"Who kept the mirror there? It looks so out of place" Hafsat says through the phone while they are FaceTiming. Aysha is at Hafsat's house overseeing the jere, which is a tradition where the bride's family furnish the couple's house, and according to their culture the bride couldn't be there so she settled for seeing the whole house through FaceTime.
"It was just delivered, I'm pretty sure they're going to move it to some other place" she answers back barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes at her sister. Although they've hired a company of interior decorators Hafsat still wants to be hands-on on decorating the house.
"Okay, what about.." Hafsat's sentence is cut short when the entrance door opens and Hajiya Iya, their grandma, comes in with her entourage aka 'the ass kissers association' that's what they call the three old ladies that follow Hajiya Iya, because that is exactly what they are. If Hajiya Iya asks them to jump, they'll ask how high. They hang to each and every word she says as if it is a holy grail.
Aysha quickly hangs up the phone before Hajiya Iya realizes they are FaceTiming, none of them will want to endure hours of lectures especially not from their grandmother who is known to exaggerate.
iMessage
Mon, 2 July, 3:32 pm
Sorry, we'll talk later. Boss lady is around.
Delivered
She texts Hafsat before quickly tucking her phone in before Hajiya Iya notices, she always has a problem with each and everything they do. She makes an excuse to leave the house as quickly as possible trying to get as much space between her and her grandmother, yeah, they definitely didn't have the normal granddaughter-grandmother relationship most people have.
She passes by the mirror covered wall at the end of the narrow hallway and she looks at her reflection on the mirror. Aysha Ismail Garko, at twenty years old, she is told to be beautiful. She stands at 5"4 with a straight nose and striking black doe eyes, her skin a lovely terra-cotta colour.
Garko. A family name respected by all and common in almost every Nigerian household. After all being 3rd in the Africa's Forbes list is not a child's play and neither is being Nigeria's most largest and leading industry specialized in almost everything needed in the day to day business of a person's life.
The Garko family dabbled in many other business sectors apart from oil which they were known for and had made their first millions from, like airline, construction and food production.
The driver she came with is in the car waiting for her by the driveway and she quickly slips into the car, it sucks not knowing how to drive but she is too much of a wimp to try learning. She has some stops to make before going back home and one of them is the residence of Ibrahim Garko aka Baba Ibrahim, Hajiya Iya's oldest son and her dad's brother.
She goes through the house acting like a burglar trying not to get caught, although the house is like her second home, she dreads going there during the summer because she really didn't want to see him, but that's a story for another day. Mostly it works for her because she only comes home for winter while her comes home for summer, so it's safe to say they haven't met in over 5 years, since the incident
She is pretty sure Hajiya Iya sent her to the house on purpose although she isn't sure how she knew she didn't like coming but well, everything is possible with Hajiya Iya, it's like that woman has a sixth sense that let her know whatever her grandchildren are up to so she can torture their lives some more.
She heaves a relieved sigh when she comes out of the house unscathed; meaning she was successful in avoiding him. Fatigue washes over her the closer they get to home and she literally cringes the moment she comes out of the car when she sees the state their house is in. Children are running around, empty cans and bottles of soda scattered around, paper plates carelessly dropped on the floor signifying the on-going wedding. The amount of chattering going on around the house from the women is overwhelming.
She quietly enters the house slipping away to Hafsat's room where almost all their female cousins are. They are all seated around the room and even though it is very big, the amount of girls in the room makes it look smaller. Their hands are all decorated with henna, some of which are not dried; the reason why the standing fan is crowded with at least 4 girls. Hafsat is seated near the edge of the bed and she also has her hands and legs spread out on the ottoman waiting for the henna to dry.
Clearly a jolly conversation is going on as they are all laughing their heads off and Hafsat is the only one looking uncomfortable, they are most definitely teasing her.
"Do you guys remember when boss lady almost fixed Hafsat's wedding with that other guy, the ex-governor's son" Fatima, one of their cousins adds from across the room.
Hajiya Iya being the matriarch of the family made herself in charge of finding matches for them, probably because she derives joy in controlling every aspect of their lives and their fathers do and say nothing because, well, she's their mother.
The Garko's have known Umar's family, the groom, since they were all little. They've been in the same school from prenursery to secondary school and their fathers have done business together once or twice and when Hafsat and Umar started seeing each other secretly in secondary school everyone was hoping they'll be matched together. It was so clear they were in love with each other right from the start. When Hafsat found out about Hajiya Iya's decision to marry her to the other guy, she threw all caution to the wind and went to Abba and told him all about Umar, convincing Hajiya Iya was tough, but they managed. That's how Hafsat is, she approaches whatever she wants head on. Something Aisha would never dream of doing, she's too timid for that although she has a facade that claims otherwise.
"Baby when did you enter? Ai ban gan ki bah" Hadiza aks when she finally notices Aysha. Hadiza Ibrahim Garko is their cousin and also the love of her life. No homo, but they have been bestfriends since diaper days. They are the type of bestfriends that you could never see one without seeing the other, it is like they are attached to the hip.
"Toh! Sun fara. They've started" Hafsat says with a sigh looking at them both as Aysha goes to sit next to Hadiza.
"You have Umar, why hate on us?" Aysha teases her sitting down.
"Whatever, that's why I'm telling you all to get married" she says and they both turn to give her a blank stare. They detest the talk of their marriage, to them they think they are too young for that, hm! Tell that to Hajiya iya, if she could get them married tomorrow, she will. After all they are both only two years younger than Hafsat.
Hafsat's phone starts ringing luckily saving them from another round of lectures about getting married, with the way she talks one would think she must have been married for a decade.
"Oya, 'baby' is calling" Aysha says mimicking how she calls him.
"Na you sabi" she says laughing with a roll of her eyes.