“Did you know how many of your missed calls I have on my phone?” he asked her and she was silent before she glanced at her friend whose attention was on the call she was making to know their conversation.
“You remind me of my sister who keep calling me all the time.” He said to her.
“Why will you call me sis?” she said to him and he laughed again.
“Where are you?” he asked her.
“I am at the stall? Are you coming?” she asked him.
“Emu ke? No ooo, I am about to go back home….I need to go pick Habeebullah up and then go back home,” He said to her.
“Hummm,” she said frowning and then swallowed hard.
“What am I supposed to do now, the caterer…” she tried to explain.
“Your step mum and I had sorted the issue out already, we discussed this morning, I was at your house to see her.” He said to her and she sighed.
“Since when did you start calling my step mother to discuss my wedding?” She asked him.
'She is your mum after all... I am so sorry if you are offended but I am just following instruction, your sister and your dad wanted her involved too and I feel it is right as well ... besides I thought you have discussed this with them already." He said to her from the other end .
“Is there other thing we have not discussed?” Musadiq asked from the other end.
“If it is important, send a message or wait till we see tomorrow, I might stop at your store briefly ins sha Allah.” He said to her and she sighed deeper.
“Hello Sadiqah, are you still there?” he asked her.
“I am here.” She grumbled.
“Okay, I will end the call now.” He said and the call got disconnected and her heart sank.
“I don’t think you know how to talk to a man… and you are not like this at all?” Her friend said to her and she grumbled.
“Whatever advice you want to give, don’t tell me to go commit shirk…” Sadiqah said
irritatingly.
Dhakirah is her only friend and she is not ready to lose her but even though she is desperate to make Musadiq has the only eyes for her, she didn’t want to commit the greatest thing of all.
“You are just making it look so bad, is it not to protect your home, it is just to make him love you more.” She said
“Will you stop that already, he had only eyes for me.” She said to her.
“Only eyes for you ke?” she asked her
“Yes.” She replied
“I can see that?” Her friend teased her.
“What give you that gurantee, because this does not look like it.” Her friend said to her and she looked at her with some misgivings.
“I think he is just…. “ she said and hissed, she seemed confused these days. She just could not wait for the Nikkah to come and gone, most times, he always let her know that things will get better after their Nikkah and part of her want that too.
“He is not yet your husband, you should not be worried of seeing lot of him,” Her elder sister had explained to her a week earlier when she lamented how she feel so abandoned.
“We have been seeing each other daily for two years.” She said to her.
“Oh, that is not good enough.” Her sister said to her,
“If he is still doing that, I don’t think he will be just ….” Her sister had said that.
“I am sure, Dad might have given him a whole lot of lecture. He need to adjust it and now that he has, I think he will be a great husband ins sha Allah.” Her sister advised her and she swallowed hard remembering the advice of her sister.
“You are just too soft… and this is not like you! Could it be because you are foolishly in love?” her friend question snapped her out of the thought and she sighed.
“You don’t let a man take too much advantage of you, men don’t deserve that especially with the type of marriage you are going into.” Her friend said.
“These first wives behave as they had all the whole world under their feet, they see the other wives as nothing and sometimes their husband are so scared of them that if the other wives are not so smart, they will end up frustrating the life out of you and before she did that at you, you do it first, it is called self defence or survival of the fittest.” Her friend advised her.
“Go there fully prepared, give it to her hot and even your husband, you will see how humble he would be. If he love his wife, he would not be looking for another.” She explained.
“Now, you are talking.” Sadiqah said with smiles.
“He said it himself that he wish he had met me first, I don’t understand his sudden change but he said things will be better after the Nikkah, I really want to have a happy marriage.” She said to her friend sincerely.
“I want that too for you dear.” She said to her friend,
“You see how I have the control of my husband, he cannot do anything without calling me.” Her friend said with pride and Sadiqah sighed, her friend is the wife number three and to her the last wife, her husband does not dare add another and she was one of those whose marriage she sees and admire especially with the fact that her husband adores her all the time, he spent time with her more than the other wives who seem to have given up.
“But don’t tell me, you use shir on him?” Sadiqah asked and her friend shrugged.
“It is not like I am doing it to spoil anyone’s life. Please don’t lecture me to stop, it is working for me.” Her friend explained to Sadiqah who realised that no amount of discussion she would have with her will make her change her mind.
“Don’t start what you cannot finish, don’t give room for any friendship, always do everything better than her, it is a competition.” Her friend counseled her
“Like in my house, no one lives better than I ,no one dress better than I do, no one cook better than I do. Do you know my husband is getting me a second house before the end of the year? Now, that is what I am calling enjoyment.” Her friend said with pride and Sadiqah could not help smiling.
“I hope you have collected so much from him already?” Her friend asked further and Sadiqah shook her head.
“What do you mean? You have been together with someone like that and …. Egbami, what have you being doing? And he keep sleeping with you?” her friend asked and her friend opened her mouth wide.
“Lower your voice, don’t you see we are in public? He had never done that before, I don’t want to have any Pre marital sex before marriage, you know it is Haram?” Sadiqah asked her
“Humm, Haram this, Haram that…. And you are going into Polygamy.” Her friend said to her.
“That one is Halal.” She said and her friend squeezed her mouth to one side.
“But you have done it back in school with Luqman?” her friend said to her.
“Come on, that is one mistake I will live with the rest of my life, I don’t want to have that conversation anymore.” Sadiqah said.
“My friend, this is real life and not a novel or movie, you need to brace up, If you cannot use the stuffs I told you about then use your head.” She said to her.
“Women are not smiling with husband sharing.” Her friend said and Sadiqah nodded repeatedly, she had heard so much from her friend for one day.
With her little discussion, she understand that she just have to brace up but she know she would never use anything that will take her out of the fold of Islam, she know she just have to come up with tricks that would help her.
She understand that Musadiq is trying so hard to act according to the sharia but part of her is scared.
She is scared that the relationship between him and his wife might become better making him have a rethink, but one thing is clear, no man would love his wife and still go for another.
She know how much her father loved her mother and she grow up to believe that he got married to her step mother just because his wife was sick and dying… at least that was what he believed and if Musadiq is getting married to her, then even without being told, something is wrong in his marriage and she is ready to help fill that gap.