THE LAST INSURGENT

Seventeen

The joy of returning home was indescribable. Leena felt as if it was a dream as she stepped into her house after so many painful days.
Days of hopelessness and slavery. Taken away from your home, family, education or career, friends and dreams  was something no one would ever want to experience.
It was a miracle she was not sexually molested. Most of the girls got molested. Some had children and they were still there,

The family reunion was exhilarating. Her friends and family members kept trooping in to felicitate with her,
Among the first callers was Adam, her fiancé. He had lost a moment and shed tears of joy.
So after a while, life went on. A new date was fixed for the marriage that  ought to have taken place a two days before she came back.
The wedding was postponed and a new date was fixed.

Leena had a secret. The thought of Mufty was stuck with her. She could not take him off her mind.
He was a mystery and could not understand  why he had a strange phobia towards women.
That was she did not know the reason behind his phobia for women.
It started since the Beeba saga.
He had fallen off the cliff but was lucky to have held on to a rock. He had lifted himself up and survived. It was from that day he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to God.

He left Kano and moved to Maiduguri. He began to attend Mallam Muhammadu Yunus’s islamic lectures. Muhammad Yunus was usually harsh on the government systems and condemned them vehemently.
He talked about unemployment, corruption, debauchery and said it was all caused by the Western
influence.

“The white man brought education to us just to destroy our religion. He had said. “ The worst thing that has happened to us is western education. What we need a land strictly based on the Shari ’a system. If every government thief has his hands cut off, there would be less corruption. It is the system that allows men to sleep with married women…..”
And that part had hit Mufty, who was still Mangal then, like a tornado.

He began to see truth in what the Mallam said. The Mallam was using facts to deceive people and he fell for it. It happened at a time when he was desperate to serve God, seek for forgiveness and pay for his crimes.
This was how he got closer to them and became a part of them.  When the Mallam was constantly arrested, he told them that they had to fight back or the voice of truth would be buried. He said there was no revolution without bloodshed.

Mufty was part of those trained as soldiers. Unknown to him, he was being led into an insurgence that would shake the world.
The relationship with Beeba made him develop a phobia for women. He got mad whenever a girl touched him mistakenly. He never got aroused by a woman, or even had the intention of getting married.

He felt he was the worst person on Earth after destroying a home. But Leena never knew any of these.
All she knew was there was something about him that had stuck to her. There was something about him that made her want to be with him. It seemed she was in love with an insurgent.
That was crazy!
Why did she crave for him? Why did she want to see those manly eyes again? Why did she just want to hear his voice again?
She felt he was a man in need of help. He had lost his mind and soul. He had no right to write himself off. She did not know what he did in the past, but there was nothing god does not forgive if you sincerely repent while you were still alive and not at the verge of death.

He saved her live and the lives of many girls. She wanted to save his. She wanted him to come back to life.
But could she do this when she may probably never see him again?
She lived with this for three months. Even as her wedding preparation went on, she only feigned to be happy. If she had to do anything for Mufty, then it had to be before she got married.
************

Mufty lay in his room with his hands crossed over chest when he heard the noise. He got up abruptly and went to the door. He opened the door and saw three of their men standing.
“Amir wants you now.” One of them said.
The tone of the call did not sound good. He knew sooner or later they may find out that he was no more loyal. His saving grace was his illness. He was on bed for two months and that saved him from going for any operation. They thought it was his HIV crisis.