Ya Allah,
I end this year with a simple prayer: please heal the broken people. Make well the sick. Restore happiness to those in despair. Bring love to the lonely, food to the hungry and peace to our world.
___________________________________
Ever since he grew into early childhood, Tareeq had a always tried to Stay away from trouble and whenever he got caught into one, he didn't cringe, shudder, or fidgeted his fingers like other kids, his features remained collected and unshaken so it was always hard to tell whether he was guilty or not but his mother will look at his palms and would know immediately, in situations where he got in trouble, The tremor was extracted from his every fiber, nerve, and muscle and deflected it into perspiratory fluid exerting on his palms and the moment they announced Salma his wife, he felt his palm becoming cold and sweaty and he clenched them shut.
His and Salma's wedding was a painfully unique one that was unprecedented, unplanned, and unexpected. instead of emerging from a mosque where most Nikahs take place with a joyous or at least pleased expressions, the few numbers of people who served as witnesses emerged gloomily from Alhaji Ibrahim's living room, the father of the bride came out frowning and was followed by an office suit cladded groom who carried an impassive and detached expression.
"I hope that you know what you are doing", Alhaji Ibrahim turned to Tareeq and said sardonically.
"Isn't it a bit too late to warn me out of it?" Tareeq dryly remarked and Alhaji Ibrahim gave him one of his looks that would make anyone crawl in his skin but not Tareeq. His smoldered eyes stared back at him without as much as batting a lash, it would take more than a cold look to make him flinch, and a great deal more than a shallow-minded person who thought that life had no right to bruise his ego and prestige and was not capable of forgiving his own kid because she came in form of 'life' to get him intimidated and if Alhaji Ibrahim was not so immersed in his pride, he would have noticed the slight disdainful look that Tareeq was giving him, or maybe he did because he turned around and stormed into the house.
"Are you okay sir?", Lukman asked concerningly when Tareeq slid into the car next to him. He gave a long sigh which was followed by some seconds of silence before turning to Lukman with a wry smile,
"I can't be any better Lukman, I just got married", he cooly replied with a touch of sarcasm which was directed at himself, clenching and releasing his palms repeatedly which were still sweaty and damning the sweat. Lukman shook his head disturbingly.
Ibrahim's call came through for the umpteenth time and he finally decided to pick up, tapping the handsfree button.
"Maska" He called and he could tell that Ibrahim sneered before responding,
"I am on my way to your house" He curtly informed, evidently annoyed by Tareeq's not picking his calls.
"I am not at home"
"Where are you?"
"Bauchi" Tareeq disclosed, absently rubbing the back of his neck.
"What?.... What are you doing there?" Ibrahim anxiously asked.
"I came to check on the girl's family" He simply stated and Ibrahim snorted,
"How very noble of you Malam Tafeeda, I can imagine they threw a welcoming party", Ibrahim sarcastically remarked and Tareeq smirked before responding,
"No Maska they didn't, but I think you are going to have to throw one to welcome the bride, I got married to the girl".
"Whaaatttt?" he shouted and Tareeq was glad the phone was on speaker and not next to his ear, he could have done some serious damage to his eardrum, he heard what could be a screeching sound of wheels which was followed by a loud honk.
"What is that sound, is everything okay?", He asked alarmingly.
"Of course everything is not okay I almost hit an Uber thanks to your explosive revelation, How can you do that? Tafeeda!" He screamed, banging his steering wheel.
"The situation was very bad Maska", He started to explain calmly, "It had to happen, it was all I could to help the..."
"No Tafeeda", He cut him off "What you could have done was not let your emotions rule over your sense of reasoning" Ibrahim reprimanded in a more tactful tone, trying to get a hold of himself. Tareeq gave another peal of sigh, stretching his neck sideways to relieve the muscles that reminded him that he was human and he needed rest.
"Can we talk about this when I get back Maska", He limply said, "I feel really exhausted right now, and I need to think" He stated.
"Yes you need to do just that", Ibrahim sneered, "Think about the gravity of what you did", and he hung up.
Tareeq laid his head back and drew a long steadying breath, Ibrahim's words taunting his already disturbed mind. He knew that he was right about not letting his compassion govern over his good senses but after having a word with the girl's father and listening to him take an oath with all the sacred words that he was not going to have her in his house, he knew that he needed to do something and the moment he stepped into the hospital ward and found that woman lying almost lifeless on the sick bed, chanting the same words over and over again,
Where would she go to?
Who would accept her?
Who would get married to her?
He understood what he needed to do. Yes, he wasn't thinking straight because all he could think about was the misery that he had inadvertently threw the family in, the mother who looked like she wanted to die of anguish, the sister who preferred to be bitter than break down, the father who would rather die than take back his words, and the girl...the girl whom he had somehow managed to turn homeless, putting her life in shambles. The only thing he could think about was righting his wrong and saving the day, and what better way than an offer of immediate marriage, the mother could at least be relieved of the mental distress she seemed to have about who was going to have the girl, the girl could have a roof over her head and the father...well, whatever.
"What is next sir?," Lukman asked, "Do we still go back today?".
"No Lukman, I don't think it is a good idea to hit Abuja road by this time. We are going to have to Lodge for the night, I asked Nasir to make reservations but we leave at first Dawn" He replied, then made a thoughtful gesture before turning fully to Lukman "I will leave together with Nasir and what I need you to do for me Lukman is find that girl and follow us behind" He ordered and Lukman nodded briskly with "Okay".
He turned to his phone and scrolled through his contacts stopping at a number. He always sought her blessings for the littlest things but today, he took a very big step without so much as letting her know, now he was going to have to give a long explanation, and most likely listen to a longer and angry lecture for his rash action, he was even willing to narrate everything in fulfulde if that would somehow placate her but he knew that it was going to take far more than the whole Fulani clan to escape an intense scolding from his mother. He reluctantly dialed the number and was somewhat relieved when he thought that she was not going to pick up, but she picked on the last ring.
"Assalamalaikum, Jam hirdhon Dada..." He greeted.
***********
"Open your eyes Salma" Firdausi screamed, slapping her legs hard and shaking her body vigorously, Umma rushed back to the room carrying a bowl of water, she squatted beside Firdausi and sprinkled some on Salma's face, "Umma I think she is dead," Firdausi cried, "Look at her, she isn't moving"
"Oh don't be ridiculous Firdausi" Umma rebuked "She just passed out, no need to panic and stop shaking her," she cautioned, carefully taking off Salma's Hijab and using the damp towel she brought with her to slowly wipe her forehead, "Come over here and continue with this" she instructed and Firdausi immediately took over. Umma went down to prep her feet, alleviating it and raising her legs above heart level.
"Umma look, I think she is regaining consciousness" Firdausi informed and Umma briskly walked over to her face and crouched beside her, placing her warm palms on her forehead and Salma's lashes kept flickering as she struggled to force her lids apart.
"Salma" Umma called softly, and she finally opened her eyes.
"Alhamdulillah", Firdausi sighed heavily as she took her hand in hers. "You scared the hell out of me Salma, I am so glad to have you back," she said, and Salma wished she could say the same as the words echoed through her jarred mind, she didn't know where her soul drifted to but it was somewhere between life and death and she would have given everything to remain there so she wouldn't have to come back and face her disastrous reality.
She looked from Umma to Firdausi who kept staring at her with concern and disturbed expressions. Her whole body felt weak as she struggled to get into a sitting position and it took all of her energy to lift her body and land her feet on the ground. She looked up at Umma with pleading eyes, silently begging her to tell her that there was a mistake, that she was wrong and she was misinformed but Umma only kept regarding her with a pitiful expression which confirmed that there was no mistake that she was indeed married to Tareeq Tafeeda. But how? she didn't know him, she had neither ever met nor spoken with him and she was absolutely sure that none of her parents were ever acquainted with him so how in God's name did he come into the picture, how the hell was she married to him?
"How?" She asked, although she wasn't sure whom she was asking but she raised her face to Firdausi who shook her head cluelessly. "How?" she asked again, this time turning to look at Umma and Umma tenderly placed her hand on her shoulder,
"Don't think about it now Salma", she calmed, trying to prevent her from having another panic attack because the way her ragged breath was coming out in forceful strides through her mouth indicated that she was at risk of having one. But how could she not think about it, she just got married to a man with whom she had zero familiarity with and she did not even know how to start solving the puzzle.
Sakeena's call came through Umma's phone again and she immediately picked up.
"Yes..."
"Yes, she is still here...."
"No, I don't think she is in a state to speak with you because...." but Salma cut her off when she quickly held her free hand and extended the other one to her in a gesture that implied that she wanted to speak to her. She needed to hear for herself, some kind of explanation that could help her to understand what just happened even though she wasn't sure she was ready to hear it or rather, take whatever it was she was desperate to learn.
"Okay, here she is..." Umma said, reluctantly giving the phone to Salma who tapped the speaker icon and forced a 'Hello' out of her limp lips.
"Kina ji na ko", Sakeena's brazen voice came through, "You should count your lucky stars that he took you as a wife even after everything he said to have found out about you, now you are expected to leave for Abuja at 7:00 am sharp tomorrow morning. I tried to pack some of your stuff for you but Baba forbade me from doing so but I found your phone on the kitchen floor and I would ask Bilya to bring it to you. That cheesy boyfriend of yours wouldn't stop calling so talk to him and inform him all about how your love story has come to an end although I doubt if he would want to have anything to do with you after he learns what you have been up to unless of course if you have been letting him have his ways with you too, I wouldn't be surprised if you did. Mami is stable but she would feel so much better if you would disappear, so take responsibility for your actions Salma and leave for everyone's sake, kina ji na koh?" She spitefully asked, "Are you even listening?" She added, but Salma wasn't listening, she stopped at where he took her as a wife even after everything he said to have found out about her.
Those words came out like a dagger that staggered through her heart and she could feel it bleeding painfully against her chest. How he got to find out or the circumstances that led him to pry into her life was not her quest at the moment, what mattered was that she was going through all of this because of him, her mother suffered a heart attack because of him, her father threw her out if the house because of him, her sister raised her hands on her because of him, he sabotaged her relationship with her family, he ruined the chances of her being with the man that she loved, he got married to her, he had destroyed her life!
"Are you deaf or dumb or have you also lost the decency to answer your sister along with the decency of your virtue?" Sakeena disdainfully asked and Salma ended the call, hanging up on her. She could no longer stand the despiteful words coming from her and could not help the feeling of hatred she had started to develop for her sister.
"I am so sorry Salma," Firdausi said, looking as sympathetic as she sounded as she squatted beside Salma expecting to see a fresh stream of tears pouring out of her eyes but there were none, the rage and fury that Salma felt at the moment burnt down every sadness and anguish she felt and only the fire reflected in her eyes.
She was still a bit flimsy but It was no time to feel weak and so she got up with full force and started wearing her hijab which was lying next to her.
"Where are you going to?" Firdausi asked swiftly getting up to catch hold of her. Salma looked at her and gave a hurtful sneer,
"Haven't you heard what she said Feedo, that I should take responsibility for my actions and leave, I am leaving, but not with that man, hell would have to freeze before I be a wife to him!" she asserted.
"You want to run away kenan. Don't be silly Sals where would you go to at this time of the night, let's think through it this night and see if we can come up with something" Firdausi suggested although she wasn't certain what they could possibly come up with.
"Didn't you hear Fee, he is coming to take me with him early in the morning, I can't stay here, I am leaving. They don't want to have anything to do with me and they won't see my face ever again". She started towards the door but Umma's voice stopped her,
"What about your mother?" she finally intervened from where she was standing. "Have you given a thought to what might happen to her if she wakes up tomorrow and receives the news of your disappearance, huh? what do you think would happen to her?" The words hit Salma and she sank back to the bed.
"Ya Allah!" she called dejectedly, covering her face with her palms. Umma walked to her and placed her hand on her shoulder,
"Yes Salma, call out to him. He is the provider of your solutions and there is a reason he is making you go through this. Jarabawa ce and sometimes, our most beautiful blessings come from our most difficult tests.
"What good thing can possibly come out of this Umma? Salma cried, "Why do I have to go through this? why is my life taking such a drastic turn? Why me?..."
"Shhhh" Umma placed her index finger on her lips to hush her. "You don't question the will of Allah, you take with a firm Faith, you embrace your Fate. Anyone can be a Muslim but accepting qadr, whether good or bad is what makes a Mu'min.
"I am afraid I don't have that much faith Umma", she said in a resigned and shattered tone. "My heart is not as strong Umma I can't do this".
"You can do it because Allah does not burden a soul with more than it can carry" Umma stated, "These are just whispers from the devil, don't allow yourself to lose against him. It was written for you to be his wife don't try to fight it, don't take matters into your hands rather, leave them in the hands of the Almighty who ordained this to happen and watch how things take a beautiful turn. No pain is permanent and there is no sad ending for those who completely leave their affairs to Allah. So you are going to accept what he had destined for you and in the late hours of this night, pour your heart out to him and ask him to be your ultimate guidance and then tomorrow, you are going to leave with your husband after leaving everything in the hands of Allah.
Salma closed her eyes and drew a long agitated breath. The tears which she thought were dried streamed down her face, they must have been boiled from her earlier blazing rage because she felt them hot as they hit her face, or they were probably hot because she had decided to yield to her painful Fate. She slowly opened her eyes and turned to Firdausi who was battling to keep her tears down. She gave her a hurting smile,
"I really am not in charge Feedo," she stated, referring to their earlier conversation and Firdausi couldn't help breaking down in tears. She held Salma and they cried together.
*******
Salma slowly opened her eyes, finally able to force herself to wake up from an irrepressible antagonizing slumber where her reality kept taunting her in form of terrifying nightmares. She dozed off on the prayer mat after she had supplicated, cried, and asked the Almighty for strength to go through this difficult phase.
It was a quarter past six and she realized that she had missed subhi and so she immediately went to the bathroom, performed ablution, and said her salaat. Bilya brought her phone to Feedo's yesterday night as per Sakeena's instructions and Mukhtar's call came through for the umpteenth time but she could only keep staring at the screen. The call ended and it was followed by another desperate text message,
Just tell me you are Okay Salma, that is all I need to hear. I have a sinking feeling that something is wrong, please tell me you are okay...
Each message and each phone call jabbed at her heart but she could neither pick, nor text back a reply because she didn't know what she would say to him, she didn't know how to break the news to him, she didn't know how she was going to break his heart and a tear rolled down on her face. She put the phone on silent and flipped it over, forcing the thoughts that she was not ready to face out of her mind and focusing on her morning azkhar.
The door creaked open and Feedo walked in carrying breakfast and a pair of clean clothes. She dropped the tray in front of her and sat on the bed facing her.
"The driver is here Salma, he is waiting for you outside, you need to get ready," she solemnly announced and Salma felt the air knock out of her lungs. Without a word, she took the dark brown abaya Firdausi brought for her and headed towards the bathroom. She came out dressed after a while and went straight to the doorway.
"What about breakfast?" Feedo asked and she only shook her head. "Toh ga wayarki nan" She reminded, taking the phone which was lying on the bed and walking towards her. Salma extended her hand to take the phone but Feedo took the hand in hers.
"Salma..."
"Don't" Salma pleaded and Firdausi saw the look, she was trying very hard to pull herself together and go through with this, and words of empathy are the last thing she needed, they would break her down and so, Firdausi took her hand and led her outside. Umma was leaning against the exit door and when she saw them coming, she fixed a warm smile on her face and started towards them.
"I am very proud of you Salma" She commended and Salma gave a sly smile.
"Thanks Umma, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you" She gave her a hug which Umma returned mother warmingly and somewhere between that, Salma began to imagine she was holding Mami and she clung more to Umma who seemed to understand as she softly whispered, "Take your time" while tapping her back softly and Salma held her a bit tighter taking forever before finally letting go and turning to Feedo,
"Thanks kawata," she said, forcing a smile that did not quite match her tone and Firdausi took both her hands in hers,
"You got this Sals, you are going to be okay," she said, handing her phone and giving her a brief hug because she needed to go back to her room as soon as possible and have a good cry.
The black SUV was there waiting for her, confirming that her life was indeed in shambles and she kept forcing one leg in front of another to meet up to it. The short dark Man wearing a black tuxedo with complimenting shades standing in front of the car who she assumed was the driver opened the door for her and she didn't care to respond to his curt morning greeting. He went over to the driver's seat and drove off.
Her mind was too occupied that she didn't realize that he was taking the road to her house and when it finally hit her, he was just about some meters to round the corner.
"Where are we going to?" she hostilely asked and he stretched his neck back a little bit to answer her,
"I thought you might want to pick up some things from your father's house maam" he briskly stated and she scoffed in her mind. Her father's house indeed, she thought. The father who didn't want to see her face and thanks to the stunt he pulled by marrying her off, the feeling had become mutual now. He had denounced her as his daughter and she wished she could do the same, but what then would that make her? she was about to ask the driver to turn around when she sighted Mukhtar's car in front of her house and she asked Lukman to halt.
The white chase deer he wore along with a pajama trouser indicated that he just woke up from sleep, that is if he had any. He paced back and forth in front of his car constantly putting his phone to his ear. She checked her phone which had been on silent and there was an incoming call from him after at least fifty missed calls and she checked his last text message which came in about fifteen minutes ago,
I am at the front of your house, again. Your gateman wouldn't say anything but I know that he is hiding something from me, what is happening Salma, I am getting really worried. Tell me you are Okay, please...
She felt the tears begin to form in her eyes but she didn't even get to dwell in her misery as Baba walked out from the house and her heart skipped a beat in dread of what was about to happen. Mukhtar was scared to his bones of her father but that morning, he walked straight up to him without any fear and without thinking twice to inquire about her and that gesture made her heart constrict in her chest.
A very short dialogue took place between them and Baba turned around and got back into the house leaving Mukhtar standing and Salma could not make out his expression from afar but she saw him use his phone, probably typing something and and it came through, his final text.
How am I supposed to live with this?
Then she watched him sink to the ground, he used his palms to cover his face as he shoulders began to shake, her sweet tough and hardened man was crying, sobbing uncontrollably in front of her gate because he had lost her and at that moment, she forgot all about keeping a firm Faith and going on, all she could feel was the hatred growing for two men. The first was her father who had become the villain in her life and the other was her husband whom she was going to make his life a living hell.
"Take me to my mom" She demanded and Lukman turned the car around, the boss had instructed him to pick her up, take her home to grab the things she needed and be on their way and as much as he wanted to follow that instruction, he didn't have the heart to refuse her that because somehow, he felt totally responsible for what she was going through, if only he didn't dug deeper, if only he didn't tell Tareeq what he found out, all of this would not have happened, the girl would have been living her normal life.
Salma walked knee weakenly to where Mami was warded and reluctantly opened the door meekly uttering a salaam. The sight of her mom lying frail on the bed with an IV line running down her arm broke her heart and she stood on the door way her legs unable to take her forward.
"Mami", she hoarsely whispered and Hajiya Amina slowly turned around, her saddened eyes landing on her. She regarded her for sometime with an unreadable expression and turned her face away. She couldn't stand the sight of her, Salma thought devastatingly and when she took a step towards her, Hajiya Amina raised her hand and shook her index finger in the negative and Salma's heart came to a halt along with her legs. She covered her mouth to stiffle the cries that erupted from her and swiftly turned around and ran outside.
"Let's go" She ordered between sobs as soon as she slid into the car and Lukman hit the road. Her phone flashed with an incoming call which she assumed was Mukhtar but it was Yaya Sadam and she immediately picked up,
"Salma" he called sullenly. "What happened?" he added in a troubled and despairing tone. That was it, the only family member who was giving her an audience to narrate what happened before judging her or jumping to conclusions, but it didn't matter anymore, the deed had been done and she felt mentally derailed and too tired to explain.
"It doesn't matter Yaya Sadam", she wretchedly said, "It's over for me". She heard him give a long painful sigh before saying,
"No it's not!" He exclaimed strongly, "No one knows you better than I do Sals and I know that there is no the hell way you will ever do something like that, there has to be an explanation, so hang in there okay, I am coming to Nigeria as soon as I get the chance to and taking you with me, there is no way in God's name I will let you stay in a forced marriage" He bitterly declared and she clung tightly to the phone, feeling a wave of sweet sorrow sweeping over her.
"I love you Yaya Sadam" she brokenly announced.
"Stay strong baby girl, I got you" He stated before hanging up.
Salma left her home, her hometown and her family with a grieving heart that was full of painful memories, she went through the journey heavy heartedly and they arrived at Tareeq's other mansion as per his instruction which was located not very far from where he resides.
The house was designed in such a way that would take one's breath away, the type of building that one would step in for the first time and call 'Aljannar duniya' but to Salma, it was her hell. The long, beautiful walls were her dungeons and the luxury and comfort it screamed were the beginning of her doom. But she was not going down alone, she was taking her captor with her, her husband. So get ready Tareeq Tafeeda, she vowed, your good days are over.
**********************
Watch out Tafeeda, your bride is out to get you!
Assalamualaikum beautiful people, happy new year.
I know, I know, took a while to update but I wasn't getting any vibes ne. We are almost on 400 reads but no more than ten comments, that's not encouraging guys.
Don't mind me, the most important thing is, I hope you are enjoying the story and understanding the morals, although comments din ma ban ki ba. Lol
This is indeed another heart wrenching chapter but don't worry, better days are coming and I would get y'all laughing and giggling at your devices in no time.
However, I have exams coming up in two weeks and I have very little idea of the contents of the course, (yes I am that type of student please pray for my deliverance and wish me good luck). Therefore, you won't hear from me for a while but I promise you that when you finally do, it will be worth the wait.
One of my favorite writers on Wattpad just added this story to her reading list and I felt myself floating in the air. Thank you RaaziWriter40, I hope you find it interesting.
Sai Kuma me? #rubbing my jaw in a thoughtful gesture# Yauwah!, don't forget to vote, comment and share.
Happy new year once again guys, sending lots of love from kt.
Maryam Gide.