Shirk in Disguise

Chapter 8

Throughout his remaining stay in the city of Maiduguri, Yusuf never stopped thinking of that lady. He sometimes drove round the city or even took long walks in the hope of seeing her all to no avail.

Meanwhile, he'd slowly begun to become more religious, finding hope and solace in the fact that the Almighty will certainly lead him on rightly just as he saw in his dream. However, after being in the city for three months, his stay came to an end and he reluctantly returned back to Kano – to face the wrath of his boss, Alhaji Habib.

"What's this I hear about you suddenly becoming a 'Good Samaritan'?!" Alhaji thundered while Yusuf cowered in his presence.

"Uhm...Alhaji...I just thought..."

"You thought what?"

"...that I could just help them a little considering they have family obligations..."

"And who doesn't have family obligations?!" Alhaji cut him off. "Or is it because you haven't married my daughter yet?"

Alhaji's last question made Yusuf freeze. So that's what all this is about? Marrying his daughter?! He wasn't sure why but he knew he now didn't want Sarah as a wife. The past three months had made him restructure his life and he now had his Spiritual Development as his topmost priority. In choosing a wife, he would like to have someone who would walk the same path with him. Sarah didn't seem to be that person.

"Why have you suddenly gone mute?" Alhaji asked him, cutting his thoughts short.

"Uhm...Alhaji..." he began to stammer.

"Is it because I just talked about your marriage to my daughter?!"

"No...Yes...Ah...Alhaji it was just too sudden..." he managed to croak out. Alhaji had really shocked him with his sudden outburst. What even annoyed him a bit was the way Alhaji talked about it as if it was a decided inevitability.

"What's so sudden about it?" Alhaji asked. He and his wife had actually begun to make preparations for the anticipated wedding while Yusuf was away.

"It's...just..." Yusuf began, but couldn't complete the sentence as he was lost for words.

At this point, Alhaji was monitoring Yusuf's reactions closely and noticed him breaking up in a sweat. He wondered what came over the young man but hoped he was just suffering from the effects of his long journey.

"It's okay," he assured his prospective son-in-law. "You can go and rest as I'm sure you're tired from your journey."

"Thanks, Alhaji," Yusuf replied, feeling more thankful than he could express as he made his way out of the room which somehow seemed to be closing in on him.

For a couple of years now, he had been living in the Habibs' home because it was closer to his new place of work. As he made his way to his room, he heard some sounds coming from its direction. At first, he thought he was imagining the sounds but as he got closer, he heard them clearly – they were musical sounds.

He was puzzled. Knowing that he had locked his room and travelled with the key, he wondered how anyone had gotten access to it. He then remembered that Hajiya, the lady of the house, had a spare key to every room in the mansion.

He finally reached the room and saw it in a mess while Sarah was singing and dancing as if there was no tomorrow. Yusuf stood by the door, arms akimbo. When will this girl ever learn manners? he wondered.

After a couple of minutes in which she sang and danced to her heart's content, Sarah finally sensed the presence of someone behind her. She swiftly turned around and her joy multiplied tenfold as she saw Yusuf standing by the door. She quickly stopped the music that was blaring from her phone, knowing that it irritated him.

She swiftly ran the short distance and made to hug him but he moved away, not allowing their bodies to touch. Sarah looked at him, puzzled. Why the sudden movement? She wondered, thankful that his movement didn't make her lose balance which might've resulted in a fall.

Yusuf had made the move instinctively. Subconsciously, he suspected that it had something to do with his slow but steady transition to the right path that began with his memorable stay in Maiduguri. Seeing that she was looking at him queerly, he just smiled wanly.

Trying to dispel the aura of discomfort that had suddenly arisen between them, Sarah spoke first. "Welcome home, Y," she greeted him, avoiding his eyes.

"Thanks..." he began and then looked behind her at his scattered room.

She followed his eyes and seeing that he was staring at his scattered room, she quickly began to apologize and make excuses. "I'm so sorry...I'll get a maid to clear out the room for you..."

"No, thank you..." he cut her short. "I just need a rest."

"Oh, okay then...I'll just give you some space", she offered, wanting him to ask her to stay.

"I'll appreciate that very much," he simply said, leaving her disappointed. She then made her way out of the room, her face downcast, wondering what came over her 'Y'.

Yusuf, on the other hand, didn't give her retreating figure a second glance. He knew that he'd acted rather abruptly with her but tried to attribute it to tiredness even though he knew it was more than just fatigue.

He thought back to how he had avoided having to hug her. He knew that he'd hurt her feelings a lot by his action but he had felt that he couldn't do it, that he shouldn't do it...the reason being that he knew it was wrong – so wrong.

'But...' his heart reprimanded him, 'why didn't you have the same conviction of self-righteousness three months ago?' He had no clear-cut answer to that. All along he'd always known that it was wrong – she being his non-mahram (one who is not among those close relatives that he couldn't marry), but hadn't felt any guilt about it, until now.

Somehow, when he glanced at her that day, she not being modestly and properly covered, he had envisioned the mysterious lady who had been covered almost from head to toe and had quickly averted his eyes, not glancing at her again. He sighed, closed the door and set about to tidy up, tired as he was.

It was then he saw her phone which she'd obviously forgotten all about – it was blinking. Curiosity seized him as he picked it up...

A/N
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