He is my chauffeur

Kano, Nigeria. 2015. ___________ She knew the rest of the deets. After the bottom line that-Mallam Iro, the chauffeur has resigned-, she didn't hear any word afterwards. Anger was surging through every cell that made her up. She felt the urge to be loud—to wail out the maddening feeling on her heart. It meant she would have to take the public transport to school or beg Ya Abdul to take her to school until a new chauffeur's found. She won't even dare beg Ya Ammar because she knew it would go in vain. He would rather go out with that his dark skinned girlfriend.

The girl laughed too much and there was something about her that Adeelah didn't like. Perhaps her set of teeth or her jawline that's too long or whatever. Clearly, she didn't like her. Adeelah didn't like his girlfriend at all. The girl liked her though, she was almost her age but the way she respected her made her so annoyed. The girl sometimes used to bake and send the goodies to Adeelah. All in bid to woo her and get her approval. Even at school when they crossed paths, she showed Adeelah to her friends and called her, her sister in-law. If only she knew Adeelah had a crossed finger on her, she would have given up. Adeelah pursed her lips at the thought. She wanted to shout. If it were someone else, she would have shouted. But this was Abba. For all her life, she knew he didn't tolerate nonsense. Sure, he loved his children and would do anything for them but once they try any nonsense of any sort, he would deal with them accordingly. Not even with the kids alone, he was harsh to his wives when they misbehaved except one. When she was alive. Ayaat. She was the older wife, a Yemeni Hausa- Her mother was a full blooded Yemen lady whilst her father was a rich Hausa man. Ayaat was the mother to three of his children, Adeelah inclusive. She left their world so cold a year after Adeelah's tenth birthday. She was a very fair woman with sharp and alluring brown eyes that melted ice to water, cooled hot to cold. Her smile had the power to tame everything and everyone around her when she was bustling in her youthful days, those years of exuberance. Till her demise, she possessed the ability to turn Abba- Alhaji Rabi'u Abubakar Danbatta. She was quiet and patient. When Alhaji Rabi'u married his second wife Hajiya Sadiya, she raised no alarm. She welcomed Sadiya with opened arms. Adeelah could remember her mother washing Sadiya's clothes, she could remember when her mother would finish cooking and put some for Hajiya Sadiya. No one pushed her to do that. It was all on her will. Hajiya Sadiya was calm too but she was selfish. She put herself first before anyone else. She was also a very jealous woman, despite being the second wife she wished Ayaat would leave the house for her alone. Upon Ayaat's death, she felt as if a blanket had been a shield on her and Ayaat's death yawed it away. Her co-wife's death exposed her to a different marital atmosphere and then she realised she had always been a moon- a reflector, not a light of her own. Ayaat had been the sun, the light and illuminator. She realised she was nothing and she knew nothing. Troubles came unveiling, throwing her into pit of fights with Alhaji Rabi'u. She was fast to mend her ways but was late to Alhaji, as he had already planned to marry Hafsatu. Hafsatu was the seal to his wives as he said. There's still one slot. That made Hafsatu felt proud, authoritative and pompous. She wasn't kind to anyone in the house except in the eyes of Alhaji but even so, he saw her dislike for his kids, Adeelah and her siblings. Thus he allowed the kids to choose whom to stay with. Through all these, Sadiya acted wise and drew the kids close to her. Adeelah and her siblings liked her and they always stay with her. That earned her a medal of respect and honour from Alhaji. Adeelah usually looked up to her mother then, but now as she grew up, she didn't think she could be like her. Her mother was a mellowed heart, soft as feather while she's tough and harsh as rock. "Are you planning on slapping me Adeelah?" Abba's voice hit her eardrum. She looked up and let her eyes fell on him. Alhaji Rabi'u was short, shorter than all his wives. He was however, handsome with his small potbelly which Adeelah associated with age. "Abba!" She said and kept quiet. Her tongue was beating her teeth so that it would allow her mouth to open. Adeelah used her teeth and sandwiched her tongue. If her teeth were sharp, they would have cut the tongue already. She didn't want to say something because she was sure it won't come out well. It will come out unmashed, and un-chewed. "Go on." Her father motioned for her with his hand. She followed the direction of his hand with her pair of eyes which were exactly the same like her mother's. His index finger was the same height with his middle finger. New discovery. She noted in her head. Adeelah swallowed something hard. She was certain that, those loud words had been swallowed successfully and she hopefully prayed they won't come back until she's back in her room. Her eyes were bore to the ground. She noticed something that had to do with the carpet. The lines and flowers on it weren't laid out straight. She hissed about being observant of every slight and useless thing. Adeelah heard the sound of Hafsatu's flipflop. She used to call her aunt while she called Hajiya Sadiya, Umma. She looked at her, dressed in a yellow empire waist dress. Adeelah shook her head and wondered how Hafsatu was able to roam about like that even though there were adult males in the house. Of course they were like her kids but there's something called shyness. Her slender legs were revealing straight to her thighs all out. Hafsatu was slim but endowed in the right places. She's beautiful, granted and she knew exactly how to vaunt it. "Baby." She called and sat beside Alhaji. Adeelah bit her lower lip. Her father was sixty years old plus and someone was calling him baby. It wasn't the baby that annoyed her but how her father grinned. Hafsatu noticed how Adeelah was trying so hard to compose herself. Adeelah had learnt not to walk away when she's having a conversation with her father unless he asked her to leave. If not, she would have left the moment Hafsatu made her entrance. "Baby, I missed you so much." She kissed his cheeks loudly for Adeelah to hear. "Abba..." Adeelah managed to put an end to her stay in his parlor. It was obvious that Hafsatu would continue being shameless on purpose. "Yes Adeelah, I think you've understood all I have said." He said feeling a bit bad for forgetting that his almost twenty year old child was sitting before him. "What are you talking about baby?" Hafsatu chirped in. "It's none of your business!" Adeelah replied her instantly. "Why Adeelah? Why do you disrespect me this much? I am like your mother." "God forbid bad thing!" Adeelah hiked up. She felt how her father's eyes were looking at her in reprimand but it was on the bottom list of her worries then. "Adeelah!" He called but she exited the parlour pretending not to hear him. Alhaji put back his head on the cushion beside him. Hafsatu smiled. She wanted the space that's why she talked. When Alhaji cleared his voice, she made a sad face and turned to him. "Adeelah dislikes me the most." She leaned on him. He didn't say anything though. She felt angry but she had no option than to keep quiet. __________ The morning sun felt warm against his skin as he drove to his office. His stomach was growling and growling because he didn't eat anything. His wife was sleeping when he came out and he dared not to wake her up. He was virtually late to work hence he had to skip tea and rushed. He checked his time after every second. He had to be present by eight because on a day like this -Thursday- he had a ten minutes show to air on the media. Two minutes were for him to speak and the remaining eight minutes were for listeners to send message or give them a short call. Ten minutes later, he put his car to a halt in front of the gate of his place of work. 'Northern Trust FM.' It was one of the biggest radio stations in Nigeria. They aired the best shows, cast the most genuine news and offer the best services. For one to work there, one must be very intelligent and privileged. He checked his time again. Seven fifty nine. He sighed and rushed in. The gatekeeper greeted him but by Allah he didn't hear him. All he was looking forward to, was to see him in the room casting news before his boss. "Ameer is late today. Iya iya oo." Muhibba, his colleague chanted. He glared at her playfully and rushed to his office. He checked everything and carried his scripts to the news casting room. Everyone was there. He took a deep breath when he saw his boss. The boss, Ahmad looked at him. "Good morning Ameer." He said and took some steps towards him. He put his hand on Ameer's cheeks and laughed. Ameer looked at his boss's hand and saw foam. Oh lord. He came out that way! With foam on his face. How? Why did the foam have to remain there? It meant he missed the place while bathing. He felt ashamed. "You forgot to take a look at your mirror." They all laughed. "Director, let's set to work." The boss said once their laughter died down. And so, they started. ___________ She hated morning lectures, God knows. She loved sleeping and anything that would snatch her sleep from her was hated by her. "Get ready, don't worry I will drop you at school." Hajiya Sadiya told her after she's woke her up. Adeelah dropped from the bed and walked to the door. She wrapped her arms around her stepmother's body. "Thank you Umma." Hajiya Sadiya smiled. "Be fast," she replied and exited the room. Adeelah yawned lazily and checked her phone. No message from anyone except from her service provider. 'Dear valued customer, your bundle expires on...' She hissed and minimized the message. Perks of being single. Just like that, she mistakenly tapped on her radio icon. Her earphones were already plugged to the phone last night so she changed the settings to speaker. There was a music in background before a childish voice said: 'Northern Trust Radio.' Then another play of piano was set. She felt like there was nothing good to listen to. Her finger was about to turn the radio off when she heard a voice that stopped her from doing so. It said: 'Two minutes with Ameer.' The voice was musical, deep and soft altogether. One word seemed like it was played with a violin, the next was deep like a bang on a drum and the next was slow, soft and fast like a play of guitar. She listened as he finished greeting his regular listeners. 'Oh listener! Are you aware that, whatever bad, that's happening to you will surely come to an end someday? Put in your mind that you will walk smoothly through it, you won't allow it to get to you. You're bigger than it. You can overcome it...' "Adeelah!" She released the phone and dashed into the bathroom giggling. With the warm water against her subtle skin, she forgot about everything. She loved water.