Indelible Scar (A short story)

[Muhsin]

Indelible Scar

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This is a short story culled from my novel, A Weird Hope (unpublished). It's told to a girl, Shahada by her nanny, Gwaggo. The story is about one of the latter's peer's eventual marital life.


GWAGGO CLEARED her throat—emulating her master's (Shahada's father) action. "The story began when we were youngsters, now about five decades ago. Surely I won't use her right name because she's still alive; thus, let me call her Ummi, as the house-hold name in the Hausa communities, was betrothed to a young man by the name of Audu. "Audu?" she tried to recall the exact name. "Yes Audu." Audu, whose occupation was farming, took over from his father; a farmer and also a great scholar in our village. One day, a fortnight to their wedding, one of the eminent wealthy men living in the village heard about it through one of his informers. He said he was the one who this girl would be married to.

Ummi was a very pretty, elegant girl, but her parents were incredibly poor. Thus, as soon as this opulent idol came in her life, Audu's story was completely forgotten. Subsequently, people started criticizing the parents of Ummi over their ruthless decision to give their daughter's hand in marriage for a worldly thing, not to her initial fiancé, who was poor. The damnedest thing is that Basara, the illegitimate husband-to-be of Ummi, was wonderfully a generous man to the people of Shanya, particularly the elders of the village. Therefore, nobody thought of making a single reproachful expression on that; thinking it wasn't his wish but her parent's to get a source of income. Eventually, if you were in his house, the story had a transcendental dichotomy.

To cap the story short, Ummi was at the end married to Basara. She was, in the house, a third wife and callowest one, so she was mercilessly treated like a house-girl by the other wives. She spent a few weeks in such hardship and was later divorced as a result of the untrue criticism of saying she had been made pregnant already by someone before the wedding.

"Hear me," he said horribly. "I don't like any bastard child in my house. Take your dirty body and leave my house immediately."

Ummi was at first impassive, then looked outright miserable. All the charm was no more on her face, neither was there any on her body. She looked a different person.

"Alhaji," she said, hiding his real name for the saved honour, "Wallahi it's yours, not anybody's," she wretchedly and tearfully said.

"No! Immediately pack your ratty belongings and leave my house before I returned."

"Oh-Alhaji-Please." She held the edge of his big gown tearfully, begging.

He, without a single glance at her, went out harshly, pushing her back disdainfully. "Stupid!" he roared. It was a usual business to him.

Basara was, after Ummi had returned home, called by her elders. He honoured the invitation and came, but repeated what he said to her before.

"Alhaji Basara," said one of her folks in a pitiful sensation, "she is supposed to get pregnancy. Two months are not two days. Even in a day, a wife could be made pregnant by her husband, isn't it?" he asked, looking at Basara. "Don't you know this?"

"I know, but I actually didn't mate her." he grinned wildly, "How can I sleep with that little crazy girl! God forbid."

"Watch your language, Alhaji!" warned one old man.

"Wallahi...he...did...severally," cried Ummi from the back.

"Ah," he exploded, and stood up with mouth agape, "Am I a liar? Is it what you teach her, disrespecting people older than her and in such a company of aged faces? You chit!" he groaned, pointing her.

"It's okay...that's all..." said one of them in great despair.

The dramatic episode ended that way. They had no power of any sort to convince or let alone compel him to accept the pregnancy. They unwillingly gave up. And the stark truth is that he was the one. He only fulfilled his desire as he had been discreetly doing.

At the end of the day, Ummi was left the victim; severely jeopardized, traumatized and disheartened and with a pregnancy that people regarded as illegitimate. She finally gave birth to a baby seen in the community as a bastard.

It was then that her parents realized their fault, regretted and wished they had not done that to her. What a pity?

"Why didn't they sue that frigging 'rake' to court?" asked Shahada, absolutely startled by the story.

"This is a nice idea. The magistrate courts we had then couldn't deal with that case. No one would agree with Ummi or her parent's part of the story that Basara could do such an unworthy thing. The man was, to more aptly describe his perverted behaviour, a wolf in sheep's clothes".

"What about the district head, didn't he get the story?"

"Young girl...what was done couldn't be undone. So they, though the parents alone, at least to a certain extent, deserved it. Materialism."

"May Allah compensate them."

"Amin".

[Ibro2g]

Nice story mushin, it seems u have an amazing talent. I've been meaning to write a book too but I....well... lets just say people around where I am dont appreciate my form of literature.

But I'll post a paragraph or two, I'd like u to take a look at it.

[Muhsin]

Thanks Ibro2g. What form of literature your people don't appreciate? And why?

[Konan]

that was really gud muhsin A++++++

[Muhsin]

Thanks for the comment, ladymerciful.