Nuranize

Chapter 3: My mother

 Nabila Bashir was my mother's name.
Children always say that there mother is the most beautiful woman in the whole world, that's a lie. My mother was and still is the most beautiful woman in the world.
Mama was the picture of a Fulani girl: fair, slim, brown eyes, long silky hair, pointed nose etc. People say that Mama's greatest enemy was fat, she was not fat even during her pregnancies. I hope I got that gene.
Mama was very intelligent, she was always the first position, always decorating her report cards with A1.
She was the only child of her parents: late Mal Bashir Musa and Haj. Aisha Inuwa. Her parents, when they were alive, saw her potentials and supported her all the way. Unfortunately, Mama lost her father when she was 12. Her mother did all that she could to make sure that Mama continued with her education. Her mother fell sick and passed away when Mama was 13.
She was adopted by her father's younger brother, Kawu Auwal. Kawu Auwal did not share his older brother's beliefs, he believed that educating a girl was a waste of money, he believed that a girl's place in this world was in her husband's house.
He pulled her out of school and was on a search for a husband. He didn't search long, Mama was a Hausa man's dream girl ; fair, slim, beautiful and from a respectable home. Men of all ages where visiting Kawu Auwal's home. Mama, however did not fancy the idea of marriage.
She kept praying day-in day-out for a way out, and Allah (swt) answered her prayer.
Her mother's older brother, Dr Mustapha was a well-known medical doctor that resided in Kaduna, he came to Kano after learning about his sister. He visited Kawu Auwal and learnt of Mama's condition. He summoned Mama, when they were alone he asked if she wanted to get married or she wanted to study. Mama, while crying, told him that she wanted to go back to school.
That same day, the two men had a meeting that did not end good, when the meeting ended both men had something bad to say about the other. Both were stubborn, neither was about to step down.
Mama's condition worsened, not only was her uncle looking for a husband for her, but he also had a sort of animosity towards her mother's family. Mama was so troubled that all she did was cry and cry until eventually her tears dried up. She stopped eating, she stopped going out and eventually she became sick.
While all this was happening, news reached Mama's paternal grandmother's ears. I don't know what her real name was, but everyone called her Inna.
Inna was said to be kind-hearted, caring and very understanding. Inna however was only told that her first grandchild was about to get married, no one told her that that grandchild was being forced to marry. Because Mama was orphaned, Inna felt that it was her responsibility to teach her all that aught to be taught about marriage.
She travelled to the city and reached Kawu Auwal's home, expecting to see a shy but excited girl. However what she met was a sickly depressed girl.
Inna kept asking what was wrong with Mama and Mama kept saying nothing.
Finally, one day, when the two were alone Inna succeeded in having Mama talk. Inna did not scold her or criticise her but sided with her. She told her that she would help her.
The following morning, Mama was summoned by her uncle. Mama went, thinking that she will be told that she will get married in a few days. She entered his room, and found him kneeling beside Inna.
After a few seconds of silence, Inna spoke. "Nabila, I have talked to your uncle and he has agreed that you should continue with your education. However, your uncle can not fund your studies but he knows that Mustafa is capable and willing to. So if you still want to study tell us now..."
Mama said that a few seconds afterwards was the first and last time she hugged Inna. Inna was uncomfortable, Mama was crying, and Kawu Auwal was nowhere to be found.
Mama quickly went to her room, closed the door and did wudhu. She prayed and thanked Allah over and over again. When she was done, she looked around her room and started laughing. She never unpacked and she had been staying in the same house for 5 months. About two weeks later, Dr Mustapha came back and took her away.

Mama in Kaduna.
At first she was uncomfortable because she knew little about him, after their car ride to Kaduna however they were practically best of friends.
He had a son that was two years older than her and was called Ibrahim, a daughter that was three years younger than her and was called Asma'u and the last borns were twins, Jamilah and Ali that were nine years younger than her. Kawu Mustapha was married to an Indian woman called Anty Samira that was beautiful inside out. Anty Samira's family and Kawu Mustapha's family were very close, in fact Anty Samira was Gwaggo Aisha's first and best friend. After marrying Anty Samira, Kawu Mustapha was transferred to Ghana. Two years after being transferred Ibrahim was born. They spent 12 years in Ghana before coming back to Nigeria. It was in Ghana that Dr Mustapha became renowned in his field of work.
Mama got that much information in one ride. After a long car ride, they finally reached their destination.
It was a peaceful neighborhood, everyone looked learned in that neighborhood. The houses though fenced, looked big. Each house had a lot of trees, a lot of tall trees. They reached his home and he honked. Immediately after honking, the black sturdy gates were opened. Kawu Mustapha's house was a huge, cream, one storey building with a green roofing. His house had huge mango trees, it also had a few other trees including tangerine, date palm, curry and many more. One side of the house was covered by creepers, another was hidden by branches of pine tree. The house was very green.
Before Mama even finished inspecting her surroundings she heard footsteps and doors being slammed. Within seconds two young children came running and screaming. Kawu Mustapha knelt down and gave them a huge hug.
" Jamilah! Ali! I am gone for a few days and you have grown this much! Ali is that beard I see? And Jamilah I think I just saw a grey hair!"
The two children let go of their father and started inspecting each other for grey hair and beard. When they found neither a beard nor a grey hair, they started laughing and again hugged their father.
"Nabila, these are Jamila and Ali, the troublesome twins I was talking to you about. They turned 4 years last month."
Mama went a bit closer to see their faces, it was then the twins realized that their father wasn't alone. Ali slowly hid himself behind his father, Jamilah stood in front of her father, as if guarding him.
"Jamilah, Ali, be nice! She is your new sister, you should greet her and take her inside."
Before he was done talking, Ali came out of his hiding place and gave Mama a big hug. Jamilah also did the same. They looked at her face and according to Mama gave her 'the most heartwarming smile ever'.
"What is your name?" They asked.
"Nabilah." Mama replied.
"Yaya Nabilah" Kawu Mustapha corrected. Jamilah held Mama's right hand and Ali held her left. They then started running towards the front door with Mama trying very hard not to fall. They opened the door and ran into the parlor. Upon entering the parlour Mama collided with something, she looked up and saw that it wasn't a 'thing' but a human, a young pretty girl. She was about to apologize when Kawu Mustapha entered and spoke up.
"Nabila slowly walk away from the chatterbox before its too late."
Mama was confused, she was about to ask him questions when the girl suddenly walked to her. The girl was so close that their foreheads were touching. The girl was not smiling or looked angry, her face was unreadable. Mama backed away a bit that was when the girl started to talk.
"Wooow!! You look alot like Abba. And how is it possible that you also look more like Umma than me? I really like your eyes, they remind me of a cat's. Have I told you that you look alot like your mother, though I only met her once, something tells me the two of you look alike. Have you noticed that you are taller than me? You are because you are three years older than me. I can't believe I now have a big sister, finally I can share clothes with someone and also I could share chores with someone, isn't that exciting? Do you know something exciting? We'll be sharing rooms, therefore we can share secrets, just like in the movies! Right, have I introduced myself? If no, my name is Asma'u and I am 10. You don't need to introduce yourself, I know that you are Nabilah and you are 13. Have I..."
"Asma'u let her be! We just arrived from Kano at least allow her to rest before bombarding her with your lethargic Q&A." said Kawu Mustapha.
Asma'u looked at my mom, smiled and suddenly gave her a big hug. While hugging her she whispered into her ear.
"Sorry I was blabbering, I just really really like you for some reason. I was too excited. Welcome home Ya Nabila."
Mama said that she was close to tears at that moment. They did not see her as an outsider but as one of their own.
Asma'u held Mama's hand and told her she had to greet Umma before going to their room. They took two steps when Asma'u squealed after seeing a young man. She ran towards him.
"Yaya! Yaya! She is here. You should go say hi." The young man looked at Asma'u and then at Mama. He smiled and started walking towards Mama. Mama said that she was half-expecting him to hug her, but what he did was far more surprising. When he was close enough, Mama looked at his face for just a second and concluded that he was handsome.  
He cleared his throat and said.
"Yes, MashaAllah, I am handsome."
Mama was so surprised, did she really think out loud? She looked at his face, mouth agaped and he started laughing.
"Hahahha! I was just trying to lighten the mood. I am Ibrahim, and the chatterbox over there has already told me your name, height and favorite color. I heard about your parents, May Allah pardon them and may He grant them aljannatul firdaus. Welcome to Kaduna I learnt that this is your first time. If you have any problem you can come talk to me or Asma'u, us siblings have to stick together after all."
Mama smiled at that, she was about to thank him when he spoke again.
"But please, please and please try your hardest not to fall for me."
Again Mama shockingly looked at him and he laughed.
"Subhanallah, I was joking. See you at dinner." He said.
Immediately he left, Asma'u again held Mama's hands.
"Don't mind Yaya Ibrahim, he is a professional teaser."
Asma'u led Mama to the noisy and aromatic kitchen. In front of the cooker stood a tiny fair lady that was busily stir frying vegetables. "Umma!" Asmau said.
"Ohhh! Asma'u not now! Didn't I just tell you to leave the kitchen so I could focus? Abba and Nabila would be arriving very soon and they will be very hungry."
"But Umma..."
"Go away!!!" Asma'u looked at Mama and tapped her in the shoulder. Mama knew just what she meant by that.
"Good evening Anty Samira, please let me help you out in the kitchen." Mama said.
The moment Mama spoke, Aunty Samira turned. She looked at Mama just once and her eyes were teary. She went close to Mama and hugged her for a long time. It was after hugging her that she held Mama's shoulders and inspected Mama's face.
"Wow. You look so much like Aisha, May Allah pardon her. I know you can't remember me but I saw much of you when you were younger, Aisha couldn't stop talking about you. I know that this will seem hard but treat me like your mother, because I love you a great deal. Don't you dare call me Anty again, I am also your Umma. Thank you very much for offering to help out, but I command you to go and rest because you look tired. Asma'u lead her to your room, I'll see you two in one hour."
According to Mama, Anty Samira looked too little and too thin to be a mother of four.
Asma'u took Mama to their room and according to Mama, she slept for 3 years in one hour. She was awakened when someone knocked the door and told her to come to the kitchen. She rose up and saw that she was the only one in the room. She hurriedly left the room because she didn't know when she was told to come the kitchen. She entered the kitchen and saw everyone seated around a dining room, a seat was left vacant between Asma'u and Ali.
"Ah! Nabila we've been waiting for you, take a seat so Umma could serve you." said Kawu Mustapha.
Mama sat down and Anty Samira filled her plate with rice with vegetable and chicken curry. Mama had this to say about Anty Samira's cooking:
"Umma is the master of cooks."
Mama didn't realize that she was hungry until when she ate up all the food in her plate. When she was done, drinks were served and everyone was telling stories about how his/her day went, Mama silently listened to all the stories.
Suddenly, Kawu Mustapha cleared his throat and everyone was silent.
"Ibrahim, Asma'u, Jamila and Ali, you all have met Nabila and no one should dare mistreat her. You should make her feel at home, if you refuse to do that you'll have to look for another home."
"Abba! You said Yaya Nabila is our sister, why then haven't we known her until now?" Jamila asked.
"Well you see, Nabila's parents have gone to Jannah and we all just became her new family, do you understand?" Anty Samira answered and Jamila nodded.
"As I was saying, be nice to her. I don't even want you to treat her as a cousin but as a sister. Same goes for you Nabila, we are your family don't ever feel like a stranger or see us like strangers. I know this all is new to you, but gradually InshaAllah you'll adapt. Also, please don't call me 'Kawu Mustapha' or call her 'Anty Samira', its confusing, we are Abba and Umma. Finally, I'd like to inform you that though you have missed a term plus, I have went and talked to the school management and they will allow you into the school only after assessing you. Asma'u will give you your uniform and books, keep in mind that you will have to impress to gain entrance, so read! School resumes in the next 3 weeks."
Mama was so excited that she choked on the juice she was drinking.  
That night Mama went to sleep a happy girl, sure this family was bigger and weirder than her family, but this was the beginning of a new phase.