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Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Qul a'uudhi bi rabbin naas
Malikin naas"

I woke up to the sound of a voice reciting the Surah An Naas. I shook and tried to raise my arms. They were tied, i looked around and  I tried to search reasons why my hands and feet would be tied and why Ajike would be reciting a protection dua without a hijab on. I turned to look at her. She was bound to a leather chair and her feet was tied to the legs of the chair.

Tears sprang to my eyes. I surely put this on her. I surely did. My throat feels papery, like a large brush with sharp bristles was run through it.

"Are you awake now?" Ajike whispers and turn to look at her. The rope around her  tummy looks tightly bound, whoever bound her did it   so wickedly.

"Do you know who kidnapped us yet? How long have we been here?" I whispered back and she shakes get head. I look again at the rope around her belly and her wrists bound tightly to the arms of the chair, same as mine.

"We will be fine. By now Mu'adh and Adeel would have noticed our disappearance and definitely be looking for us by now. Worry less. Help is on the way."

I nod and look around the room we are in and I sigh, how did anyone even know we were going to take the long route. How on earth?

We sit with our thoughts in absolute silence until the door opens and the man who promised he was going to shoot Ajike's legs came in. He walked towards us with a mocking smile on his face, his grey eyes twinkling in mischief, he began twirling his short cocked gun in his left index finger when he reached us making my heart beat furiously at what could happen if he mistakenly pressed the trigger.

"I need to wee. Would you please allow me to ease myself?" Ajike whispers with a hoarse voice at the man and he laughs out loud in scorn before replying her.

"You are not in your house where you can piss at anytime. Here, piss on the chair you are on. Idiot." Anger surges in my heart and I tamp on it with serious effort before speaking in what I hoped to Allah was a pleading voice.

"Please let her pee. She needs it." He hisses and spits on the floor.

" You both have forgotten you are no longer in the arms of your husbands where you can take a piss at anytime." A scar runs from his forehead to the middle of his face, deep scar that probably killed all the potential his face had at being  handsome.

He hisses again and walks out. Probably to guard the door, spineless coward.

"Sorry Ajike." She nods and pulls her lips into her mouth, probably an attempt for relief.

"I'll be fine." She answers with a whoosh of air from her mouth. I feel so sad for her, they could have taken just me. Why add the poor woman and bring torture to her?

"Do you know what time it is now?" She looks at me and answered tiredly. I turn away to look around the room again.

The room had to be large to be able to take a bed and space for tying both of us down. In one side, there were pots, pans and there was a plate of what looked like rotten spaghetti. It carried flies that perched on Ajike's smooth skin every now and  then.

In what seemed like an hour later, we began to hear voices and footsteps. I heard the unmistakable sound of heels hitting pavement and the door opened with a bang.

I put my head down. The owner of the heels walked in front of me and held my head up with my tiny braids that Amina, the house cook back in Abuja made for me.

"Lookup here you husband snatcher." I looked up abruptly. Not because she told me to but because of what she called me. Me, Nabeela? Husband snatcher? Whose husband?

"You are trying to look for a lie kuma? I'll slap that husband stealing habit out of you. I'll ask them to beat you so hard you won't ever look at anyone's husband again." Her eyes are flashing like a raging fire and my heart stopped many times during her tirade.

Who is her husband?

In almost two  years, I had not  spoken to anyone about  marriage. Not to talk of a married man. I look up to her face again.

"I haven't stolen any woman's husband. Not that i would be in anyway  interested in marrying another woman's man anyway." A low groan from Ajike makes me look in her direction.

"You lie." She mentions her husband's name and I nearly swoon in relief.

Husband number one.

She looked on as I laughed. She huffed and then crossed her arms under her breasts. Full breasts, just the way he liked them. I smiled at her again. Then I looked her over, she tied her no doubt long hair into a small scarf that showed her well laid edges. I scanned her gown clad body before returning to her beautiful face. She had an eye brow raised in angered question.

"Why are you here if your husband is in the hospital?" Ajike asks saucily and Afrah hisses before sweeping her hands over her gown again. Probably sweaty hands.  My heart goes out to her, she was probably told that getting the 'other' woman out of the way would help her case. Barely a child shy of twenty one. I hiss lowly.

Ajike's smooth question has had her flustered. She walk out of the room in a huff. Her heels clad feet stomping the ground in anger and the door slam in her wake.

"Affy, is this why we got kidnapped, because she thinks you are after that ugly woman beating worm?" I smile sardonically and nod my head. She hisses long and hard, shakes her head and draws in breaths.

"Half the time, fighting the other woman does absolutely nothing to help, I've tried it once. I know how demeaning it feels when your own husband come home to warn you off his mistress."  I shift as much as I can and stare at her. Stomping footsteps and loud voices stop my reply. The door is banged open again and you-know-who's wife walks in with another woman, light skinned, long nosed Fulani beauty. She's gorgeously dressed in a boubou and hair tie in my style. I smile sardonically, as much as I want to hate her, she has brownie points from dressing so well and so beautifully. Sue me.

She stops in front of Ajike and I realise this is the woman who must have ordered that Ajike's bracelet be removed. She smiles in a  dark, wicked way that has shivers running down my back. I shut my eyes to dull the pain. I might die, all because of a stupid man. I don't even know what Ajike is doing here.

" Ajike, we meet again." She spins on her feet and her boubou flies up to reveal slipper shod feet. She pricks  Ajike's chin with her faux nails and holds it in place.

"I'm going to show you what it means to love a man from afar, when I'm done with you. He'll hate you so much and I'll do all I can to revive him. He'll love me and I'll do my worst to those rugrats you call children. Ugly things by the way." My eyes mart with frustrated tears and I blink rapidly to hold them back. Its so unfair.

"Mu'adh loves me more than you think. Don't let that little tiff we had last week deceive you. The man loves me more than life itself." Ajike's bold answer steels me, all fear I had fled.

"Memee, who's this one?" You-know-who's dumb wife asks Memee. Who takes Memee as a nickname? Ugly.

"That's the Yoruba old cargo that stole my Mu'adh and gave birth to children in succession just so She'll never be divorced. A big lie!" She shouts like a lunatic and turns to Ajike abruptly.

"When I'm done with you, you'll be sorry you married Mu'adh. I promise." She swears angrily with a finger  in Ajike's face. My God. Help us now, only you knows what she wants to do.

"I'll send you back as a deterrent for all those who like my Mu'adh in that house. Good riddnace." She laughs in a almost maniacal voice and I get the reason Ajike hasn't answered her all this while. She's obsessed.

"Ameerah, when I was marrying Mu'adh, weren't you in a relationship. A relationship heading for marriage?" Memee's well made-up face  blanches and I scoff.

"I did it just to make Mu'adh notice me. Who knew he was going to look at you. Black goat, leaving me. Beauty Queen. I don't understand his obsession. His father married a fair skinned Fulani woman, he went and married a Yoruba black goat. Old cargo at that. Innalilahi." She turns to Dumb Afrah and they talk in low tones for a while.

Ajike groans again and I bite my lower lip in thought, how do I get them to do what I want. I turn to Ajike again and she begins to tap her left feet against the leg of the chair. Her eyes are shut and sweat rolls down in beads down her face. What I feared the most.

Contractions.

"What do you women want from us?" I ask in a loud voice, startling them out of their lunacy. Dumbo stalks towards me and all I feel is air and then slam! Against my face. A slap that stings me and brings tears to my eyes. I blink hard to hold them back.

"Don't ask me stupid questions. I brought you here so that my husband stops calling your name in his sleep at night when he makes love to me. So that he stops calling your wretched name when he prays for his wife." I sigh and think about her anger.

You-know-who is going to drive this woman to suicide. I just know it.

"I'm sorry that he's doing that. I'm really sorry. But, have you ever thought of doing the same thing you are doing to me to him, like kidnap him, show him the extent of your power and I promise you, he'll respect you." I try to divert her attention, making her think.

Ajike groans again. And Again. Louder this time. I feel defeat seep into me. No one would know exactly where we are. I try to stretch my neck and I feel the pin of Zahra's earrings against the back of my ears. How am I ever going to be able to return her earrings, maybe that is what is going to be used to identify my body when this dumbos kill me.

Innalilahi

******

Helloooo, *hides under rock*🙋

Ikr, I'm annoying. But not to worry, the next chappie is so close, its Friday.

BTW, I hope all of you who guessed know now that you guessed wrongly. Sorry😖😖

Las las, make una abeg. Go and continue nominating Ajike at the Ankara community awards. 🙆🙆

Have a splendid week.

                      TheOmoope