When Love Is War.

20

Zainab Hassan

As I walked into Baba's Abuja mansion I wondered what this summon was for. My mother came to my house earlier today to tell me that my grandfather requested for my presence and I should leave Timothy out of the picture. I wonder what those two were up to, with the way they carried on you would think she was his daughter and not his daughter-in-law.
"Assalamu alaikum Baba, Mum", I say as I walk in to my grandpa's study.
"Mrs Idara King what a surprise to see you here" I say feeling very much surprised to see my husband's running mate seated comfortably in front of my grandfather just beside my mother. I barely hear them give a reply to my greetings as I sat on a sofa just beside the large desk, I was too busy thinking about what they could possibly want to talk about without Timothy. I had a bad feeling about this.
My grandfather cleared his throat and began to speak" I pride myself as a very intuitive person, a good judge of character. I have this inate ability to gauge what a person is cable of or not. Timothy is notably absent here because I feel this information is best kept away from him and I am sure everyone in this room is willing to keep this information between us".
At that statement I could feel everyone's eyes trained on me and I looked right back at them because I was not making any promises.
" Zainab if you cannot be discreet then leave" my mother replied my stare in Hausa.
"I'm not leaving" I replied her in English.
" Well I Will not waste everyone's time by putting around the bush, I was contacted by the cabal. They've expressed interest in Timothy and we all know what it means if we are able to make a deal with them".
"Wow this is great news", Mrs Idara explains.
"Baba are you trying to tell me the cabal is real?", I ask.
" Yes, you see there are people running this country behind the scenes of our fragile democracy", my grandfather answered.
"Back to the matter at hand, have you made a deal with them? I hope you've told them we are interested", Mrs Idara fires at my grandfather her voice cutting through the fog that has been clogging my mind. I could not rap my mind around this, this was not the movies for Allah's sake. In real life things like this did not exist, I knew godfatherism existed but the 'cabal'.
"Mrs Idara I have told them I am interested but I have not struck a deal with them yet because Timothy, you and I are supposed to have a meeting with them first. The problem is that we all know that Timothy will not be ready to strike a deal with them", my grandfather answered.
" Why do you think Timothy will be opposed to the idea", I ask.
" I have sponsored a presidential candidate and I know that a standard deal involves a monthly disbursement of a percentage of public funds and I frankly don't see Timothy agreeing to that. To Timothy anti corruprion is not just a byword but a principle ", my grandfather answered.
"Baba I thought I could say the same about you, I can't believe you are even considering this. I am disappointed by the fact you've even done this before. What happened to being incorruptible? What do you even get out of it?", I say.
" This girl has started to grow wings, how dare you speak to your grandfather like that. Have you ever cared where the money to go on expensive vacations and shopping sprees, School abroad, start your own foundation and your own business came from", my mother rebukes me angrily.
" My dear this is just the way things are, I don't know how it works in the rest of the world but Nigeria is a pyramid scheme. The masses are at the bottom then the politicians next we have the big business men and lastly the cabal, a group of rich and powerful business men and ex politicians who run everything. Everyone thinks politicians are the problem but the thing is we are just playing the game", Mrs Idara explains.
"It doesn't make the game right", I mumble trying to avoid another rebuke.
" So sir what is the way forward", Mrs Idara says.
"We have to find a way to convince Timothy to sign the deal, I mean he must not know the details", Baba answers.
"I think the best person for that Job is Zainab", my mother says.
" That will not work, i cannot do it", I say.
"Zainab you do not have a choice, we have invested too much in this and it's about to pay off", my mother says.
"What would I tell him, what do you expect me to tell him ?"
"Mrs Idara and i will meet with the members of the cabal, I will explain everything to them and you will tell Timothy that some financers of his campaign need his signature on some documents, all we need is his signature and we will get it from you", Baba relies.
"I'll think about it", I say.
"You will not think, you will do kinji Koh( have you heard)" my mother says.
"Zainab do this for Timothy, he will be good for this country. I know that he will do good work unlike some leaders who loot all the resources just see the small percentage of money that goes to the cabal as a sort of taxation", Baba says.
"I've heard, I'll take my leave now", I say as I leave the room without another word.
When I get home that night I sit in my car with my head on my steering wheel contemplating on what I would. This goes against all my principles, the values I thought I shared with my family. Well it seems like integrity is simply a lie I was sold as a child. I was at crossroads and even I wondered what road I would take. Timothy did not deserve this betrayal but could I turn my back on my family. This is why they mother was so desperate to get me married to Timothy, my mother is such a snake, a user.