The two officers, Hafiz and Fuad waited in the living room while Mr Bilal took his sweet time in joining them. He had been shocked by a visit of two police officers, especially now when he was mourning for his daughter, the daughter he had been very proud of, the daughter who brought him a lot of connections. He had had plans for his daughter, he would groom her into a proper lady and when she was ripe, he would give her to one wealthy Alhaji in marriage. But those wealthy Alhajis had started to see her in a different light even before she was ripe. One of them had told him in a hushed voice, thick in Hausa. "Your daughter catches the eye even when she's so small. I have this land, let her just come into my room and I'll give it to you. I'm an old man, I just want her hands over me." And he had agreed.
That was the beginning of how he acquired his possession. At first, none of the men touched her, she only touched and pleasured them, and then one day when she had come out of the room, her eyes were stained with tears and she was leaping. He had been angry, but the reward was whooping, very consoling, and he had patted her back lovingly, the check in his pocket. And now, she was dead, all thanks to a certain new man.
"How can I help you?" He asked the officers when he joined them.
"We're here for some questioning, if you don't mind."
"About what?"
"About the shooting that happened some weeks ago. Somebody you know very well is involved, Mr Edegbe."
"Is he dead?" The man asked, hope in his eyes.
"Fortunately, he's receiving treatment at the hospital."
"Then what are you disturbing me about? If you did not know, I just lost my daughter."
"Sorry about that. We know you and Mr Edegbe are not really the best of friends."
"Yes, his words led my daughter to take her life, she was such a good girl." His eyes held the sorrow he told.
"So you don't have any grudge against him?" Hafiz asked.
"Grudge? I wish he had died too, it's karma, karma is catching up on him for what he did to my daughter."
"Concerning your daughter." Hafiz cleared his throat. "There are rumours that you give her to men for sexual favours."
Mr Bilal stared hard at him, his face ugly. "Did my daughter ever come to the station to complain? You should not put your nose where it does not belong, do you not like your job any more?" The threat was palpable.
The officers paused, they had to trend carefully, this was a man of money, a man whose money could displace them of their positions. Plus, the girl was already dead, what need was there stirring up still waters?
Mr Bilal stood up. "I can't entertain you any more, I don't know why you came here to talk to me about that man from south."
"But you did not have a hand in…" Hafiz let his voice trail off in a slowness that would cause the older man to comprehend him.
He laughed. "So you can here to accuse me of having a hand in what happened to that man? It's the guts for me? See, if I had a hand in it, he wouldn't be alive, I would make sure he wouldn't come out alive."
…
Soliat felt the guests stare and give way for her. It was something she was used to, especially after the issue with her father but maybe because she was in the extraordinary splendid dress Alhaji bought for her, she felt different. She had a new manhndi and she held her purse at the tips of her finger so she could flaunt her new tattoo and walk with an arrogance she accustomed herself with whenever she stepped out of the house. Arrogance was one of the fragrance an elite should wear and she prided herself for being an elite, even though she was not. She had not conjured a good reason to not come to the party, and she was glad because in as much as she wanted to avoid Alhaji, she didn't want to miss the party. And it was not like she could avoid him forever.
She spotted Mrs Yasmin first and padded until she stood beside the group she was in so she could hear what they were saying.
"So I heard Mr Edegbe is in a hospital?" Soliat recognized the woman as the mother of Amina, Mrs Bilal. Wasn't she supposed to be mourning for her daughter? Wasn't it too early to begin attending soirées again?
"You did?" She heard the surprise evident in Mrs Yasmin's voice.
"The police came to question my husband."
"About what?" Mr Haruna asked. Soliat would believe the man loved being in the midst of women if she didn't know about his interest in Mrs Yasmin.
"That maybe he holds a grudge against him and blames him for our daughter's death, and so staged the accident. Wallahi, if not for my husband, I would have sued them."
"Sue them for what exactly?" Ahmed asked, his cheek bubbling as he chewed. "They only asked a simple question."
"If words get out that such a thing occurred, my husband's reputation would be tarnished," Mrs Bilal said.
"But it's already tarnished, what are you talking about?" Bello asked. "And besides, we would never have known if you didn't tell us, so if words get out, blame your running mouth."
"The man has enemies, with the way he talks its easy to know. How can the police zero the incident down to us?"
"But he doesn't make trouble." Ahmed stopped a passing tray. "He's my neighbour and I know he doesn't look for trouble."
"And you seem very chatty for a woman who lost her child," Mrs Yasmin voiced Soliat's thoughts.
"You have a bad habit of eavesdropping, but I must commend, you're good at it." Alhaji's voice started her into jumping and the group of talking men and women turned to look.
Seeing him made her remember the last time she did and quickly she looked away, shy. "Good evening, Alhaji," she greeted.
He let his gaze travel lazily through her body. He had seen her the very moment she stepped in and he had smiled, enjoying the view on every side.
"Is that you, Soliat?" Mr Haruna stepped forward to look at her. "Do you plan on getting a husband that you are dressed like this?" His smile told it was a joke.
"Thank you."
"Such a child that cannot greet her elders." One amongst the many women Soliat hated, said. "How did you even get the money to buy that dress?"
"Is your money missing in any way?" She retorted.
"Such a tongue, no wonder your father rejected you."
The topic of her father was still as frenzied as before.
"When you see something beautiful," Bello stared to say, "you should appreciate it. I don't see a need for all this envy and jealousy."
The woman gaped. "You think I'm jealous of her?"
"Obviously, you weren't as beautiful in your youth." Then he smiled at Soliat. "And if you're looking for a prospective husband, I believe I'm handsome enough."
Mr Haruna shook his head. "You think Alhaji would let you go anywhere near her?"
Alhaji? Why did everybody think of him as her partner? Her phone beeped and she opened her purse to check, it was a message from Mustafa, she took a step back from him.
Mustafa was one of the guys she had dated, and with the other guys she had dated, Alhaji had made sure they never made it to the bed. And well, she hadn't liked him enough to do it, but with what had happened with Alhaji, she realized how much of a child she was at the game of sexuality, how little she knew. Had that led her to message him? She couldn't tell, but she texted him, and he was glad she did. He had replied with a voice message, and she could tell from his voice how excited hearing from her made him, he had asked how she was, if she was still in touch with her godfather, he called Alhaji her godfather, a sarcastic name though because he hated the man and how he had always interfered in their relationship.
Then she asked her if she was still chaste. She should have snapped at him and told him it wasn't in his place to know, she should have said she found the question disrespectful, and she should have warned him, but she said yes. She said she had been too busy to explore that aspect of her life, he asked if she was still too busy, asked if she would like he to pop her cherry, he had always wanted to be her first. She knew he was a playboy, and that he wanted to attain his unquenched desire of taking her to bed, and she should have refused him, but Alhaji had stripped before her. It should not be as big of an issue as she was making it to be, but she felt displaced, felt small, and embarrassed that she had to admit that she was still untouched in a world where young girls knew all the positions.
And so she agreed to meet up with him. They did not go into details or explain what 'meet up' meant, but who was the ten year old amongst them?
She unlocked her phone to check his message, but then her phone left her hand. She looked up to see that Alhaji had snatched it from her and secured it inside his pocket.
"Brother—"
"Shh," he hushed in a low voice. "I have a feeling, with the way you moved from me, that you don't want me to know what message it is, you only do that with something I won't like or disagree with. And anything I disagree with is totally forbidden, so shh."
"But that's my phone," she protested.
"I know, but I need to clear my mind that you're not doing anything I don't like."
"I'm not a child." Slowly, his smile fell. "And not your child."
"I won't like what's in your phone, would I?"
She dreaded his reaction if he found out, but she was done feeling like a child, she wasn't his to chaperone, she was her own self, and could decide when she wanted to start sleeping with men. Then she realized that Alhaji saw her like a child, like she couldn't and shouldn't make decisions without his supervision. Annoyed, she walked away from him. "You can swallow the phone when you finish going through its content." He would get angry, but he won't stop her.
"Imagine her walking out on you," one of the women said to her retreating figure.
"She walks out on whoever she pleases when she's annoyed, it's not a new thing," Mrs Yasmin said. What was new was that Abubakar annoyed her. "Excuse us." She led him to a corner. "What happened to the both of you? It rare you get her upset."
"What should I say, nothing that should not have happened, or something that should have happened?"
"With the first statement, I'll say nothing. But with the second, hmmm, you did something?"
"Just something that should happen."
"And you bought the dress?"
"I thought it would be nice on her, and it is." Then he focused on her. "Isn't Mr Edegbe back from the hospital?"
"You live closer to him than I do, I'm surprised you're asking."
"Well, I don't kiss him on the lips."
"So a kiss on the lips is a prerequisite to what?"
"A lot my dear sister, especially when it's the man you like. You like him right?"
"I wouldn't go to the hospital if I didn't."
"Your honesty is one thing I like about you." He smiled. "I'm happy for you, Yasmin."
"No, you're crazy. You should go and pacify your sweetheart, seems like you got her upset."
He smiled and brought her phone out from his pocket. Swiping it, it unlocked and a message popped on the screen. He tapped it. As he read through the texts, his smile slowly fell and in its place was a hard frown.
"What?" Mrs Yasmin asked.
He stared at the messages, reading and rereading to be sure. Did Soliat think he was going to let her bare herself to anybody that was not him? Had he pushed her too much? Had his plan backfired? She was supposed to be thinking of him, not flirting around with people he didn't approve. It did not matter to him anymore, maybe it was time to quit the game he had been playing. He slid the phone back into his pocket and left his sister's side, his eyes searching for Soliat.
Her gown made her conspicuous and he could see the eyes of other men linger on her, on his. He grabbed her wrist when he got to her.
"What are you doing?" She asked, still annoyed, trying to free herself.
"I don't mind creating a scene here, Soliat, but I don't want to do anything that would embarrass you, so don't even try to fight me."
Aware of the curious eyes on them, she let him drag her.
"So the rumours are true," one of the guests said, watching them.
"They're just rumours," another said. "Just smoke."
"But as we know with smoke, it streams from a fire."
Alhaji dragged her until he felt they were secluded enough before letting go of her wrist.
"What?" She backed at him.
"Maybe you can explain what this nonsense is." He unlocked the phone and brought it to her face. "Mustafa? Why does the name sound so familiar, Solia?"
"Because he's who you're thinking he is."
"So you're going to have sex with this douchebag?"
"I'm no longer a child, I can make such decisions, can't I?"
"No, you can't. Mustafa will eat your pussy and tell everybody what you taste like, you think I'm going to let you be that way with another man? Tell me, is this about what happened?"
Her answer was delayed. "No." But it was.
"Then don't do this. Do you even remember why you broke up with him?"
"Yes, because you convinced me that was the right thing to do."
"Right, and I'm convincing you again." He secured her phone in his pocket. "I'm holding this until you come back to your senses?"
"No." She charged after him, reaching for her phone."
He dodged, trapping her against the wall. "If you want to have sex Solia, what happened to me? Why wasn't I the person you came to? That's what hurts me the most. But don't dare me, don't. If you push me too much, I'll push you into my bed and I won't stop until we're both naked. I've been patient all these while, waiting for you, I won't let you be this way with another man."
"Brother Abubakar, I—"
"That's where you keep getting it wrong, that 'brother' entitlement is the fault, maybe if you call me by my name, you'll see me in a different light." Her breath hitched. "Don't you feel it? You do. You want me to kiss you as much as I want to. You feel wet, and it's that feeling that's driving you into the arms of that fool, but don't run in the wrong direction. If you force me to take you to bed when I'm not ready, you might not like the outcome of it." Then he whispered. "Be warned."
But she wasn't asking him to take her to bed, she wasn't asking for anything at all. She watched him leave with a racing heart, glad that he left, scared that he would hear the beating of her heart and know everything he said was true. He affected her, and it scared her. Was he supposed to? She had looked up to him as her brother growing up, but did he harbour plans of taking her to bed all these while? Was that the reason he made certain she had not slept with anyone, so he could have her to himself? So his care had been with ulterior motives? It was like her father's, it had never been real. But why did she like the thought of being like that way with him?