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Joy4mi: thanks for the update sino.

You are welcome.
This is democracy day update!
Next update, coming soon....

“Faaatiha goma goma!” the Imam said, signifying the end of the wedding Fatiha, Yemisi was dressed in full Aso Oke, with her face covered with a face veil.

"Now you may open the face of your wife", the Imam instructed, Yemisi was extremely nervous, the veil was raised a little, she could see her father, and seated close to him was Alhaji Barma who was grinning and both of them, holding hands. Yemisi screamed “Noooooooo!”

She woke up and realized it was just a dream; it was still her mind playing tricks on her. A soft knock on the door made her a little jittery, she felt very strange in her own room, it was quite enormous and different from her one room apartment she and Ade shared back in Lagos.

Yemisi had gone back to her room to rest after eating, she was feeling tired and couldn’t join her mom and sister to watch TV. She looked at her watch and it was past 6 pm, she couldn’t believe she had slept so long.

“Who is it?” she asked

“It’s me” Yemisi recognized her father’s voice immediately, she jumped up straight to open the door for him
“Good evening sir, I had slept off, hope you hadn't been at the door for long”

“Sorry for disturbing your sleep, I felt I should come and check on you”

“No problem dad, it’s okay, I am fine, and you can come in if you want to”

Her father came in and both of them sat on the bed. Yemisi thought this was a good opportunity to ask questions, all the thoughts that had been bothering her since the call which became more complex on getting here. There was awkward silence for what seemed like forever until her father spoke, clearing his throat

“Eh erm, I know you might have some questions you would want to ask, I can see it in your eyes that you are confused and scared too” he began
“I had told your mom not to tell you of anything other than my wanting you to come home, by the way, how is your husband?” he asked

“He is fine” she responded with a little skepticism, her heart pounding faster

“I hope you informed him about your trip?”

“Yeah, I did” she replied again with uncertainty, not wanting to think about how she had left home.

“Well, I hope he would also come around, I would love to see him again”

Yemisi looked at his father again puzzled, this must be a dream, her father wanted to see Ade, this sound too good to be true she thought.

“You see dear, I have come to understand that, life is very short, people die every day, and we, still alive wouldn’t think about death that it can come at anytime”.
“I’m sure you have noticed how lean I have become, well, it’s almost 5years now that I had been diagnosed as having high blood pressure and chronic ulcer, I was able to manage it well not until 3months ago, I had an heart attack, I was dead so to speak for almost a week, and was operated on 3 times, I became bed ridden for a month and half.”
“It was a very difficult time for me, i had thought that i would die. While recuperating, I had the opportunity to look back at my life, my beginning and the way my life had turned out to be, I found out that I had achieved all I wanted in life, even far more that I had expected, but there was this void inside of me, I had everything, yet I felt empty, I was very unhappy”.
“Your mother, May God bless your mother, she stood by my side throughout my ordeal, but each time I look at her, I saw sorrow, deep sorrow, which even made me sadder. I tried to place myself in her shoes and think about what my disposition towards me would be, I found myself loathing me, I hated me so much that I thought I wouldn’t even want to stay with me for even a day, and yet she was there, she had always been there for me".
I didn’t know what to do, how to become a better person, to her and to you both, I was terrified and my case deteriorated again, not until my friend Alhaji Barma came one day and talked to me, he reminded me of how he had warned me of my attitude but I was heedless of his warnings, he made me realize how important living a happy life was, he rescued me and brought me back to God, my wife and now to you.”

Yemisi was filled with awe as she listened to her father, she was right all along, she knew something very strong must have changed him, a near death experience can definitely change a stubborn mind, a stubborn mind like that of her father.

“Yemisi, I have made plans for prayers this Sunday, I have informed the Chief Imam of Abuja Central mosque to organize some clerics, I want to thank God for sparing my life, for giving me another opportunity, for making me have my family back” he concluded

“Oh daddy, I never knew you went through all these” she said crying, “I’m so sorry daddy”

“There is nothing be sorry about dear, rather we should be thankful” he replied and got up to leave, then he looked back at her and said, “Welcome back home”

Yemisi was relieved, Sunday wasn’t meant for an arranged marriage after all, but she was amazed, her father organizing prayers, that was like something unheard of In their house, even her mother who happened to be a daughter of an Imam, didn’t practice religion that much, all she was brought up to know was that, there is God. She knew her parents had a Muslim background, but they hardly practice the religion except for the yearly festivals.

“Oko mi, what would you eat? I’ll prepare it myself, is it rice? Fried or Jollof? Or what do you want? I can prepare pounded yam, I know you would prefer pounded yam, I just cooked egusi soup last night, and I know how much you love pounded yam with egusi soup” Yemisi’s mother said all excited.

“Haba! Let her go and freshen up now, at least, let her have some rest before pestering her with what she’ll eat” said her father

Yemisi smiled at both of them, seeing them this excited moved her so much “I am ok for now, I'll love to take my bath first before deciding on what I’ll eat” Yemisi then stood up to go to her room, when a knock on the door made her to pause.
“Who is that?” Yemisi’s father asked

“Assalam alaykum jama’ah” was the reply then followed in a man as old as Chief Olowolayemo himself

“Amin alaykum salam Alhaji, you are welcome” he replied

“Yaya kwana biu, it’s been a while, hope all is well?” he said rising from his seat to accept the hand of his friend.

“Mu gode Allah, everything is fine, I just returned from Jeddah last night, I thought I told you about my appointment as the new Amir Hajj?”

“Yeah, yes, I had forgotten about that, and you didn’t tell me you were travelling, please have your seat”

“Tor, dan Allah, It must have skipped my mind” he said sitting heavily close to the chief.

Yemisi quickly recognized Alhaji Barma, his rounded belly that always protrude under his Babariga had always amused her, she possibly can’t forget her father’s closest friend and business associate, he happens to be the only one that can convince her dad to do anything, but he was of no help during the time of her disownment, in fact, she hadn’t thought about him during that period at all.

“Good afternoon sir” Yemisi greeted, kneeling slightly and turned quickly to take her leave

“Good afternoon my daughter” he replied and turned to the chief asking, “is this not Yemisi?” pointing at her and looking surprised

“Yes Alhaji, it is her, she just arrived not too long ago”

“Alhamdulilahi!” exclaimed Alhaji, “All praise is due to Allah, this is good news, you have indeed done the right thing Chief, I am very happy to meet this good news”
“And I hope you’ve made arrangement as per what we last discussed?” he inquired

“Yes, it has been slated for this Sunday by God’s grace” Yemisi’s father replied

Yemisi and her mum left the two friends to continue their discussion as they went upstairs. Yemisi got into her room and discovered that nothing had changed, her dressing table close to her bed, still had all her makeup kits, body cream, hair cream, and her array of perfumes, she looked over to the other side of her room where her wardrobe is, with its mirrored doors, she saw herself in the reflection, she looked at herself from the head to toe and she burst into tears.

Her mom quickly came to console her and moved her away to sit on the bed, “its okay Yemisi, you are home now and there is nothing wrong with you, please stop crying”

“I know mum, I just realized how I didn’t care much about how I looked for the past 1year, mum, poverty is not a good thing for anyone” she replied wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her palms

“That is true my dear, poverty is a disease, it robs human the sense of dignity and pride”
“Now go and take your bath and come join us at the dinning, you need to eat something” She said and got up to leave when Yemisi held her back

“Mum, please tell me what happened, what really happened to dad?” Yemisi said, looking confused, everything that had happened thus far was still making her unsettled.

“I think your father would be the one to explain better to you, I am glad he has changed, I am glad you are back with us again.”
“Please don’t stress yourself thinking about all this, all that has happened, too much, take your bath and let’s eat like a family” she added, she left the room, gently closing the door and leaving Yemisi alone in it.

Yemisi wasn’t satisfied, she wanted to know about everything all at the same time, she had wanted to start asking questions immediately she arrived, but she wasn’t strong enough to do so. She sat on, looking out the window of her room, a little bit puzzled.

Her mind drifted to Ade, she thought about what his reaction would be when he gets home and finds her note, she then brought out her phone to see if she had missed calls but there were none. This bothered her a little and she thought calling him but got discouraged, it wasn’t right for her to call she thought.

She was about to get up when she remembered Alhaji Barma and her father’s conversation just downstairs, something about an arrangement slated for this Sunday, her mind started assuming things, what if she was to be married off to another man, that might not be far from the truth, cos she remembered how Alhaji had wanted her to marry his son when they were younger, ‘or was it just a joke?’ she thought.
She decided not to give it a second thought, “It is just plain ridiculous” she reasoned, her father never brought such topic up, so why would it be now.

Yemisi came down putting on one of her Ankara kafttan she brought with her, the dresses she tried from her wardrobe didn’t just fit, they were clothes she wore during her undergraduate days, now she is a married woman, she has grown in good proportions, and she needs to appear as such.

Her father and Alhaji had gone outside to discuss business and politics, the table was set and Yemisi was already salivating. Her sister, Yinka was already seated as well as her mother, they both were admiring her in her flowing kafftan as she walked towards them,

“Mamma Yemisi” her sister teased

“What do you mean” she asked,

“You look like an old woman” she replied

“She is married, so she ought to dress appropriately” her mother interjected

“eeew, I can’t be dressed like this when am married o” Yinka said with a slight disgust
Yemisi smiled and took her seat next to Yinka, they’ve not been really that close, but she knows her sister likes her so much and holds her in high esteem.

“You should prepare your mind to wear these kinds of cloth or else you wouldn’t be taken seriously and treated with respect like a married woman”

“Okay o, I’ll start trying” she said giggling

The chief came in and joined the table, his friend had hurriedly left to attend a meeting, he looked at his wife and then his daughters, he was filled with joy and happiness, what he had missed for several years, they were about to eat as a family.

@Mum Z, it's nice to know i've improved, i shan't relent!

@siddiq202, thanks a lot

@ninja4life, you are right, i'll work on a routine pretty soon.

This is a laudable acheivement, an inspiration to budding writers out there.
Congrats to him, as i look forward to read his works.

princesa: 5 years later, Princesa is now a changed girl...


i can't believe i wrote all that bloody poem...

quite creative but very scary, i don't know if such emotion still rest with me...

but am not a lover any less

@bolded,
Thank God, reading through again, got me scared...
Was wondering how you were able to sleep at night,
oh dear! How me go sleep this night now o

Joy4mi: halleluyahhh. he has updated
thanks sino. expecting more frm you. dont run away again.
cheers

it's a miracle! Lol
Thank you for being patient with my erratic update o jare, i plan not to run again, so i can give you guys more.
The ministry is moving...

princesa: oga sino....welcome

Thank you o, i hope i won't disappear again. lol



Guys, i know it's not much, but manage it for now, my laptop don turn to silverbird galleria, and it's quite difficult using my phone to type.

Till the next update(hopefully soon),

Ciao!

Ade’s attention shifted towards the girls who were looking burnt out, one was still holding a paper that looked like a past question and the other was just staring blankly at the textbook in front of her. He wondered what they might have been working on, his attention was brought back to the landlord who was still singing his praises.

“Baba landlord, when should I be expecting the receipt?” he politely asked
“Ma da arare lamu, don’t disturb yourself, I’ll bring it to you, this night” he replied
“ok sir, permit me to take my leave then” Ade said and turned to leave, but he was curious to know what the girls were trying to do, he knew it must be a question they were finding difficult to solve, he therefore decided to see for himself, he was fond of trying to resolve questions people find difficult, he approached them and discovered it was mathematics, and that they were preparing for their WAEC.
He quickly offered to help and the girls who were already overwhelmed didn’t protest, he solved the question and explained it so well that the girls were all smiles, they were thankful to him as he left them to solve more questions.

“Do you also teach like your wife?” the landlord asked as Ade was about to move out of the compound, “no o, I’m not a teacher o” “I just felt like helping out”
“that is good o,” said pa Joseph,
“my son is also writing this year's WAEC, and I have told him, if he doesn’t make his papers, he should just prepare to follow Baba Wande to building sites, in fact, i have baught pon pon and shovel and kept it in his room” he added.

Ade laughed and tried to persuade him not to take such drastic action on his son’s first attempt, but was talked down by the landlord who said
“These children of nowadays are not serious at all. Even the schools do not teach properly, abi, why would I send my child to school and still enroll her into a lesson? Is it not that our educational system has failed?”

Ade was not keen on the discussion they were trying to initiate, his work was done and he needed to go meet his wife, “Our country is a failed state, we just hope God will help us out” Ade replied quickly and tried to run out of the compound but the landlord stopped him and asked again,
“I saw your wife with luggage, hope there is no problem o?” “I had thought you people wanted to pack out when I saw her, I had almost forgotten about that until now” he added.
Ade was stupefied, his wife, with luggage, to where, when how? All these questions crossed his mind at the same time, he dashed out of the compound, heading straight to his room, without even given the landlord a reply.