As Tatenda was in the taxi from Chinhoyi back to Harare, she felt pain in her heart. How could she abandon her little baby? Her heart was aching with that pain. Her mind told her that what she did was right in order for her to achieve her dreams without distractions.
She stared at the window as if someone had pierced her heart. She had her hand on her chest and tears started to flow down her cheeks. No one seemed to notice what had happened to Tatenda. She sat there and stared into space.
She was dropped off in Harare and went to catch another taxi to Norton. She could return to her parents, but she wondered if they would accept her back again. Her parents would want to know what happened to her baby and whether it was a girl or a boy.
The regret still haunted her and she couldn’t put it aside. Her stomach rumbled as if she was hungry. She couldn’t eat with all the pain in her heart. It was dark when she was dropped on the street. Tatenda made her way to her friend Rudo’s place.
Who has found my baby? Would they be able to feed her? What if a hyena comes and eats her? She thought.
She found the light on at Rudo’s. Tatenda could smell fried livers from the door. She opened the door and went to sit on Rudo’s bed. Rudo was singing and cooking as if she had had a better day than her.
“I’m glad you’re back, where is the baby?” She asked in shock.
Tatenda felt resentful. Her eyes were full of tears. It was as if one-half of her was dead.
“What happened?” Rudo continued. “Come on talk to me,” she persisted.
“I went to give her to Peter.” Tatenda lied.
She couldn’t tell her that she dumped her baby in a park, could she? Rudo would think that she was heartless.
“Did he accept her?” She asked calmly.
“Yes,” she said, facing the other way and hiding her tears.
“You did well, she deserves better. Are you OK?” Rudo asked, observing her friend carefully.
Tears kept running down Tatenda’s face, she wiped them away quickly. “It was the right thing to do,” she sighed heavily.
Rudo gave her a hug for comfort and then they went to the dinner table to eat. Rudo spoke about the stalls but Tatenda wasn’t listening, all she could think about was the baby she dumped.
The next morning Tatenda woke up early so she could go register and rewrite her O levels. She was then told that she would write in November. She had all the time in the world to study. That November she attended school at Mutambe Secondary School every morning and went work at Rudo’s stall after school.
She knew her dream would one day come true if she kept working hard. Her results came and she had passed with 8 As and 2 Bs. She then advanced level A. During all that time she never forgot the baby she had dumped, but she had to carry on. It was a burden to keep it a secret.
“Sister, you are doing well. If your parents knew they would be very proud of you,” Rudo would say to her admiringly. But Tatenda was had bigger dreams to accomplish still.
***
Tell us what you think: Do you think Tatenda was wrong to dump the baby? What would have been a better option?