Letters from Sambisa

23. The awaited phone call

Date: 12th September 2017

It was a long and trying day for Fatima. She had just returned from after having three practical culinary exams!

  She dropped her handbag on the three seater as she effortlessly threw herself face first on the large sofa. She spent almost thirty minutes thinking about the exams and how tough it was .

As she raised her head, her eyes fell upon the large portrait of her father in the living room. It not only reminded her of him but made her forget all the tussle her had gone through the day.

  The portrait was taken four years ago. Three days after he had been appointed as the Minister of Finance. It was the highlight of his career and the most remarkable moment in his professional life as he had always told them.

  She remembered the day it was hung, how the photographer and his assistant had almost dropped it.
 
She remembered the mischievous smile on her father's face when he told the workers that if it had broken he wouldn't pay and how everyone joked about it.

  Just then her phone rang but she felt too reluctant to pick it up so she stared at the abandoned hand bag close to her feet as a ringtone emanated from it.

  It rang twice before she found the sudden strength and courage to pick up the bag before quickly rummaging  through her things before she could find the phone.

  She held the phone in her hand wondering how it was. It was a alien number to her and it hadn't been recorded in her phone.
Just as the ringtone drew to an end , she answered it and placed the phone carefully on  her ear without saying a word, hoping she could identify the caller or better still decide to end the call and block the caller before any form of drama ensued.

  'Hello... Fatima is that you?!' the voice was bold and deep. It sounded familiar yet it had no emotion to it .

'Who is it' she said , half fed up . Hoping the mystery would end soon.
'I'm calling you from Maiduguri Barracks, please hold someone would like to speak to you'.

Like a young puppy she sprang up with so much energy forgetting all her worries . All She thought about was Umar, she would finally hear his voice. He maybe packing his things getting ready to come home.
  He'd come home to his family but most of all , he'd come home to her.

He had promised to be at her graduation ceremony and she was going to show him off once again to her friends . She thought of the wonderful memories they had and how she was going to make sure it was nothing compared to what's coming. She paced up and down the living room anxious to hear his voice with her hand grasping the phone strongly to her ears.

  'Hello... Fatima is that you' said a voice . 'With out a single thought she replied 'My love it's me. I've missed you so much'.

There was a sudden silence over the phone which she kept wondering why he wasn't saying anything in turn.

'Umar are you okay? Speak to me ' she giggled . He had always been a gentleman bold enough to hide his excitement.

'It's not Umar...it's S-S-Sambo' then it dawned on her that she wasn't speaking to him. She suddenly recognised the voice . It was definitely Sambo with his fast tone and occasional stammer.

'Umar is dead... Fatima, he died last month. He had me p-p-promise him that if anything happen to him I would tell you that he loved you and had always wanted the best for you. He also tell me to let you know that ALL THE GODS ALL THE HEAVENS ALL THE HELLS ARE WITHIN YOU. I have no idea what it means but he said you'd know'.

  When he was done talking she had lost all her strength, her fair skin had become pale as tears trickled down her youthful soft cheeks.

  She forced the words out of her mouth with all that was left in her. 'When are you bringing him home?'
He didn't reply but she could hear him gulp down his saliva. So she asked again in a soft and much weaker voice.

  'He's not coming back... He was in a .... ' there was a sudden silence.
She  clutched the phone tight  before summoning up the courage to speak. 'Sambo please tell me' she said in the same weak and frail tone.

   'He stepped on a mine Fatima... there's no b-b-body to bring home' she could hear him sobbing over the phone as he said it .
   Just as she was about to ask how it happened, she hear a beep through the phone's speaker to signify the call had been ended.