Married To A Tyrant

Before The Wedding (Part 3)

MANSUR

"Haba Mansur, abun dakayi bai dace ba. Tace mistake ne fah (Seriously Mansur, what you did was not right. She said it was a mistake)." Khalifa said, shaking his head in disdain. I hated whenever he did that, trying to give me unwanted advice. Somehow, Khalifa fancied himself as the responsible friend, trying to preach to me every opportunity he got. 

"Maza dan Allah ka share ta kawai. Bata da hankali (Bro, please just forget about her. She's crazy)." I said, pulling him away from the line. I was no longer interested in watching the movie. Thatvjrun in with Salma had spoiled my mood. What the hell was wrong with her? She'd managed to ruin my mood yesterday, and today as well. Was that perhaps her superpower? Pissing the hell out of people every opportunity she got? 

"But what you did wasn't right. You shouldn't have shouted at her like that. That wasn't cool." he said, walking beside me." I thought I raised you better than that."

"Don't you dare preach to me." I snapped. "And can you stop with the mum jokes? It's disgusting."

"I want to know why you spoke to her like that. Isn't she your cousin?" he pressed on. "And don't say anything bad about my jokes."

I shut my eyes briefly, feeling a migraine coming on. I wasn't in the mood to discuss anything about Salma. She had pissed me off yesterday. Did she honestly think that everything was okay between us? And she had foolishly spilled her drink on my kaftan; my favorite kaftan. She is so annoying.

"Cousin or not, she's still an idiot." I muttered as we walked out of the building. As we walked down the stairs, a group of girls walked past us. They were chattering excitedly, with ridiculous amounts of makeup on their faces.

As we walked past them, one of the girls winked at me, smirking in what I think was meant to be a seductive manner. Compared to the rest of the group, she looked considerably better. She wasn't wearing as much makeup as the rest of the girls, and she could be called pretty, in her own way.

I smiled back at her, quickly pulling out my business card. Wordlessly, I thrust it into her hands so fast that Khalifa didn't notice anything. Even her friends didn't notice the movement.

"Call me." I whispered. She blushed furiously, bowing her head slightly as they entered the building.

"What if she tells your mum?" Khalifa said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Nace ka bar maganar kawai (I said just drop it)." I said, getting annoyed at him. Khalifa was a sucker for beautiful girls. And Salma is definitely beautiful, no question about that.

As we hopped into the car, I sighed in frustration and put the key in ignition. "Pass me the lighter." I said, stretching my hand towards Khalifa as I rummaged through my pockets for my cigarette pack. He handed me the lighter wordlessly, and I pulled a cigar out of the pack and lit it.

"Dan Allah ka fita waje ka sha tabar ka. Kana takura min (Please step outside and smoke your cigarette. You're disturbing me)." Khalifa said, covering his nose with a handkerchief.

"Kai ba namiji bane wlhy (You're not a real man)." I mocked him, blowing the smoke up into the air. "Sooner or later, you're going to start smoking as well." I smiled.

"Allah ya sawaqe (May God forbid it)." Khalifa said, stepping out of the car as he took a deep breath. I chuckled quietly and turned my attention to my iPhone. I had a text from Vanessa, whom I'd been ignoring for several days now.

"Rubbish." I muttered, swiping the notification away. There were a few w******p messages from Umma, asking where I was. "As usual." I sighed.

"Are you done?" Khalifa asked, peeping in through the window. I nodded without looking at him, scrolling through my i********:. As he entered the car again, I dialed Salim's number. "Maza yane (Dude what's up)?" I asked as he answered on the second ring.

"Maza wallahi yanzu zan kiraka dama (Dude, I was just about to call you)." he said. "Guess what!" he exclaimed.

"Fareedah wants you back?" I asked.

"To hell with her. Mubarak is back from Sudan." he exclaimed.

"Kace wallahi (Are you serious?)" I asked, widening my eyes in surprise.

"I'm serious. And you know what that means." he chuckled, his laughter echoing through the line.

"We're gonna get so high..."

"Even the clouds will be jealous of us." he finished my sentence, laughing so hard.

"You guys are insane. Don't you know the repercussions of what you're doing?" Khalifa said, shaking his head.

"Waye wannan raggon? (Who's that weakling?)" Salim asked.

"Waye inba Khalifa ba? (Who could it be but Khalifa?)" I laughed, starting the car. "I'm coming to your house right now. You know Asmau is throwing a party tonight. It's going to be awesome."

"I thought you didn't know ai. I've already prepared for the party." he laughed.

"Kasan tace in kawo mata shisha flavor, amma ban samu lokaci na siyo ba. Akwai ah wajen ka? (You know she asked me to bring shisha flavor for her, but I've been too busy to buy one. Do you have some with you?" I asked.

"Is that even a question? Of course I do. Which flavor do you want?" he asked.

"Just get some orange. She loves orange." I said, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Two apple fah?" he asked, sipping something. Probably Fanta. "Just the orange will do. Get like five packs. You can keep the two apple for both of us." I said.

"Okay. Hurry up and get here. Tsoho* ya kusa dawowa (My father is almost back)." he said just as I cut the call.

"I'm going to assume you're not coming?" I said, looking at Khalifa who was trying to pair his phone with the cars audio system.

"Of course I'm coming. Why would I miss something like this?" he chuckled, leaning back as he played Booty Language by Skales.

As we drove out of the cinema, I received a notification from an unknown number:

:) You're handsome, for a guy who spilled his drink on himself.

Smirking, I quickly typed:

:( You're not so bad looking yourself.

Less than ten seconds later, she replied:

:) I'm Khairat.

:( I'm Mansur.

:) So, are you down to have fun?

:( That depends on the type of fun you wish to have.

:) The type which involves a young handsome man and a beautiful woman, obviously.

:( Sure. My place or your place?

:) Mine. I'll text you my address when we're done.

:) Stay handsome.

Smirking, I slipped the phone into my pocket.

"What?" Khalifa asked.

"It's none of your business." I said." But let's just say, today is going to be awesome.

*****

"Haba Yaya Mansur. Ashe dama baka daina wannan hallin naka ba? Wai yaushe zaka daina shaye-shaye? (Come on brother Mansur. So you haven't stopped this habit of yours? When are you going to stop drinking)?" Nafisah asked as I staggered to the boy's quarters. She was sitting outside on the terrace with Rukayyah, the latter shaking her head slowly.

"Ki...Ki shi...Shiga hankalin ki fah. Zan miki wulaqanci idan kika qara sa baki a ci...Cikin rayuwa ta. (Behave yourself. Otherwise, you'll regret sticking your nose in my business)" I slurred, holding onto the wall for support. I felt like the ground was tilting upwards, trying to knock me over. But I was too strong for that.

"Allah ya shirye ka. (May Allah forgive you)" she said, sitting back down. I took my shoe and aimed for her head, but ended up throwing it into the pool. "Whatever." I muttered, staggering away.

As I reached for the door handle, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew someone was watching me. Almost automatically, I turned to look up at my parents bedroom window. There, standing just behind the curtain with a blank expression on his face, was none other than Mr Sharif, the man who called himself my father. He was leaning against the window frame, his hands folded across his chest.

Even from down here, I could see the grey patches in his beard. He is getting old. The creases on his forehead were visible as well, marring his features.

I flashed a smile and waved at him. I caught a slight curve of his lips downward, but I wasn't certain as he walked away quickly, shaking his head. Or maybe it was the ground shaking that made it seem like he did. Either way, I opened the door and collapsed into the chair, pushing the door shut. I shut my eyes just as the adhan began to call the Magrib prayer, oblivious to the conversation that was happening upstairs.

"This is all your fault. You've spoilt this boy to the point of no return. I wish he wasn't my child." Mr. Sharif said.

"Don't raise your voice at me. It's not his fault. He has a problem. He's going to stop one day. I believe in MY son." Raliya said, waving her hands in dismissal.

"You'll never change Raliya." he said, shaking his head. "When will you open your eyes and see that this boy has deviated from the path of Allah. We need to be stern and bring him back before he goes astray."

"You of all people want to talk about the path of Allah? What about all those girls you hooked up with even while we were married? Do you think Allah allows that? You want to preach to me? Did you listen to me when I tried to advice you against your actions? What did you say? Oh yes, you called me a stupid woman who doesn't deserve to live with you. So don't come here and puff up your chest in the name of Allah. If you knew Allah, you wouldn't have done what you did." Raliya said bitterly, biting back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. How dare he talk to her about the path of Allah? When did Allah ever say a married man should commit fornication? And yet he'd done it. Time and time again she'd warned him against it, but he'd turned a deaf ear.

She still loved her husband, even after he'd proved to her that he didn't deserve her love. If he was mad at Mansur for drinking alcohol, he had no-one to blame but himself. Mansur had learnt how to drink only because he'd seen his own father doing it. After all, the apple never falls far from the tree. Maybe he was just afraid because he saw too much of himself in her son.

"That's in the past Raliya. I've repented, and I'm trying to better myself. I know what I did wasn't right, and I regret my actions to this day. But Allah is merciful, and I've prayed to him for forgiveness. But you on the other hand don't want to accept the fact that your son is going astray. You are blinded by your love for him. Be afraid of when your Lord will ask you to account for your child's upbringing." he cautioned.

"You said it's in the past. Well, one day, all this will become past. My son will change. I'm sure of it." she said quickly. "If indeed you've changed as you said you have, then Mansur will change as well. I have faith in Allah, and I have faith in my son as well."

"But Raliya..."

"Get out of my room. Now!" she cut him off, pointing to the door. She turned and faced the wall, not wanting to look at his face.

"Are you telling your husband to leave your room? Raliya, are you seriously going to stand there and...

"I SAID GET OUT OF MY ROOM. I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HERE. LEAVE ME ALONE, FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH." she yelled, throwing the mug beside her at him. He narrowly missed the mug as it shattered against the wall behind him.

Wordlessly, he turned and walked out, praying that Allah will forgive her, for she did not know what she was doing.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room, Hafsah was pressing her fingers in her ears, trying to drown out the voice of her parents arguing.