Her Cross

Her Cross, Her Crown Episode 6

12 months ago

Tonia sat on the wooden bench outside her family’s house, cradling her three-month-old son in her arms. The morning sun warmed her cheeks, and for the first time in a long while, it didn’t feel harsh. The breeze carried the smell of fresh ogbono soup being prepared somewhere in the compound. Her baby, slept soundly

Her Cross, Her Crown Episode 5

12 months ago

The day started like any other. It was a humid Tuesday morning in early April. The rain had just stopped drizzling over Lagos, and the streets were wet and alive with impatient horns and yelling hawkers. Tonia had barely slept the night before. Her lower back ached with a rhythm she couldn’t explain, and her

Her Cross, Her Crown Episode 4

12 months ago

Tonia’s eighth month came with a new kind of silence—a heavy, uncomfortable one that settled in her bones and refused to leave. The kind of silence that creeps in when your body starts to feel like a burden, when your soul feels stretched thin, and when the world treats you like a ticking bomb. Every

Her Cross, Her Crown Episode 3

12 months ago

By her fifth month, Tonia’s stomach had rounded into undeniable motherhood. The local tailors by the roadside had grown familiar with her shape. She wore long, flowing gowns—mostly secondhand ones from Katangowa market that her mother adjusted to fit her swelling body. But even with all the layers, her pregnancy wasn’t something she could hide

Her Cross, Her Crown Episode 2

12 months ago

It was a warm Saturday morning when Tonia boarded a rickety bus from school to her parents’ house in Ikotun. She hadn’t been home in two months. Between her growing bump and the fear eating at her heart, home had become a ghost she dreaded. But hiding was no longer an option. She could no

Her Cross, Her Crown

12 months ago

Tonia’s hands trembled as she stared at the white plastic strip lying on the sink. The two red lines stared back at her—bold, unbending, unforgiving. Positive. The walls of the cramped bathroom in the hostel room suddenly felt smaller, like they were pressing in on her. Her breath came in shallow bursts. She tried blinking,