THE BILLIONAIRE'S DAUGHTER

CHAPTER four

I greeted Ya sani's wife, aunty binta but she didn't even spare me a glance. Aunty Hajo, Ya audu's wife answered but her reply was barely audible.

Gwaggo has six children. , Ya sani is the first child then my father the second child, Ya Audu, Nnagi Maryam, Nnagi Hafsat then Nnagi Khadija the last born.

Ya sani has two wives, Fatima binta and Fatima Zarah. The first wife is addressed as aunty binta while the second wife is Yawo( bride in nupe language). Aunty binta has 8 children. Habeeb, Salihu, Abubakar, Aisha, Khadijah, Shehu, Salamatu and Mahmud. Aunty Yawo has 5 children. Ahmad, Amina, Saratu, Mubarak and Hafsah. All together he has 13 children.

Ya Audu has one wife whose name is Hajara. She has 3 children. Aminu, Safiya and sufyan. They are twins.

Nnagi Maryam is also married with 4 children. Nnagi Hafsat got married two years ago and she's pregnant. Nnagi Khadija is studying at federal polytechnic, bida.

All the males lived in the same house with their wives and children except my father who lives some kilometers away with his family. It's a very big house which was built by my grandfather.

Gwaggo dragged me to her room seeing the way her daughter in law's were resplying my greetings. She sat me down on the edge of her bed and went out. She came back minutes later with a cup of water. She handed it to me and I gulped it down immediately. I dropped the empty cup on the rugged floor and heaved a sigh.

She tapped my shoulder giving me a pitiful look. I smiled sadly and turned my head away. "Nusaiba be patient with life. No condition is permanent, you know that ai. I will continue to repeat this, be prayer and patient in this life, because life is all about that. There's nothing in it fa, it's a small world. Mark my words my child, today you are a slave tomorrow you'll be a king if you trust in Allah. Don't let the words of the people around you weigh you down, continue to be that smart and intelligent girl I know. Never give up on your dreams, value your education because it'll help you in the future. Always learn to forgive the people that wronged you, show them kindness and in Shaa Allah slowly they'll change. If you feel neglected by your family remember Nuh(AS), what his brothers did to him, he faced a lot of trials in life but he never stopped trusting in Allah. Don't forget Allah test us in different ways not to punish us but to make us stronger and have more faith in him, so that we could move closer to him. Never hate your families nusaiba, they love you so much. Forget what your mother is doing, am sure you also have a place in her heart, all these is a test from Almighty and I pray you pass it. Last but not the least, never pay back evil with evil, it'll be too disastrous, when there's fire we don't quench it with petrol instead we quench it with water. May Allah shower his blessing on you".

I whispered a silent Ameen and sat down quietly digesting all what gwaggo said. I didn't cry at least not now, I thanked Allah for blessing me with a grandmother and father who are the coolness of my eyes. Surely, this is a test from Allah and in Shaa Allah I'll pass the test. I smiled and looked towards gwaggo.

"Kubetin (thank you). In Shaa Allah I'll heed to your advice. May Allah give you long life".

"Ameen, but you prayed for it o. Don't be angry when Allah gives you a suitor and he chooses me over you".

"That will never happen gwaggo, what will he do with an old woman. You'll be walking with stick then fa".

"It doesn't matter ai, the love he has for me will blind him from seeing the stick and I'll use the powder of nowadays that will make someone like me look younger". I laughed at that.

"No matter how hard you try, he has nothing to do with you. If you want a husband, follow yours to the grave and finish your love story their". She hit me on the back, I dunno why am unable to dodge all this beating. I smiled as I remembered Khadija.

"Eti paku (big head)". I quickly ran to where the mirror is and looked at myself. "Well, the mirror doesn't lie, the only big head am seeing in this room is that of a woman behind me". She opened her mouth to say something but the words hanged in the air, so she launched towards me attempting to beat me but I dodged and ran outside laughing at her when I hit someone.

"Wa nayena wole biayeliah (are you blind, can't you see where you are going). Egechi (bastard)".

That's it. Another insult, when will all these stop. A tear escaped my eyes but I quickly wiped it off.

To be continued.....

Maryam366