I had my bath and rushed out to join everyone in breakfast. It was going to be big day, I was going to find out what happened to my mother.
"Hiqmat, your uncle will drop you off at school" Granny said. That was a good idea, I won't have to wait for the bus.
"OK" I said cleaning the table, I hurried into my room and took my bag.
"Don't come home late today" Uncle said, I was surprised he noticed I came late the previous day. "We all knew you came late but sometimes, somethings happen for a reason" he added, I nodded my head in agreement and alighted from the car. I walked into a building, it was a four storey building and the computer school was on the third.
Some hours into the class, we went on lunch break.The class usually last for five hours, I took my bag and left during lunch break making sure no one saw me. I was on my way to the car park to get a taxi, when i saw the man from the previous evening. The man who got everyone upset, I felt like going to go him. I wanted to know why he got everyone angry, but no one asked me to, I continued walking to the park.
I took a taxi to Aunty Faiza's house. I walked into the compound and knocked at the door. Aunt Faiza opened the door and I walked in.
"As-salam alaikum waramotulah wabarakatuh" I greeted
"Walaykum Salam waramotulah wabarakatuh" she replied "Hiqmat, you are early hope you went to class?" She asked
"Yes, I did" I said saving the story to myself
"Good" she murmured
"When are you taking me there Aunt?" I asked few minutes later, I didn't want to waste anymore time.
"Don't be in a hurry dear" she said smiling, "Did you tell anyone you were coming over?" she asked
"No" I answered.
"Why?" she asked
"They won't let me" I replied
"You didn't tell them you were coming here yesterday" she said and I nodded "You have to be careful, you are still a child" she said scolding me.
Few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Aunt Baraqah walked in, I was surprised to see her even though it's her sisters house.
She looked at me and said "You should be in class right".
"Am sorry, I came to see Aunt Faiza" I said
"It's okay" she replied
"Hiqmat, please make some Zobo drink for us" Aunt Faiza said sending me to the kitchen.
I could hear the two sisters bonding as I walked into the kitchen. Zobo is made out of dried hibiscus flowers, cooked, filtered and the juice is mixed with different varieties of flavours. Minutes later I was done preparing the drink, I was about walking into the sitting room when I heard them talking.
"I think we should tell her everything, she needs to know" Aunt Faiza said "She's going through a lot, she may not say it but she's hurting"
"I know, but what if she can't handle it. She's too young for this" Aunt Baraqah
"When are we going to tell her, when they come to take her or now" Aunt Faiza said.
Who is coming to take me?, There are a lot of things I don't know. I took the Zobo into the sitting room and served them, I turned around to leave when Aunt Baraqah called me.
"Hiqmat, your Aunt and I have decided to tell you everything about your mother" she said
"We want to be sure if you will be able to handle it" Aunt Faiza added.
"I can" I said nodding my head.
There's nothing I wanted more than to know what happened to my mother and going to the university. I can handle everything as long as I get to know what happened to my mother.
"Alright" Aunty Faiza said telling me to sit beside her. "If you feel uncomfortable let us know" she said holding my hands.
"Let me call Granny and tell her you are with me" Aunt Baraqah said bringing out her phone. After the call, she swapped seat with Anty Faiza.
"Are you sure you want to know what happened" Aunt Baraqah
"Yes" I said, Aunt Faiza smiled telling her to go ahead.
"Alright, You see" Aunt Baraqah started.
*****************************************
Back at home, my cousin Kareem come home. Kareem is Uncle's son, he's my first cousin. I called him some days earlier, telling him about Grandpa's refusal to send me to the university. He promised he would be coming over to see if he could convince Grandpa.
Granny was excited to see him, she hasn't seen him in a long time. My cousin is a lawyer, he lives in Lagos with his sister Maryam who's in the university. His visits were usually short and unannounced.
Uncle got back from work and was welcomed by his son who didn't tell him he was coming.
"As-salam alaikum" Kareem greeted
"Walaykum Salam, it's good to see you" Uncle replied " You didn't tell me you were coming home" he added
" I don't intend on staying long" Kareem said
"As usual, hope your sister is aware you coming" Uncle asked
"Yes" he replied
Uncle noticed my absence, "Where's Hiqmat?" he asked
"Granny said she is with Aunt Baraqah" Kareem answered
…. To be continued.
Chapter 8
NARRATOR - AUNT BARAQAH
"Your mother, Sofiyah was her name. She was my sister and the third of Granny's four children. We were a happy family, our childhood was great and we had almost the same friend.
Your mum, Faiza and I were always together. You're just like your mother, light skinned and beautiful. Sofiyah was about your age when she got admitted in to the university, she also wanted to be an architect. you both share the same dreams" Aunt Baraqah stopped to wipe off the tears from her eyes.
"She got admission into the university of Lagos, she was doing great at school, never missed a class and always came home whenever she needed something. Things were going fine until her third year in school" she paused and took a sip from the Zobo drink.
Sofiyah came home, during the second semester break while she was in her third year. We were relaxing in the courtyard, when she told us she wanted to get married. Everyone thought she was joking, she told us she has met the boys family and wanted him to meet us.
"I want to get married" she said
"You're joking" I teased her
"No,am serious. I have met with his family and I want him to meet mine" she said
Grandpa was calm, he told her to bring him home.
"Ok, you can bring him over" Grandpa said "I hope you know what you're doing" he added
"Yes father" she replied
"Why haven't I met him" I asked
"No reasons" she replied
Later that night, Faiza and I asked her why she didn't tell us about her plans first, she said she wanted to make it a surprise. She apologized for not telling us about it and promised not to hide anything again.
"You should have told us about your plans first" Faiza told her
"We are your sister" I added
"I wanted to make it a surprise, am sorry if i hurt you" she said
"Promise you won't be secretive" I requested
"I promised" she said
"When is he coming" Faiza asked
"Soon" she replied
Few days later, I walked into the sitting room and saw a young boy. He was sitting beside Sofiyah, a glass of water was on a table beside him. It was obvious he's the one she was talking about, Sofiyah had promised not to hide anything from me but she didn't tell me he was coming home that day. I wondered why she did what she did, at first I thought she was scared we might steal him from her but we will never do such.
The boy left few minutes later and I overheard Grandpa asking Sofiyah some questions, she wasn't able to give Grandpa a good reply.
"He's a student, he's living with his parents. How will he take care of you" Grandpa asked
"He will, God will" she answered
"Really, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable I would have…" he paused "Aside him being a student, he's not well composed" Grandpa added
"He was nervous that's all" she said
"You can't marry that boy, he's not the kind of man I want for my daughters. He's a boy" Grandpa said
"Why? I love him and he loves me too, that's all that matters" Sofiyah said
"There's more to marriage than love, love isn't enough reason for getting married" Grandpa told your Mother.
Grandpa has always told us we could get married while still in school. He said whenever we find someone who we think we want to spend the rest of our lives with, we should bring him home. Grandpa won't have rejected your Father if he wasn't sure about his decision.
Your Uncle was leaving for Lagos the next day, he came over for a visit. He persuaded Grandpa to give your Father a chance, I could remember him saying.
" Dad, give him a chance, you just met him he probably isn't what you're thinking. Sofiyah won't have brought him if she wasn't sure" Your Uncle had told Grandpa.
Granny was not really convinced, she couldn't decide whether or not should your Mother should marry your Father. Granny who was sick, she tried telling your Mother to reconsider marrying your Father.
"Sofiyah, why don't you take things easy" Granny told her
"I am, moreover am not a child"
"There are so many men out there, take your time" Granny advised her.
We resumed back to school and Sofiyah changed. She started keeping to herself, we did all we could to get her to talk to us but she was stubborn. We came back from classes one day, and met her in the room. She wasn't living with us anymore, she moved some of her things to her friend's hostel. We decided to make her talk to us, and when she finally did, she told us with or without Grandpa's blessings, she will marry your Father. She was determined to marry him.
"I love Usman, and I will marry. Father doesn't like him because he's a student" She said, there was something Sofiyah wasn't telling us.
" Father can't say you shouldn't marry Usman because he's a student" Faiza told Sofiyah.
" You have to stop hiding things from us, we are sisters and we need to stick together. If you don't talk to us, how can we help you because you need our help" I told her but her reply wasn't what we excepted.
"Why do I have tell anyone what happens in my life, we are sisters not shadows" she said and walked out of the room.
I was loosing my sister, I needed her to see us as her sisters and friends not enemy. Sofiyah would walk pass us in school whenever she saw us, she stopped returning our greetings. All attempt to get her to talk to us were in vain, Sofiyah's friends weren't helping either. We didn't say or do anything to warrant such treatment from her.
Chapter 9
One day, Faiza and I were returning from the market. We came across a group of boys under a tree just beside the male hostel. It was a regular sight, but something was different that day. We saw Usman, he was gambling!. We were surprised to see him, we stood trying to figure out if it was him or not. Our eyes met, but he pretended he didn't see us. We told Sofiyah what we saw, but she said it wasn't Usman. Sofiyah kept seeing Usman.
Another holiday came, we all went home and Usman came over with his family to ask for Sofiyah hands in marriage. Prior to that, Usman had gone to see our parents. He also put up a great act, telling them how much he loves Sofiyah and wants to get married to her.
Grandpa was made to believe his lies. Usman also went to your Uncle's house a couple of times and bought him over with his fake attitude.
Grandpa agreed to the marriage. Faiza and I couldn't understand what was going on, so we decided to talk to Grandpa who said he was convinced Usman would make a good husband.
"Who told you so" Faiza asked
"He came to see us while you were in school, your brother also said I should allow them get married" Grandpa replied.
"How do you feel about this, do you think it's right?" I asked him
"Sincerely Baraqah, I don't think it's right. I feel that young boy isn't what he says he is. But what can I do, your sister said either Usman or no one" Grandpa said.
"We don't want them to get married, he's not good" Faiza told Grandpa
"As much I want don't want this, I don't what Sofiyah to do anything wrong" Grandpa said.
Grandpa was scared Sofiyah will get pregnant or elope. We tried our best to talk to Sofiyah, we only saw him gambling but that isn't a quality of a good husband. After much ado, My wedding and Sofiyah's was scheduled to take place on the same day. I was getting married after graduating from the university.
We went back to school and I was preparing for my final exams. I decided to talk to Usman myself, he was a final year student too. I found him in one of the classes and queried him
"What exactly is it you want from my sister?" I asked as I approached him
"Come on, you should at least say Hi" he replied "…well all I need is marriage" he added
"My sister will never fall for someone like you, what exactly did you do?" I paused "Sofiyah is probably getting married because you pressured her, what is it that's in you" I asked, i was getting furious
"Am not what you think I am, am a good boy from a good background. It's not my fault you can't see anything good in me" he said
He was from a good background but that doesn't mean he's good. He keeps bad company and amongst others he gambles.
"I don't like you, I really hope all this is what it is. I hope you are not trying to hurt my sister because I can feel it" I told him. I walked away before he could reply me.
I was getting married and so I needed to get close to my sister. After talking to Usman, I decided I needed talk to her. I found her in the library and went to her.
"How prepared are you for the wedding" I asked her
"Very prepared"
" You love Usman, don't you" I said grabbing a seat
"Beyond your imagination"
"Does he feel the same?"
"Yes, Usman loves me. If he doesn't I won't be getting married to him"
"I know, I just wanted to know if there isn't anything attached to it" I asked
"Nothing other than love" she said
"But he's not your type of man, you like men who are older and independent" I said trying to get her to talk
"People change Baraqah" she said staring at me "I met him and my taste changed" she said
It wasn't possible, Sofiyah always wanted to get married to someone older than her and independent not a student who is almost the same age as her.
"Tell me how you met him"
She smiled "We met here in the library, he came to read. That's how we met" she said. I would have been happy but I wasn't. She looked like someone who is in love but I didn't like it.
"Am happy for you too,we are getting married on the same day" she said holding my hands. I forced a false smile.
Exams came and soon I was through with school, after my Convocation ceremony, we got married.
....To be continued.
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