The Hands Of Fate

CHAPTER FOUR



HAMZA
As I drove away from Alhaji Ibrahim's residence, I felt a sort of triumph. I just saw the girl who has been making my nights sleepless. It hurt my heart when I found out that she was the one who was being forced to marry me. Because as much as I liked her, I wish we had met under more favourable circumstances. And despite knowing that she was not to blame for this arrangement, I still insulted her and took out my anger on her.

But when she spoke up, she looked like she was born to be my wife. I still didn't like the idea of getting married and settling down with someone for the rest of my life. But if it was with her, it was worth it.

I pulled up to the street of the house and noticed cars parked all over the place. At first, I thought they were guests of one of our neighbours, but when I pulled up to our house, I saw majority of my aunties at the gate.

These aunties were supposed to be in Gombe. What were they doing in Abuja? I refused to wind down the car window or even acknowledge them as I drove into the compound. When I got inside the compound, I saw my older sister, Adda Hafsat,
"Adda, what's going on? Why are all the aunties here?"
"Hamza, aren't you getting married again? They are here to prepare for your wedding."

Suddenly, Aunty Jumai just came to interrupt our conversation,
"Nakasa yadda zeyi aure. (I can't believe this boy is getting married.)"
Aunty Safiyya also came to put her mouth,
"Nikam de asa tana da kyau. (I hope the girl is fine.)"
"Naji ita rabin araby ne. (I heard that she is part arab.)"

I just left them outside to be doing their gulma and went inside. When I got inside, I found all my uncles sitting in the parlour discussing something with my dad. As soon as they noticed me, my father shouted,
"Look at him. Abuja's latest ango (groom)."
"Haba Abdulkareem, he's not married yet." One of my uncles reminded him.
"Even though. He managed to make a match with Laila bint Ibrahim Al-hassan."
"What? The CEO?"
"Yes. Alhaji Al-hassan's daughter."
"Ma Sha Allah, Hamza. You did well."

I could only smile as my uncles sang my praises. It was all too much for me. Why would a CEO need to go through all this stress to get married? With this in mind, I opened Instagram, and the first thing I saw on my for you page was a picture of my future bride with a caption, ' CEO TO ENTER MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE TO RETAIN POSITION.'

What the hell is this? Am I just a pawn in her silly power game? What the fuck is this ruse? Of all the guys in Abuja, why does it have to be me? Why did it have to be me at the top of her list? Then and there, I vowed that if this marriage ever took place, I would make her life a living hell.

LAILA
Two weeks had passed since my meeting with Hamza. Two weeks to my wedding and all the aunties have been coming to disturb me. Last night, Azizah invited me to dinner with her new boyfriend, and I planned to be at her house by ten, before all the aunties woke up. I already told my mum about my plan, and she agreed that I needed to escape my aunties.

So by nine thirty, I was already dressed in a black abaya, with my dinner clothes in a bag. When I went downstairs, Nadia saw me trying to escape,
"Laila, do your aunties know about this?"
"No. Nadia, please don't say anything. Mama already agreed."
"Toh. Better go quickly. Aunty Suliha will soon wake up."

I quickly thanked Nadia, grabbed my keys and got the hell out of that house. It was a saturday morning and the streets of Abuja were peaceful. It took me a while to get to Azizah's house. But when I got there, it felt like home. The first person I saw when the house help opened the door, was Azizah's immediate older brother, Ya Dawud.

"Ah ah, Laila. This one that you came to our house."
"Haba, Ya Dawud. Why are you talking like that. You're making me sound like a bad person."
"Oya sorry. Anyway Azizah wants to kill herself."
"Kai, why?"
"Just go to her room and see for yourself."