ORNAMENTS✅

Chapter Thirty One.

Dasuki State, Nigeria
2022.

THEY ENTERED another room and settled in. Abba cleared his throat, signaling that what he was about to discuss was serious.

"Nabeel, what are you hiding from me? I spoke to the inspector, and it turns out there was footage. And you knew about it," Abba asked.

"Abba, I didn't get the chance to tell you about it," He lied, or maybe it was partially true. "I'm sure you recognize the person," He added.

He didn’t want to sound harsh, but no matter what, the fact remained that the man—the murderer—was a father to Yazid and Umaimah.

Abba nodded in affirmation. Of course, he knew his wife's ex-husband.

"Abba, what type of grudge does he hold against Nini like this? Why?" Nabeel asked. “He asked me to relay a message: that he took his daughter before, and he'll take her again. That he'll never let Nini be happy.”

He could see the veins forming on Abba's forehead. If anything, call Abba a lover boy—he never allowed anyone to mess with his woman. He was a living testimony.

“Bello Kenan,” Abba muttered. “He is playing with fire.”

“He killed Sauban?” Yazid managed to ask. The disappointment in his voice was clear. Not today; he knew he always loathed his father. He took Nabeel's silence as a yes, and the expression that took over his features was one you couldn’t easily describe.

"Abba, he joined hands with Alhaji Yabo. I mean, they're trying to get us." Nabeel broke the news. “This Bello is after Nini and Umaimah, while Alhaji Yabo is after you and I, Abba.”

"Don't worry about them," Abba said.

"Abba, it's not the time for us not to worry. These people are dangerous—all of them. They killed my mother.”
He had to spill everything because he had a bad feeling they were coming for them again, very soon.

"His wife... she killed my mother. All of them are villains, criminals. Abba, my mum and I started gathering evidence on Alhaji Yabo's drug trafficking. She wanted to rectify what she did in the past," Nabeel explained, because she was the reason Abba gave up his evidence.

"Son," Abba called. "I got a letter from the court. Alhaji Yabo claims we kidnapped and stole his daughter-in-law, and the hearing starts next week."

Nabeel snickered. Since when did a man like Alhaji Yabo care about the law? “They know we wouldn't give her up easily, since her mother turned out to be here with us. But what if they are playing dirty? Bello is her father.”

“Don't worry. She's an adult. She can choose which parent she wants to stay with. Not that he'll even want to claim custody. She's an adult already,” Abba answered, as if he’d read Nabeel's thoughts.

"Abba, what about Alhaji Yabo?" Nabeel asked.

"What about him?" Abba asked. "Tell the police about Bello. They should know he hovers around Alhaji Yabo and catch him soon."

"Of course, he needs to be dealt with. He killed Sauban, after all."

Abba stood up and walked out, leaving Yazid and him by themselves. Nabeel sympathized with Yazid, he knew what he was feeling—he didn’t even say anything throughout the entire exchange.

"Don't be disheartened. You have the best mother in the world. It doesn't matter if your father is a..." Nabeel stopped, not wanting to outright call him a murderer, but he wouldn’t sugarcoat it either.

"—Murderer?" Yazid completed. "A lowlife and a monster." He wanted to nod and add a few more titles to the man, but refrained from doing so.

"No matter what happened between him and Nini, what did Sauban have to do with it? Because he's her son with another husband? A husband that will always be a million times better than him."