She plans to kill me

The fight has just began

Fateemah sat in her mother's living-room, her face resting on her palms ,her legs folded on the sofa while she just stared vacuously at the rug.

" Why did you do that to me?" Danny asked, sitting on the sofa next to her. " I thought you loved me, we were good, why did you decide to give another person your heart, why darling?"

Fateemah did not look at him, or seem to hear him.

" Where did I go wrong?"" You did not go wrong." She said at last. " But now you have all gone wrong.Did I ever tell you that your name reminds me of someone?" She went on.

"Yes. The boy you said used to bully you and I asked why you did not tell me back then."

" Yes. We met and fell in love. He is the one.”

"What!"

" I was never in love with you. You are my cousin, and I love you as a brother .I never liked this abokanan wasa of a thing. I had never fallen in love before now. I love Danny, my Danny . How could Baba chose a husband for me without my consent or that of my parents."

"He is also your father and he feels he has the right to do so."

" Nobody has the right to choose a husband for me and this is not the old days, knowledge is prevalent and the earlier you know that forced marriage is prohibited in Monotheism,the better ."

"Nobody is going to force you. You are only been naïve."

"Naïve at eighteen? Just finished my first year."

" I just finished three hundred level remember? And I would graduate this year. Don't talk like I know nothing about school."

" Do you think I care if you just got a PhD?"

" Fateema! You have never talked to me this way."

" I wish you know what I intend to say to you, what I feel for you at this very moment. I used to like you, one of my favourite cousins, and had a lot of respect for you. I never knew you were serious when you kept talking about marrying me. I never knew you and your father were in cahoots about forcing me on you.

You shattered my dreams, broke my heart, and embarrassed me. How else do you think I will talk to you? I see you as a barrier between me and my happiness. You are a cause to my greatest travail in my life. I was crying before you came, when I was told you are around, the tears vanished because crying could be a relief but your appearance is a curse, something beyond tears.

You are still my cousin and as a cousin, I am okay with you but you are not here as a cousin, but as a...." She paused, " please ,Ya Danny. Let me go.I love Danny with all my heart. Help me, tell your father you don't want me. Tell him you will get married to another girl...."

" You know I can't lie to him. I love you and I know you will love me too. It is first year adventure disturbing you. I know that feeling. In my first year....."

Her phone rang. She picked it.

"Teetee."

" My noor."

"I hope you are not crying."

"No. What I feel now is worse than crying."

" I told you not to worry. Let God be in control .Let us commit it to prayers."

"I have been doing that. I just find it hard My-noor."

" What matters most is what we feel for each other. No one can stop our love for each other."

"Definitely."

" How is mom?"

"She is fine. I really miss you."

" I miss you more, Teetee."

" Where are you?"

" KD.'

" Where exactly?"

" Home. Just lying and thinking about you."

" I was doing the same before I got interrupted but you know no matter what I do, your thought is always by me, in me, on me, with me. As constant as K"

Danny laughed.

" So, how is my rival and namesake?"

" He is here. Do you want to say hello to him?'

" What? What do you mean by here?"

" He is sitting right here."

" Damn! Do you mean you have been saying all these in his presence?"

" Why should I hide my feelings? Ba munafirci, ba cuta, ba cutarwa(no hypocrisy, no cheating, no getting cheated) . "

" Goodnight, Fateemah....'

"It is Teetee My noor and if you don't say the things I want, I will choose fight today."

Danny chuckled.

" No, you are a Monotheist and ........."

"Monotheism means peace." They said in unison then laughed.

" I love you Teetee."

" I love you My-noor."

" Goodnight."

She sighed.

" I hate to say this but...."she made a voice and face like one about to cry, "goodnight, My-noor."

Danny Ahmadu clenched his hands, his heart thumbing harder while his legs shook in anger. He heard what Danny said. He had always thought she was in love with him. All those times she would call him, saying she missed him, asking when he was coming, staying together for long, so it was not love. It was just a favourite-cousin-thing.

But talking to him in his presence was tormenting. She had openly brought him to his place, a direct message that he meant nothing to her. Jeez! This was an insult to his personality. But Baba Uthman had his share in this set-up. Was he too blind to see that he was in love with his daughter? How could he permit Danny's people to go seek for permission?

Definitely Aunty Sa'a was behind it. She had never been too kin on their relationship but hid it. Maybe this Danny was rich, a business mogul with millions of Bollars.

" I am feeling sleepy." Fateemah said. This was one way of brush-off men hated. When a girl started telling you she was feeling sleepy immediately after Isha, then know that you are unwelcome.

" But I just came."

" The time you come does not affect my sleep."

"But we used to stay up late before, remember?"

" Really? I can't remember."

God!

He sat quiet for some minutes then she got up.

" Thank you Ya Danny. I will be resuming school next week and want to start reading hard so I will appreciate it If you give me some space to read. You always told me to face my studies."

" Reading hard for a new session? Where are the materials?"

" Pro activity. Goodnight."

And she left him in the living-room. Immediately she left, he got up and walked out of the house without a word to anyone.

Her mother followed her into her room.

" What did you just do? How could you treat a man like that?"

"WGodi mom, I did not intend to be rude. I just could not help it. Seeing him alone triggered repulsiveness and impatience."

"You are a small girl but you must learn how to control your feelings. That is a very bad way of brush-off. Namiji abin tsorone(men could be scary) . Some men could be vindictive. You do it with caution. You were talking to another man in his presence!"

" I am sorry."

"It's not about me, Zinariya. It is about caution. The world is not as rosy as it looks. I just need you to be more careful and such a bloop must not repeat itself. Just find a way to play it cool with him, be more diplomatic and pray about it. He left without a word to anyone. He looked like an explosive about to burst."

Fateemah nodded.

" Lesson learnt."

" That is my girl. Has Abba said anything to you?"

She shook her head.

"No."

" Did he ask you to stop seeing Danny Adam?"

"He never mentioned anything. He acts like he knows nothing about the whole thing. You know how it is with SS."

" Your mouth." Hajiya Sa'a giggled. " Have you eaten?'

" No."

" Let us go and eat, kawata."

"I am not famished."

" Hey ta Danny ..."

Fateemah wrinkled her face .

" Danny Adam."

Fateemah blushed, smiled then covered her face with her hands.

" Now , I am hungry."

Uthman Salis was a tall man with sturdy ,athletic body. He could be mistaken for a twenty five year old athlete but he was forty seven years old. A senior DSS Officer, he was known to be strict, tough and diligent.

He was sitting on a mat with his elder brother after lunch.

" I know you are going back today so I better not waste your time." Said Alhaji Ahmadu. " I told you what transpired between me and the visitors the other day."

Uthman nodded.

" I told them the truth. I never told you but I noticed the relationship between Danny and Nana since they were kids. And Danny would never stop talking about her. So, I started thinking about their relationship so I decided to get them married after Danny graduates.

I told him not to bother about getting a job first. I will fix him up with two stalls before he gets a job.

What matters most is been able to fend for your family. I doubt if he would get a job that will fetch him more money than the business. I am getting older and travelling to China frequently is becoming worrisome for me. You know his elder brothers are not as responsible as him.

The first time I sent Ashiru, he used my money to import a car. So, I want to tell you that they would be getting married next year insha God, before he goes for worship."

" Worship?"

"Bautan kasa mana(NYSC)."

" Oh." Uthman said. Alhaji Ahmadu was not very educated, having been engaged in business all his life but he was relatively wealthy.

" What is it called?"

" Service."

" Yes. Thank you. So, that is what I want to tell you. You don't have to bother about her kayan daki( furniture ,utensils and gadgets) both of them are mine so I would handle it."

Kayan daki! Uthman had always wondered why they made it a tradition to buy furniture, electronics, utensils and almost everything needed in a home for a girl. That tradition made no sense to him. It was the man's responsibility to provide for the woman.

A man pays fifty thousand Bollars for dowry and the girl's family is left to furnish the house. This has led to many parents getting indebted, or unnecessarily postponing the wedding date, or forcing some girls to go out of their way, swindle other men to acquire these things.

In a more local setting, the men find marriage so cheap they change wives like they change clothes. All he needed was to pay dowry and rent a fifty-thousand-Bollars-room-and-parlour and he folds his hands.

She comes to the house with everything; bed, sofa, kitchen utensils, electronics, and even food. Why? And sometimes they came home to find the sofa missing, and when he asks where they were, she pouts and says she felt like changing them so she sold it, and gives him that look of it-belongs-to-me-after-all.

Unfortunately, the tradition had become like an obligation. When a girl was married off without such things, it caused gossips and condescending remarks.

" I appreciate all you have said Yaya and like you rightly said, they are both yours and both mine. I would be happy if they fall in love with each other and get married."

" God Ya ma albarka."

" Ameen."

" I think she must be told so she won't make the mistake of sending someone else again. You know she is just a little girl and men would be making lots of advances now."

" Yes, sir but if you don't mind, I want to ask a question."

" I don't mind .Go on."

" Was her consent sought for?"

The question seemed to shock Alhaji Ahmadu.

" Why ? This western education has eating your sense of judgement. Do we need to sought for her consent? Oh Ya God. Wannan wani irin zamani ne(what kind of generation is this) ? Did Baba not tell you how he married Umma? His father just called him and told him he would be getting married the next Friday. And he said toh. When he asked who the girl was, he received a slap. Good upbringing is a thing of the past) . And Umma said she never met Baba until after the wedding.

Do you expect me to call Nana and start asking her if she agrees or not? Usumanu, I am old and may soon go. With this western education mentality of yours, how would you handle the family?Between you and I are six women but they are all women and only two are alive. Adhere to our tradition. They are getting married, shikenan."

Uthman was silent.

" But you know they love each other. They are close."

" Yes, but closeness does not mean love. Not the brotherly love but the love of marriage. If she was in love with him, she could not have sent that boy. I sought her consent and she told me she was in love with the boy. She said she had never had any one before him. That means she has always looked upon Danny as a brother not fiancé."

" She will learn later."

" She has been in a serious state of melancholy since that decision was taken. I am not questioning your judgement or saying this because it concerns Nana. It is a misconception to think this is because of western education. There is an hadith where a lady was married off without her consent and the Holy Prophet SAW pronounced the marriage invalid. Even though she later remained in the marriage, she wanted to prove a point.

If Nana or any girl is married off against her wish , it is tantamount to forceful marriage and it is Monotheismically unlawful. Religion supersedes tradition. Religion is used to check tradition. When a tradition does not conflict with religion, then it's okay but if it does, then the tradition should be kept aside."

Alhaji Ahadu could not believe his ears. Did Usumanu just say all these? He thought the western education was the only thing affecting him, but it seemed the Monotheismiya system was worse. How could one understand religion when he sat on a desk with table and learnt? They never used slate and have the chance of washing and drinking verses written with ink.

Why would they not gabble, when they don't go to farms to work for the mallams, not even the blessing of begging for food, to know the value of education?He was always against this Monotheismiya system and advocated for al-majiri system.

Not even his children would opt for it. they want to be reciting the Qur'an with their throats and tongues, twisting and rolling , calling it tajaweed. He could recite the whole of Qur'an in a single day, with speed and fluency but they, they will say not less than three days.

This was the effect now. Usumanu has gone insane and decided to ridicule him.

"Usumanu, thank you for showing me that I have no authority over your children. You should not have sent them to me in the first place since my opinion is valueless. You have shown me that I am nothing before you. You can go with your daughter and I think everybody should keep to his lane. Hold on to your children and I will hold on to mine.

You have five children and I have thirty-six having lost six.....'

"Yaya...."

" Shut up and let me speak. Who is your Yaya? If you like come and arrest me, I won't be deterred. I will tell Dannyu to back-out and forget about your daughter. And please, when you want to give her out, never come my house, or ask me to her waliy . You can leave my house."

Danny Ahmadu who was eavesdropping clenched bit his lips. No! He was not giving up on her. He was so much in love with her. Something had to be done. Who was this Danny? What was he? His eyes turned red, and watery as he glared at the wall opposite him. The fight has just begun.