04 THE HIDDEN TRUTH

BINTA

My mother, who had by now stopped crying, searched the faces of her assaulters, urging them to answer my question, but they remained silent.

"I'll tell you why," my mother finally said.

"Don't you dare, Safia," Nana warned her.

"Why not? After all, there is nothing more to lose. Your son has already broken his side of the promise and covenant. I will be a fool to remain silent," my mother responded.

Looking at my mother, all I saw was anger and disappointment. I had never seen so much hurt registered on her face the way it did now. I also saw fear and dread in Nana's eyes. She did not want my mother to say what she was about to say, but my mother's mind was made up, and we all could see that.

"I'll tell you. I'll tell everyone. My child, it is not the Almighty's doing that you don't have a sibling. You had an elder brother." She started.

Upon hearing this, I was shocked. No one had ever told me this before; it was a well-kept secret. Why would they keep this from me? I decided to stay quiet and listen, so we did not go off-topic with questions.

"Yes, my daughter, you had an older brother, Danladi," she said to me, acknowledging the shock on my face.

"Your brother was a very healthy baby. Your father and I had him eleven months after our wedding. We were happy and in love. We planned a lot of things for our future. We were going to save enough and escape to Duniya and raise our children in civilisation. We had plans. We were young and naive." She paused.

I remained silent while she continued.

"One day, your father came home early from his hunting rounds. It was very unlike him, but I didn't ask him why; instead, I welcomed and fed him as usual. Later that night, your father started running a fever. His body temperature was so high he had started hallucinating. I ran out of our hut to the next compound to ask for help. On getting there, our neighbour left home and went to get a herbalist immediately while I returned home to try to find a way to bring down his fever."

"You don't have to do this," Nana interrupted her. "We were never supposed to mention this to anyone. You'll be putting us all in danger. Think of yourself and your child."

"Don't bring my child into this." My mother snapped, "the last I checked, only those of us involved in it will be affected. Your son has met his end. Everyone must know what we did, Nana."

"Since we are all family, we deserve to hear this," Gogo said, siding with my mother.

Nana frowned but also realised that the situation was beyond her, and my mother was determined to talk, so she resigned herself. I saw fear in her eyes while my mother continued the story.

"He didn't return with the herbalist till later in the morning. It was a long walk, he complained. I thanked him, and he left. The herbalist examined Haliru for a long time and claimed to know what was wrong with him. He asked me to get some leaves for him to make the medicine that would cure him. I did as he said. With my baby on my back, I almost walked the entire village, searching for the required herbs needed to make the cure. By the time I had found them all, I was thirsty and tired, but I didn't care, my husband needed me, and I had to be there for him." She paused and took a deep breath.

She sat on the mat to relax. The rest of us copied her action and sat down to listen.

"When I got home, the herbalist commended me for the hard work. He even confessed that he did not expect me to get all the ingredients that day. He made the medicine and gave it to my husband. He wanted to leave, but I begged him to stay till the fever subsided. After persuading him, he agreed to stay a little while longer. Every time my husband swallowed the medicine, he would vomit. It was like his body was rejecting the medicine. To add to it, his fever got worse every time he vomited, but we kept trying hoping his system would accept the medicine eventually. After a while, his vomit was mixed with blood. On seeing this, the herbalist said it was beyond him and that it was no ordinary illness. He also advised we get a witch doctor. He told me his closest friend was the strongest and most reputable of all the witch doctors in our village. People who came from all over, even from cities, went to seek his services. He did not tell me his name, and I did not ask. I was too desperate, so I urged him to bring his friend. He returned the next day with Mai'Aljanu."

At the mention of that name, everyone gasped. No wonder my Nana was scared.

MaiAljanu was rumoured to be a disciple of the devil himself. The only reason his success rates were high was that all he did was cut a deal between the person in need and the jinnis in hell. We were all shocked that my mother would welcome him to our home. My mother noticed our reaction and continued.

"Don't judge me, please. I was desperate. I was young and naive, with no one to lean on but my husband and something was trying to take him away from me. At that point, I would have done anything to ensure he got well. I was not going to raise our child alone. I was uncomfortable, but I trusted the herbalist. Mai'Aljanu went in to examine my husband. When he returned, all I saw were worry lines across his face. He told me that there was nothing we could do physically. He believed my husband had done something bad to anger a deity, and because of that, the deity demanded his life. I was devastated and confused, so I sent for Nana and requested MaiAljanu, to return the next day. That night was worse as my husband had even stopped mumbling." She looked me in the eye, and I could see her pain.

"Nana arrived a little while after Mai'Aljanu. He explained the situation to Nana, who was also confused. Then he told us there was a way out. We were a little glad. He said it would cost us, but we had no clue how much. He explained that to save him, a life had to be traded for his life. He then went further and told us that my husband had killed a spirit in the form of an antelope, and the spirit's spouse, who was a deity, was calling for retribution."

We were all in shock. I started wondering why my mother had never told me this story before. We had lived our lives in silence and lies.

"On hearing this," she continued, "I resigned myself. I did love my husband, but every life was just as precious and important as his own. Mai'Aljanu took his leave and left Nana alone with me to care for my dying husband. Three days later, his illness took a turn for the worse. Nana cried every day for those three days. She cried so much that even she fell ill. That was when Kawu visited us. I explained the situation to him, and he decided to take Nana home with him so she could recover. They left me alone with my husband to care for him and fend for myself and my child." Tears started falling from her face. I could see my mother reliving the pain of her past. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Some days later, Nana came back to our house. I thought she had come to help me. She came with Mai'Aljanu. Her spirit was lifted; she said they had found an answer, a cure for my husband's predicament. I was elated. Words could not describe how I felt at that moment, but my world came crashing down when they told me about their solution. They were planning to trade my son's life for his father's. I objected and even asked them to leave. I accused Nana of being selfish and wicked, but she explained that she had offered herself as payment, but the witch doctor had declined. He said she was too old and had little time left, and her death would not bring us as much pain as the deity's spouse had endured for her loss. I offered myself instead, and Nana objected; she said it would be unfair to have me lay my life down for her son, only for him to marry someone else and live a full life. She further explained to me that we were fertile and could always have more children together. There wasn't enough time to deliberate on the matter as my husband was running out of time. They later explained to me that because Danladi was pure, he would not be killed but be given to the deity as a gift to use as she pleased. Therefore, my husband, I, and this entire family will cease to have a claim on him. This brought some peace and sorrow to me, as either way, I would be losing my son. I reluctantly agreed. Danladi was an infant and unaware of his life, so there was no way he would remember us and find his way back here in the future. So I gave him up." She started weeping bitterly. Gogo, Mario, and even Mimi joined in and sobbed.

"My husband recovered, but instead of celebrating, we were all in silence and sorrow. We had lost our only child. A product of the love between our union, our marriage, and us. No child can replace the other. We knew deep down that we would always have a hole in our hearts. Mai'Aljanu returned when my husband was well to confirm the deity's acceptance of our gift. I tried to get some information from him, but he immediately chastised me. He had explained it all before we agreed. From then on, we had no son, and if we ever mentioned our sacrifice to anyone, our gift would be rejected, and my husband would truly lose his life while I would remain barren and Nana would lose her sight. We had to make a covenant, never to mention this to anyone again. I believe the debt has been paid in full now that my husband is dead."

The second woman screamed and started rolling on the ground. Crying heavily. Screaming, "why? Why? Why?" we were confused as this matter did not concern her, so Mimi picked her up and led her into Nana's hut to rest. We paid little attention to her as we were all still in shock.

"Two years later, I got pregnant. We were all excited, hoping at least it would reduce the loss we had experienced. We secretly both hoped it would be a boy. But as the Almighty will have it, we had Binta instead. I read the disappointment my husband faced when he came into the hut to see our newborn baby, but I paid no attention to it. I had lost a child, and the Almighty, in His mercy, had given me another; I was grateful. Three years later, he started acting strange. I ran to Nana for help. I told her my husband was misbehaving, and she promised to talk to him. Sometime that week, my husband came to me. He said he wanted us to talk, so I listened. He told me that Nana had asked him to take another wife who would give him male children as I had failed in that aspect. He said he had been acting strange because he believed it was wicked and ungrateful of Nana to ask of such from him, and the fact I kept talking and praising her broke his heart because it was obvious I was clueless about what Nana wanted and was planning. To ease my heart, he later asked that we both make a promise and covenant that he will never take another as long as I live, and even if I am unable to give him a son, he will love and cherish me all the same and love his daughter like he would his son. I was glad to know my husband loved me that much, and I promised to try to have a boy for him. A year later, we visited Mai'Aljanu to discuss our predicament with him. What he told us was heartbreaking. He let us know that as long as we were on this soil, we would not be able to bear a male child. Explaining to us that all my miscarriages were male children. When the deity took our son, she also took his male heir as punishment forever. The only way we could escape this predicament was to leave Rayuwa. It had always been our dream to leave Rayuwa and live in the big city Duniya, so we felt this was our opportunity to do so; now, we did not only have the desire but also the drive. It was as if Mai'Aljanu could read our minds because he cautioned us immediately that the deity would never let us escape the island, and she would attack with full force if we attempted it in any way. So we were trapped." My mother took a deep breath and asked me to get her water. I did as she asked and brought her drinking water. She then continued.

"We resigned ourselves to our fate and decided never to mention or talk about it again. We were grateful to be alive and have each other. We also had peace knowing though our son did not know us, he was somewhere living his life and being cared for. No matter what the deity did, our blood ran through his veins."