My girlfriend has terrible abdominal pain whenever it is that time of the month. The doctors said it was fibroids. They advised her to start thinking about either freezing her eggs or having children as soon as possible before the fibroids grew worse and turned into something more serious. I do not remember every detail, but I remember that conversation pushed us to talk about something we had delayed for too long. When were we getting married?

We practically started dating as teenagers, and we have had our own share of problems, but what is love without trouble in paradise?

Because of her condition, I was even open to us having children before marriage. She refused. She said it was either I married her properly or we did not do it at all. I did not have money then, but I started taking extra jobs and saving harder for our future.

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One morning, I received a call that she had collapsed again because of her period pain. I was far from home and could not rush to her side, so I encouraged her to visit the clinic and find out what was happening.

Days passed, and I did not hear from her again. Whenever I called, her number was either busy or unreachable. My texts were left unanswered. I finally sent someone to check on her, and only then did she start picking up my calls. Even then, she was no longer her bubbly, happy self. We had known each other for almost ten years. I knew her like the back of my hand.

On Easter Sunday, I stayed around her neighbourhood for hours. I saw her unlock her door and enter the house. A few minutes later, I rushed in behind her and locked the door.

If she was having second thoughts about us, the least she could do was tell me to my face instead of dragging me around in circles.

She was pregnant, and for a second I thought it was the miracle we had both been waiting for.

“Is that why you are bothered? I am not running away,” I asked her.

Tears rolling down her cheeks. I wiped them with my hands while holding her close.

I still remember the way my whole body went cold when she told me the child she was carrying was not mine.

She said it belonged to a friend who had been helping her enroll in a short course she badly wanted to do. According to her, they bought food together, and after that he took her to his room. She said she became overwhelmed by her emotions. I still do not know what came over me at that moment.

She explained that the reason she had been creating distance between us was because she wanted to make the separation easier when the time finally came.

The only question I could ask was, “Why? How?”

She replied, “You were so focused on the marriage process that you forgot I existed and needed money to sponsor myself.”

She wanted to take the course so she could get promoted at work, but to me, that was never enough excuse.

I packed myself up and staggered out to the roadside before finding my way home.

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What was I going to tell my family, my friends, and everyone else?

Sometimes I still wonder if there is more to the story that she is not telling me. We were almost there. This girl looked so innocent, like someone who could not even kill a fly.

I lost a nine-year relationship because I was too good and too kind. I was not blinded by love. I simply valued it because of how much it meant to me.

In late April, I still lost my job. It is funny how life is playing chaskele with me. Maybe it is a lesson, maybe it is not. All I know is that I cannot even think beyond what I will eat the next day. I guess that part will take care of itself.

—Job

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