Even after they finished changing the tyre and Al-mustapha got back into the car, she didn’t even look his way. He ignited the car on and they got driving to Tambuwal. Until they arrived, she hadn’t speak until she was showing him the direction to Hajjo’s house. Al-mustapha parked in front of the house and if not because of Umma that asked him to enter the house and greet Hajjo, he would’ve turned back to Sokoto now. She got down from the car and walked to the trunk to pull out her trolley out. She did and got into the house without sparing him a glance.

Hajjo rushed to her when she saw her entering the house with her trolley in on ehand and the other holding her bag. “Oh ni Hajjo, Fadimatu what happened? I thought you were kidnapped or something. Summayyah told me that you’ve left Sokoto since after friday prayer, what happened?” She embraced her tighly and despite Fatima Zarah hating the name Hajjo used to call her and the exhaustion that was ripping each and every part of her body, she chuckled.

She broke their hug and looked at Hajjo with a beautiful smile on her lips, “Hajjo, I’m fine. Our tyre got punctured and we couldn’t find help until now. How can I be kidnapped when I’m together with that idiot that calls himself an Assisstant commisioner of police?”

“Oh my god, Fadimatu, how are you like this? Summayyah told me I have alot factory resettings to do on your brain. Don’t tell me you left him outside without ushering him inside?” Before Fatima Zarah complained about the name or how Ammi snitched on her, they heard his deep muscular voice behind them.

“Assalamu Alaikum,” he said, as he walked directly into the courtyard of the house, and Fatima Zarah wondered what kind of a man he is. Who entered a woman’s house without waiting to be ushered in? Al-mustapha knew Umma told him not to anything unusual, and she asked him not to enter the house unless it was Fatima Zarah herself that asked him to do so. But he couldn’t just sit there in the car waiting for this girl.

Hajjo smiled brightly to hide the awkwardness she felt and she walked towards him. “Come in, Mustapha. How’s the trip?” she laid out a woven mat on the floor for him and he sat down, ducking his head down just like Umma told him to.

“Ina yini, Hajjo? Mun iske ku lahiya? (Good evening, Hajjo. I hope we met you in good health?)” He greeted and Hajjo brought him refreshments before she sat down and answered his greetings.

“Fadimatu, bring him food, I’m sure you’ve prayed right?” He nodded his head at the question she asked him and they watched as Fatima Zarah came out from the kitchen with lips curved into a pout. Hajjo knew so much how to deal with her in ways even she herself didn’t know were punishments.

She placed the food in front of him and wanted to turn back to the kitchen to serve herself when Hajjo called her back. “Fadimatu I’ll go in, you can stay here and eat together with him. When he’s done, take him to your uncles house, I asked them to prepare a room for him.”

He quickly shook his head with a little smile as Umma said, he had acted up to Umma’s words so far, “I’m driving back to Sokoto, Hajjo, there’s truly no need for that.”

Hajjo turned to look at him with her hands holding the ends of her wrapper, as the stubborn old woman she was, “Kai yaro baka tsayawa ka kwana? kaga hanya batta da kyawu. Bar ganin kana sa bakaken kaya. (Won’t you stay and sleep here? The road isn’t fine as you know. Don’t think of yourself as an officer.) Fadimatu, when you two are done, make sure you take him to your Uncles house.”Hajjo was an authoritative woman despite having a humour filled personality. Fatima Zarah knew she can nag forever if Al-mustapha didn’t sleep in Tambuwal, they both knew it wasn’t safe to drive back to Sokoto today.

She sat down on the mat and began serving him on the plate and she served herself, she was doing all tis because she knew Hajjo was watching her through the window and she would get an earfull if she didn’t serve him herself. Not serving him wasn’t an ethic of a good wife. She distanced herself from him and began eating her food, not giving a damn about the fact that he was seated inches away from her.

Her phone rang, and she went up to get it from her bag. She came back with the phone in her left ear and she continued eating her food, still not sparing him a glance, and he didn’t mind. “Ammi, our tyre got punctured, I tried calling you but it wasn’t going through. The network took off in that area. It was so bad, and he couldn’t even change spare tyre himself, we had to wait until after isha and the patrol officers came and helped us. It was shameful to me.”

“Fatima Zarah, I know you so well, just tell me you aren’t saying this words in front of him?!” Ammi freaked out and Fatima Zarah looked at him for a brisk second before she turned her attention back at her plate with a pitch of laughter.

“What? Ammi don’t freak out because of this. I told this to him as well. And also, if you happen to heard that I’m lost and no where to be found, just get him sacked, it doesn’t matter he’s a police officer, he threatened to kill me today. He even aimed a gun at me, Ammi…” she wasn’t able to complete her sentence when he stood up and tried walking towards the door.

“Hajjo is going to kill me if I let him leave, I’ll call you back, Ammi.” she ran behind him and met him trying to close his door, she held it and said nothing.

“I’m going to take you to my uncle’s house as Hajjo said, she’s going to kill me if you leave today.” She uttered with so much aplomb. She hated the fact that Hajjo had to use this way to make her talk to him, she appeared as unclassy.

He tried closing the door but she held it forcefully, “Okay, I can beg you if that will make you stay, but please you can’t leave today. Wallahi Hajjo will rip me apart. Don’t think it’s because I want to see your ugly face, no. I understand that you’re not wearing your khaki and neither one of your seargents is here to protect you, but I promise you there’s no harm in where you’ll sleep. It will be safe and sound until tomorrow morning.”

What was wrong with her? She was trying to make him stay but she was using words she was sure would make him angry. She nearly smacked her head when he forcefully dragged the door, but instead of her to let go of the door, she fell into the car and landed directly on his chest, banging her head so hard.

“Ouch! You don’t have to be this violent!” She wailed, and slowly, she knew of the place she was and where her right ear rested at. It was exactly on his heart, and she felt or rather, heard the way his heart beat. It was in a rthyme she had never heard of, not that she heard many, but this was something new to her. He pushed her off him and she stood in front of him.

“Look, that me make this clear to you. You’re the one that banged my head on your chest and you have no right to shove me off. What if I fell on the ground again and scarred my wrist. I’ll forgive you for this. But, on one condition, you’ll have to stay here and sleep so I can have a sound sleep without having Hajjo’s words ranting my ears off.”

He didn’t know what name suited her the best, was it a chatterbox, Drakaina or Baby dragon. He wondered why they named her Fatima, and even added Zarah on top of it. Something like Zuwaira would have suited her the most. She talked so much and vented alot. He saw no reason for all this. It was as if she was two person in her. Sometimes she tried to hide the other from the world.

“Will you get away from my car? I need to get back to Sokoto unless you want me to drive on your legs and you can be the chatterbox you want to be while riding on a wheel chair, how cute does that sound?” He noticed that her expression changed, and that’s what he wanted. She had her hands on akimbo and she looked at him as if she was thinking so hard of something, then she spoke.

“You can leave then, I’ll just take one of my earrings I left on the dashboard. Can you please come out so I can take it?” She sounded respectful and her voice too was soft and low.

“Go to the other side and I take it, that’s if you really want to use it. If you forget, you’re eating up my time and I need to leave.” He spoke in a harsh tone, but not like he expected, even though he looked directly into her eyes to read her expression, it was unchanged.

“Please, it won’t take even up to a second.” She was trying so hard to stay calm and not give up on her plan, because there was no way she was letting him leave Tambuwal while she clearly knew if that happened, she would hate herself for coming to Tambuwal this weekend.

He heaved a sigh and walked out of the car, and instead of Fatima Zarah to take the earring she claimed to have left in the dashboard, she sat down on the drivers seat, closed the door and locked it up. “Get into the passenger’s seat, I’ll take you to my Uncle’s house. And you should please don’t waste my time, I need to get back here and sleep.”

Al-mustapha took a step towards the car to show her how to play the game well when his phone beeped and he pulled it out of his breast pocket. It was a message from Umma, short and straight to the point. ‘It’s late, you should stay in Tambuwal until tomorrow. Don’t forget all I’ve told you.’ He knew she sent this message not as his Umma, but as Mama Fulani, and by Allah he was tired of her being Mama Fulani, he wasn’t attached to Umma either, but he loved that side of her the most.

He groaned softly and gave himself some time to ease off from the anger that riled his intestines up before he walked to the passengers seat and sat down. “That’s so good of you, Acp. Al-mustapha Muhammad Maccido.” He said nothing, because he knew she wanted him to say something so they could fight. And now, he couldn’t trust even the wind whirling in the town of Tambuwal, because he felt as if it would convey whatever he did to Mama Fulani.

She drove silently to her Uncles house, and on their way she made a phonecall to her cousin and they met him waiting for them outside. Al-mustapha got down from the car but surprisingly, Fatima Zarah was still seated in the car. She looked at him then exchanged pleasantries with her cousin. “Audu, he’s the guest Hajjo told you about. I’ll come and pick him up tomorrow morning Insha Allah. Tell Uncle Garba I’ll greet him tomorrow morning. And, Acp, I’ll enjoy the car.” She glared at him and swerved the steering wheel and he stood there watching the car until it disappeared from his sight. Even if he didn’t want, he had to accept the desicion Umma made to show Fatima Zarah how to play the game well.