26: jannah kakangi

Her tyre got punctured. She parked by the road side and kept looking around, hoping to see a face she had known or recognized, but nothing came. It was dark already and the few cars that were passing alonside the road kept decreasing with each passing of the hands on the clock. She wondered what she was going to do, she had no one to call but him, and he was definitely out of the line, considering how they ended it before she left. She couldn't even call Ammi because she knew she would ask her to call Al-mustapha, same story.

The night was getting older and she was now even sitting in her car, not knowing what to do. That day when they went to Tambuwal came flashing into her mind and she wished she hadn't said those words to him, who knew that her tyre too would one day get punctured and she couldn't be able to do anything about it? Just sit in the car and wait for the wonders of god? It was already 9pm, she had to pray, eat and study. But mostly, her whole body ached and she needed to sleep so bad that she thought about to she was going to wake up the next day.

She dailled Abida's number, their head maid because she didn't have his contact. On picking, Fatima Zarah pulled a poker face as if Abida could see her and spoke, "Please is he back home? I've been calling him and it isn't going through." There was no way she wa stelling Abida that she didn't have Al-mustapha's number.

"Yes, Hajia. He is, should I take the phone to him, then? He's having dinner in the dining table." She heard the sound of Abida moving even before she said yes to her request, but it was evident that she wanted her to give him the phone, obviously.

She entered the living room with a salam and walked to the dining table with her body slightly shaking. The kind of disgusted and brisk look Al-mustapha flashed her made her wish she didn't pick Fatima Zarah's call, because she couldn't say she wished she didn't walk into the house, because there was no way she was saying no to Fatima Zarah either.

"I'm sorry, Alhaji. Hajia wants to speak with you, she said she has been calling your line but it's not going through." He was silent for a moment, thinking who that Hajia could possibly be. This woman wasn't from the palace, he would've said it was Mama Fulani. Then he recalled, she referred to Fatima Zarah as Hajia.

"Leave, I'll call her now." He dismissed her with a wave and she relayed the message to Fatima Zarah before she ended the call. He had waited for her so long that he wondered what took her so long without coming back. She left the place nearly an hour before he did, and it was already past 9. Where did she went to?

"Where are you that you stay this late, Fatima?" He knew she hated the name so much, but he just want to rile her up to an extent.

"Don't call me that, if you can't add up the Zarah then don't bother about calling my name all your life." She said immediately smacked her lips. She wanted his help here and she's throwing words at him? So smart of you, Fatima Zarah, she mused to herself and wished she could take her words back.

"I asked you something and you're totally diverting the attention of your conversation to something else. Infact, why did you call me? All that aside." He crossed his hands over his chest. He'd rather watch the meal gloriously sitting on the plate while talking to her than eat as he spoke.

She cleared her throat, looked through her window and that's when she noticed two huge police dogs walking towards her car as they barked. She got afraid, there was no other creature she was afraid of, in the whole world apart from a dog, everything will come as a second. She spoke with a shrilling voice.

"My car got punctured around..." she looked over at the area before she described directly where she was and told him, and now the two dogs were around her door, barking through her window even though she had the glass swung up.

"And how does that concern me? Don't you know how to repair a punctured tyre? You probably have an extra tyre in your trunk, use it to come back home then." He was about to end the call when she screamed at the pitch of her voice.

"Please don't end the call," her voice was shaking, she was a few seconds away from crying. "There are two huge police dogs at my window and they keep barking and that always freaks me out. Will you please come and get me home?" She pleaded, and for the first time she was genuine when she begged him.

"Get what? I won't do that, don't even think about it. You probably can replace that punctured tyre with the extra one and come back home on your own, aren't you a strong woman? If not, it's a shame then. Also, the dogs might rip you apart to pieces for all I care, only that the news headline tomorrow will be: The royal wife, known to be as Fatima Zarah Tambuwal, wife to Acp Al-mustapha Maccido is found dead in her car when two unknown dogs ripped her apart to death. People will cry, but I won't, that will be the end of everything. I'll hang up now." And he did, the end call sound ripped directly into the aorta of Fatima Zarah and she didn't know when the pain and the barking coming from the dogs made her bursted into tears. What kind of marriage had she embroiled herself in? Or rather, Ammi walked her into?

❀

For the whole of yesterday night, she couldn't sleep. Somehow, god sent help to her. Two men with a woman at the back of the car rescued her from the dogs and they repaired her tyre for her, put the extra and removed the punctured one. She got home while her lips was a mess made from her cheeks and she didn't even try looking at the way his chamber was positioned, because her mind would be forced to go into his room and rip him apart, just like he said the dogs would do to her.

It was Friday, but she didn't feel like going to the court today. She texted Barr. Aliyu to do all the necessary for her before she laid back on her bed, not that she could sleep. She wanted to see Ammi today, no, she needed to. Her whole soul was a crumbled mess and she knew it was only Ammi that could set things right for her, that would clear whatever mess Al-mustapha had created in her mind. One thing she had in mind was, she would surely make him regret what he did to her, a promise she made to herself.

She sluggishly walked to the bathroom, surprisingly the weight in her heart was trying to weigh her soul and even body too, and it wasn't a beautiful feeling at all. She had her bathe, giving herself a pep talk about she must attend Jamila's wedding even though she wasn't in the mood of lifting her hands up, Jamila owed that to her. She went to the dining area for breakfast and after she was done, she recalled about that girl.

"Abida," she called out, and Abida rushed out from the kitchen and bowed her head at her.

"Where's that girl that lives in your chamber? Call her for me."

"Oh, Jannah? Right away, Hajia." She rushed outside and Fatima Zarah followed her moving body, rolling the name through her lips. Jannah, it was a lovely name. Even though she hated the owner of it.

Jannah walked into the living room tailing behind Abida, she motioned for her to sit on the carpet while she sat on the sofa. "What's your name? Abida said you're Jannah, right? Jannah who?" She knew if this question was thrown at her, she would be more than pissed off at the one who asked. But normally, people have a father's name, right? And they bear it along with their names. Just like Ammi was Summayah Kamal Tambuwa, Al-mustapha Muhammad Maccido, Aliyu Hammad Jabir, she must surely have a father's name too. Everybody had, well, expect for Fatima Zarah Tambuwal.

She ducked her head down and began fidgetting with her long fingers, "My name is Jannah Idris Kakangi."

"I'll straight and blunt to you, Jannah. You're too young for me to fight with or unleash my fire on, what's with you and my husband? I want an honest answer, but if you want me to show you my bad side, then you can try lying to me."

"I'm the daughter of a gateman, the man who guards the residence of Alhaji Mahdi Jari, the hosue got robbed and he was killed alone with his two boys and the wife. The robbers took my father along and wanted to take me with them, but he rescued me and shot the two robbers holding me on the leg. He first took me to one of those female officers, her name is Stephanie, and her husband tried to rape me while I stayed with them. When she reported to him, he asked her to bring me to him and he told me that I'll stay in his house until he was able to know the whereabouts of my father since I don't know any of my relatives. I've only known my father in my life, no one apart from him."

She was crying so hard that despite Fatima Zarah not wanting to feel sorry for the girl, she did. She took her eyes away from her and cleared her throat. "Has he told you the progresses about finding your father, Jannah?"

"I've only seen him once, since I came to this house, and that's when he came back from office and before I rushed to him he has already disappeared into the house. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure if he has found him, he would have asked me to come."

Fatima Zarah knew Al-mustapha had probably forgotten about a certain girl he had kept in his house until she spoke to him about her. Even though she knew he didn't joke with his work, he was still on the case, but his instincts had never told him that it was only right when he called this girl and told her what was going on so she would atleast have a peace of mind. She had no father and didn't wished for once that she did, but she might understand the pain Jannah was going through. Imagine this happned to Ammi?

"Have you finished school yet? And how old are you?" It was surprising that she had planned to throw this girl and all that belonged to her outside the gate of this house before he came back so he could taste the kind of pain he caused her, but she was feeling a strong urge of sympathy towards her.

"I finished my secondary school this year, I'm 18."

"Do you have something nice to wear? If not, I'll bring you an abaya, you'll escort me to a friend's wedding. It's torturing staying indoors for months, right?" Jannah shot her head up with a surprising look at Fatima Zarah and she was even more surprised at the smile that was on her face.

She was feeling uncomfortable, so she fumbled on the spot she sat on, fidgetted with her fingers and shyly replied. "I have only five pairs of my clothes with me here." She couldn't wait to wear the abaya Fatima Zarah stood up to get her for, but most importantly she couldn't wait to go out of this house, to a wedding!

Incase you've missed it. I've dropped a little something on both okadabooks and selar. Upto chapter 65 sha😉 links on my bio.