Ruqaya (wlw)

chp.2

People stared at her giving her space on the market path to walk through. Each place she walked past had this weakening silence that triggers her anxiety.

Even with a veil over her head the people still recognised her, her shinny dark skin and the red charm on her wrist. The one she uses to pull down the front of her veil.

This red charm is not like any other, it is specially designed by the priests to warn away evil spirits jinns from young maidens who where already possessed by it.

So of course no one would blame the villagers for running away from her.

Hannan has been keeping up this play for quite a while, by that I mean for seven years she has been pretending to be possessed by the evil spirit.

According to the law of the land, young girls with such problems should not be presented for marriage, it is believed that in most cases in the past, this evil spirits have tried to harm their partners and threaten the people around them.

At age thirteen Hannan overheard her parents planning to send a marriage proposal just a day after her first menstrual cycle. It is tradition that if a girl spends more than three months in her parents house after the first cycle she should be presented to the king for match making or trouble will befall the family.

Most homes are frightened by this so parents usually give out their underaged daughters to elderly men with multiple or no wives.

Due the high rate of underaged marriages the village is full with teenage mothers and multiple cases of domestic abuse tagged as normal by the people.

Hannan did not want this for herself so she did everything within her power to stay out of marriage, letting her despise for men grow each day even stronger. Out of the thousands of villagers Hannan is one of the few people who can communicate and read in English.

She would spend lots of time in the village library reading about evil spirits and possessions to perfect her acting and through out all of this only her friend and neighbour Kasu knows about it all.

The conversations are all in Thier native language (Hausa)

"Hannan aren't we done here?, let's leave before your mother starts to look for us" Kasu asks looking around with a worried expression on her face.

"Tell me you're worried about your husband not my mum. Can't you do anything without caring what he thinks?" Hannan stops by a fruit stand to check out some fruits, the two girls watch as the seller moves back in fright.

"Hey? Haven't you seen a customer before?" Hannan asked in annoyance, Kasu pinches her to stop her from scaring the man further.
Hannan then picks up an apple and bites into it.

"How much for the apples and mangoes?" She asks him chewing a mouth full of red apple.

"No no.. you can take as much as you want please, I can't take your money" The scared fruit seller replies pointing to the fruits on the table.

Hannan hisses picks up the ones she needs and then drops some money on the table.
"This should be enough for what I picked I guess"
She walks off with Kasu following behind her.

"Hannan please let's head back" Kasu pleaded with her.

"Who should we leave Abu with then?" Kasus eyes widened.

"You see your life right? You totally forgot about your son because of your dirty husband. What does he know other than hitting women and kids? He has six of you.

Why would he be worried if one took a walk outside... Here you go". Hannan picked Abu up from her auntie shop where they left him. She gave him a mango and then hands him over to his mother.