A LOVE LIKE PHOENIX

CHAPTER ONE (ALHAJI ZAYYAN BASHIR’S LIVING ROOM) “Call the girls for me, all of them ” Alhaji Zayyan bellowed upon his wife as he found himself a place to sit in the spacious living, he was clutching the wedding invite of the daughter of Alhaji Tanko Jaafar,his close friend and business associate, this is the third wedding invite he had received this week from his friends and relatives, as a matter of fact when Alhaji Jaafar’s brother gave him the invite, he gave it to him while wearing a rude smirk that seemed to suggest that he has failed in his duty as an older gentleman of the society since he hasn’t wedded any of his daughters, “when will it be my turn to invite to invite my friends too” he thought to himself. In less than a minute, the ladies presented themselves before their father and he started by calling their names one by one “Zaliha, Saadiya, Talatu, Khairat, Fadilah, Rumasau, Fatimah” “Your presence in this house saddens and weakens me. It limits my status as a dattijo (a respectable older man) in the society, haba if you are not bothered by your spinsterhood I am. I AM BOTHERED. And Wallahi Tallahi if by the end of next Ramadan, you, Talatu, Khairat, Fadilah, Rumasau, Fatimah are not married or in the worst case have not presented me with a suitable suitor, I will give you out to anyone I deem fit starting with Mallam Idi- Maigadi and Shehu Mai-Shago. Now get out of my sight” he finished in sheer anger. The ladies scurried back to their rooms, while grumbling underneath their breaths. “Alhaji kayi hakuri (be patient) things like marriage takes time, aure yin Allah ne (marriage is an act of God), please don’t use your words and actions to force this girls to fall into the wrong path. You have a fair of the blame too, when you employed that ridiculous Uncle B to chase away any guy that comes their way, even as students you made sure they don’t go beyond school and islamiyyah, how will they get spouses when they are always holed up in the house? They’re educated but you never permitted them to work” this was a breakthrough for Hajia Mustabshira, she always dreamt of telling Alhaji what was on her mind, in her opinion her husband was too strict in his style of upbringing. Alhaji threw her a fierce look, which made her look down almost immediately after making direct eye contact with him as instructed by Mallam Dan-Tsoho, when he gave her the antimony to apply in her eyes. “What I am saying is that, Alhaji, these girls won’t get suitors or even suitable husbands if all they do is stay indoor all day 24/7, they are all educated the least of them have a B.sc, Fatimat has an M.sc in Micro-Biology, Rumasa’u is a chartered accountant, Khairat is an Engineer, Talatu is a Bio-Chemist, please alhaji I am pleading with you, let them have and enjoy some freedom, their spinsterhood is affecting you too, be passionate Alhaji” she ended with a melancholic, low and compassionate voice. “So what are you suggesting that I do, Mustabshira?” Alhaji said in a voice that sounded like that of a wounded lion. She knew this was her opportunity, but she had to be very careful with her next choice of words, she sat up, said a silent prayer “Alhaji, you have highly connected and influential friends in top positions, you can link our girls to their sons to marry or better still let them get jobs in companies, hospitals and parastatals, who knows what can happen in the course, eh Alhaji?” He kept quiet for a minute, was Mustabshira reading his mind?, he had given this suggestion a thought before now, but knowing his friends, they might up end marrying the girls for themselves “NO!!” he shuddered at the thought of one of his daughters being the wife of one of his friends, he made a quick mental review of all his friends “kai none of them are worthy of having my daughter children in their houses, not as wives certainly not as daughter-in-laws” he thought to himself. “Alhaji baka ce komai bah (Alhaji you have not said anything)” Hajia Mustabshira cut his thought “You can leave I will think about it” he replied “When should I remind you?” “I said you should leave, haba” he said exasperatedly “Toh, I will join you later”