...after taking series of deep breaths he went back to his mother's room...
"Hajiya I'll marry her, you don't have to worry about that." He said just to make her not panic.
"That's my Muslim, come here." She said and smuggled him to her embrace. "That had always being your father's wish. Thank you Muslim." She stroked his back as she talked...
***
"Jasmine, come on, you need to get ready. We have a lot of preparations to do." Came mummy's voice. It was a low-key wedding so only a few necessary people attended.
The bride got a lot of treatment which she didn't want but had to do it. From taking different concoctions if herbs that tasted not good, to painful skin care and waxing, to suffocating hairstyling, taking measurements for dresses and other excruciating things. She couldn't believe all that stuff was for a man, the man she hated with passion, though there was no reason behind the hate but she did deeply feel hatred towards him. All she did during the days was shed tears, she hadn't been in touch with Sadeeq for the past days since he left.
As a culture for the Kanuri's, the wushe-wushe event was done with the bride and groom frowning their faces. They were forcefully made to smile by the parents. The event took longer than expected but was over at long last. The nearby relatives retired to their houses while the rest stayed in Usman's.
*
The day arrived. It was a Friday morning around 11:30am and Jasmine's aunts were getting her dressed for the blessed day, not really her aunts. She wasn't shedding tears because she had cried to the point that the tears stopped coming, she decided to accept her destiny as it comes, she was even smiling and laughing at the jokes being cracked by the people there.
None of her friends went except for her best friend of course, Hafsat, she was the one Jasmine trusted and loved wholeheartedly. She played the major role in making Jasmine to accept destiny that Allah will perform his miracle and will surely bless her life, she had always been a very good friend to Jasmine.
It was 2pm, after Jumu'at prayer, Jasmine was seated in front of the mirror preening herself when Aisha banged into the room, all eyes were on her.
"It's official. Mrs Muslim Omar Sa'ad." She announced, looking at Jasmine from the door. The news added an obvious spice to everyone's joyous mood while Jasmine on the other hand felt a sharp pain in her chest and felt blank. She didn't know whether she was happy about the news or contrary, she burst into tears as Hafsat went to her while others were jubilating. She placed her hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her an assuring smile to which she smiled back.
"Oh come on, these tears of joy should not ruin this beautiful makeup. Better draw them back." Hafsat joked to lighten up the bride's mood and handed her a tissue paper.
"Really? Tears." Aisha smiled and approached the mirror. She looked herself and the bride through the mirror, she saw the smile on her and whispered in her ears, "So good to see that you've moved on. I'm glad." She smiled warmly and added, "Big bro will also move on but you'll have to help him do that. He lost his beloved girlfriend not long ago, not up to 2 years ago, he loved her like no other, their love was just perfect, they so much loved each other." A lone tear escaped from her eye, she wiped it and continued.
"At last, she died and...and Muslim was responsible."
"But how? Why?" Jasmine said and just then, mummy came in and walked up to the mirror. Upon seeing her, Aisha whispered a "later" in Jasmine's ear and left.
"Jasmine." Mummy called. "Congratulations my daughter." Mummy looked at her oh-so-beautiful daughter through the mirror, the dominance of the Arab blood in her was obvious, she didn't look like a half-caste, she looked typically Arab except for her attire that screamed Kanuri from Maiduguri.
