Two hearts torn and broken apart by the world around them are forced together. At first, hostility and hate seem to be the only thing between them, but then love blooms.
Will they find love and comfort with each other? Or will the cruel hands of fat...
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HAMZA The moment I caught sight of the Al-hassan family estate, it became painfully clear to me why my father was so eager to marry me off. They were practically swimming in wealth. My family is part of the Abuja elite, so it was a bit confusing when my father insisted on pushing this marriage when he never bothered about marriage with any of my siblings.
The confusion was clearing up now. My father wanted to contest as a senator for Gombe state, and the influence from a powerful family like the Al-hassans was vital to his campaign. I felt stupid now. Everything anyone ever did was for money, power, and influence.
Even my seemingly innocent fiancee agreed to marry me to retain her precious position as the CEO/ president of her father's company. Was I that big of a pushover? Of course, I couldn't reject the marriage proposal. My father would probably have me cut off.
I would be a fool to pretend that he doesn't know about my frivolous and scandalous lifestyle. A lifestyle that could be exposed with a snap of his fingers. The best option for me now was to get married and lay low.
I looked down at Laila at the entrance to the living room when she noticed. She looked up at me and smiled. This evening was full of surprises, and from what Laila explained to me about her family, it seemed like at least half of them were insane.
Before she entered the parlour, she squared her shoulders and drew herself to her full height. She also seemed really tense. What exactly was she afraid of? These people were her family, no matter how condescending they could be. But I knew more than anyone that sharing blood didn't necessarily make you family.
The scene that greeted me was the most bizarre thing I ever saw in my life. And I had a feeling that this won't be the last time I saw something like that.
Four people stood in a corner playing rock paper scissors, a petite woman with light skin sat on the lap of a large, dark man, a tall lady with a large baby bump was beating up an identical looking man that was sitting in a fancy armchair. Another group of people greeted the triplets in the middle of the room. The rest of the room was too chaotic to describe. But one thing I noticed was the striking resemblance that the majority of the people in the room shared. It was eerie.
"My family members are insane."Laila muttered under her breath.
I smiled in spite of myself. She was absolutely correct about that. I wondered if this was how all her family gatherings went. Either way, her family gatherings had to be better than mine. There was so much warmth between them.
Someone finally noticed us standing at the entrance and called out, "Laila! How far, nah?"
She waved in the direction of the voice as people stood up from their seats to greet us.
"Laila, it has been too long."
"Is that your fiance?"
"I always knew that Laila would pull someone beautiful."
"Bro, why would you say something like that? He's standing right there."
It was clear that this was going to be an entertaining night.
Before more people had the opportunity to gather around us, Jada and Laila's parents entered the living room with Haarun and his family.
It was amazing how quickly the quieted down. People mumbled salaams and bowed their heads as Laila's dad passed. Laila's mum hugged a few of her nieces and nephews before going into the next room. I expected them to treat Jada the same way, but as soon as the door closed, they bombarded her.
Kalimatullah Al-hassan was quite jovial for such an old lady. She didn't even show any sign of fatigue as her grandchildren and their partners came forward to tell her about all the latest things going on in their lives.
"Inna Lillahi, how do I have so many grandchildren?" she asked over the loud voices of all the people in the room. "We can talk about all this during dinner. Right now, we need to introduce the newest member of our family. Hamza, come with me."
The sea of people parted as Laila and I walked towards Jada.
"It's time for you to meet the rest of my children." She said, "They are the ones you need to impress."
I suddenly felt nervous. The rest of Jada's children were, Abdullah, Abdulhamid, and Abdulhakeem Al-hassan.
Abdullah Al-hassan is the former ambassador of Nigeria to both Spain and Italy. He is even considered for a ministerial position.
Abdulhamid Al-hassan is the former governor and a current senator of Kaduna state.
And, Abdulhakeem Al-hassan is the current minister of justice and owner of the biggest law firm in the country.
It isn't an exaggeration if I say that Laila's entire family is star-studded.
Jada instructed all the cousins to remain in the parlour and beckoned for Laila and I to follow her into the next room.
The scene that we were met with in the main parlour reminded me of a gathering of chiefs in a palace.
The four men and their wives each sat on one of the four two-seater sofas that were in the room. And just like their children, they were all identical.
I suddenly felt insignificant standing before these powerful men. Even my fiancee, who was a member of the family, seemed to cower in front of them.
If Laila felt this way, how was I supposed to behave?
-------------------------------------------- Please send salawat upon Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and pray for the victims of the Maiduguri flood.
