Hopelessly Bound: Book 2 in the Bound series

Chapter 11

Go to a place where you're not going to be stressed, because a honeymoon itself can be a stressful thing.
–Diane von Furstenberg
                      

The travails of child marriage. 

Zainab stared at the bold letters. The title of her first blog post.  

What next? She asked herself. 

Beyond the title, her mind went blank. Words eluded her.  

Her head fell back and she let out a moan. 

This is more difficult than I thought. 

Her hands hovered over the keyboard, willing words to come.  

You need proper research, the voice of one of her teachers came to mind.  

That's it.  She smiled.

However, her smile wavered as she thought of what proper research consisted of. 

Proper research went beyond gathering information on the internet. It also involved conducting interviews. 

But how could she do that without rousing suspicion in the minds of her in-laws? 

Just then a knock sounded on the door. She shut off her laptop before calling the person inside. For now, her venture had to remain unknown. She had sworn Amina into secrecy.  The door opened and her sister-in-law ambled inside with a grin. 

"Hi, Rakiah." She sent her a fond smile. Rakiah was the only person in the family she shared an amicable relationship. 

 Her father-in-law and brother-in-law's constant absence made it difficult to form a relationship with them.  

"What are you up to?" Rakiah's voice brought her back to the present.  

"Nothing much. I was just browsing through the internet." She shrugged. 

"How boring." Her lips pursed. "Anyway, Bro is back from work and Mom has an announcement to make."

Zainab withheld a groan. The announcements so far had turned out to bring sorrow into her life. She couldn't withstand another shock but she couldn't express all that to Rakiah. 

A forced smile graced her lips and she followed Rakiah out of the room.  Much to her surprise, the whole family was assembled in the living room.  That proved one thing. It was going to be a big announcement. 

A queasy sensation filled her stomach and she tensed.  

"Have your seat," Binta said and Zainab obeyed her.  

Zainab spied a look at Danladi and she wasn't surprised to find him scowling. In the months they had been living together, she had never witnessed him crack a smile.  

Her eyes moved back to her mother-in-law sitting in a regal position with an upright posture, hands laid on her lap, and her ankles crossed. 

"What big news do you have, Binta?" Danladi's father asked. 

Binta's lips lifted in a smile. "Well, this mostly concerns the newlyweds." 

Zainab's heart sank and dread filled her.   She held her breath as she waited for her to continue. 

"As we both know, society has some expectations which we are supposed to meet. So with that, I have decided that Danladi and Zainab need to go on some sort of honeymoon." 

Zainab gasped and her eyes widened. That can't happen. Panic filled her and her heart raced.  

"Mom, that's not possible. I have work to do." Danladi's jaw hardened.