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*****

Mimi tossed to the other end of the bed. She had read and re-read Maleekah's message but she couldn't dissect it into her brain. She sat up, pressed the power button of her phone and browsed through the message again. Mimi rubbed her face, then switched to massaging the side of her head.

She don't seem to understand Maleekah anymore. Whenever she tried to make things alright, Leek behaves as though things were in perfect place and in the righteous order initially. But after a while, Leek will gradually slip away.

Now that they decided to spend the night at Bauchi because it was late to drive, Mimi felt her heart leaping to and fro. She doesn't know what accompanied the feeling. She had been feeling nervous, and shaky from the insides since they got under the wheel.

'Mimi please come out. I want us to have a talk about your husband, my ex husband. This will determine the continuity of our friendship or otherwise.'

Mimi read the message again and wrapped her veil around her head. She inspected the sleeping figures of Fatimah, Inna and Asnah. They were sleeping deep and sound. It was just ten, perhaps they were jittered from the trip.

She gently pulled the door ajar, and sauntered out. The kingdom wasn't dark. Lights were beaming from every angle. The long hall ways had beautiful chandeliers and several adornment items. Mimi was caught in awe and love of the place.

She was peeping at every cranny when she bumped into someone. A man. Mimi rubbed her arm and scowled.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. And the only reason why she apologized was because the man standing before her looked royalty. He doesn't looked like those maids or guards or whatsoever.

"Who are you?" His voice was commanding, authoritative and mighty as if he was the king himself. Mimi couldn't see his face whole. The bridge of his nose was peeking out his royal turban. His eyes were small and feisty. He wore an animal skinned, pointed edge shoe.

"I'm Maleekah's guest."

"You must be Mimi." He arched his brow in anger.

"Why?" Mimi asked surprisingly. How did he know her name?

"I have been looking for you. Mimi Bashir Sagir right? The former governor's daughter? The owner of SeemahSponsor?" He asked to confirm. He has been investigating on her. Mimi stared at him in question. Her eyes lined from his forehead to his toe. From his rainbow royal thobe to his shoe. Who was this man?

"Stay away from that man. Stay away from Maleekah, stay away from all your circles. It's a warning from me to you. If not..." And then Mimi thought she was hallucinating because she couldn't see him anymore. He has vanished.

Was she turning insane? Did he vanished for real? Or was it her imaginations. Mimi was cracking her brain to find answers when Maleekah's heels' sound distracted her.

"There you're. Come to my room." Leek lead her to a corner. The corner was long, with several doors into doors. They walked in quite fast steps until when they reached Maleekah's room. Mimi was in shabbles from within. Allah knows she wasn't understanding anything. She felt feverish on spur of a moment.

"Do you still love him?" Mimi asked from the blues. Maleekah dropped the lighter she was holding earlier. She turned to look at Mimi with her hands on her bosom. Without an answer, she lighted her scented dried leaves and put them in a vase.

Leek turned on another set of lights from an angle and poured some perfume into a humidifier.

"That's what we're going to talk about now." Leek yawed a curtain open, revealing a giant bed. Almost five feet long. Leek pressed a button and the bed's height reduced. She climbed on and pressed the button again, then it hiked up.

"The kingdom is very beautiful." Mimi admitted.

"Yes it is and there's no way you can inherit it." Leek yawned.

"Is that a joke? It's too dry Leek." Mimi guffawed. Leek didn't say a word.

"So tell me how did you managed your ways? I mean how were you able to make him divorce me? And what charm did you used to make his mother dislike me while she used yo like me? Have you forgotten that tables do turn?" Mimi felt her heel itch and her toe felt ticklish. She rubbed them gently on the royal carpet and took a deep breath, swallowing her nerves. She was earlier thinking of how Maleekah's able to change in no time. Or how she's nice this split of second and terrible in nanosec. Well, she's given up.

Leek won't surprise her anymore. It's obvious that, love was making her friend go gaga.

"I don't know what you're talking about Maleekah. My marriage with him was arranged. I had no idea too."

"You tell that to the birds. Whatever I will like you to know that he loves me alone. And no matter what I will go back to him. Have a thought, I have a child for him. We meet very often. He calls to hear how I'm faring. He calls to say he misses me. It's just that I am not ready to go back to him. But if I like I can follow you tomorrow and that's it." Mimi puffed an air when Leek reached a stop.

"Leek it doesn't matter, okay? I don't give a damn about how many times he calls you or the many times he misses you. Men have this natural talent of feeding lies into the brains of their ex. Why? Because they consider their exes to be dumb. So, they play around with their obsessive and dumb mind. Don't you get it?" Maleekah pressed the button and stepped down.

"What do you mean?" She grabbed Mimi's wrist forcefully.

"I'm only stating facts. Leek I'm ready to share my man with you if you change your ways." Mimi shrugged and snatched away her hand and dusted it with the hem of her veil.

Leek gritted her teeth and began seething.

"There's no need to be aggressive Maleekah. I don't understand you anymore since the day this man came into the picture. You're really working yourself up in the name of love. I'm sorry for you but I can't give him up for you." Maleekah closed her eyes and remembered Mimi has once said that. She had once said she won't give up her love for anyone even if it's Leek.

"Mimi!" Leek bellowed.

"Maleekah!" Mimi answered with the same energy.

"I'm only looking out for you. Please do find a way and dissolve your marriage with him. Please, do it for your own good." Leek besought.

Mimi let out a hysteric and dry laugh.

"Leek you're possessed I swear. Youre supposed to see a doctor. Get well soon." Mimi exited the room feeling lightheaded.

*****

It was morning and it's only Mimi and Inna in the room. Fatimah was taking her bath while the males were somewhere around the emirate.

Mimi was folding Inna's wrapper when she thought to ask her a question.

"Inna, Maleekah seems to be unhappy why don't you ask him to remarry her? Yusrah will be happier too." Mimi glanced at Inna through the tail of her eye. She hopes Inna has fallen into the trap.

"No no impossible. Just let her be. Since Allah has decreed a child between them, let it be that way." Inna hiccuped at the end. Mimi brought a bottle of water from her bag and gave Inna.

"But Inna, Maleekah is a nice person."

"She is nice. Allah sarki, she even helped me those days when one stupid bratty of a girl snatched away our farm. May God curse her family. Well, that time Maleekah helped us."
Mimi's intestines twisted, her liver danced and her blood thinned. What type of insult was that? All on her? Wow. The relief was, Inna didn't know it was her.

"She is n..ic..e.." Mimi stammered.

"As a person she's nice and I like her. But as a spouse no. Nasallah said she's a bad luck that's why Sadiqu lost all his asset in a night. Her stars are odd and don't pair with his own that's when I started to dislike her. I told Sadiqu but he wasn't taking me serious. He's just like his father. And to my luck, something happened and they part ways." Mimi just stared. It's like marrying Sadiqu was exposing her to new things. She's hearing things she had never heard. She was seeing things and learning about stuff she never knew they existed.

"Inna who is this Nasallah?" Mimi asked feeling elated. She pitied Inna but pitied Leek more. Because Leek has been painted black based on falsehood created by a random man.

"He's one saint. One blessed servant of Allah who help us see through things. When life isn't going well you go and ask him for clarification. Then he will elaborate." Fatimah was about to come out of the bathroom when she stopped to hear their conversations.

She remembered the time she talked with Mariya her friend. Mariya told her she met Inna at Nasallah's place. Fatimah thought it was a lie.

"But I guess, that's haram Inna." Mimi replied.

"So Sadiqu sent you to preach to me right?"

"No Inna, she's right." Fatimah came out with water dripping from her body.

"You all should be careful with me!"

"We're sorry." They chorused whilst Inna dashed into the bathroom. Fatimah looked at Mimi for a while and noticed the uneasiness Mimi was going through.

"Most of them believe him. I think it's high time we invite Hisbah to come and arrest him. He's misleading a lot of people." Fatimah marked and slipped into the clothes she wore yesterday. Since they had no plans of spending the night, they all had to rewear their garments.

"We will talk about that later. Fatimah I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for that. I was only but a little girl. I didn't know what the life was all about then." Mimi cried.

"I understand it fully aunty Mimi. It's okay. Everyone will excuse you. I just want you to promise me that you will never mention it to Inna that you were that girl. I and Sadiqu will cover up for you and you will have to get used to hearing Inna's insult. If they're real, we all won't be here I am telling you."

"Thank you so much Fatimah."

"You're welcome aunty Mimi."

"No, you deserve the aunty title too since you're marrying my brother." They all giggled and made the beds then packed their stuff.

Later on, an uniformed maid brought breakfast to them. They ate nostalgically.

****

"Abba, Dodo must be hungry no one will give him food." Yusrah told Sadiqu on their way back to the room.

"Who's dodo?"

"He stays in front of our house. And he doesn't even eat people. I give him my food and he eat." Sadiqu ignored her.

"He showed me his face. It's this way." She scrunched her face and demonstrated with her hand.

"When we get back home, you will show Dodo to me. Now go and tell Inna and mummy to come we're going." He stopped by the door.

"Are we going back with my mummy?" Sadiqu turned his head away. It hurts him to hear his daughter asking about Maleekah.

Sadiqu leveled down to her height.

"Ayeeshatul Yusrah, mummy will come with us when she finishes something okay? Why didn't you asked her when she will come back?" He pinched her cheeks still clueless of what he will say to convince his daughter.

"But she said I should ask you. She said I should say I want to stay but I don't want to stay with her. I want to stay with you and Achnah. And Inna. And mummy Achnah." She pursed her lips.

"Go in and call mummy. From today she's mummy not mummy Achnah." He rubbed her head.

"She's my mummy too?"

"Yes."

"Yay!" Yusrah ran into the room and met Inna and Fatimah.

"Inna where is Mummy?" She fell on Inna's lap.

"Are you not coming from her place?"

"No our mummy. Our new mummy, me and Achnah."

"She went out to meet Abba." Fatimah answered.

"But Abba is out." Yusrah then went out and dragged Sadiqu in, as though he was her mate.

"Where's she?"

"She went to meet you. Just calk her." Sadiqu brought his phone out and called Mimi but it wasn't going through.

It started like a joke. They began to look for her every nook and cranny. It took them two hours before they told Leek. Leek went the told the crier. He announced and described Mimi's clothes but Mimi was nowhere to be found in the whole kingdom.

The kingdom turned to a chaos all of a sudden. The gate guards said they didn't see her either. They weren't cameras around except in the king's chamber. Everywhere was checked thoroughly but Mimi wasn't found.

Yusrah and Asnah understood the situation and started crying. Sadiqu became uneasy so was Leek.

Innalillahi wa inna ilaihirajiun.

Where could she be?

Sadiqu checked, recalled her but she wasn't picking. It was when the maids together with Sadiqu were checking Leek's part when they found one of Mimi's earring.

Sadiqu picked it up and came out angrily.

He heard some footsteps behind him. Before he could say a word he heard a voice.

"Don't even waste your time. I took her away."

*****

Ghen ghen. Any guess?

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