My New Home

Chapter Twenty-four

The night seemed longer than usual and when the sun finally rose, I was dreading the impending argument even though I wasn’t the culprit. On one hand is Idris and his affair, on the other hand is Qoriah's issue as well, which the lady had revealed, though Alhaji might not have figured out who the person she referred to was specifically but it’s just a matter of time before he figures it out.

We went about our morning routine as if nothing was amiss and we even ate breakfast. One thing this family is religious about aside serving Allah is their food. We always eat no matter the circumstances and we do so at the right time. Take for instance, during Jamal’s arrest, some other family might have lost their appetite when their son was behind bars but we managed to eat something before leaving the house that day and today was not any different.

We have finished eating for a while now but they yet to address anything. I was already contemplating whether they’ll sweep this under the rug too like the other time and only discuss it at the confines of their bedrooms, then come out the next day and act normal as though what we witnessed the night before was just a figment of our imaginations.

Mama must have had the same thought as i because she asked everyone to move to the living room and sent for those at the other flat too.
They joined us after some minutes and it was a full house.

The lady in question, Remi, entered last. She was dressed in a gorgeous attire with her full make up in place. She even went as far as styling her gele (head gear), matching her jewelry with the color of her gele and wore perfume. If it was any other situation, I’ll be laughing my head off.

She made everything seem so normal as though yesterday never happened and I concluded that she’d fit right into the family since they’re fond of pretending everything is alright when it’s definitely not.

Remi is the perfect definition of devil in disguise or maybe no disguise at all. If my parents threatens to disown me, I’ll be calling all my family members including almost the whole Muslim community to plead on my behalf not sitting cross-legged amidst strangers that were about to decide her fate.

Everyone were probably as surprised as me since they all looked towards her direction for some time before turning back their heads since the object of scrutiny didn’t look the least bit affected and we were the ones who looked uncomfortable instead. In fact she seemed to be enjoying the attention she’s receiving and raised her shoulder high.

The Worst part was that she greeted and acknowledged no one when she entered and took a seat at the corner, a bit far away from the rest of us as if we were infected with rabies. Even if I wanted to pity her, I found it very hard to do so.

After we watched our five minutes show on the latest addition to the Mahmoods’ family, Alhaji said Salam and we all replied except the black shadow looming behind everyone. I guess she was trying to make a show that she’s not a Muslim because I’m quite sure that everyone in the world regardless of their religion type knows the reply to the popular Islamic greeting.

I don’t actually know what’s giving her the confidence when she should be groveling and looking for a way to please us since she doesn’t have anywhere to go but what do I know about her anyways.

“We all know why we’re gathered here, Alhaji began. So, I won’t waste my time on useless small talks and would prefer it if the stars of this show would start speaking up one after the other in other to enlighten us. This also include the person whom our guest referred to yesterday who sneaks to a man’s house every day even though she claimed to be an apprentice at a fashion designer’s shop". Alhaji looked towards Qoriah while he said this, then continued. "Little wonder she couldn’t  pedal of the machine after learning for so long”. He sighed purposefully and Qoriah visibly swallowed.