Hello....

Unedited.
*****

Mimi's whole attention had been on her phone for the past few days. She had been scrolling and checking unread messages to see whether if by any chance, Sadiqu's message has been sent. The message report said it has been delivered. Does that mean he has seen the text and decided to ignore her? Mimi huffed an air of frustration.

Since it's been a week already, she promised herself not to bother about it again. She would rather go and take a course on how to teach kids with learning issues.

"Baaba wants to see you," Sabirah knocked and informed her by the door. Mimi nodded at the woman. She was now a part of the family. The woman had aged and looked worn out. When asked of her relatives, she said she couldn't remember any since she has been a maid since she was ten.

Mimi looked at the mirror and noticed the bags and dark circles under her eyes. She smudge a concealer underneath them and smeared a gloss on her lips.

Looking at the clothes she was wearing, she moved to her wardrobe and flipped over a kimono on the knee length jean she was wearing.

Asnah was with Maama when Mimi came out. She waved at them with a smile before she pranced to Baaba's apartment.

Mimi made her salaam and entered his parlour. He wasn't there. She turned around and was about leaving when she heard him clearing his voice from the inner parlour. Mimi limply sat on one of the cushions and waited for him to come out.

Her fingers went to and fro on the material of her kimono. She didn't know why she was nervous though. Baaba's faint steps alerted her he was there. She looked at him dressed in a jean and shirt with a face cap that barely covered his afro hair. Baaba was old schooled. There were strands of grey hair peeking out of his cap.

"Your mother has done her own complain, but I don't care. I want to feel youthful." He said, when he noticed the way her eyeballs were rolling about the direction of his head.

Baaba slide the back door and drew two wooden rocking chairs. He gestured for Mimi to sit on one of them while he took the other.

Mimi was quiet even after what he said. She just did as he instructed and waited for what he had to say.

Baaba roamed his hand on his belly before he sighed. "You got a proposal." Mimi's heart slammed against her chest. Proposal? She didn't remember someone talking to her. She didn't remember sending someone to Baaba.

"Proposal?" She asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yes. It was General's brother." Mimi hummed.

"Baaba I'm not ready. And even if I'm ready, I can't go back to that family. A lot of memories lie within the confines of the mansion. I can't reside in Bauchi. I can't ttt..." Her voice broke.

You're actually a divorcee not a widow!

Her mind whispered to her. Mimi cleared the mist around her eyes.

"I won't force you. There's no need to rush. Whenever you're ready, you can tell me or your mother." Mimi spread a small smile across her lips.

"Thank you Baaba," she rose to her feet so that he won't talk of anything again.

"Tell your mother I'm off to play Badminton with George and co." Mimi nodded and flashed away with a lot of thoughts ongoing in her head.

When will she regain her full self? It wasn't General's case alone that touched her. Even Leek's attitude towards her made her sick. Summing up the two, it made her feel like a bad fellow.

****

Leek scrolled through her call log and hissed. She drew up the dial pad and punched some numbers into it. After that, she stared into the screen for two minutes.

What would she say if she calls?

Maleekah hissed and touched the dial button. It rang twice only before the call was answered. Maleekah's heart lurched when she heard his voice. She had missed him, undeniably.

"I want to speak to Yusrah." She masked the silence with that excuse.

Sadiqu raised one of his eyebrow and struck his beard. He missed her too.

"She's gone to islamiyya." He shortly replied.

"Okay when she's back." Leek replied, sitting up from where she was laying. When she saw aunty Tasneem approaching the door slide of the room she was accommodating, Leek wore her comfy slippers and faltered out with the phone still glued to her ear.

"What?" Sadiqu's voice croaked.

"You mean you won't apologize?" Leek replied.

Apology number what? Sadiqu could remember begging her to come back over the years. He could remember calling her countless times. He even said he has forgiven her for all she did to him so far she would come back for his child.

"Missed me?" Sadiqu asked with a sly smile making it's way on his face. Leek hissed upon hearing that and cut the call angrily.

"I want us to talk Maleekah."  She heard aunt Tasneem's voice behind her. Leek managed to smile but it seemed futile.

"Alhaji has started complaining and when I put what he told me into consideration, I saw that it's the truth. You have started becoming a burden on us. Eat, sleep, eat sleep. It's not easy taking up..." Aunty Tasneem was cut shut with Leek's whimper.

What was her aunty implying? What did she wanted to say? After she has instigated her to come out of her marriage this is what she could offer? Really?

The most annoying thing to Leek was, aunty Tasneem's house was the total opposite of what aunty Tas narrated to her. She was practically worshipping her husband. She was also afraid of him like no tomorrow. But that was the total opposite of what she told Maleekah.

She had instilled a lot on Leek. She had shown Leek that she was the boss in her home but... It was all a bloody lie. Leek couldn't believe it all.

"Don't worry aunty Tas. I will pack home next morning."

"But this is not what I meant Maleekah..."

"No aunt. Thanks for everything." Leek retreated and left her aunty's sight. She went straight to the room she was and grabbed her keys.

She needed some fresh air.

Aunty Tasneem watched as Maleekah zoomed out of the house.

'Idiot!' She mumbled under her breath and hissed.

****

Fatimah and Bar Nuraddeen were back on a fresh platter. After confronting his father with Mimi's help, he was permitted to marry Fatimah. His mother was totally against it but after receiving a threat from her husband, she simmered down. One thing though was, she would never like the girl. She would just allow the marriage to take place because she had no other option.

"Where's Muhseen?" Noor asked Fatimah. Fatimah shrugged. Dr Muhseen was still seeing her. She was confused of whom to choose between the two.

Dr Muhseen met her uncle first. Bar Nuraddeen contacted Sadiqu first. She knew her uncle so well. He would definitely marry her off to one poor person after collecting a lot of money from these two. So, she wasn't worried. Fatimah was ready to accept whatever fate presented to her.

"Have you met uncle?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"I haven't yet." He replied. Fatimah kept quiet weighing what she wanted to tell him. Fatimah looked at him before she began talking. She hoped it won't come back to her or them later. Fatimah hoped it was the right decision.

****

Life kept rolling in and out as the days followed it continuously. Things were changing. Some noticeable, some went unnoticed.

Fatimah was sweeping the compound when Inna came out of toilet with a kettle on her hand. She grimaced before she spread a mat and sat down.

Fatimah finished sweeping and joined frowned face Inna.

"I'm tired of seeing you. I'm tired of seeing guys coming to this house without any good result. Fatimah I will marry you off to someone without seeking for your decision." Fatimah's eyes remained glued to the ground as she played with the end straw of the mat.

What could she do about that? Everything's matter of time. No matter how she rushed things, if they're not meant to be, they will never be. Why was Inna in haste?

"Kina ji na ai? I hope you're hearing me." Fatimah nodded. What else could she say? She wasn't happy too. Her younger sister had four children now. All her mates were married.

"Keep nodding head like an agama lizard." Fatimah didn't chuckle. She silently left the place when Sadiqu came in with Yusrah by his side.

"Kai come!" Inna called him immediately he took Yusrah to the toilet and waited for her to come out.

"Inna ta." He smiled and sat, folding his legs.

"I won't waste my time preaching while I know you know better. There's this girl. What's her name again?" Sadiqu kept mum.

"I'm asking you." He raised an eyebrow. How would he know whom she was referring to?

"Yauwa Hansai. You do know her right?" She asked. Sadiqu shook his head in nay.

Fatimah and Yusrah came to pass. Inna kept quiet until when she made sure they were out of sight.

"Hansai, late Ashiru's wife. I'm talking of her." Sadiqu remembered Ashiru. He was his friend when they were kids.

"What about you going to see her. If things go alright, you two will get hitched within a short time since you're not kids." Sadiqu closed his eyes to envision her. He couldn't exactly describe her but he knew she was one very fair woman. Her fairness was too much for him. He knew that.

"She's beautiful. But if you don't like her, you can go and see Amina the divorcee, you see she's still young too. But I prefer Hansai. " Sadiqu pursed his lips away from Inna's gaze. He wasn't interested and at the same time, he doesn't want to say no to Inna's face.

"Okay let me go and refresh up." Inna looked at the path he followed and remembered Jameel. Where was he now? Was he dead? If alive, what was he doing? Why won't he come back home? Jameel was her favorite child. She fell in love with him the very first she gave birth to him. There was this special attraction she had for her son. She didn't know why, but he stood out among her kids.

'Where are you Jameelu na?' She asked in her mind as tears stroll down her cheeks.

****

Songhay, Niger.

The compound was gloomy silent. Faint voices were the only sound being heard. People were talking in hushes as they prayed along. Khadijatou lost her father few months ago.

Since then, her mother was seriously sick. Some people said it had to do with her husband's death. Some said it was a natural case. Either way, sickness or ailments clear up one's sins.

Khadijatou was gone to the farm and didn't know what was happening. People gathered in her house when the traditional herbalist announced that Khadijatou's mother has gave up the ghost.

Silent salutations were being heard as the corpse was being washed. When she was properly dressed and ready to be prayed upon, Khadijatou and Jameel came inside the house giggling at a particular joke.

The gloomy faces that answered their salaams made them felt their stomachs churned. They managed to get in properly.

Khadijatou's feet went cold. No one told her but she knew what happened when she casted her eyes around and didn't saw her mother. Even though sick, Khadijatou's mother would often sit by the hut's entrance knitting a dress. She said she's knitting it for Khadijatou's first child.

Khadijatou went on her knees when she saw the white cloth. That was the same cloth her father was wrapped in. She didn't open the cloth, she only turned to Jameel and mumbled something that only few would get it.

"She's gone. Mumma is gone." She sped to their hut and closed the door behind her where she broke down.

No one went after her. The corpse was taken out by Jameel and others for it to be taken to it's final home. Jameel felt sympathy for Khadijatou. She had no one left except her uncles.

****

"Abba where are going?" Yusrah asked when they entered a cab to Mimi's house on their way back from school. Yusrah noticed them to be following an unfamiliar route.

"Just keep quiet and watch." Sadiqu said and typed something in his phone.

'For Asnah, yeah.' That was just it.

Mimi received it immediately. Was that what he had to say after months? She had waited for months and gave up. Okay, she won't give him any reply. She pouted and tossed the phone away.

Sadiqu stopped at a shop nearby and bought some sweets and biscuits.

Few minutes later, he arrived. With no inquiry, the gatekeeper let him in.

***

"Here." Mimi dropped Asnah's bag in the table close to Sadiqu. She has put all they will need in it.

"What's with the silence?" Sadiqu asked when she came back with a jug of juice and dropped it. Mimi glared at him and turned to leave.

"I'm sorry." Sadiqu said. Mimi stopped padding. She felt the words slowly finding a place in her heart.

"Sorry for what? Asnah will be here in a jiffy. She turned around and answered him. Yusrah looked at the both before she decided to talk.

"Abba is this the new Umma?" It was after Yusrah said that, Mimi noticed the little girl.

"Good afternoon Umma." Yusrah springed in greetings. Mimi became impressed.

"Cutie, come here." She held her up.

"What's your name?"

"Yuchlah."

"Oh cute Yuchlah." Mimi pinched her cheeks.

"No not Yuchlah. It's Yuchlah." Mimi laughed and dropped her.

"Go and sit there okay? I will bring your friend right away." Yusrah nodded in excitement.

Mimi turned and found Sadiqu's eyes fixed on her. She glared at him and left. Sadiqu smiled.

Asnah was brought to the garden by the maid. They played with Yusrah before the lesson began. One hour later, the little girls have became friends.

Yusrah brought out the sweet that Sadiqu bought and gave Asnah half.

"Achnah Aliyu take this." She gave her. Asnah smiled and collected it. Sadiqu stared at the duo. Mimi stared from the window. Maama and Baaba stared from their corridor.

"Mimi likes the guy." Baaba whispered to Maama.

Maama hummed in agreement. "Since a long time." She added.

Baaba listened attentively.

"You remember that farm? It belonged to him. She has turned it back to him though." Baaba didn't say anything again. It was obvious that he was in thought. Him and Maama left the corridor when they saw Mimi and Sadiqu talking.

"The girls caught up real fast." Sadiqu told Mimi.

"Yes they did. Thanks on behalf of Asnah." She shortly replied.

"The name I gave you is totally the opposite of what you're trying to become now." Mimi turned. What was that?

"I didn't get the sentence."

"You used to be a smiley." Mimi didn't know when a smile came, she forced it back.

"Baseemah is too long. Hence I cut it to Seema. The one that smiles often."

"Did I ask you?" Mimi asked twisting the end of her lips. Sadiqu shrugged.

"Where's Leek?" Mimi asked.

"Where's Leek?" Sadiqu answered.

"What do you mean by giving me an answer with what I asked you?"

"Because I don't know. And I felt like I should ask you." Mimi stared at him. She didn't want to believe what her mind was telling her.

"We parted ways. Since Yusrah's diapers' days." Mimi felt bad. She didn't say anything afterward. She just shook her head and bid Yusrah bye before she dashed away.

Sadiqu could see the way Mimi held Leek dear to her heart despite all. He would love to hear why Maleekah did all she did.

Will he see her again?

****

Inna had been laughing all day long. The house was filled with aroma of jollof rice and moi moi. It was Fatimah's wedding day with one boy, Nura. Inna didn't even see him. She just knew that Fatimah's uncle has told her about it and she didn't ask further. All that mattered to her was to marry Fatimah off.

She and her friends had went and saw where Fatimah would reside. It was a plastered house with three rooms. They had bought furniture and arranged them there.

Inna had met Nura's parent and family. It was the groom she hasn't seen yet.

Fatimah was currently surrounded by Inna's friends as they lecture her and fed her concoctions. Fatimah was tired of it all.

Sadiqu fixed his cufflinks and went directly to the mosque where the wedding Fatiha will hold. He wanted to be Fatimah's waliyy but his uncle overshadowed him.

After the Friday prayer, the Imam announced that there would be a wedding Fatiha. They did all the necessary rites and finally announced that Fatimah was officially married to Nura Alkali.

People were about leaving when the Imam said there's another wedding Fatiha.

Sadiqu waited to witness it but was shocked to marrow when he caught the Imam's voice in his ears.

An daura auren Isma'il Sadiqu Mamman da amaryarsa Amina Sagir.

'The wedding knot of Sadiqu and his bride Amina Sagir, has been tied.'

Sadiqu's friends started congratulating him while he coldly shook their hands.

Who's Amina Sagir? Oh Malam Sagir the carpenter's daughter! That ugly girl that has been coming to greet Inna.

Well, she's dead once he set his eyes on her!

Which house were they taking her to? How could his uncle marry him off as though he was a child? Why? Does Inna even knew about this? Sadiqu fished out of the mosque angrily and made his way to Inna's house. He was going to deal with a lot of people today?

How dare them?

Sadiqu was walking with his babbar riga flying up and down as if he would grow wings when he sighed Barrister Nuraddeen.

"Big brother!" Sadiqu hissed and stopped. He wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone.

"Congratulations Fatimah is all yours. You may stay in this village for a month then leave with her to the city. Congratulations once again for being successful on deceiving our uncle. When you and your friends are ready, you should go and meet Inna then take the bride." Sadiqu said in a hushed one breath and continued walking not hearing what Bar Nuraddeen was saying.

He arrived the house shortly and saw Inna first.

"Your bride has been brought already. Go and see her." Sadiqu felt like punching something or someone. His phone vibrated. It was Mimi.

She was saying she wanted him to come and see her tomorrow. For what? He doesn't have time for her now. All he was seeing was the two big tribal marks on Amina's face.

He was going to deal with that Amina.

Sadiqu stood by the door of his side, and pushed the door through.

Oh Amina, you're dead! He murmured.

*****

Hehehehe I'm very happy rn. I don't like this Sadiqu anymore. It's now better that they married him off to a girl he doesn't like.

Oh Mimi😓 take heart, I know this news will break you.

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