BFFs: troubles within A Year

21. Bye Lauratu

"You are here shouting at me as if I committed a crime. I'm just trying to help our daughter. I hope you know that no sensible man would want to marry a spoiled brat? Especially in this era. So it's better if I start teaching her to behave like the woman she's growing into." Hajjo sips her hot tea.

"I don't spoil her. I'm just giving her a good life."

"Because of the way you're spoiling her do you see what she's been doing? She's gradually turning into all this spoilt girls that get sent out of their husband's house a little time after their marriage. I don't want my daughter to end up like that. She's all i have for crying out loud!" She has been telling her husband to stop spoiling their daughter with money and too much freedom. She parties all she wants, eats and drinks when she wants, how she wants, where she wants.

She goes out whenever she wants, however she wants and goes wherever she wants to. No restrictions are imposed on her to stop her from doing anything. All in all, she's totally spoiled. She's spoiled to the extent that her best friend, Fatima is also gradually being affected by her.

Hajjo doesn't want her daughter to end up like Hadiyya's. Hadiyya is one of her colleagues whom she met at a conference for fashion designers in Edinburgh.

Hadiyya's daughters are extremely beautiful because of their dad who happens to be half shuwa Arab and half Indian. Can you imagine the beauty?

They got married and the first one was sent home two weeks after marriage because she almost burned down the house just because she was making indomie and egg.

The second one however was sent home a week after they came back from their honeymoon in Dubai because she didn't know how to clean up the house. She let it stay dirty and unkempt.

All blame was on Hadiyya as she didn't teach her children to take care of their matrimonial homes and husbands.

"And moreover, she'll get married in a few years. If she gets married do you want her to be sent back here because she can't cook, or clean the house? The girl doesn't even know how to take care of herself, how will she take care of her husband and in laws? I know you enjoy being married to me because my parents trained me well, don't you want her husband to enjoy too?" Hajjo drops her finished cup of tea and completely faces her husband.

"Wai kina ta magana kaman {you're busy talking as if} she's getting married tomorrow. Ah ahn! What is it? Look min kam misomi gaskiya {I'm famished sincerely}, so good night." Audu says going out of the room.

She knows where he's going and she'll go and meet him once he's cooled off. She isn't letting him off the hook that easily. She has to make him understand that she's right and she's just doing what is best for their daughter. Even if she has to resort to other measures.

Halima's POV

I almost choked on my saliva when he said what he said. The whole Ya Sa'eed just proposed to me and is already talking about marriage!

Any other girl in my place would be happy but not me. I'm panicking. Is he playing? He must be.

I laugh a nervous laugh and look at him. His face morphs into that of confusion.

"Ya Sa'eed wannan wani irin wasa ne {what sort of joke is this}? Please let me go inside and enjoy my snacks. Mummy is being very stern nowadays so let me go dan Allah." I place a leg outside the car, only to be stopped again by Ya Sa'eed's hand.

"Halima I'm serious." I close my eyes and breathe in.

"Ya Sa'eed, I...I...I can't love you more than I already do." He let go of my hand.

"Halima just talk already please. And please don't think about my feelings. It's about you. I can suppress my feelings for you. As long as you're happy then I'm happy." I open my mouth to reply but mummy's voice make my lips slack and my eyes widen.

"Halima! Halima! Only Allah knows where this girl is. Sai shegen yawo kaman kaza {she roams about like a chicken}. Halima wallahi don't let me find you, in bah haka bah wallahi bazaki ji dadi bah {if not i swear by Allah you won't like what I'll do to you}." Mummy's voice is a little far but I know it won't be long till she finds me and thrashes me. She promised to beat the hell out of me if I go out without her permission.

"Ya Sa'eed mummy na nema na {is looking for me}. Tomorrow in school dan Allah. Wallahi if she finds me here na shiga uku {I'm in trouble}." I say as I rush out of the car.

"Maybe tana bandaki {she's in the bathroom}. Let me go and check. I wonder why I didn't check there before." I hear mummy's voice again but this time she's closer.

I quickly hear a door close. I rush inside the house and enter the guest quarters. I use the staircase that connects it to the actual house and rush to the guest room that was hardly used.

I hide my abaya and veil with the nylon Ya Sa'eed gave me in the empty wardrobe then lay on the bed. My heart is palpitating.

"Lauratu wai where is Halima tun dazu {since} I didn't see her." I hear mummy's voice.

"Naga ta shiga dakin can dazu {I saw her entering that room the other time}." I hear footsteps approaching the room and I need no soothsayer to know that's mummy. I try to make the bed look like I've been in the room for long.

"Halima what are you doing here? You have a room as far as I'm concerned so what are you doing here? Kuma uban wa zai gyara miki dakin da kika bata? Kinci abinci kuma. {who'll tidy the room you dirtied. And you ate food then} you left the plates like that. Wai what is wrong with you? Tidy this room up and come downstairs once you're done." Mummy leaves the room making me release an exasperated sigh. I dress the bed and take my things to my room. I leave my phone to charge and go downstairs as mummy said.

"Lauratu, Halima, listen attentively. Now starting with you Lauratu, I need you to pack your things, you're going back home tomorrow In Shaa Allah." Lauratu's eyes widen.

"Hajiya dan Allah kiyi hakuri. Wallahi I won't do it again. I don't even know what I did. Please what did I do? Wallahi I'll correct it." She is already crying. I really pity her. Only God knows what she did. She looks like she would go on her knees to beg mummy.

"Lauratu calm down. Don't you want to go back to school? You didn't do anything wrong. I just want you to be privileged and continue schooling back in Borno. You may go." Lauratu calms down, but she's still crying. Mummy turns to me.

"Ke kuma Halima you'll be taking care of the chores now. Amma not all. You'll cook dinner and wash the dishes before you sleep, and lastly you'll clean your room and wash your toilet, clothes, everything else concerning you. You start tomorrow In Shaa Allah. Good night." and she leaves the parlor like she just said something as normal as hey.

She literally stunned the life out of me. In fact stunned is an understatement, I'm beyond stunned. I'm astonished, surprised, bewildered, shocked, flabbergasted. All these words still don't describe how I feel.

I want to scream out in frustration. But I know better than to do anything wrong or my situation will just worsen.