Chapter 6: Chapter 6

The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

I got home around midday. Mother and father were not around when I arrived, but I met Ibrahim and Yusuf at home. Ibrahim barely allowed me to drop my bag before bombarding me with questions about campus life, method of teaching, class organization etcetera. I told him the best graduating student at departmental level, faculty level and overall best graduating students win cash prizes every year, and some were lucky to get employment on the spot. His face brightened up and he began to imagine himself taking the podium as the overall best graduating student. Of course I had to explain in details what I meant by departmental and faculty. I asked him how he was faring with his new found responsibilities. “It has been stressful. It was a blessing I wasn’t made the headboy, Elijah is technically our school messenger.” He said and I laughed ruefully. “You should ask me I was once a headgirl too. I remembered you were not happy when you were appointed as the assistant headboy, you always wanted to be the headboy.” I said. He reclined on his chair. “Not anymore, I’m ready to be the first prefect to resign if they will approve my resignation.” “What about the amir position at Madrasat” I asked. “It’s manageable; I’m used to most of the things I do prior to my appointment.”

In the afternoon before Ibrahim returned from dhur prayer, I prepared semo and cooked the egusi I saw in the cupboard. Ibrahim came in clearly exaggerating the aroma of the soup. I missed your cooking” he said, “Yusuf has been cooking fire for me in this house” he said mockingly. I laughed so hard that droplets of tears escape the corner of my eyes. Yusuf smacked him on his head. “You should have taken over the kitchen if you are the better cook” he said. I was happy that Yusuf stayed more at home now. He doesn’t go to his friends’ house like he used to before I left home. He was even checking out some things in his notebook a while ago. I wondered what brought about the change. When I asked Ibrahim he told me he flunked his midterm test, and father threatened to make him repeat the class if he failed his mock exam.

My phone rang from the sitting room. I thought Abdullah had finally called but it was Rahamat calling to check if I got home safely. I asked about Sholape she said she went out, I thanked her and she cut the call. After we were through with the meal, Ibrahim went to wash the dishes. Yusuf had put on the TV and was watching a program. Ibrahim wanted to join him, but I called him back to brief me on everything that happened when I was away. “You know how mother has always been with her patience” he said. I nodded my head in agreement. “I think a woman called father, and they were talking about some job she wanted to offer him. I don’t really know the details, I just overheard mother telling father she would not allow him to work with the woman. And she said something like, “dogs do not go back to lick their vomit”. What does that mean?” He asked. My confused face was enough to answer his question that I didn’t know what she was talking about either, and he continued. “Father asked if she wasn’t the one who insisted that he should look for a job, but mother told him to look for another job. Father disagreed and resumed the work two weeks ago. I don’t think they have spoken to each other since then” he concluded. “What time does he return from work?” I asked. “He normally returned late but he will be around tomorrow. He doesn’t go to work on Sundays” he said. I stared blankly at the floor processing the whole information. And I decided to speak to father when I had the chance, probably tomorrow when mother had left for her store.

Father returned very late in the evening but he was still ahead of mother. He was happy when he saw me; after sitting down the first thing he asked was if I observed my solat regularly and I lied to him. My conscience disturbed me a lot later, and I promised myself to perform my prayers even if I had to combine them in the evening. He asked about study and was happy to know that I’m currently topping my class. “You’ve always had a retentive memory” he commented smiling with pride. Mother entered the sitting room some minutes later. She didn’t greet him neither did she see me seated beside him, because she was looking straight ahead towards the bedroom. “Welcome Ma” I greeted her. She looked at me incredulously. “I called you yesterday, you didn’t tell me you are coming home.” I grinned making sure my teeth were visible. “I missed everyone” I told her. She gave me a weak smile “I hope you didn’t fight with your friends” she asked. “Not at all” I replied. I glanced at both of them, “well! We have eaten before you arrived”. Mother nodded. “It explained why your brothers are asleep. I trust Ibrahim not to sleep on empty stomach” she said without a hint of a smile. I asked if I should serve their food she declined, but father told me to serve him. After he finished eaten he lay on the sofa and passed his night there. That was when I realized how worse the situation had degenerated.

I was back to my routine the next day. Yusuf and Ibrahim made a mess of cleaning the house when I was away so I started from there. I was half way through the cleaning when mother was leaving for her store. “Mother I will be going back to school by evening” I said. “Ehen! You missed us just to spend one evening and morning?” she asked. “I will still be around by afternoon. My school is 45 minutes drive at most provided there was no traffic” I told her. “But I wouldn’t be around in the afternoon” she countered. I gave her a sly smile. “If you are jealous you can skip shop today” I said. She looked at me like I just demanded for one of her kidney. “Do you need transport fare or not” she asked a bit aggressively. “I was just kidding” I told her with a smile and collected the money she offered me. After I was done with the cleaning, I prepared breakfast; hot eko and akara and everyone ate their fill. They all thanked me and I said they should thank Allah. Father smiled at me and his face had this glowing that indicated satisfaction. I knew he would want me to say that: I returned his smile with a grin.

Madrasat operate from morning to afternoon on Sundays, so Ibrahim and Yusuf left after eating breakfast. I allowed father to rest for an hour before approaching him. “I need to talk to you” I said. He looked up at me and sat up slowly. “Take a sit” he said. I sat down with him on the cushion chair that served as his bed yesternight. “What is going on with you and mother?” I asked. He looked at me with keen eyes and sighed. “You have grown so much” he commented and smiled a little. I realized he had been smiling at me a lot since I got back, he must be very pleased with me I thought. “It’s a long story Aisha.” “I have till evening, that’s many hours from now” I told him. He focused his eyes like he was looking at something far from their reach. “A Yoruba adage says one who asked for clarifications is one interested in the root of a matter. So I will start from the root. Do you remember the woman we met at prayer ground when we went for Ileya festival?” I nodded my head to indicate that I remembered her and he continued. “Her name is Khadijat and I was supposed to get married to her”. My jaw dropped but I quickly rearranged my countenance. “We loved ourselves so much that I never thought we wouldn’t end up as husband and wife” he said shaking his head slightly. “Everything changed when I met your mother; I was enthralled by her beauty. From there on nothing else matter, not my father who already accepted Khadijat as his daughter in-law, not her parents that saw me as a good choice for their daughter, and definitely not the love we shared. I broke up with her a month to our wedding.” I couldn’t hide my emotion this time, my mouth was wide open and I was staring at father incredulously. “There is more” he said. I reclined on the chair but focused intently on his face. “If you can remember, I was reluctant to give her my contact that day. After we departed I didn’t bother to save her number because I wasn’t planning to speak to her again. But she called me some weeks after you left for school. I didn’t know it was her until I picked up and heard her voice. She greeted me and spoke about going to the family house to ask for me, but was told we left for Lagos. She asked about my family’s wellbeing and all. I apologized to her about the way I treated her because I never truly apologize. She said she had forgiven me that it was the will of Allah. One thing led to the other, I told her my business crashed and I didn’t have much going on financially. She felt really sorry for me. When she was about to hang up she promised to call me back soon. A day after our discussion, she called and told me that her husband run a tech company at Ikeja. And she had spoken to him; he said I should bring my curriculum vitae. I told your mother about it and she said I shouldn’t go; giving me so many reasons that were not feasible like what if she is still interested in me and so on. I told her there is nothing like that but she refused totally. I prayed about it and decided it was a blessing from Allah. I went there and was given the job with 90,000 naira monthly salary that is subject to increment, health insurance and three months leave. Since then your mother hasn’t spoken a word to me. How can she even think that she would want to marry me, Khadijat is happily married. Rumours have been flying around that she is cheating on me, but I didn’t question her or act on it. I also deserve some level of respect from her at least” he concluded.

My mouth was dry; I didn’t know what to say after several minutes of staring at the floor. I finally told him to continue exercising patience with mother. “I believe she will realize you made the best decision for us and everyone will be happy again” I encouraged.”I pray” he said hopelessly. I reminded him that I would be going back to school in the evening. He advised me to be a good ambassador of Islam in any situation I found myself, gave me some money and promised to do better when he finished settling some of his debts. I couldn’t stop thinking about Khadijat for a very long time. Her forgiving spirit continued to amaze. She must have loved father very much to offer her help despite what he did to her. “Perhaps love can be invincible for some people” I thought. I wondered what I would do if I was in her place. I prepared rice in the afternoon before Yusuf and Ibrahim returned from Madrasat and we ate together as family. Later in the evening Yusuf and Ibrahim escorted me to where I took a bus to school. “Try your best to be the overall best graduating student” Ibrahim told me before I departed. “In Sha Allah” I replied.