"Oh no, this is not happening again." Zeena punched the steering wheel causing the horn to blare so loudly.

She opened the door and went out, first she was so late. Dr. Bello was not in today, Dr. Karima was on leave that left her and Dr. Ishaaq on the team of doctors who were in the private practice they formed some three years ago.

They all worked at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, they decided to join forces and heads opening their private practice, partnering with an international foundation to make it even more prominent, and with the specialists at hand it didn't take long for them to get people thronging in to get the best health care their money could get them, which made her thought wandered to a certain man.

They sometimes referred their patients to other specialists at AKTH for other fields out of their expertise, but she doubted if a referral would be made to their small hospital. Which made her ask why Sa'eed chose to come to them instead of the TH. She still worked at the TH and went to the clinics in the afternoons and late evenings sometimes at night when she had her off in the TH.

And for this busy day with a ton load of work to do, as if all the people of Kano decided to fall sick today. Which resulted in a delayed duty for her, and now it was almost 10 pm, that was when this thing decided to stop?

Patients' relatives and some workers were still going up and about. She had to go and take a cab or Napep (Adaidaita) outside. She stood for almost eight minutes in the chilly wind outside the hospital, there were occasional hawkers passing by, and customers that thronged the mai kosh da dosh and mai shayi near the hospital gate, and to the left were the fruit vendors that were still being patronized by passersby, which made the place relatively busy instead of the usual quietness of the night. More than two Keke Napeps had stopped but she sent them away.

She was apprehensive, all the don'ts of public transport were screaming at her, first she was alone, second it was late, and third she'd never traveled in a public transport before while she was in Nigeria, ever. Well, unless if she counted being on local flights as public transport, which in reality they were, but nothing compared to cab rides.

Zeenah almost jumped out of her skin when she heard someone speak so close to her. She moved farther to where people were selling things and there were still traders' lights illuminating the place. She swallowed hard, that was when she felt something wet dripping from her face, touching it she realized it was her sweat.

"Dr. Azare?" A familiar voice asked.

"Zeenah." She said turning with clenched teeth and still shivering.

Sa'eed held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just passing by when I saw someone like you. What are you doing here, at this time?"

"Basically you're a quack Mechanic because your work has failed."

He almost smiled "Of course not, it must be your car. Or the way you drive it. Everybody knows that I have a magic touch."

She narrowed her eyes at him despite the poor lighting, "And why would you be passing by here at this time of the day, are you by any chance following me, Mr. Stalker?"

"No, we just happen to be working in the same vicinity, our workshop is right behind your hospital doc."

That was when she took in his appearance. For once she felt bad. All this while she'd never taken him to be really a mechanic. There was something about the way he spoke and acted. It just didn't add up, he rarely spoke English, but whenever he said anything in English it sounded polished nothing like what someone would pick off the streets.

"Don't let the accent fool you I used to have a really good English teacher. So, if you don't plan on staying the night by the roadside, shall the 'quack' have a look at your crappy car?"

She laughed at that, making him smile with some smooth lines appearing near his eyes. How she even noticed that, was beyond her.

They walked back to where she left her car, in the parking lot.

He tried starting the car, and this time around she let him did his thing, at least this time there was no banging of stuff in the belly of her car. He finished looking at it and finally closed the bonnet.

"That's it?"

She said, getting up from her leaning position on her car.

"No, I'm afraid I'll have to get it to the garage and work on it. It's the fuel pump that seized, it can either be serviced or changed."

"Oh no, Ammie is so going to fire at me today. I have to leave right now."

"No problem, come let's go."

Zeenah didn't know how she would narrate her woe story to him, about the three don'ts of getting into a public transport, but she knew he would laugh at her, maybe even call her a spoiled brat.

When she saw him stopped a tricycle (Napep), she said, "Uhm, don't worry let me just give a call to Ammie she will send a driver."

"But you already said you were late."

She moved away from the driver's earshot and gestured for him to come to her. He asked the driver to wait a bit before he went close to her, wondering what her problem might be again.

"What?"

"Ehm ivneverwentinanapep."

His frown deepened trying to decipher what she meant by her words. "What?"

"Okay here it goes, I've never rode in a Napep before, I'm kinda nervous?" Her brows furrowed.

He shot her his own version that meant 'really?'

To her surprise he didn't laugh at her, rather he surprised her further by saying "Oh no problem, I will drop you home."

"What? No, and heighten the level of you stalking me, no I cannot take that chance. I'm going alone, I can do it."

He glared at her "Do you think I was going to let you ride alone? I'm going with you, even if it were in your car."

Zeenah was counting her odds, at least the devil she knew was better than an angel she didn't know. Right now, her angel was honking ear blasting horns at them.

"Sorry, just a minute," Sa'eed said. "Now, come on."

Zeenah winced, placing her hand on her head supporting it. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I think so. Just some headache from your scare earlier."

"Oh I am really sorry about that, will you take something back at your dispensary?"

She shook her head. "It's not advisable to take drugs from every slight pain."

Sa'eed smirked, "Says the drug administrator. You should place that on the front door of your office."

"We have several, they are on drug abuse."

Sa'eed shook his head and showed her to the Napep waiting for them. He watched as she tentatively perched at the far end of the tiny compartment, he stopped another Tricycle and hopped in, giving him instructions to follow the one she was in, that left Zeenah with an open mouth, she felt so foolish.

All this time she was thinking how they were going to fit at the back of this thing together, while he was being gentleman enough to find another tricycle to go in. And he was helping her, taking her home. She smiled and shook her head.

Finally, seeing the mansion in front of her made her sigh, all the ride to her house she'd been checking to see if the other light was right behind them.

When she was finally inside the gate- which she gained entrance only after she got down to identify herself to their Buzu gateman by showing her face under the security light and his lantern- She turned to see the man that saved her day, she found his retreating back after he paid the driver.

"Mr. Sa'eed," when he turned he didn't move, he stopped there, she walked two paces but didn't cover the rest of the gap, "Thank you for bringing me home."

He smiled, no, more like a smirk actually, he turned without saying a word. That made Zeena's brows dip into a V out of confusion.

"Happy first Napep ride," he said finally, the amusement clearly written in his voice. before he slid back into the one that he rode with. Zeenah's face was still beaming when she went into the mansion.

Hajiya Ajwa, took her phone off her ear the moment she saw her daughter walked into the living room. She talked back into the phone "Don't worry she's here."

"Where on earth have you been? Have you seen the time? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"Sorry Ammie, my car has broken down, again! I don't know, the thing has been acting like an old pick up these days."

"Couldn't you have called? Where is your phone? I've been calling you since."

"Oh dear! I left the phone in the car, and my battery was drained. I was so scared Ammie, fortunately, I met someone I know, he dropped me off."

Hajiya Ajwa was now seething "And why would you just come in a stranger's car, I could have sent someone to pick you up. You could've used his phone to call home, what if you were kidnapped, or something bad happened to you? Do you know how many people disappear every day these days? It's going at an alarming rate and I'd hate to think of something terrible happening to you." Now that Ammie had spoken about it, she remembered, it never occurred to her to do just that. Maybe some part of her wanted to spend some time... no. That was not the case. It just slipped her mind.

Zeenah moved to her mother and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Oh Ammie, I'm sorry for making you worried. And he's actually some patient's relative, I know them. He didn't bring me in a car. You can't believe what I rode in today."

"Well surprise me."

"Keke Na pep, it was so good, it felt amazing, all the air swishing around you. And the most thrilling part is when you reach a turn and you feel like you were going to be dropped on the road but then suddenly..." Hajiya Ajwa watched in shock as her daughter rambled off about her chaotic behavior, in a very giddy way, like a kid let loose in a candy store.

"Tell that to your father, when you call him back."

"Oh drat!" She bit the tip of her tongue. She forgot how her parents were all these stuck up rule people. They believed that everything had to move accordingly, that everything had to have some rules and no irrational behavior was accepted among which riding on a Napep was one of them. And talking to strangers, and staying out late on her off days.

"Ammie you should try that sometime, you're going to love it." Her mother ignored her.

"Ammie sorry please, I'm tired and hungry and groggy please smile for me, just one smile."

Hajiya Ajwa swatted her away, "Go and take a bath you smell of hospital and fuel and street food."

"It was once your favorite scent."

"Smart mouth." She heard her mother laugh at her stupidity.

*****

Taking out her second phone from her wardrobe she couldn't wait to share her new adventure with her cousin sister also her partner in crime.

"I'm telling you, Jamila, you need to go on this thing tomorrow."

"So that's why you sound so excited?"

Zeenah's thoughts went to the event that took place before that, "Oh no I forgot to give him the keys."

"What keys?"

"My car keys, Mr. Sa'eed was supposed to take the car for repair in the morning."

"You aren't serious, are you? Why would you give your car to some roadside mechanic to further ruin it for you? I don't know how you keep getting the thing to stop working. And wait a minute, you were just going to give him your car keys, without you knowing where his workshop is? or who he really is?"

"I told you I've been to his house." Zeenah bit down her tongue "Not his house, their house. Why, that may be true but his mother also lives there. You see he can't run away with my car. I know his name."

"That's it? You know his house and his name then what?" Jamila asked in shock, she couldn't believe her friend/cousin would be so reckless, she was the most cautious amongst them.

"That he spoke good English,"

"What has English got to do with all these?"

"Well polished English. Which means he's educated, smart and he takes his job seriously because no educated smart person wants to be a roadside mechanic except if he desperately needed the job and is responsible enough to earn a living right?"

"Mmh, I rest my case Doc." Jamila suppressed a yawn and said "Well good night, I'll definitely look into your offer for a Keke Napep ride."

"Should I come over?"

Letting out another stifled yawn Jamila mumbled "No go save some lives. Good night."

Zeena clicked off her phone, and turned on her other side, she couldn't remember when last she was this excited. Jamila her best friend and also her cousin from Abbie's side seemed to be weary like almost all her family. But she was also an adventurist like her, that's why they were friends in the first place, though she wasn't a wild adventurist like her cousin, they made sure they had their fun while at it, which most of the times gave the men in the house a run for their monies.

She was about to turn on her side when she saw the phone flashing its light, she was too exhausted to move.

She swiped left automatically connecting herself to the caller. "Why are you calling me at 0000 hours?"

"Strange, I didn't know we had stipulated times for making calls." That sobered her up. She sat right in the middle of her bed. "Hello!"

"Hello, are you alright? Ammie said you were not home earlier. Where have you been you got us all worried. And your other line was not going through. I found this from my message log."

She rubbed her forehead with her right palm, "I'm sorry my love, I just ran into some car trouble, but all is good now I am safely home. Thank you for calling."

"What is wrong with you babe?

"Nothing, did I say something wrong?"

"No, that's the problem you said everything right. You just called me 'my love'."

Ufff! What had she done? She never called him with sweet names, it was set she always called him by his name.

"Don't mind me Please, I am so exhausted. Are you still coming on Friday?"

"Oh, about that. I think we'll have to cancel, I will be in Doha tomorrow night."

She felt deflated, one more trip! "Safe journey." She said.

"Will you like to come with me?" His tone was playful, maybe because of her displeasure he sensed over their canceled plans.

Laughing, Zeenah said "I will hold you to that Invitation, right now let's focus on not clawing out each other's face before the D-day comes, I am so tired Ya Allah! It feels as if I am doing everything all by myself"

"You better not wish that Babe, there is nothing that will come between us, even if it is the wedding prep. We can skip it if you wish."

"Oh thank God! And here I thought I was the only one wishing that."

"What do you want in Doha?"

"Just come home safely, dear."

"Hmm, you are too sweet, Babe. Alright get some rest, we'll talk in the morning in sha Allah."

"It is already morning," she said, her eyes trained on her table clock.

"Laters babe." She smiled and clicked off the phone. She sleepily said her azkaar, dreaming of dreamy voices, milky eyes and stubborn men.

Zeenah woke up with a start at the sound of the adhan. What was wrong with her? she brought her legs down into the soft pillowy material of her bedroom slippers, adjusting the sash of her nightgown. She walked to her mirror, viewing her reflection. She had never looked so calm and peaceful after a sleep full of dreams. It was as if she had a restful sleep. That was it, in a very long time she had a restful sleep.

She moved into the bathroom to get ready for the fajr salaah.

****** ****** ****

Let's follow these trio as the mystery unravels.

Who is the mechanic?

Now that question has an equivocation in it. It is left for you to figure them out. 😜

Keep the comments and votes coming. Show you care!

Umm Yasmeen😘