Two Tribes

16: A New Phase

Eid Mubarak loves!

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Since the day she was birthed, Afrah had never been so busy and exhausted. Her mother made her greet all their relatives-the ones she was familiar with and even the ones she could swear she had never set her eyes on before, and all of them had almost the same piece of advice for her. It was becoming unpleasant for Afrah. All she wanted to do was go to her room and have a long, nice sleep against tomorrow. In a few hours, she was going to be married. The last thing she wanted was to have ugly bags underneath her eyes.

"Mum," Afrah whispered. "Can I go now? I left my friends in the room."

"Have you greeted your aunty, Hadiza, from Lapai?"

Afrah furrowed her brows. She had no idea whom her mother was referring to. "Who's that?"

"You don't know aunty Hadiza? Your dad's cousin that used to carry you as a toddler."

"How am I supposed to remember her, mum?" Afrah asked, exasperated. "You said it yourself; I was a toddler!"

"I don't care if you don't remember her, but you have to go to her, greet her and when she asks you if you remember her, tell her you do. She's in the guest room. Go there and when you're done, go to the living room, there are a few of your dad's colleagues that are here and won't be able to be here tomorrow due to work. Greet them and make sure you smile."

It took all of Afrah's willpower to prevent her from grunting and storming to her room. No one told her it was going to be like that. "Okay."

Regardless of her mother's order, Afrah sauntered to her room and plopped into her bed beside Amal who was busy typing away on her phone.

"I thought you were never coming back." Amal voiced.

"Pfft!" She puffed. "Mum made me greet all the guests. My knees are so tired. I don't understand why the house is this full today when the wedding is tomorrow."

"Why wouldn't it be full?" Amal asked, putting her phone away and turning to face Afrah. "Who puts their wedding on a Monday? It's absurd. A lot of people are going to be at work. I have witnessed a lot of weddings in my life, but this is actually my first time witnessing a wedding on a Monday. Sorry to say but Jameel didn't think."

Afrah heaved a sigh. She had told Jameel the exact thing Amal complained about but he wouldn't postpone. He was hell-bent on having the wedding take place on the scheduled date. "Will you be able to make it here tomorrow?"

"I don't know-"

"So it's a no?" Disappointment dripped off Afrah's voice. She didn't really mind if her other friends wouldn't make it to her wedding but she wanted Amal to be there for she was her closest friend.

"Will you let me finish?" She rolled her eyes. "I don't know what makes you think I'd miss it for anything in the world."

Afrah smiled, glad.

"I will speak to my boss. Hopefully, he will allow me to miss two days at work; Monday and Tuesday."

"I have no doubt he will," Afrah gave her best friend a knowing smile. "He's not just your boss, is he?"

"For now he still is, but not for long. He's been giving me subtle looks and...he's been favoring me. I'm a girl, I know when a guy likes me. And I'm telling you right now; that man is falling for me. Hard."

"Just say that you'll be inviting me to your wedding soon."

She smiled and crossed her fingers.

"Afrah!" Mrs. Anima's booming voice almost tore Afrah's eardrum.