Kano, Nigeria.
9:13 pm
The cold humid air of early august blows around the hospital corridor, sending shivers down the spine of those waiting along the labour ward. Three, out of the four people waiting were seated, while one of them kept pacing to and fro. An unreadable expression on his face.
"Bello, get yourself seated, please!" His elder brother Alhaji Sa'eed said.
"I can't, Brother. I can't be at ease without knowing how my wife is doing in there. She's suffering" he replied as if his puppy-like face will save his wife from what she's going through.
"Sit down and pray for her. That is the only solution right now, this pacing of yours is pissing me off" Alhaji Sa'eed scolded him.
"Fine!" Alhaji Bello said, heaving a defeated sigh as he sat down "Allah gani gareka. (I'm in your hands, Oh Lord!)" It has bee
2nd May 2006Ten years later, Abuja. Nigeria."Ga Aljanin nan zuwa (the jinn is coming)" Safina whispered into the ears of her sleeping sister sakina "Get up quickly kis kis, you haven't prayed and he's going to take you away" she added.Sakinah yelped and jumped up, it was already past 11 pm and it had rained heavily that day which make it possible for everywhere to be dark.Safina and Nafisa laughed seeing the scared expression on their sister's face."Where is the jinn? Please tell it to go back I'll pray" sakinah said trembling."Well, you're praying isha very late, so it'll come over and punish you," Nafisa said smiling evilly."No!" Sakina shouted in her high pitched voice. Mama rabi quickly rushe
The large compound of Malam Kabir was fully filled with people. All moving in different directions in preparation for their first daughter/granddaughter's baiko (engagement).It was the first wedding in the family after five years. The excitement and colloquy between the people was evident.Deep inside the large household was a room filled with ladies from ages 20 to above, all cheering the said bride with a sneer on her face as she ducked her head. The feeling in the pit of her stomach, unexplainable.The D-day was finally here."The day of her engagement"The day she would finally be tagged as 'Abubakar's fiancee'. And in three months time; she would be 'Mrs Abubakar'. That feeling; wa
Zeenah; In a restless motion. With her hair unkempt like a bag of millet. Tossing around from edge to edge of her bed. She still couldn't bring herself to believe what Abubakar was asking of her.Jolly-good! They've been together for three years and he had never tried to even hold her hand. Why was he now asking for something worst than he had ever asked for? Is that the Abubakar she fell in love with?She wiped the lone tear that escaped her eyes and looked at her phone which was beside. He didn't even call, nor did he text her like he always did. Could he be this angry?It was written all over her frustrated figure, "She miss him."Mustering some courage, Zeenah decided to call him and pretend like everything is okay. That should work right? She thought.The phone rang and rang for a while before it ended without the call being picked up. She tried again and again but all her calls still
There is a theory that nothing in nature is ever lost__that every sound ever made, every word ever spoken, still exist somewhere in space and time and may one day be recalled.So, probably, someday what she did will surely be known, and she'll suffer the consequences of her action.She shouldn't have agreed to it. Khadija warned her against doing it. She knew it was wrong__yet, she agreed to it. Why? Because she can't loose him because of something that simple.He's going to marry her right? So why deny him what he'll eventually get?But yet, she couldn't bring herself to shake of the feeling of guilt.She looked out of her dark window and shiver at the thought of her father getting to know what she did. She'll probably be a dead meat by then.What she did was a mistake she won't repeat.She wiped the lone tear that escaped her eyes and looked away. She ha
Zeenah shut the door behind her, pushed her aching shoulders impossibly straighter and let the sound of voices guide her to her room. Her heart slammed against her sternum as she passed through the doorway. Conversation skidded to a halt. Expectant eyes turned toward her.Now what? The last thing she wanted was sympathy.Forcing an unconcerned expression to her face, Zeenah sat on her bed, dragged one of the suitcases in front of her and started looking through.Within minutes, the room emptied and she was left alone with Samirah, who registered her a seething look which she never noticed.She winced and shifted uncomfortably before forcing her gaze towards the window."Don't go through this without cleansing yourself Zeenah. Don't do it, its not possible." Samirah said in a cautionary tone.She let the tears she had been holding back rush down her cheeks. Her shoulders sh
The feeling is there, that awful feeling that she's doing the wrong thing all over again. It had been nagging her for three days now and it's already too late to stop what was happening.She was now officially Mrs Abubakar.Zeenat Kabir Abubakar Abukur.The refusal of Samira to attend the wedding had painted a grief in Zeenah’s psyche, According to her, the wedding is null and void until they cleanse their selves. Deep down, Zeenah knew she was right one way or the other, but she still couldn't bring herself to accept what they did was wrong and ought to cleanse themselves before marriage.Well, whatever the case maybe___the deed had already been done.The soft tap on the door brou
She opened her eyes slowly but quickly shot them back. She tried opening them for the second time and slowly adjusted to the white roof above her. Where was she? She wondered as she looked around and saw that the walls were also painted white.She tried turning to her right side but felt a sharp pain pierce through her throat. It hurts a lot she thought."You're awake, Ya Allah. Thank you for waking up, you scared me Zeenatu. I'm so sorry okay? I won't do it again__I promise."That was when she felt the warmness of another hand in hers. She felt the hand being squeezed and kissed slowly. What happened? She thought again."I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done it, I know I shouldn't have let my anger cloud my sense of judgement. But please forgive me, I promise not to repeat it again."That was when everything crashed back to her memory. The slaps. The chocking. And the beating with the b
It wasn't as though,he had ever had the intention of beating his wife. It was not a dream and definitely not the best thing he had ever done. He's sure there's more to what he did than what was let out.The feeling of remorse flowed through his veins like some blood he survives on. He feels pathetic for ever raising his hands at her. But then, what will take away the thought of her having the baby that isn't really his?He inhaled deeply, his right hand over his face, as his right leg was sprawled on the floor in his bedroom, while his left foot was crossed over. He had been sitting in the same position for the past two hours ever since he had left the hospital with Khadija.He knew she was still preparing the food she was asked to, but he still couldn't bring himself to forget her expression when she saw the mess and dried blood trailing in the living room. What was she thinking? That couldn’t be brought to hi