don’t want to”

“Thanks for understanding, but I appreciate it though”

“Alright, do take care of yourself”

“Sure I will bye” She hung up the call and dropped her phone on the couch

“Who was that?” Aisha asked

“Sunkanmi, Melody’s dad”    “Oh yeah, you are friends with him?”

“Not really we just got talking after the other night that Uche left me at the club”

“oh yeah, that bastard, I’m going to kill that bastard whenever I see him”

“To what end Aisha”

“How could he do that to you, how could he quit everything just like that”

“You can’t blame him you know, maybe he couldn’t bear the thought of been with someone with cancer, its not that easy”

“Oh please stop making excuses for him, if he really loved you, he won’t let go of you, he’s just a lowlife idiot, I hate that I gave him so much credit that time he was asking you out, you know I was one of the reasons you decided to date him in the first place…..Babe, I’m so sorry you're going through this, you honestly don’t deserve all of this that is happening to you, you just need to be strong babe… Okay”

“Okay Aisha, I’ll be strong” She paused and took a deep breath “I wonder how life is going to be after the surgery, I’m really really scared, everything is freaking me out”

“Its okay girlfriend, its going to be alright” Aisha moved closer to her and hugged tightly, little tears dropped down from Toke’s eyes and Aisha helped to wipe it off “You’d be fine, I’ll be here for you all through the process okay” She said and Toke nodded “But you know you can’t keep yourself indoors, its not good for your mental health, I suggest you go out, I mean we go out and just chill and get things off our mind, its just few days to the surgery, you need to gather all the strength you can get before the day”

“No Aisha, I don’t feel like, you heard me tell Melody’s dad that I don’t feel like doing anything fun”

“Was he asking you to go out with him?”

“Yeah, he wanted us to hangout, he said he wanted to spend time with me”

“That’s not a bad idea you know, I think he’s a better person to make you feel relaxed, I suggest you go out with him, staying indoors is not going to help you”

“I’m not in the mood Aisha”

“Come on now, don’t be like this”

“Besides I’ve already told him no”

“That’s not a biggie, call him and tell him you’ve changed your mind, he wouldn’t mind, I’m serious babes you need it, you’ve been indoors for the past three days, you will see that you will feel better after you go out to chill or you don’t want to go out with him?”

“It’s not about him, he is okay to hangout with………Okay I think I agree, I think I need to get out from this mood and give myself some kind of retreat, I think I need it”

“You see”

Toke took her phone and called Sunkanmi, he picked up immediately “I think I’d like to hangout too” she told him.

Sunkanmi knew of a beautiful garden in town, he told her about it and she agreed because she wanted somewhere serene, they decided to go there the next day.

MELODY 8

 

In the early hours of the morning, Toke’s phone rang out loud which disturbed her beauty sleep, she reluctantly stretched her body to pick the phone.

“Hello” she said, her voice was coerced, so she coughed a little, she felt so weak

“Hi Toke” on recognizing the voice, she checked the phone to be sure it was Uche speaking

“What is it Uche, don’t you think it’s rather too early to call

“It’s not, I just want to apologize for what happened days back”

“Really Uche, it had to take you three days to realize you did a terrible thing to me”

“I know darling and I’m sorry, I was just caught up in that moment and it was really bad of me to bail on you like that, I’m sorry, Toke I’m really sorry……Toke are you there”

“I’m here Uche, just not in the mood to talk”

“Okay, can I come pick you up for dinner? To make it up to you”

“No no no, I’ll be going to the hospital later today”

“Oh, are you okay?”

“Yeah I guess, I’ve not been feeling too well lately, I need to go do some checkups or probably runs some tests”

“Alright, I can come to take you there”

“You don’t need to, we’d get to see when we get to see okay”

“Alright then, talk to you later, bye”

Uche hung up and Toke made efforts to go back to bed.

Later that day, she happened to get weaker than expected and was unable to drive down to the hospital, so she ordered for a cab, tests were conducted alongside x-rays, and eventually, she was summoned into the doctor’s office when the results were out.

“Ma’am you are diagnosed with breast cancer” The Doctor went straight to the point, Toke became speechless, she couldn’t believe the words of the doctor “It’s so unfortunate that is at the third stage which means we will have to amputate one of your breast” the doctor continued

“What!” Toke exclaimed

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, that’s just how it is, we would need consent from a family member so we can start the process, also you need to get these drugs from the pharmacy, it’s very important you do…….”

As the doctor spoke, Toke remained dumbfounded and confused, she collected the list of drugs from the doctor and rose to take her leave, she found somewhere serene and burst into tears, she decided to call Aisha

“Oh my God” Aisha exclaimed when Toke told her the news “Wow, how can this be happening?”

“I don’t know Aisha, I don’t know” Toke lamented

“Have you told Uche?”

“No, I’ve not” She replied, Aisha consoled Toke and advised her to let Uche know at least to hear what he would say, Toke then called Uche to come to pick her up from the hospital which he did.

The journey down to her house was quiet, she refused to utter a word to him despite the numerous times Uche asked her how it went at the hospital, she sat there and shade tears quietly.

“Okay so I don’t get it, you called me to come to take you home from the hospital, which I obliged and I’ve been asking you what happened there, you have refused to answer, why call me if you still don’t want to talk to me, you do realize that I left everything I was doing to answer you and you still choose to give me the silent treatment, I honestly don’t appreciate been treated this way”

“I have cancer” she broke the news to him and he paused

“What!”

“Yes I have cancer, breast cancer, and my breast is going to be amputated” she said has more tears dropped down her eyes

“What the heck, is this some kind of joke?”

“It’s not a joke Uche, it’s not, here is the result” she brought out a piece of paper from her bag and showed it to him which he glanced through

“This is crazy, how did you let this happen?” He asked

“I don’t know, I’ve been having these pains for a while now, went to the hospital to check what was wrong and the doctors told me this, I’m so confused, I don’t know what to do”

“So your breasts are going to be cut off, how am I suppose to live with that, I honestly don’t think I can” he signed

“Oh God why is this happening to me?” She cried

“I can’t do this anymore Toke” Uche muttered, she looked at him and asked

“What did you say?”

“I can’t do this Toke, I don’t think I can cope with you having just one breast, it’s so crazy”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“If that’s what you’d call it, I can’t live with it, I can’t be with you knowing you have cancer, I’m sorry” Uche words made Toke more devastated, she couldn’t believe he could let go of her just like that, especially at a time she needed him most, she took her belongings and got out of the car, paused a little and watched him drive away from the vicinity. Toke was traumatized.