A blind recognition II

‘Really, why do you think so?’ I asked.‘Well for one, the room with the large Michael Jackson poster was Hauwa Kulu’s room. Hauwa’s roommate was Habiba both of whom are alive and still in-touch with me. I can call them to confirm this to you. So for her to substitute you and her in a […]

‘Really, why do you think so?’ I asked.
‘Well for one, the room with the large Michael Jackson poster was Hauwa Kulu’s room. Hauwa’s roommate was Habiba both of whom are alive and still in-touch with me. I can call them to confirm this to you. So for her to substitute you and her in a room you’d never lived in and allege that she chased you out of the room because of that poster is a calculated attempt at slander.’  Maryam explained.
‘Yes, it is possible that the people in whose house you were, always spoke highly of your moral rectitude and she wanted a way to dispel that, so she made up her slanderous tale to achieve it.’ Asabe concurred.
‘Kai, but is this possible, what will she gain by that?’ I asked doubtfully.
‘We may not know what Laure set out to achieve but look at it this way, when we were course-mates, you were only 17 years old and she was in her mid-twenties, if you had been a wayward person she could still excuse you due to young age. But for her to dig it up and expose it after over 20 years is to say she has a devious aim to achieve.’ Maryam opined.
‘And since all of it never happened, you were never roommates, you never had a Michael Jackson poster in your room, it can only mean that she made it all up to embarrass and humiliate you.’ Asabe reiterated her stand.
‘You know I feel tempted to believe you because of the way Laure kept repeating, ‘that’s why I couldn’t stay in the same room with you.’ She said these words at three different times in the course of that conversation. If she didn’t have the motive of making me look bad in front of others, she didn’t need to mention that even if it’s really true. Laure ought to have been content with telling the world that I was once a crazed Micheal Jackson fan, and most people in the room will excuse my behavior on the basis that I was only a young teenage girl back then. But her emphasis on having me removed from her room suggests that I might have been wayward and immoral.’ I observed.
‘Moreover, if all she wanted was to prove that you were once classmates, despite the age-difference, she would have tried to remember something positive or even neutral.’ Maryam added.
‘And there is a lot about you that was positive if she cared to remember.’ Asabe chipped in ‘And it’s not just because you are here Bint but like us you never attended any night parties which were a weekly occurrence then, happening every Friday night, but unlike us you never ever attended those weekend picnics. You used to joke that they were no different from night parties except that they were done in daylight. And you were right because those picnics also entailed music and dancing as well as boys, who were the chief organizers. But you never attended them always finding an excuse to go home every weekend. I remember how some of us named you social sister, because you listened to music in the room and read the same novels that we read but you wouldn’t party with us.
Most Tuesday nights you were at the Islamic political class organised by MSS and most Thursdays you were at the Muslim Sister’s forum at the Umma Library. I fail to see how anyone who was with you that year can fail to recall any of these and instead remember what never happened.’ Asabe wondered.
‘You know talking about my MSS activities made me recall something else that Hajiya Laure would have remembered if she wasn’t up to any mischief. She also used to attend Sister’s circle meeting during our SGS year. One day at the meeting, we were notified that she had given birth. I didn’t even know she was pregnant because by now we were in our second year of degree programme and she was no longer living on campus and we were reading different courses in different faculties. But because of our SGS acquaintance I offered to join those going to congratulate her at home.
The MSS arranged our transport and we went to see Hajiya Laure at her parent’s house. I still recall the area, it was on the way to the airport, a kind of staff quarters. It was even then that I realized that though she had been married for long, she just had her first child. Then in our final year on campus, during our last Ramadan fast there, another positive incident happened between us. I had gone to the main mosque for Tarawih prayer when I saw myself sitting right next to Laure.
When the prayer was over I asked her when she was leaving for home and she told me that she was observing the I’tikaf (ritual seclusion in the mosque) so will not be leaving till on Sallah day. I told her that I would have loved to join them but I had not notified anyone at home to be bringing food to me and I couldn’t burden my campus roommate with such a request. Hajiya Laure encouraged me to stay by saying:
‘Look, half the people you see here are not feeding themselves. Those who have requested food from home always have a lot of extra that goes round. So if you were to join us you will definitely not lack something to eat.’ Based on her advice I went to my room and hurriedly told my roommate that I will be returning to the campus main mosque to observe the I’itakaf. I packed a few essentials and went back. I observed the seclusion for two days and left on Sallah eve because they were expecting me at home.
During those two days I slept right next to Hajiya Laure in the mosque. We did our sahur together and broke our fast together, in addition to the other rituals. It was a memorable experience for me because it was my very first I’Itikaf. And if someone were to ask me about living with Hajiya Laure, it will surely be the first thing I will remember about her. But to my great amazement she didn’t only forget all this she was also ready to replace whatever positive memories we shared with what never happened.’ I lamented.  
‘But are you sure that nothing happened over the years to turn her against you? You know some people can be very unforgiving and will look for any way to hit back.’ Maryam said.
‘Nothing that I can recall Maryam. In any case where can I see her to offend her? The few times  we had run into each other I always greeted her politely and asked about her family. Anyway even if along the lines I had offended her, unknowingly, nothing can justify her attempt to defame me in a room full of relatives, in-laws and strangers.’ I insisted.
‘The worst, for me, was her saying that you were her roommate, when you were never that. Was it an attempt to make story more credible?’ Maryam asked.
‘Actually, the only part of the whole story that was a little close to the truth was her saying that I was her roommate. You see we were initially assigned to the same room. We met each other when we both went to see the room after we were handed our keys. Though I didn’t know when she took her things there, I knew that when I came with my load from home, she was nowhere to be seen. I kept my things there and for several hours she didn’t show up. I went out and met Safiya, whom I had become friends with during our registration exercise. I told her that my roommate had failed to show up and I was scared about sleeping alone in the room. You know I was coming fresh from a girls’ boarding school where we were many in a room. Safiya invited me to sleep in her room by saying that she didn’t even know who her own roommate was because no one had shown up to say so.
By the following morning Safiya had another idea. Since my roommate had failed to show up and she didn’t know who her roommate was, why don’t we just move to the same room and let the two ‘no-shows’ end up to together? I agreed and that was how Safiya and I became roommates for the entire length of our pre-degree year. So you see, though we were given the same room officially, we never once slept in it. Therefore this cannot explain why Laure should transfer me to a room with a giant MJ poster and claim she chased me out because of it.’ I asserted.
‘Don’t bother yourself trying to figure that out. Some people find the weirdest ways to hurt us for reasons best known to them. Just remember that Almighty Allah knows best what she meant to achieve by that slander. He SWT will judge between you two on the day when the evil in hearts will be laid bare. So stop feeling bad that you’d missed Mahmud’s graduation, it’s for a good cause because you spent the time strengthening family ties. Just give him this graduation gift from us and wish him the best in life.’ Asabe said, handing me a wrapped present.