ENSHROUDED

Chapter Three

From that day, Aisha made sure 7:30am clicked while she was at school. She would rather slept on the benches and waited for him and the rest of her course mates than to do that in her own home. She had cried without number to Mommy about that course but all she could do was consoled her. Because from the way she saw thing on the day they met, she was sure that lecturer of Aisha would never take off his words.

Life went on, and Aisha now used Mommy's car to the school. No matter how she urged Mommy to take the car on the rest days of the wsek except for Monday, she had never agreed. As she would always say, “My car is yours, I'm hustling for all my money just because of you. Take it, Humaira. I'll be fine by myself.” And Aisha had always felt overwhelmed whenever Mommy said that. Mothers are surely a blessing to us.

She was already writing her exams for the semester, and Jaafar's course was the last course on her timetable. She didn't know what to do, she had read hard together with Safiyya for the course. And yesterday, she stayed at school until it was six in the evening so she could get to see him and ask him the favour and also to apologize. Throughout her exams period, she had never gone home early even if she finished reading early. She had to wait infront of his office to see if he would take a look at her, he never did. 

The exams was to be held at 11am and it will finish at 1:30pm. That made it a two hours thirty minutes exams. She was already at school when nine clocked. They kept reading together with Safiyya until it was finally time for the exams and they all sat down on their seats. Her heart was pounding, she kept praying to the almighty that Jaafar forgot about that test he took as his attendance, but she guessed he never did.

She saw as he walked into the hall and halted the invigilators that had already started distributing the question papers and answer. “Hasbinallahu wa ni'imal wakeel!” She prayed and felt as her heart broke, she knew she would never get to write this exams.

He stood in front of the hall and began calling out their names, and whoever was fortunate and his name fell into the list, he would walk into the hall and sat down. He had them walked out already. He finished calling the names on his list and it remained only Aisha and two guys. They guys moved forwards and complained to him that they did their registration late that's why they weren't able to make it to his test, and he asked them to sit down.

She gulped down the lump in her throat and fought the tears threatening to spill on her cheeks. She took halting steps towards where he stood. Before she was even close enough, Jaafar had already raised his hand at her and spoke. “Don't even come near me, young lady. Get out of my sight, as you can see, we're writing an exams.”

The tears she had been fighting with rolled down her cheeks and Aisha knelt down on her knees, she was crying bitterly. “Sir, please. I know I've wronged you when we first met, but please don't punish me this way. Please sir.”

The other invigilator came to her aid, he asked her to stand up and she did. “Malam Jaafar please forgive her, I know yes her name isn't on the list but please pardon her for my sake.” The lecturer spoke. And with tears on her cheeks, Aisha watched as Jaafar shook his head sideways.

“Malam you know how strict I am with my rules, there's no way I'm letting her write this exams. Those two guys that complained about late registration, didn't I let them in? What of her? She was always coming late to do class.” Jaafar said and walked away from there, before any other invigilator came and started asking him again.

He looked at her and shook his head, “I'm sorry young lady, but you can try asking him privately, may be he can have a way of favouring you. But for now, I'll advice you to leave.” No matter how Aisha tried to, they made her went out of the hall, and she cried a bitter cry she had never done in her life. All what he did to her, because of what? Just because she said he was the one being senseless? And it was crystal clear then. She had apologized. What kind of an unforgiving heart did he have?

She was there until they all came out, and she watched as they all dispersed to different directions. Safiyya had to leave her at school because she had to leave for Azare at that very minute, her hometown. She had already packed all her belongings, all that made her stayed in ATBU was the exams. And it was finally over. They exchanged goodbyes and Safiyya promised to call her to hear how it all went before she left.

Aisha walked to the mosque, she prayed and ate her lunch at the cafeteria before she came back to his office around 3:30pm. She had been waiting for him there until it was time for Asr and she went for it as well. She prayed to Allah to grant her success over this man today before she went back to his office. She had seen when he entered the office after she came back, but he hadn't spared her a glance, and she dared not to step into that office without his words.

She was there until it was 6:30 pm and he walked out of the office. He closed it and walked towards his car, and she was walking behind him. It was when she saw him unlocking his car that Aisha finally spoke. “Good evening sir. I'm sorry please. Forgive me please. Sir, I can't bear to fail this course. I've done all things possible for me to pass. I beg you in the name of Allah to let me pass this course...” She let her words trailed off because tears had already washed down her face and she had nothing to do but cried in front of this man mercilessly looking at her.

He hissed and tried entering his car when she blocked him from doing. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Aisha looked at him “What do you want me to do? I've knelt before you, cried in front of you, waited for you hours upon hours. What more do I need to do? Mommy even had to beg you for me but you can't forgive me even for her sake?” 

For the first time, Jaafar looked at her face. How she was crying, had to clutch her eyes shut before her tears would finally cascade on her tears. How her lips curved while she spoke, trembling with pain amd fear. How her eyes, as she opened them, he saw her eyes filled with pain and tears. He felt the satisfaction he needed. He felt it deep within the core of his heart.

“Get out of my way before I do something you'll regret for the rest of your life.” He pushed her away from his car and Aisha looked as he entered his car and was trying to put on his seat belt when she moved forward.

“Sir, remember, even if you don't have a daughter, you definitely have a sister. Imagine this done to her, how would you feel? Over something as feasible as that? How can you be so unforgiving? It's already getting dark now, but still I have to wait for you just for this. Even if you can't do this for me, do this for the sake of my mother that apologised to you and how I risked my life as a girl and waited for you. What if something was to happen to me? I beg you in the name of Allah. Forgive me and don't make me fail this course.”

He hissed loudly and hopped out of the car. “You keep saying for the sake of your slutty mother!” Aisha cut him off before he could say a more.

“Don't! Don't you dare throw that word at my mother. She's the decent woman I've ever known in my life. Just don't get into that.” The kind of laughter that outbroke his chest was what frightened Aisha more, and she took a few steps back. 

“You call that woman decent? Like for real, Decent? Let me tell you if you don't know. She's a p********e. A big hell of a dirty one! She gets to the point of transporting girls from nigeria to different countries for p**********n. Have you ever wondered why she stays late outside? Because she is out there, legs wide opened, as she satisfied the need of those hungry filthy rich men! She sells off her body to make your life luxurious. Never relate the word decent to your dirty mother, it sounds disgusting.

And for risking your life as a girl and waiting for me, that word shouldn't be said by you. A daughter of a s**t. Whatever happens to you, is surely nothing to worry about. She might be needing someone to open the way for you so she'll get you delivered to one of the countries she sends the other ladies. Education isn't for you, but p**********n is!” 

She took a few steps back away from him, all this time shaking her head as the bell of his words was ringing loudly than a drum in her ears. She couldn't begin to assimilate his words, lest believe what he just said. How dare he utter such dirty and heartbreaking words at her Mommy? He's nothing but a liar! A brutal one!

And so she uttered what was in her heartbroken heart at the instant, “No, you're nothing but a liar, a brutal one! How dare you utter those words to my mother? How dare your dirty and unforgiving mouth paint my mother black with your words?!” She was shouting at the pitch of her voice, and anger had clouded every fold of her eyes.

Jaafar laughed, the kind of laughter that spoke nothing but truimp and satisfaction. This was what he had been buckling that story up for. He knew who was her Mommy the moment they left their desk in that park. He was treasuring the story so he could have the perfect day to strike his arrow directly into her heart.

“You dare say a word again, and I'll tell you one of her deepest and darkest secrets. Just one more word! Go home and find out who your mother is before you have the right to utter gibberish at the people you met in the streets. When you have a monster at home, fight her first.” And he was out of her sight in a matter of second, all Aisha was left with where the specks of dusk his tyres had arose, and she was left with a broken soul.

For the first time in her life, she felt blank. Utterly blank that she had no feeling of what was going on around her. The tears were no more rolling down her cheeks, she just stood there, motionless. It took her minutes, almost to ten minutes before she dragged her legs to where she parked her car and hopped in. What is this thing walking into her life unannounced?

Before she could ignite the car on, she felt a sudden rush of pain through her veins and she had no choice but to scream it out. It was too bitter and too painful. She felt as his words circulated through her heart and they found no where to accomodate. And so they began a journey through her whole body. She felt the words moving in a slow and painful sync in her body. She felt as they moved around her lungs, how suffocating they were that she had to cough numerously. 

She cried in the car for minutes she didn't care to think about. She finally drove out of the school with tears rolling down her cheeks unchecked. She didn't believed a single word he uttered, but she could feel her heart wanting to. She needed to see Mommy, as soon as she could. She didn't know she was close to a man that she had to pull the brake, impromptu. 

Scared and heartbroken, Aisha walked out of the car to check upon the guy, and before she knew it, four other men circled her and they forced her into her car and drove to an apartment that was in the outskirt of Bauchi state. She wasn't even crying anymore. All she could hear were Mommy's word as she said, “Humaira, protect your dignity at all cost. It's the only pride you have as a girl.”

They threw her on the bare floor and were looking at her, with a satisfied smile playing on their lips. She was moving back until she reached the wall. She lifted up her face and tears were already gushing out of her eyes in a rush. “Please, let me go!” She cried, hugging onto her knees that were brought up to her chest.

Even if she didn't wished for any of this to happen to her, but she wished it happened at home. Because there, she had all the weapons she might need hidden in the places only Mommy and herself knew. The four men came over, tearing her knees apart from her chest. And each one of them held both her hands and legs, wide apart. She watched at the first guy pulled up her skirt, and all Aisha could do was to stare, feeling as the breathe she took in, wasn't circulating into her blood. When it happened, she screamed at the top of her voice, and Aisha wanted her death more than she had ever loved life. Then the second one came, then the third, and all she could hear under hypnosis were their laughter as they both pulled in and out of her body. Destroyed her soul and life.

She felt as one of them took her and flung her into her car, she could heard her phone ringing in her bag and she knew it was no one but Mommy. They drove her back to where they took her from. One of them looked into her eyes, only seconds before they drove away with her car. “Your mother had her way until she took my sister to another country and made her a p********e. And today, I took in you, what your mother made sure some filthy men took in my sister.”

***

She cried a bitter cry at the road side before she finally mustered her strength and hailed a tricycle. She felt all this wasn't really happening to her. All these was really a bad dream she could wake up from, in seconds to come. But the pain eating her up physically and emotionally was the real evidence she had that this wasn't just a dream.

She told him to take her home, and the older man looked at her with pitiful eyes. He didn't know what happened to her, but he could see the horror, the pain and heartache from her eyes. Aisha hopped into the ride and throughout their sojourn, she wept bitterly. Tears coming out directly from her soul, then she knew, her life really had changed, and it can never be back to what it used to be.

He parked somewhere far away from their house and Aisha told him to wait for her so she could bring his money. She was only feets away from the house when she saw a car parked in front of their gate, it was dark already, and she believed what her fuzzy and crying eyes saw wasn't real.

It was Mommy seated at the back of the car with a man, as he kissed her lips hungrily. She saw as Mommy reciprocated his kiss as though a hungry lion that took days wandering with hunger. She was clearly seeing their hands moving, but by Allah she didn't want to imagine where those hands were moving to. She lost her balance and fell on the ground, feeling as her own breathe was trying to suffocate her.

Jaafar's words didn't rang into her heart until she saw Mommy walking out of the car while straightening her skirt. And in less than a second, another car drove in and she watched as they both rushed to each other and hugged. Then came the lips crashing while Mommy slipped her hand into his trouser, and it was a thunderbolt to Aisha's life. She didn't saw her mother there, that was surely a monster.

She crawled back to the tricycle, and before she could hop into it, she collapsed on the floor, because what she just saw was a blow. A very hard blow onto her frail heart. All these happened real fast like meadow struck into a sky. She felt its sharpness as though the tips of a knife. And dear, it had surpassed the unit of pain anything could ever hurt.