FINDING HAJIA (EPISODE 3)

But I let it slide; I was more overwhelmed by gratitude than the thirst to find out what happened that night.

On a Saturday evening at exactly 5p.m, my siblings were watching their favorite show on TV when we heard the doorbell sound; I opened the door and saw my mom standing there with her load. This day was when the trouble in our supposed paradise began.

I hugged my mom while the twins chanted "Mommy" till she carried them both. I started taking her bags to the main bedroom; she asked about daddy and Aunt Aisha. I told her they had gone out since morning, and she nodded. I was glad Hajia was around; Aunt Aisha would no longer have that leverage over my dad.

She settled in quickly and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone.

After preparing Tuwo shinkafa, a thick rice pudding that we usually eat with miyan Kuka (a thick soup) and goat meat stew, she served us while we patiently waited for our dad and Aunt Aisha to be back home.

They were not expecting Hajia to be home due to the obvious shock on their faces.

Hajia stood up, walked straight to where Aunt Aisha was and gave her a hot slap across her face while my dad stood there sweating. The slap must have blinded Aunt Aisha because she staggered backward with her hands covering her face as she tried to gain balance; Hajia screamed: "Where are you both coming from at this time of the night?!!" My dad was still dumbfounded and stood rooted in the same spot while Aunt Aisha immediately went on her knees and started begging my mom, but she wasn't having it.

I could tell whenever Hajia was in her element because she would never hold back, and the tension would be too much for everyone to handle.

I tried begging her, and I joined Aunt Aisha to kneel; then she switched her gaze to my dad and said, "ita ce soyayyar da ka yi mani alkawari?" (Is this the love you promised me?) with tears in her eyes, she walked towards my dad and spat on him.