One Girl Carri Water 1 & 2 #Featured

Chapter 2

Much to his father's disappointment, Isah came back home empty-handed. He had underestimated Amina for she was nowhere to be found right along with his seat on the Federal Executive Council. The village was now crawling with soldiers questioning everyone and looking for Amina. They had expected the President's men but not the President himself to come for Amina.

He was in town at Presidential hotel in Gusau the state's capital awaiting news of Amina's whereabouts. Although the family had been thoroughly questioned and Amina's note handed over, no one had been arrested yet. Mother won't stop crying since the soldiers arrived and Alhaji himself was too upset to speak or eat. Isah could not remember himself ever being this angry. Of all the annoying things his sister had done in her entire life this one took the cake. Amina needs a good beating so that she can remember her place as a girl thought Isah. This was all their parent's fault letting Salma feed Amina with stupid ideas from her aunt about a world where women were allowed to rule and make their own decisions. It was a good thing that Dr. Mwanza and her nonsense were so far away in Zambia.
All Alhaji Saidu could do was pray and so he did all night long.

The morning came with chilling news. Amina had been found and everyone was to gather in the hall at the Presidential hotel for what would either be a wedding or an execution. The Saidu Fulani family was on 'pins and needles' as they travelled into town in a bus that the President had provided for them.

Once they arrived they were ushered into the beautifully decorated hall where the rest of the village was already settled. The family was given honoured seats at the high table.

"Don't look so worried" Alhaji's wife whispered to him "they wouldn't bring us into a nice place like this for an execution"

"I certainly hope you are right, my dear" Alhaji replied.

His wife was an optimist but he would not underrate the President's cruelty.

The President General came out to address them. He was a fearsome man to behold - descendant of a renowned Tuareg, demanding attention in every sense of the word. He was not a comely man with his large nose and the belly of a well feed man. Isah was filled with envy as he wondered what it took to amass the amount of power that the President exuded. His little sister was not the only one who had big dreams he too wanted to make something of himself.
Amina's heart was pounding in her chest so loudly that she worried that the soldier's ushering her out into the crowd could hear her. Amina's plan had nearly succeeded. She had found Dr. Hilda working late at PHU and explained her predicament. She was a woman of modern beliefs and had readily agreed to help Amina. Dr. Hilda decided to hide Amina in her house until everything quieted down and then she would contact Dr. Mwanza in Zambia and find a way to sneak Amina out of the country. But the soldiers had burst in and foiled the plan before it ripened. Amina was worried for Dr. Hilda who had been beaten black and blue then taken by the soldiers. She was probably dead by now after all Amina's little excursion could not go unpunished. Although dressed in beautiful African wedding garb Amina thought she looked horrible. Her skin was pale from fear and her eyes swollen from crying.

"Today we will forgive my young bride for we have all had cold feet before" said the man Amina hated most in the world "Today we shall celebrate and feast" and to himself barely audible he muffled "Metsherrfin my bride. Ah! I-yuma, Anâ mjewwej" in Darija - his native dialect, meaning "Nice to meet you my bride. Yes! Today, I am married"

Amina's heart constricted, so this was the day her dream turned into a nightmare.
It was the wedding of century one whole week of feasting and drinking, dancing and celebrating. But make no mistake the President General had not waited a week to consummate the marriage. It was a day that Amina cared not to remember but she had relived it every night of the wedding. That first night was the hardest because she had tried to resist and the President had slapped her across the face and promised to do worse if she continued to deny him. All the things he did to her filled Amina with such shame that she could scarcely look her father in the eyes at the celebration. What annoyed Amina most was how everyone continued to drink and laugh even when they saw Amina's black eye and the limp in her step.

On the third night she learnt to block everything out as the President had his way with her. She would close her eyes and think of all the things she liked like working at the PHU or talking to Salma about the future she had hoped for. The fourth night had proved to be more than Amina could handle for the President had done some vile to her from behind. Amina had cried all night but by morning she decided that although the President had ruined her life he would not break her spirit. She was Amina Saidu Fulani and one day the President General would rue the day he set his sights on her.

It was the last night of the wedding and Alhaji had a heavy heart for it was the last day he would see Amina before she was whisked off to the state house. As a father he felt he had failed to protect his daughter but as the head of a family he was a man the whole village envied. But they had no idea how it had pained him to see his only daughter with a swollen face that no doubt would soon be a swollen belly. He had to do something, he owed it to the little girl he carried around the yard on his shoulders while she laughed with the joy of a child. When he saw Amina limp into the hall that night behind the President with her eyes fixed to the ground, Alhaji decided that he indeed would do something no matter what it would cost him.

Isah could not wait to see the wedding come to an end because when it was done he would be sworn into the Executive Council marking the beginning of his political career. He wished for a moment alone with Amina so that he could tell her not to mess things up for him but she was heavily guarded. The President could only tolerate so much defiance. Isah's position on the council along with a new house was all part of Amina's bride price but it could be taken away if she became more trouble than she was worth.

Exactly two minutes was how long Amina was given to say goodbye to her family before she was ushered into a vehicle in the President's convoy on route to Abuja.

"Be a good wife, my daughter" Amina's mother had instructed her.

"Don't mess this up for us" Isah had demanded.

Did they ever wonder how she was? Did they even care about her well-being at all? Amina loved her mother and her brother but in that moment she thought they were no better than the President.

"You've always been special Amina, make us proud" her father had said to her.

They were simple words but to Amina they held so much more meaning. Yes, she would make them proud maybe not in the way they intended but she would make them proud.