"I guess being a true believer means you have to be rude to your parents." Latifah said in annoyance. She was sick and tired of everyone letting Mariam walk over them with her words. What annoyed her, the most was the guilt she saw in her parents eyes every time Mariam misbehaved. Someone needed to put her in her place.
"Latifah please be quiet. Mariam, if dad wanted us to wait for him in the living room, it must be something important. Now please let us be civilized about it. If we can't stand each other, we can at least watch TV in silence." Zainab said, trying to appease everyone.
"As usual trying to be the peacemaker." Latifah said, rolling her eyes.
"That's enough girls." Aisha cautioned her daughters. She tried to hide her hurt from her children. After all, it was her and her husband's fault that their daughter turned out to be who she was.
"Change this thing to Africa Magic; I don't understand this song you people are listening to." Aisha said.
"As usual, you tune it to a station that can do your soul no good." Mariam said, spoiling the mood again. Latifah was about to give her the perfect comeback, but she was interrupted by the arrival of their father, behind him was a very handsome man.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Something was definitely wrong with Zainab, why else would she be attracted to their new driver. Maybe the fact that he was handsome and was surprisingly well spoken. Her sister was right, she had to go out more and broaden her horizon about men.
"What are you thinking about?" Latifah asked, bringing Zee out of her bizarre thoughts.
"When did you come in, will you ever learn how to knock?" Zee asked, irritated at her sister's continuous intrusion.
"You haven't answered my question; you were smiling to yourself and didn't even notice my presence." Latifah pestered.
"It's none of your business, and I would have noticed your 'gracious presence', if you had knocked instead of barging in. That's why there is a door." Zee retorted as she sat up on her bed. "What do you want sef?" She asked.
"Na wa for you o! What’s all these knocking stuff?" Latifah asked stubbornly as she sat beside her sister on the bed. "Doesn't this whole thing seem weird to you?" she asked.
"What is it this time enh? You are always noticing things."
"It's been barely two weeks since Adamu was shot dead by an unknown gunman and we already have a new driver." Latifah said.
"So?" Zainab asked, not getting her sister's point. "You know how dad is, how he doesn't let us drive ourselves since Mariam returned. How he has been over-protective. I don't mean to sound heartless, Adamu's death was tragic and a source of mystery and sadness to everyone, but life must continue." Zainab said.
"Okay, I get your point. But don't you think our new driver seems overqualified for the job?" I mean...
"What do you mean enh? Nancy Drew. Stop looking for trouble where there is none. Didn’t you hear the man's story? He lost his family and business to terrorism; he is starting his life again. What is so suspicious about that?"
"Okay, if you say so. I want to crash here tonight." Latifah said, dropping the topic.
"I wonder what you use your own bedroom for." Zee teased.
********
"Why are you pacing about? If you can't sleep why don't you go and watch TV downstairs and let me sleep." Suleiman complained.
"Sometimes, I don't understand you. Adamu just died and you have brought another strange man home." She said, as she sat on the edge of their king size bed.
"Woman, what exactly is your point?" Suleiman asked, sleepily.
"I don't trust that man brought home." She answered.
"That was how you said you didn't trust Adamu when I first brought him home. Did he do anything to us?"
Aisha sighed, "Fine, but I want you to be careful. You know we are paying for our past sins right now." Aisha said.
"What has that got to do with this?" Suleiman asked, why did his wife remind him of their dirty past every opportunity she got?
Aisha did not answer him; instead she moved to her own side of the bed and turned her back to him.
"Well, why don't you think of it as us helping others so that they will not make the same mistakes we did." Suleiman said, before turning his back to his wife too. They both pretended to be asleep, but they were both lost in thoughts and Aisha wept silently.
********
Yusuf did not think it would be easy for him to enter Suleiman's house. But, here he was, standing in the quarters that had been assigned to him in the house. He was bothered; everything was going on smoothly and easily. It wasn't supposed to be easy. He didn't even understand the whole mission itself, it was not his thing. He was the guy you sent to abduct innocent girls, the type you sent to bullet-spray unsuspecting civilians, the type you sent to murder an entire family. He was the in-out guy. He was not the type you sent to tear a family apart.
Although, he had never understood how any of his missions was doing Allah's work, he was more confused with this particular mission. He didn't even believe in the existence of a superior being. But, when The Master asks you to do something, you do it. You don't argue.
He examined the Suleiman Family. The head of the family was a man who had dirty secrets, he trusted easily. He looked like a nice man. Aisha, the lady of the house. The woman who had the same name with his mother, but was nothing like her. He could tell the woman shared the same dark secrets her husband had, and that she already hated him.
That was the first step, the man wanted him but the woman didn't. He did not need to do anything, the family would destroy itself.
And there were the children. Latifah the youngest, the one who suspected him, he didn't know what could have caused distrust in the heart of one so little. But, the way she looked at him; he had to be careful around her. He moved on the middle sister, the gentle one, the one who poured cold water on burning fire. He found her fascinating and he didn't know why. And then, there was the eldest, Mariam; the devil herself.
********
Mariam sat at her vanity and took off her hijab. She smiled to herself, her plan was in motion. Soon she would be rid of the infidels she called family. The Master never failed, she knew he would send the best of the best to do the job. But, she had not expected him to send his favorite. Yusuf made her body react in ways she could not explain, but she would not allow herself to fall into temptation. After everything, she would ask The Master for permission to marry Yusuf, and together they will enter paradise.
CHAPTER NINE
Yusuf slumped on the bed, the only furniture in the room assigned to him. He was tired after a long of driving the girls and their mother to and fro. And, he still had no clue as to what he was supposed to do to destroy the family. Shooting them all was easier than the mind games The Master expected him to play.
As if he did not have enough problems already, Zainab was constantly troubling him. If only she knew the kind of Man he was. He had just drifted off to dreamland, when a knock on the door brought him back.
He opened the door, and there she was. The last of person he had thought about before he drifted off.
"What do you want?" his frustration was evident in his voice.
"No need to be the rude, won't you let me in?" Zainab said as she pushed her way past Yusuf.
Yusuf sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, you are in now. What do you want from me?"
"What are you so afraid of? Why are you not letting me in? I just want to be your friend." Zainab said
"I don't need a friend; I came here to start my life over. Please don't put me in any trouble. What would your father think if he found you here?"
"So you are afraid of my father?"
"What did you say?"
"I said..."
"I heard what you said." Yusuf snapped. That was the exact the same thing Fatima had said to him.
Zainab snapped her fingers, "hey, I'm still standing h
ere. What are you so distant?"
"If you don't have anything to say, I think you should leave."
"Fine, I'll leave. You are a grown man, you shouldn't be afraid of anybody. I'm going now, but I'll be back." She said, before she finally left.
Yusuf sat on his bed, and wondered why the memories he tried to bury always found a way to come back to haunt him. He had always blamed himself for Fatima's death, it was something that he could have avoided.
He touched his lips, he remembered the feel of her lips against his and how delicious her soft skin had felt under his hands.
"We can't do this?" he had said.
"Why? Are you afraid of my father?" she asked. "Don't be, he doesn't own you." She added when he didn't respond. Fatima, the first woman he'd been with and the only woman he'd loved was stoned to death by the members of the camp on the orders of her father, for the sin of fornication. But, he was allowed to live because he was a valuable asset.
Fatima had been wrong, The Master owned him, it had been stupid of him to think otherwise even for a second.
Zainab had no idea what she was getting into.
**********
"Where are you coming from?" Mariam accosted Zainab in the lobby.
"It's none of your business May" Zainab answered and attempted to enter her room, but Mariam pushed her back.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that? A good Muslim girl, should be indoor at this hour...."
"And a good Muslim girl does not kill innocent people." Zainab snapped. She was already very upset that Yusuf had turned her down again. She was not in the mood to be nice to anyone.
"Oh, what has gotten into you? I thought you were the polite one." Mariam mocked.
"Mariam please, I am not in the mood for your nonsense."
"Don't worry, soon you will be put out of misery" Mariam smiled and walked away.
"What does that mean?" Zainab asked as the retreating Mariam, but got no answer.
*********
Mariam removed her hijab angrily, she had seen everything. Yusuf was not the man she thought him to be. No, it wasn’t his fault. It had to be Zainab's fault, she was a hypocrite, a seductress. Now, Yusuf had been compromised. She had to do something about it or the mission was at stake.
CHAPTER TEN
"What language do you want me to say it in for you to understand? Leave me alone!" Yusuf yelled.
"Calm down and stop shutting me out. I just want to be your friend, why can't you let me do that?" Zainab yelled back.
Yusuf sighed, what kind of trouble was in? He didn't have an escape, it was Saturday, and the family hardly went out on Saturdays.
"You are my boss’ daughter, we can’t be friends, it simple logic. Why do you even want to be close to me?”
"I don't know why? That's exactly what I want to find out. Why am I so attracted to you? Why do you walk around with that look in your eyes? Why are you in our house? Don't tell me that story of starting your life over because I don't buy it." Zainab asked, she stared at him without blinking.
"You are just like her, you know?"
"Just like who?"
"Never mind. I can't answer your questions because I don't know the answer to them. And I can't be your friend."
"Why?" Zainab asked
"I would have to kill you, if I told you why?"
Zainab's eyes grew wide "you...you are joking right?" She stuttered, and Yusuf smiled.
"Stop smiling, you are making excuses because you don't own your life?" Yusuf blinked, there was no way she could have known or did...
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"You are governed by fear, that's why you have built up this wall around yourself. I don't know what you are afraid of, maybe it's your past or someone. I don't know and I know you won't tell me. But be prepared, because I’m not letting go.
Yusuf stroked her face. If things different, maybe he would have had a chance with her. But, he was a beast, a monster and he was on a mission to destroy her life. And she was right, he didn't own his life. But, contrary to what she thought, he was not governed by fear.
Zainab brushed his hand off her face; she could not explain her interest in him. But, she would not stop until she uncovered the misery that he was. There had to be a reason she was so interested in him.
They stared at each other, both lost in their separate thoughts; until a voice brought them back from it.
"What's going on here?" Latifah asked. "What are you doing here, Zee?" She asked again when neither of them answered her.
"Nothing, I just came here to ask him for something." Zainab answered.
Latifah looked at them suspiciously and was about to make a comment, but then she remembered why she was there in the first place. "I've been looking for you everywhere; there is a strange man in our house. And it looks like Mariam knows him. Everyone is in the sitting room; I think Mariam has done something again."
Wait, you said Mariam knows him?" Yusuf asked, and Latifah nodded.
"Does he have a walking stick?" he asked and Latifah nodded again.
"Shit!" He said and bolted out of his room. Both Zainab and Latifah ran after him, confused and lost.
Yusuf burst into the living room and there he was, larger than life, sited on the sofa, with his legs crossed and the slyest smile ever on his face. Mariam stood beside him a feeling of satisfaction written on her face; that was expected. The thing that surprised Yusuf was the stunned look on the faces of Suleiman and his wife.
Few seconds later, Zainab and Latifah came in panting heavily. "Why did you run that fast, what going on, who is this man?" Zainab asked in between breaths.
The Master clapped and smiled, "Everyone is here, please calm down and sit, and all your questions will be answered. Suleiman, is this how to treat an old friend?"
"Master, you should have summoned me?" Yusuf said, soberly.
"I'll come to you later. First, tell everyone to have their seats I don't like disobedience, there are enough chairs in this big room. You have done really well for yourself, Suleiman."
"It would be in your best interests, to sit down" Suleiman announced to the whole room. His voice had taken up stern tone, the kind he used for new recruits in the camp.
Mariam, Aisha and Suleiman had already taken their seats; they knew the kind of Man the Master was. He had killed people for disobeying simpler orders.
"Is this the man you are so afraid of?" Zainab asked, as she and Latifah slowly made their way beside their parents to sit.
The Master laughed, "dear child, he does not fear me, he fears Allah the one and only." He said and Mariam scoffed.
The Master's words gave Zainab goose bumps. She looked at Yusuf but he avoided her eyes, was he what she thought he was?
"Aren't you going to sit?" Latifah asked.
"He's a soldier on duty, he cannot sit" Suleiman answered, everything was clear now. The past had come back to haunt them. He had brought his own doom into his house.
The Master stood up and limped towards, Yusuf. He was a tall, dark and lanky man in a caftan and cap. His walking stick added to his demeanour. The injury that caused him the loss of his right leg had happened long before Yusuf met him. He never talked about it and Yusuf never asked.
As soon as got close to Yusuf, he punched him in the face. He had a lot of strength him for an old man.
"I am so disappointed in you, to think I killed my own daughter to give you a chance in paradise." The Master said through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry" Yusuf apologised without knowing what he had done.
"Brother, please explain what is going on, how did you find us?" Aisha's voice shook as she spoke. She had been on the run for twenty years, she had lived in fear that he would find them and he had. Mariam had been only three years old when they left, how did she come to know the master?
The Master turned to face his sister, his expression was calm and cool but Aisha was not fooled.
"It's been a long time my darling sister, you put me through a lot of trouble looking for you. And I would not have found you, if not for my darling niece."
"So are you going to kill us?" Aisha asked, her voice still trembling.
The Master shook his head slowly "I won't kill you, Yusuf will. But, first I want to tell a story; you know I love stories. It's a story you know very well." He answered.
Suleiman sighed, his dirty past life was about to be displayed in front of his children. He should have listened to his wife and left the country. He struggled all these years to keep his terrible secret away from his family. But, it was all for naught, his own daughter, had caused his doom.
"Suleiman, why are you so quiet? You used to be so outspoken. Do you remember twenty years ago, we needed money to help Allah's cause grow, so we took so many jobs?" The master began.
"Allah has a way of doing things. There was this job we had to do, you, me and Quraish, May Allah rest his soul. He died doing the Allah’s will. We had to kill a man and his wife for one Pastor, you stole the money the pastor gave us and eloped with my sister. But, as Allah would have it, I recruited their son without knowing who he was, not until he told me his story and I helped him avenge his parents.
"Are you talking about...?"
"Yes, I'm talking about you, Yusuf. We made a lot of money out of the pastor; he was a good patron, but its shame he also had to die. He was an infidel. You can imagine my surprise when my own niece got my contact from one of my associates in America. You see this girl loves you so much, she saw that her family was wallowing in sin, not practicing Allah’s religion well, so she came to see me to help you attain paradise. All praise to be Allah. I had to send Yusuf to show you that you cannot run away from Allah. But, I’m disappointed that Yusuf fell into the sin of the flesh again after I killed my daughter for him.”
"Wait... what's going on? Someone should explain what this man is saying. Why isn't anyone saying anything? Daddy, why are you so quiet? How can you come into our house and tell these lies!" Latifah yelled.
"Dad, you are a big pretender. I've received nothing but hate from you ever since I returned. Only for me to find out you gave up a better life in paradise for this life." Mariam said and shook her head in disappointment.