SECOND CHANCE

10

       
   A way out

“ Hassatu the earlier you accept this proposal or you are on your own. Who do you think will pity you in this situation and give you something? Absolutely no one! The world is all about give me I give you back. Marry me and I promise you that you will never regret it for the rest of your life. Your daughter is never coming back to you, she might have contacted a terrible disease by now. You never know, I might be the reason for your recovery.” Said an old man who sat right next to Inna.

The old man is a distant cousin to her late husband, he has been persuading her to marry him for long but Inna Hassatu never gave him a listening ear.

“ My daughter is alive and healthy inshallah. Marrying you Bappah Audu will be the greatest mistake in my life. Aren’t you old to think of marriage? Am like a sister to you, I was married to your cousin. Whether I recover or not that’s the wish of Allah. Please leave my house Bappah Audu, I think this conversation is over.”

She ended and walked away from him not bothering to listen to what he was saying.

Inna Hassatu performed ablution and prayed for her daughter’s safety and for her late husband. Things are getting worse for her, the little food that remained could barely satisfy her for the day.

She lied down on her praying mat trying to figure out what she needs to do when the little food that she has finish. Inna quickly stood up and went to the kitchen in search of the remaining food only to find it missing!

She opened the entire pots but she couldn’t find it. “ Oh ya Allah! How did the remaining food that Hanne gave me this morning disappeared? Who might have took it?” she said out loud feeling devestated.

Earlier that day,

“ Assalamualaikum! Hassatu are you sleeping?” shouted a woman at the top of her voice as she entered Inna Hassatu's compound.

“Wa’alaikumussalamu! Hanne am awake, I’ve just concluded my morning prayer. Why are you here this early morning? It’s only 5:30am, is everything alright?” Inna Hassatu asked coming out of her room.

“ Hassatu I’ve come to check on you or is that a crime?” Hanne asked feeling uneasy by the Hassatu talked to her.

“ No my friend, please pardon me. Its just that it’s been a while since you last visited and seeing you at this hour with a big sack like that is something I’ve to be curious about. Let’s go in then.” Inna Hassatu said, pulling Hanne's hand into her room.

The two women chatted for sometime then Hanne cleared her throat and said;

“ You know my friend it’s been a while since I brought you some food stuffs, that’s why my husband advised me to come at this time. You know our people with their small gossips, if they see anything they will surely report to that nasty man you call your late husband’s brother. Please have this and always send for me whenever you need anything.”

Inna Hassatu broke into tears and hugged her friend, thanking her in between her cry.

Hanne later left leaving Hassatu with a smiling face, a smile she had forgotten how to put on her face since the day  her daughter left.

Few hours later, Malam Tanko came into the compound shouting and raining insults on Inna Hassatu.She came out of her room trying to figure what she did wrong but she couldn’t.

“ Can you tell me what I’ve done to gain such insults from you Tanko?” Inna asked confused.

Tanko eyed her for some seconds them he said; “ You think am mad! What do you take me for Hassatu? You want to cause trouble right? You think you are smarter than I am? That’s a big lie!”

“ Tell me what happened Tanko, please. What have I done wrong?” she asked getting sobber.

“ You want Maigari to siezed the farm your husband left you right? You want to show people that am not taking good care of you? You want to cause trouble Hassatu!” Tanko kept blabbing words Inna couldn’t comprehend what he was trying to say specifically.

Tanko pulled a stool and sat but his lips didn’t stop murmuring, then he finally said; “ Why did Hanne came this morning?”

“ She came to greet me” Inna answered boldly. Tanko smiled and said; “ Where are the food stuffs she brought you? You think just because it’s been a while since I visited means that I didn’t ask someone to put eyes on you, ehn?”.

Inna was quite, he stood and went into her room and brought out the sack saying; “ You thought I will not find out? Let me warn you woman, if something similar to this ever happens again I promise you that you will never like what I will do. I alone have the authority to feed you and no one else, am I clear?”.

Inna tried collecting the bag from him but he refused giving it to her. “ Haba Tanko, when last did you send food to this house? Why are you so heartless and wicked? Was that how your brother treated you? Was that how we took care of you while you were poor? What have I done to you to deserve this Tanko. Tell me!!” .

Tanko left without saying another word. Inna sat on the floor and kept crying. That’s when Audu came in with his marriage proposal.

It was while they were discussing that a boy named Sadau ( who was sent by Tanko) came in and stole the remaining food from the kitchen.

“ Assalamualaikum! Hassatu are you alright! Please sit up! Here take some water first.” Its Hanne that came in. She held Hassatu in her arms and kept crying.

Few minutes later two men came in holding two boxes and dropped them saying; “ This is a message from Maigari. He said from now henceforth you are his responsibility. Whenever you need anything let him know.”  They left immediately.

Inna was surprised when Hanne told her that she was the one that reported the case to Maigari with the help of her husband because Tanko went and warned them about helping Hassatu in any way.

Inna smiled for some moments then frowned and said; “ That’s was very kind of you Hanne, thank you but I can’t accept anything from Maigari I would have to return it to him immediately.”

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