By Amie Sillah
Sailu
He advised his friend;
“When they are desperate to trap you into a relationship they hide
their true colours until you get into the relationship. Be carefulespecially coming from an unexpected nasty relationship of a marriage
of 12 years with two questionable kids.”
Ken
“Thank you for your concern boy friend but Lolly is very different,
wait until you see her to judge for yourself.”
Sailu
“Just be cautious, a word of caution is observed by the wise.”
Dor
She paid him a visit when Lolly went to diare (religious gathering).
“How is my little niece, I hope she is up to expectation?”
Ken
He laughed hilariously and replied;
“L.J. is god sent and she came with her love, luck and blessings.
Thank you Aunty Dor for letting me have your beautiful niece as a
house keeper. She is not only efficient but has also brought me closer
to Allah. She is more effective and efficient than Neneh.”
Dor
She is pleased with herself.
“Master schemer!” She sololiquised.
“Really! I am very happy and feel fulfilled to bring joy and happiness
back into your life; you are a good person who deserves the best and
nothing else.” She prayed for him as Ken drew a cheque of D10,000.00
for her.
She visited L.J. later and told her, her impression.
“He loves you more than Neneh, now is the time to strike.”
Lolly
She introduced prayers ‘leemu’ (citing some Qur’an verses) before
going out to work for protection.
Suitor from Germany
“I want to go to my Seringe our family seer at the village for
‘listaharr’ (serious prayers) and as a futurist to see whether our
union will be blessed and fruitful; Njaga has come back home filthy
rich, but I’m not sure how his wealth was acquired. I am not
interested in blood/ drug money, I rather settle for a simple man with
character, love, respect, sympathy and empathy.”
Ken
He remained silent, distance and thought hard. Lolly alerted him.
Lolly
“Did you hear me? Your thoughts are afar!”
Ken
“I am just very impressed; I told him when he doubted me that you are
different from any other woman/girl I’ve met before.”
Lolly
She is smart and alert and is interested to know who doubts her.
“Who doubted me? Are you discussing me with your friends?”
Ken
He caught up and decided to change the topic.
“It is nothing, forget what I’ve said. When do you want to leave?”
Lolly
“Sir it depends on you, when can I leave?”
Ken
He thought hard and said;
“Will weekend not be too late?”
Lolly
“That will be fine sir, it is three days intensive, extensive
prayers meanwhile let me cook a lot of varieties to choose from when
I’m gone, you can then boil fresh rice, yam or gari to go with sauce
or soup.”
Ken
“Organised woman whoever have you for a wife will be blessed,” he
sololiquised.
Back with friend
“I have to act fast before I lose an opportunity, if Allah claps for
you if you don’t dance you’ll never dance again; a rich suitor has
surfaced asking for L.J.’s hand in marriage.”
Sailu
“So! What has it to do with you? If she marries a rich suitor is that
not what she wants? You can hire another housekeeper until you meet a
good woman to marry; I only hope she is not playing pranks on you as a
pressure for you to propose marriage; girls/women are skillful players
out to outsmart naïve men.”
Ken
“Doubting Thomas! You just hate the girl but on the contrary I love
her and would propose to her with/without your approval.”
Sailu
“Suit yourself but never come back running to me.”
“Whatever!” He sulked and left.
Seringe Sheriff Mustapha
He sent his principal disciple and asked him to take a message to Ken.
Mutalib
“Seringe Sheriff sent me to you with a message that during his
‘listaharr’ he saw your wife.” Then he described Lolly’s features
which convinced Ken.
Ken
“Your description fitted my housekeeper but am I not late? She has
travelled to her village to meet their family seer because a rich
suitor from abroad surfaced and she does not want to take a wrong
decision.”
Mutalib
“She will dream and that dream will show her that the rich suitor
is not her match but you, she will narrate the dream to you and you’ll
then confirm what I’ve just told you.”
Ken
He gave him fare but he rejected it.
“Sheriff gave me fares and I am just a messenger who has come to
deliver message,” Mutalib posited then he left impressing Ken all the
more.
Mama Ndungu
She gave her daughter tough time.
“Look at what you have done to your nuclear/extended family; your
children are suffering due to your follies and extra burden is being
laid on me your aged widowed mother. I’ll not forgive you if anything
should happen to my children.”
Uncle Sorgi
He came from abroad and found the crisis. Ken’s uncle is his best
friend and he was influential in the marriage between the couple.
“What is happening and why was I not informed about anything? Am I
not important in this relationship? ” He became very angry.
Mama Ndungu
“I am very sorry, I lost your contact and I was also confused by
Neneh’s follies which turned my house upside down. Sengan’s education
has been halted for a while; we are now experiencing difficulty in
feeding. Ken was god sent and he did everything for us. Let your
nephew tell her story.”
Neneh
Through sobs she narrated everything that had happened.
“I have been betrayed by insider/insiders but I’m not certain who
the culprit/culprits could be.”
Uncle Sorgi
“I could not believe this! For real you went to juju/diabolism? What
can they do for you but add more confusion? Look at the mess you put
yourself/ your family into! Before doing anything I have to go and get
Ken’s side of the story.” He left some little money with his sister
Mama and left for the city.
It was later learnt that Uncle Sorgi was an ex-drug convict who has
been deported; he never showed up at Ken’s house who would have
blasted him to nonsense.
To be Cont.
