Prisoners of Lust

Six

The unfortunate event happened the day Jummai sat for a university entrance exam. She felt confident she would get a passing grade because her cousin paid three times the regular exam fee for her to be at an exam center that guaranteed pass marks. She would get a decent result, but not on her own merit.

Her cousin complained that secondary school graduates should not have to take about three different standardized exams in a year.  Even those who attended sub-standard schools were expected to take it.  He told her that the failure rate was high enough to call a state of emergency in education, but year after year, the failures increased. Her cousin insisted on buying results because Jummai failed her past exams, and also wasted four years waiting to take another one.

"Besides that, the exam center you were assigned is too far. Who will pay for your trip to another local government to suffer in the harsh sun?" complained her cousin when he convinced her to accept his offer. "The examiners will leave you thirsty and hungry, and then expect you to write an exam under conditions that will make you fail!"  He also told her about his friends who died in a car crash on their way back from their exam center.  "I will make sure the 'miracle center' I get for you is within the city limits."

During the exam, Jummai struggled with the introduced computer based test. Her school did not have any computers and she did not own one. She used her cousin's laptop a few times, and that was what helped her poorly navigate the system. Although she did not have to write, she wasted a lot of time keying in the confusing letters. She was the last person left in the exam hall, trying to decipher symbols bouncing around.

When the exam was over, Jummai was glad she agreed to "beat the system". She was about to board a bus home, when a man ran into her. She felt a thud as she collapsed backwards, and then ringing silence followed. She was out cold for what seemed like hours. It was dark outside by the time Jummai regained consciousness. She found herself lying down in a hot shipping container that served as a police post. She heard male voices harshly telling someone she was found with stolen jewelry.

The sound of whizzing fan blades drowned out most of the conversation, but she heard a familiar voice. Jummai tried to sit up when she recognized her mother's shaky voice saying she was a poor woman with no bail money. Her head throbbed with pain, so she sluggishly dragged herself to lean against the wall. The harsh voices barked and blamed the elderly woman for raising a miscreant. Crying, she asked to see her daughter, which she was briefly allowed.

Wiping her wet cheeks with her scarf, her mother placed her sweaty daughter's head on her bosom. She felt the bump on Jummai's head and more tears streamed down her face. Jummai whispered to her mother to forgive her, and the mother told her daughter that there was nothing to forgive, for she was innocent. She prayed for her daughter and promised to get the money before the end of the week. In time, a week stretched into several weeks of worry that Jummai still tries hard to forget.

Jummai has not seen her mother in a long time, but they spoke on the phone when given the chance. Jummai often worried about her mother. She was an honest-earning, hardworking, loving mother who made sure her daughter was happy and healthy. But Jummai knew that, based on current events, people would mock her mother. They will say, "After all, she is a daughter of a single mother. What was expected?"

It was almost three in the morning when a message alert came through to Jummai's phone. The sullen look on her face let Hamisu know she had to go. He declared his love for her, assuring her she had his heart, and he would do anything to make sure they stay together. He told her about an uncle's friend who knew someone married to an acquaintance who worked with a big guy who could help him get a job. This time he was optimistic. This could be his big break. Then he could afford to settle down and start a family with her.

Jummai's heart fluttered at the thought of finally having a happily ever after with the love of her life.  She thought to herself that she would waste no time expanding her family with the man that made sense of love. Lovingly gazing into her eyes, Hamisu affectionately told her that she was his joy, and that he would stop at nothing to make her as happy as she made him feel. God willing, contentment would be theirs to claim. They bid their farewells and went their separate ways united in heart.