THE WALL BETWEEN - Episode 1 By HARUNA SHUKURAT
THE WALL BETWEEN- Episode 2 by Haruna Shukurat
Days after I showed Grandpa my result, I decided to talk to him. I didn't know what I was going to say but I felt I needed to remind him about taking JAMB.
Grandpa was sitting in the terrace going through the daily newspaper, his legs were resting on a stool beside his legs was a steel cup. Grandpa wasn't much of an illiterate, he attended the Community Secondary School and took up farming shortly after his father's death. This was the best time I could talk to him, my uncle was fixing his car in advance for tomorrow's activities and Granny was in the kitchen. Without further hesitation, I saved the reluctance and approached
him.
"Good evening Grandpa" I greeted.
" Evening my dear, what do you have for me" he asked, his eyes were fixed to the papers.
My uncle suddenly stopped fixing his car and stood with hands akimbo, he was staring at me as if he knew what I was up to.
"JAMB form would be on sale soon" I said, not knowing if I used the right words.
"Huhm!, that's good" Grandpa replied.
"Lectures are on going already" I added.
"Hiqmat, why don't you just forget it?" He said dropping the newspaper and sitting upright. " Your mother said the same thing 20 years ago" He added.
It was the first time after so many years I heard Grandpa talking about my mother. He never said anything about her whenever I asked him about her. I was in shock upon hearing Grandpa's reply, I couldn't say anything because nothing came out of my mouth, I stood still trying to digest what he had just said.
"You don't have to say that" Granny said, she was standing by the door with a food tray. She had dished Grandpa's lunch and was about serving him, she carefully placed the tray on the stool and started talking.
Uncle gave me a sign telling me to leave, I left for the courtyard where I was picking beans for tomorrow's lunch.
"Am I right when I say you haven't forgiven your daughter?" I heard Granny telling Grandpa as I walked away.
I was getting more confused, Grandpa hasn't talked to me about my mother before and he did today, He made reference to what she said twenty years ago. That's four years before I was born.
I began to fix the puzzle in my head when I heard Granny's voice, she was yelling at Grandpa. I was shocked, if there's anything about my family, we don't fight. Granny yelling at Grandpa? I decided to see for myself.
"Sofiyah made a mistake, why make Hiqmat go through these because of her father" Granny said as I moved closer to the sitting room.
My mother's name was Sofiyah, she was the third of Granny's four children and Grandpa's favourite before her death.
"I am not going to listen to this, what's the probability that she won't make the same mistake, after all she is having the same dream as her Mother" Grandpa had said.
"A mother is different from her daughter" Granny said " aren't you better than your father? Everyone knows what kind of man your father was before his death" Granny added.
"My decision is final, I am not sending her to any university, that's it!" Grandpa said "You don't compare a man to a woman" he concluded.
I was crying at Grandpa's refusal to send me to the university. I was broken, It was as if my soul had left my body, I fell to the ground. Grandpa had always been my model, one whom I looked up to for inspirations, he was my greatest motivation. With every word he spoke, I cried more.
As I made my way back to the courtyard in tears, I heard Granny say " She's going to the university, I will make sure it happens" .
After a while, I decided I won't mind going to a polytechnic not understanding that issue at hand was more complicated than I thought.
Later that day, I was with Granny in the kitchen. I noticed her silence, she was still thinking about what happened earlier.
"I am sorry you had to fight with Grandpa because of me" I said trying to make her feel better.
"Don't say that, you're my child" she said placing her right hand on my shoulder "Children do not have to pay for the sins of their parents" she said as she served dinner.
I found it hard to sleep that night, I was wondering why my Grandpa didn't want me to go to the university and what sin was Granny referring to.
The early morning Adzan woke me up, I said my prayers and went out to help granny in the kitchen. I met my Aunt in the kitchen instead, she had arrived the previous nightd while I was asleep.
"Hiqmat dear, good to see you" she said as she came forth to give a hug.
" Didn't know you had arrived" I said, I wasn't really surprised to see her.
" Yes, you were fast asleep when I arrived. The bus didn't leave Osun on time though" she said giving me another warm hug.
" Ok, you're welcome" I said almost whispering.
"Your cousins sent their regards" she added.
"What brings you home" I asked.
"Well… let's say am about to sue someone" she said and we both laughed.
Aunt Baraqah only visited when her attention is needed for something or when she felt like visiting. It was either one or both this time because she came quite early this year. She lives in Osun state with her husband and three children, all grown ups. Aunty Baraqah was a trained lawyer until she left law three years ago to start up a bakery, she makes the best cakes and hopefully she would make one for my birthday.
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