By Maryam Altine Baba
Chapter two
“I have always known that Zainab was a good for nothing. She and her sisters will not see my brother to the grave. They shall die before him, In shaa Allah.” Aunty Maijiddah, Malam Tijjani’s younger sister had declared.
She was a stout lady physically and had a petit heart to fully match the personality of a brute. She had hated his daughters, to put it subtly, disliked them. But Malam had endeared them almost as if they were Princesses. They were his core, his centre of life after Allah and Prophet Muhammad.
He hadn’t minded that he had daughters. The Prophet (SAW) said whoever is blessed with daughters and he trained and looked after them will be granted Jannah, as long as he kept his Iman and hasn’t engaged in shirk.
This meddling act in to her brother’s home had been the highlight of the clashes between Aunty Maijiddah and her nieces. Zainab had despised her, hated her more especially on that day. She made it clear that she had no time and space for such lectures and reprimands in her life. She just wanted everybody to let her just be! But has anyone listened?
No. everyone seemed to be doing whatever they felt like and it was time they realized that no one messed up her life. It was her life for the love Allah! She would do whatever pleased her with it and wasn’t keen on allowing them specially to destroy it, like they did Asma’u’s. Period!
“Are you even listening to me?” Clearly, the lack of respect shown by Zainab had annoyed Aunty Maijiddah.
She ignored her again, so she ranted authoritatively, “Now listen to me young lady, you will do as I say. You will go to the court and withdraw this nonsense. Imran will accompany you there. And under no other condition should this scenario repeat itself….am I clear!”
The command was stern and chilly, intended to rattle Zainab. But it had no effect on her in any way. She had a knack for disobedience, especially if it concerned her cantankerous Aunt. She did for the fun of it.
“I will do no such thing”. Zainab reiterated. “Everybody should mind their businesses and I advise them not to meddle in this matter.”
In other words, she was saying clearly to them that she was not Asma’u.
Aunty Maijiddah was mortified by Zainab’s reply and strived to show her that two can play same, “Oh yes you will do as I said, because that is the collective decision of the family.”
Zainab looked at whom Aunty Maijiddah had called ‘family’. Her father Malam Tijjani was present, his face took great interest at the ground, her mother Khadija looked on with the eyes that threatened to burst with tears if any of the warring parties looked at her.
Her younger sister Hauwa, Aunty Maijiddah’s namesake and elder sister Asma’u had worriedly looked on too. Then there was Imran, Aunty Maijiddah’s eldest son, Habibu, her younger son and Lawal, her husband.
“What family?” She retorted in disgust. “All I can see are a bunch of meddlers with nothing to do.”
“How dare you, Zainab!” Imran’s voice cut through to Zainab like a sharp knife on a slice of bread. “Do not make the mistake of insulting my mother!”
Imran looked like Aunty Maijiddah in every sense of the word. He resembled her physically and had all her qualities. He was a chip off the old block. But Zainab wasn’t afraid of him and his voice had no effects on her.
“I can dare Imran, because this is my father’s house!” Zainab said boldly.
Imran got up and showed her his index finger, “If you insult my mother again, I will teach you a lesson you will never forget”.
He was all serious and had a look on his face that truly reflected his words. He wasn’t bluffing. But so was Zainab. She let out a dry laugh and eyed him.
“Tsk,tsk,tsk. It is a pity that you forgot our last encounter Imran. You who strive to teach me a lesson should know better than to forget your own lessons. And in case you have forgotten, I shall remind you.”
Imran raised his right hand, raw anger flashed in his eyes. Zainab remained in her track and there was commotion all around. Habib tried to stop Imran, Aunty Maijiddah raised her voice even higher, Asma’u made an attempt to defend her sister and the neighbours had picked up interest in the spat.
“Go ahead, slap me!” Zainab challenged Imran. “The last time you did, you ended up in remand for three days. Now I will make sure you wound up in prison for six months. Just do it if you know you are an offspring of your parents!”
“I will show you Zainab, I swear I will show you that I was born of true parents. If you like, lock me up forever!”
Habib was angry that his brother had taken bait. Zainab was trouble, everybody knew that. Slapping her will do more harm than good, so why take the bait? He managed to drag him out of the house just as Asma’u dragged Zainab to their room. Neighbours had gathered, just to watch. Nothing appealed to idle people than a free movie show. They watched and spread their versions later.
