Halima had a good marriage. Her husband, a driver, did his best to provide for her. The marriage could have waited at least another year but her stepmother had already married off 2 daughters with a third in the offing so her mother felt there was catching up to do.
The birth of their baby, however, marked the start of a nightmare. She had gone into labour soon after Nura left on one of his long trips and by the time he returned 2 days thereafter, the baby still hadn’t come. On the third day, Halima passed out during the course of the night. Despite all efforts, it was too late for the baby and Halima’s bowels started leaking as the delayed labour broke down the tissue between the vaginal wall and the rectum, making surgery inevitable. She would have to be cared for like a child.
Her husband was distressed. Where was he to find the money for the medical procedure? Who would take care of her? He eventually sent her back to her parent’s home “for a while”.
She was returning from a visit to relatives when some gaily dressed men came out of her father’s ‘zaure’ congratulating one of them who was dressed in a white babbar-riga. As they drove off, someone made a comment and they all burst into raucous laughter.
“Who is he?” she inquired.
“Ladan” said her brother Haruna, offering a response. “Very wealthy car dealer in Kano”.
“So?”
“So he came to ask Baba’s permission to marry Hadiza”
Hadiza. Her 13 year old step-sister.
Her ordeal flashed across her mind.
“What is wrong?” Her mother’s voice snapped her out of her reminiscing.
“Nothing Mama, nothing is wrong” she replied.
Her disposition belied her words; tears were flowing down her cheeks.
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