The Establishment; Retold (Completed)

Connections

       Moe slept for six hours straight. By the time he woke up, his bedside LED
clock read 14:05. He removed his phone from his jean pocket and placed it on the bedside table. The adhan for zuhr prayers was blaring loudly from the mosque opposite his house. He showered and changed into new clothes then went out to pray. On his return, he made his way back to his room and sat on the bed staring at
the passersby from the window. Then he suddenly remembered what Isiya had told him about the phone. He reached for the cabinet drawer closed to his bed and removed a blue SIM from the middle page of the novel in it. Grabbing the phone from the table, he inserted the SIM and switched it on hurriedly. Moe quickly scanned the phone menu for the picture folder. The first image he saw was that of
Hajia Dijeh but something odd struck him about the picture. She looked familiar but he couldn't place it. After absorbing the image he had just seen into his head, he thought of reporting the case to the police but he had a change of heart.

"No need to make a mountain out of a mole hill. You’re alive and well aren't you?!" He muttered.

Besides the people of the establishment were strong and powerful in the society with considerable amount of influence in the corridors of power so it would take more than a picture to bring them down. Now on the issue of how to deliver the story to his parents; never in Moe Ibrahim's years on earth had he been more scared of telling his parents the truth. His fear wasn't borne out of worry for himself but rather what the news of his kidnap and how he had missed been a victim of the bus station bomb blast would do to his parents, especially now that he had to still make that journey to see Halima. Just then one of his siblings that had returned from school, hopped into the room to welcome him home and give him a message;

"Welcome home yaya Musa. Mama needs your attention." She said giggling.

"It’s good to see you Safiyah. Tell her I'll be there in a minute."

She left to deliver the message. Switching off the phone...he made his way to her room and by then his father had arrived from work too. They all sat down comfortably.

"There is something important I need to tell you both about my journey."
Moe began.

"Go on Musa." said his father.

Moe recounted all what happened to him in precise details to the both of them. After he finished, his father was speechless while his mother was in tears. Moe did his best to comfort her...then he added;

"The thought of you both kept me going."

Both parents couldn't imagine what their son had gone through to get back home. After much silence, his father spoke;

"Alhamdulillah, Allah has brought you back to us using that old man despite what he had done in the past. We all pray for our ending on earth is a righteous one. We will put him in prayers and since you came back to us alive...there is yet a great purpose for you in life. I'm sure of it. So the marriage proposal to Halima is off the
table for now I reckon?"

"I need to talk to her about this first. Then we'll take it from there. If I may add please do not let Safiya and Amira know about this. I don't want that kind weight on their shoulders." Moe requested.

To which his mother replied after regaining some composure;

"We are parents; our full time job is to protect you children in times like this. Do not worry...They don't have to know now. Go and check if Safiyah is through with lunch."

"Alright...mama." Moe left their room feeling lighter. Now he had to call Halima.

                                  *

       In a city, two hours drive away from Tumbin Giwa, Halima lay in her opulently furnished room restless. It was 8:35pm. She hadn't heard from Moe since he called her three days back, to tell her he was on his way to the bus station. To make matters worse, she didn't have the phone details of his parents. She also couldn't make the journey to his city because her parents were against her travelling alone. She had barely eaten or slept well in days. Halima had made all the necessary preparations to make him welcome in her home. She had finally convinced her father to give Moe the chance to marry her. Her father initially had reservations because of their difference in ethnicity. Moe was from the Southern province of the country but had spent his entire life in the North. He was already well versed in their language, customs and idiosyncrasies.
      
       Alhaji Zubair, a property magnate wasn't the type to easily trust people, especially when it came to his only daughter's welfare. But beneath all the seriousness was a soft core, for he was a good man at heart and didn't have a problem marrying her into a middle class family either. And once Halima was able to convince him how good a person Moe was, he trusted her judgement. As for her mother, she had no issues but was scarcely ever around due to her work schedules within the government and had never met Moe. But lucky for Safiyah, she came back last night and was due to have two weeks off work. If only she could get hold of Moe to take advantage of the situation. Just as she picked up her phone to call him again, it rang with Moe's second number as the callerID. She frantically picked the call not knowing what to expect;

"Assalam alaikum....Halima"

"Wa alaikum salam...Moe"

"How have you......"

She cut him short before he could complete the question.

"Where have you been? And where did you keep your phone? You had me worried sick for days. I couldn't eat...I couldn't sleep. Are you doing fine...did you fall ill?" She kept attacking him with barrage of questions not giving him a chance to answer.

"Halima....calm down." He tried to stop her...It didn't seem to work.

"Halima...I was kidnapped on my way to the bus station."

That seemed to stop her. She went quiet.

"Kidnapped?? How??"

Then he narrated his ordeal to her. By the time he finished...he told her not to worry that he was fine now.

"I'm so sorry...I've been inconsiderate and I should have listened to you first.
Forgive me. About the marriage proposal; do not worry about coming here, I'll convince my parents to come with me to your house in shaa Allah and I'll get back to you with the details. Then we can discuss it with your parents."

"Halima, you don't have to do that. I can still make the journey here. I just have to come back some other time."

"No I have to. One of my father's friends has been pressuring him to marry me to his son. Time is of the essence. Let me take care of it from this end. You rest up...regain your strength and pray for the best in shaa Allah."

"Thank you Halima, you are a gift to my life. I love you and hope we grow from strength to strength."

"Ameen. Moe Ibrahim, I love you more than you know. We'll be fine. Ka huta yanxu. I'll text you how it goes from my end tomorrow."

"Alright...Night."

"Night, my love." She replied. And the line went dead. She rushed straight to her parent's bedroom to tell them of the news and her request that they travel to his place. She was able to convince them that they'd be killing too birds with one stone even if it was unusual for the potential bride's family to be the ones visiting. She'd be able to visit him and see how he's doing and discuss the marriage proposal. Her mother was particularly sympathetic after
hearing about Moe's kidnap though Halima left out the gory details.

"Alhaji I think we should accompany her to visit this boy. That way we can make our own assessment of him. Don't you think?" She opined.

"Please baba...please" Halima begged.

"Alright...Alright. You both win. We'll go next weekend. Inform him so they can prepare." He agreed.

"Thank you...thank you." Halima yelled, running out of the room to the tone of her parents' laughter in the
background.

Once in her room, she texted Moe about the good news, had some dinner and then a shower. She lay on her bed letting her mind drift off to her first encounter with him back in school.