FATIMA: Claws Of Decision

How should I start? Weddings! Definitely weddings. It started with a wedding. Is that good enough for you to digest? I've looked back to that day and wished I had stayed back home and committed suicide, it would have definitely been a much more better ending for me but I must let you in from the start, where is the start?

Maybe I should start from weeks before the wedding where I was just a normal girl like you, where I had no idea what has been written down for me, maybe after I'm done with my story, you might be wary of attending a wedding with your father where he had been specially invited to by his boss, I advise you to be.

I can remember dad's voice as he came downstairs into the sitting room, his loud voice reverberated as he screamed,

"Where is my food?" He angrily called to my mother, "ummi Ibrahim, do you want me to start begging for food in my own house?"

My dad was hungry and a hungry daddy was bad.

"Fatima, why haven't you served your dad yet, what kind of girl are you?" My mom asked.

Great! Now the blame was passed to me and I'll probably be at the receiving end of dad's tongue lashing, Nigerian parents tongue lashing were killing.

"When you spoil them rotten, how do you expect even your first daughter to have sense?"

I sighed and picked up the tray of food I had dished, everything had been ready and I had been simply waiting for him to come down before I served him but you never ever ever try to prove you are right when it comes to your parents, you turn into an obedient mute. My mom came into the kitchen, she was smallish like the typical hausa-fulani woman but with a temper like an Ebira woman, she did get married to one.

"Where's that your useless sister?"

My dear nineteen year old immediate younger sister, probably tucked up in bed chatting with her boyfriend. That girl was really lazy.

"I don't know." I said and headed out, dad was sitting down in the sitting room with a remote in hand and a not so happy look on his face, he must really be hungry.

"Assalamu alaykum- peace be upon you." I greeted dropping the tray in a stool in front of him.

"Waalaykum salaam- and unto you peace. What did you do to the TV? its mute, If you have spoilt it I will use your school fee to repair it. My hard works and effort never gets appreciated in this house instead they are meet with this"

He rambled on angrily, I shook my head and collected the remote, pressed in a button and I increased the volume it was Ibrahim who muted it when he was making a call and dad was fussing about it, as usual.

"I'm so hungry." Zuwairah said stepping into the house and she was met with a very displeasing gaze from dad.

"Assalamu alaykum." She corrected herself with an embarrassed look, dad muttered his response, she followed me into the kitchen, she was my seventeen years old sister born after Safiya.

"Mama." she said engulfing mom into a hug, I chuckled as mom tried to free herself.

"Let me see your hair, hope that woman did not make nonsense for you?" Mom said as Zuwee removed her veil.

"Eh its nice." She reluctantly complimented after few seconds of silence, I busied myself with dishing out everyone's food till Zuwee spoke to me,

"I saw your prince charming." I turned to look at her, and she threw me a wink which at all didn't look like a wink.

"You saw Ahmad? Where?"Mom asked with a smile she had a very soft spot for my fiancé.

"On my way back, I stopped at Aisha's place to get my book, apparently, he knows her father." She explained as she stole a plantain from the plate, I frowned.

"He never mentioned knowing them, I will ask him about it." I said turning back to the dishes, Ahmad was my fiancé, we've been together for almost two years now.

"Miss wifey, keep on." Mom said going out and Zuwee laughed, I simply rolled my eyes at them  he was mine and I could do whatever I wanted.

"One day, I'm going to flog you senselessly." My elder brother Ibrahim said as he entered and hit me at the back of my head.

"Aww, dude that was painful, now what did I do?" I winced.

"You could've at least texted me that food was ready." I simply shook my head and passed him a plate of jollof rice and fried plantains.

"Unfair, I've been here since and you haven't given me my food." Zuwee complained.

"Hey child, I'm your elder." Ibrahim said walking out but not before hitting her also and in skipped Zubaida, Zuwee's twin they were two minutes apart.

"Iyyyyeh, madam so after you returned from the salon you didn't deem it fit to come and greet your elder sister?" She asked Zuwee and I rolled my eyes.

"Elder sister my foot." Zuwee replied and I passed her, her food which she collected and stepped out.

"Which one is mine?" Zubaida asked and I also passed her hers and then Safiya entered with the last born of the house fourteen years old Harun, her favorite in the house.

"Ms wifey, how's the cooking going?"

She asked teasing me, that was the name she and my mom decided to start calling me after one fateful night,  I had cried all through because Ahmad didn't call me to inform me if he had gotten to where he was travelling to safely, and I couldn't reach him on his phone so they both thought I was acting like his wife.

"Where is me and my baby's food?" She asked referring to Harun since they usually eat together.

"Figure it out Ms I don't like cooking." I was angry at her for not coming to help me cook, it was I and her turn to cook and she ditched again.

I picked up my food and headed upstairs, at the sitting room, mom was sitting down dedicatedly by dad's side as he rambled on about politics.

I went into my room which I shared with Safiya, she had nightmares and hated sleeping alone, there was a huge shelf with all Safiya's cliche romance novels that she was addicted to.

I climbed my bed and unplugged my phone, I began to eat my food and also scrolling through facebook.

"Ouch, ouch." I yelled as I rolled down the stairs I had just slipped on and landed butt flat at the foot of the stairs, the plate I was coming down to drop bounced and hit my leg.

The laughter that echoed, was embarrassing but there you go, I was living a simple life unaware of the turmoil it'll take soon...