HER

11. Fathers and sisters

"Rahmat said I should meet her here. Can I come in?" Richard was saying. Frankly he was a bit uncertain what her father was going to do to him.

When Rahmat had suggested that they meet at her house, there were two things that she forgot to mention.
One, that her father was at home and secondly that he could be scary when he wanted to be.
And Richard was never scared.

He was staring at Richard like he was trying to find a reason not to allow him into his house.

Finally, not seeing any plausible reason to send him away. He stepped aside holding the door open for Richard to walk in.

Richard was sure Rahmat's dad could tell that he was nervous. He clutched the package in his hand tighter. He even surveyed his outfit while he was at it. Nothing fancy as he would usually describe it but he wasn't sure what Rahmat's dad would think

"She's in her room" He stated coldly.

Richard looked in the direction of what he considered to be the rooms.

"What are you doing?" the man said, "You're not going in there. Visitors sit in the parlour, with me"

Richard nodded saying nothing. Not that he would would know what to say even if he tried.

"Rahmat, Yarinyar, mijinki yana nan" he yelled from where he was standing. The house was small, so she'd actually hear him.
It was like he didn't trust Richard alone in his house.

Richard heard a door open and Rahmat's head peaked out of the room

"kuna da tufafi masu dacewa?" he said again.
At this point Richard couldn't tell if he was insulting him or not.

Rahmat rolled her eyes, "Yes, sir" she said as she walked out of the room.
He'd never seen her in casual clothing before. She wore pjs. Long-sleeved pjs. Blue ones that had the writing 'love to snooze on it.'

"Hi" she said to him

"Hey" Richard said back. Of course he wanted to hug her and kiss her and ask her how she was feeling. The only thing that had been on his mind since she'd told him that she wasn't feeling well.
She skipped her last two classes but she still called him and asked if he could come to her house for the study dates they'd been having for the past week.
He wanted to offer to take her home once he got wind of her illness but she knew he had a test and she wouldn't let him skip it.

He stood there frozen to the spot, unable to say a word because of the older man staring at him like a hawk. He was taller than her father, much taller. But it wasn't in the man's physique it was in his eyes.
His eyes said 'I could kill you and hide your body, no one would ever find out'

" Dakatar da shi, baba. Kuna tsorata shi"
She said, walking towards him.

No. No. No. Stay there. He wanted to tell her but soon she was beside him and taking his hand in her own.

Wasn't she scared? Didn't she see the same man that was staring at him? Was there something wrong with his eyes?

"Good" her father said. Whatever they were talking about, he wanted to know.
They could be planning his death. No not Rahmat. Rahmat loved him. She wouldn't do that.

Soon she was pulling him across the room and he was just following her.

"ina za ku je" her father said "
baƙi suna zama a cikin ɗakin ɗakin"

Rahmat rolled her eyes again.

Great so they were being playful. Good

"You said he's my husband, dad." she replied, "Husbands don't stay in the parlour do they? I might keep the door open"