Amariya: The Runaway Bride

8• Opening Up

~Hadiza~

By 'I give you three days', I knew he meant there would only be a nikkah ceremony which was the main wedding ceremony on the third day.

This wasn't what I had planned for my daughter's future wedding. I had wanted it to be a happy one. A special day for Khadijah. Full of activities, maybe a bridal shower and a reception after the main wedding but it wouldn't be able to happen.

I slowly walked back into the house then took a look at my children and Hassana through the passage. They all looked unhappy.

I still remember how Nasir was found dead on our farmland. How that politician of a beast had forced us to keep shut. How he had threatened to kill us if anyone found out and how I had decided to hide the truth from my children most especially Khadijah so they could feel better.

Nasir was diagnosed of kidney stones by the youth corpers who studied medicine and were serving at our village four months ago. He was on medication and we spent a lot on drugs.

His condition became worse and he had to be taken to a urology centre in Lagos for surgery. It was urgent and there was no way we could get the huge amount the doctors mentioned. I and my children had cried and tried all we could but the money we raised wasn't up to half of the amount we needed.

We had lost all hope and given up when Nasir insisted that he was ready for the trip to Lagos and he told me that he'd use the money he's been saving, I was surprised. We didn't have enough money to provide education for our children, we didn't have enough to cater for our family and he said he had enough for a surgery! I told him that i didn't believe him but since we were desperate, he traveled to Lagos and the ureotoscopy was performed, it was successful! Two days later, he was shot while working on the farm.

Khadijah was on her way to join Nasir at the farm when she heard a bang sound. She ran closer and found her father lying in his own blood.

She cried and shouted for help and passers-by came to bury him according to Islamic tradition. We still hadn't gotten justice but I couldn't curse the murderer too. It would be considered as a great sin but I prayed for Allah to get justice for us.

Khadijah was shocked and traumatized and cried everyday from then on still remembering the scary incident that had taken place.

I couldn't keep hiding all this, I was going to open up to my children and tell them everything. I walked into their room.
"As Salamu Alaikum," they greeted.

"Wa Alaikum Salaam," I replied.

"Hassana, can you give us some time alone," I asked then she stood up and left the room.

I sat with them, occupying the space Hassana had left.
"Mama, who was the man that just left?" Maryam asked. I sighed, I was really going to tell them the truth.
"He's the commissioner..." Before i could continue, Khadijah shouted in excitement.
"Wait... So, why was he here? Did he give us a scholarship or something?" Khadijah asked.
Maryam gave her a 'would you stop' look and she calmed down.
"No. He didn't," I moved closer to her and held her by her arm and she looked at me.
"Khadijah, you know everything happens for a reason and there's nothing we can do about it," I began and she bended her head. Maybe she thought that I wanted to talk about her father.

"You're getting married soon."

She turned to me abruptly.

"You'll be getting married to that commissioner in three days."

"Mama..." She shrieked.

"Calm down, I didn't want this to happen but there's nothing we can do about it,"
She started crying. I then remembered that her sisters were there and she would lose some respect If they saw her crying.

"Zo muje, get out" I commanded and they left I and Khadijah alone in the room.
"But how did this happen and why?..." She cried.

"When your father was diagnosed of kidney problem some months ago, your uncle, Musa introduced him to the commissioner, Idris. He was connected to him in some way and when he asked for the money he needed for the surgery, Idris agreed but he gave your father one condition."

"He would have to marry you in exchange for the money Nasir needed for treatment."

I held her arm tighter as she started wailing and shaking vigorously.

"No... This can't be happening, you're not telling me the truth. How could uba want to marry me off at my young age?"

"He needed it for surgery, my dear" I said patting her back slowly.
"Girls your age get married, you're not the only one. There's nothing we can do about it."
She sighed and wiped her eyes.

"But Mama, this isn't what I planned. This isn't the kind of life I want." Tears fell from her eyes.

"My dear, I've told you there's nothing we can do about it, Cheer up Khadijah."
She wiped her eyes again and looked at me.

"There's something else I need to tell you," I said. She looked at me with eager eyes.
"He was the one who killed your father,"
"No..." She cried
"This is wickedness, I can't get married to such a man. I can't." She cried and I sighed.

"He had agreed that you would get married to him three days later but your father cancelled the deal, Idris was angry at him so he killed him. Idris later told your uncle Musa to never assist our family with anything and that he swore with his life that our family will pay for everything that happened. That's why nobody wants to help us."

"No..." Khadijah clutched her head and shook vigorously.
"Khadijah, there's nothing we can do about it," I hugged her tightly before leaving her room.

~Khadijah~

I couldn't believe what Mama told me. I've been deprived of so many things in this life that I've been hoping to get at the end. Marriage at my early age to an old man is the least I expected but what can we do about fate? Things we expect don't always come through.

As soon as she left the room, I cried and I was sure my eyes were going to fall out any moment, i felt useless. I was traded for my father's health but his life got wasted at the end.

Bad thoughts started clouding my mind. If I was really going to get married to him, then I was going to get revenge. On the wedding night, I'll injure him with a knife before finally killing him. I'll give him a slow and painful death.
Khadijah, what are you thinking??

I sighed and rubbed my face with my palms then slapped myself until I cried in pain. I wanted to die before that day. Even though I didn't have any plans for education yet, I still prayed to get one. If my parents couldn't help me, I would have to help myself.

A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter gems, I hope you found it interesting.

Please Vote ⭐, comment 💭 and share 📢 I really want this book to get up to 1k reads very soon 😊

All the X's, all the O's ❤️
-Kosy💎