ABOUT THIS BOOK
Description
"Peace be upon you, my beautiful, may I sit down?"
I quickly turned around; it was Adams. I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Please, have a seat." He sat down and asked, "How are you? Why are you sitting out here all by yourself?"
I replied, "I got tired of the noise and rowdiness inside, that's why I came out here."
He said, "That's good. I was looking for you earlier but couldn't find you. Plus, I don't have your phone number. So, after a while, I thought about coming outside, and luckily I found you. Baby, remind me of your name again?"
"My name is Amina, but I am usually called Iman."
He adjusted his posture and said, "I love both names. Now, what about our discussion?"
I asked, "Which discussion is that, exactly?"
He said, "I love you. Realize that I truly love you and want to marry you. After that, you will do your university studies in England because that's where I will be taking you. Trust me, Iman, I love you with all my heart."
I just kept staring at him. The guy was a real black beauty, with beautiful eyes. His manner of speaking and the way he called my name made him all the more charming to me. I felt like I could easily take a leap of faith to use a surrogate mother figure in the absence of a mother—meaning, I would marry him in the absence of our older brother's approval.
He interrupted my thoughts, saying, "Look, Iman, give me your heart, let me step inside it. I know you will come to love me in a very short time. Am I right, my beautiful, have you heard me?" He stared intently into my eyes. I laughed, and he started laughing too.
I said, "Well, keep trying to get approval from our older brother. For now, if he says he agrees to let me marry you, it won't be a problem on my end."
He fell silent for a few seconds and then said, "I know who that Maska guy is better than you do, because once he says something, it doesn't change. As for me, I will seek love from you with your consent. Ever since I laid eyes on you, my instincts have told me that you are my madam, the one I've been searching for all this time, not knowing she was right here in Nigeria." He made me laugh heartily. We kept chatting, completely oblivious to our surroundings until we suddenly heard the clamor of people and realized the event was already over. Yaya Kabir drove us back home after I said goodbye to Adams, with the understanding that we would see each other the next day.
Before the time for the bride's pre-wedding event (Kamu) arrived, the news had already spread that our older brother had embraced me. After I finished performing the Isha prayer, Mama called me and asked, "What is this news I hear people blowing out of proportion in this house?"
Stuttering, I told her what happened, but I didn't tell her that he had embraced me. Instead, I told her that he had called me over to give me a message, but before he could tell me what the message was, Hajiya Laure and the others showed up, which was why they were spreading rumors. Mama asked, "They said he went as far as embracing you?" I quickly replied, "No, I don't know anything about that." She fell silent for a moment, then turned around and walked out.
The next morning around nine o'clock, I was busy tidying up Mama's room while she was in Alhaji's room tidying it up for him, since today was the wedding day. Hearing the ring of my phone from our room, I headed there and crossed paths with Jamila, who was bringing it to me. I took it, saying, "Jamila, haven't you guys gone to Quranic school yet? Where is Sagir?"
She said, "He is over there, refusing to hurry up and put on his clothes." She continued, "Anty, please, we really want to stay back today. Look, today is the wedding day!"
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