CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH

CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH: 10

Café du mondé, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Sunday, 25th February, 2018.

The place was bustling with people entering and going. Some were having their breakfasts, all decked up for work, while some were probably coming from their morning jogs, as they were dressed in joggers. Among those people, one young man, who looked to be about thirty years, stood out. He was wearing a starched white kaftan ironed to perfection. With a black cap perched on his head.

The man strained his neck to look at the door, it was obvious he was expecting someone. He picked up his small button phone and looked at the time, before hissing. He didn't like waiting for people, it made him feel inferior - which he was anything but.

He saw one of the waiters passing by so he stopped him and asked him to get him Jambalaya - a rice based dish, most often served with oyster, shrimps, ham or chicken. He requested that his be made with chicken and the waiter nodded with a promise to be back in a short while with the man's food.

"How long have you been here waiting for me?" Another man of about sixty years said as he took a seat opposite the previous man. The young man rolled his eyes and hissed, long and hard.

"And what are you wearing? Don't you feel odd in those clothes? Everyone is wearing cooperate wears and you're in a getzner?" The young man hissed, he was comfortable in his clothes.

"Are we going to talk about what brought me here all the way from Abuja, and you from Lagos or are we going to keep judging each other's clothes?" The waiter from earlier came and dropped the young man's food and turned to ask the older man if he would have anything. The older man shook his head and the waiter left, not before telling him to feel free to go through their menu.

"Sorry. Did you use the link I sent you?" The younger man nodded.

"I can't believe Abulkhair, that was not his girlfriend, I'm sure. His girlfriend is from a poor family so why is he getting married to Alhaji Muhammad's daughter?" The older man smirked.

"You shouldn't be worried about that, I'm even happy he has made my work easier. I don't know about you though, but he has made it easier for me to get to Alhaji Muhammad. Now I just have to wait till he gets married to that Aisha, and then I make my first move. I have everything planned out." The younger man took a spoon of his food. It was good, not better than the one his mother prepared for them back in Nigerian though.

"You're being selfish, you know that right? You're supposed to be thinking about us, not just you. Anyways, I was thinking that if you make your first move, Alhaji Muhammad would be weak, distracted and careless, Abulkhair would also be together with Alhaji Muhammad. So I'll use that opportunity to do everything once and for all. My plan doesn't need much stress, I just need an opportunity, which is where you come in, and then once I grasp what I want, I'm done." The older man nodded.

"So now we're going to keep tabs on them, huh?" The younger man nodded in response as he scooped another spoonful into his mouth.

"Good then. On a totally different note, we need to change the phones we need in communication, Alhaji Muhammad's PI has started recording our calls. My secretary told me yesterday." The younger man groaned. He didn't like that Alhaji Muhammad's PI one bit, the old man was always on their tails.

The older man brought out two extremely small walkie-talkies, they were so tiny they could fit in a brassiere.

"These have been connected. We can talk to each other from any where across the globe." The younger man nodded and collected it. He shoved it in his trousers pocket and continued eating.