Maiduguri, Nigeria..
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The next day was the family dinner, taking place in Maiduguri. The fleet of private jets landed in Maiduguri between 1:25pm and 2:07pm. And convoys raced to the Shettima family house in old GRA, Maiduguri.
The venue of the event was a fifty feet high ceiling room with vertical long glass windows and golden chandeliers in the family house. The room was aesthetically pleasing in every sense of the word, with massive doors which are only opened for gatherings such as weddings, the family reunion and the likes. The décor made the room cozy, the event was an intimate one, a private family dinner.
The Shettimas never ceased to astonish Amna with their grandeur, there she thought earlier that their Asokoro Villa in Abuja was an exquisite one but here she saw a Villa which was much more magnificent with exotic animal and birds running around and the largest fountains- everything screamed quiet-old money.
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By evening, Amna got dressed in a beige lacy fitted dress with layers of flowing tulle at the tail of it. The couple posed for several shots in front of the grand fountain and at the living room with family members before the event.
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A few houses away from the Shettima family house, Munah sat in the living room of Sen. Tafida's mansion taking in deep breaths. She got 2 dinner invitation cards, one hers and the other her sister, Nabila's. She was in Maiduguri for over 24 hours already.
She stared at the invitation cards and hissed, putting the tip of the card over a burning scented candle, setting it ablaze. Her sister was not in town after all. Watching it burn was satisfying, it was what she felt from within. She felt the utmost urge in her to break everything breakable in sight like she had done in her apartment in Miami but decided otherwise, this was her father's house, she would receive an unending rebuke from her perfectionist of a mother, who valued the pieces of vintage decor and vanity so much.
She hissed and pulled her hair in anguish, before sashaying to her room, rummaging through her luggage, throwing out the clothing on the bed. She sighed in relief when she unzipped the zipper that lined her Louis Vuitton luggage and brought out what she was looking for.
She popped 3 pills for a light kick and swallowed without water before she briskly walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge in an aggressive manner and quickly gulped down half a can of coke.
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The event began at exactly 8:30pm, there was no African time, everyone easily made their way through the long corridor of the left wing of the Villa to the big hall.
Every table had name tags on them and everyone sat at their designated spots.
Family and friends danced and laughed, enjoying every bit of the night.
"Look at Ammar dancing with Asma, can you believe this is the fourth time I'm seeing him since the wedding started?" Amna said when she caught a glimpse of her brother and Aslam's sister dancing side by side and talking into each other's ears because of the loud music, while laughing.
"He's a man, do you want him around you at Kamu?" Aslam laughed.
Amna giggled and playfully rolled her eyes" Ya Sa'adah had to pull him to snap almost at every event." she said.