Her baptism of fire

‘Thanks, it was especially made to welcome you home.’ I replied, feeling flattered.‘I suspect the recipe is new because I’ve never eaten chicken with olives before in this house.’ He added, looking up at me with a smile.‘Yes it is. It’s called Moroccan chicken, I saw it being made on the cookery channel last week. […]

‘Thanks, it was especially made to welcome you home.’ I replied, feeling flattered.
‘I suspect the recipe is new because I’ve never eaten chicken with olives before in this house.’ He added, looking up at me with a smile.
‘Yes it is. It’s called Moroccan chicken, I saw it being made on the cookery channel last week. That was when I decided it will go well with Basmati or grilled potatoes. Since I couldn’t decide which you’d prefer I did both. Now that you no longer practice the Hay diet, I know you will test a little of both and enjoy yourself.’ I explained.
‘Yes I did enjoy myself, thank you. Now what can we do to make it up to Mahmud since both of us couldn’t be there for his graduation?’
Tahir asked.
‘I thought I had taken care of that. I mean from the venue I took him to his favourite ice cream shop to buy his preferred flavours. Little Bint also had her share. We returned home and ate lunch, then we went out after Asr prayer to the amusement park nearby. We left about 30 minutes to Magrib where stopped at that fried chicken joint so they could buy some. Since you were away and their elder siblings are at boarding school, I decided that a bit of takeaway and the amusement park will be just fine. I almost forgot to mention but as soon as we returned home, I also gave him the graduation gift Asabe and Maryam brought, the junior education tablet.’ I concluded.
‘Yes, it’s an ideal gift, especially for someone going to junior secondary school. That was very thoughtful of them. Incidentally I also agree with Maryam that Hajiya Laure may be hitting you back for something that happened way back in your university days. Like she said, some people are very unforgiving. Laure’s attempt to discredit you might be payment for some decades-old grudge.’ He opined.
‘But like I told you, the last time we interacted closely, as students, was when we observed I’itikaf at the campus mosque. And we parted on the best of terms. I am very sure I did nothing to offend her then and we were never together again, except for brief moments at some social occasions. How could I have courted her wrath?’ I asked.
‘You never know Bint, don’t be too confident that you were always on your best behaviour with her. Some people are very sensitive, you might never even know that you had offended them but they are already plotting a way to hit back.’ Tahir insisted.
‘You may be right but nothing can excuse her attempt to tarnish my image by making up a story that never happened, even if she has a score to settle with me. Anyway, after the story Maryam told us about a similar incident that happened in her life, I won’t bother my head trying to find out why some people make up lies against others. Only they know why they do it and it’s comforting to know that Almighty Allah will judge between us for all the lies such people tell to suit their ends.’ I asserted.
‘Maryam told you she had a similar experience to yours?’ he asked.
‘Yes Tahir,’ I replied. ‘Apparently, in her fourth year in secondary school, she once fell ill and had to be taken home for further treatment. As she was about to leave for home, a younger schoolmate, whose parents were their neighbours came and said to her. “Please Maryam, after your treatment go to my home and tell them I am very broke. Let them give some money to bring to me when you are returning to school.”
Maryam agreed and as soon as she got better, after a few days, she went over to Mommy’s parent’s house and told them their daughter’s request. You know ten naira was a bit of money in those days, so Mommy’s stepmother gave her two five naira notes and said she should take to their daughter. The young lady was named after her grandmother, so everyone called her Mommy and Maryam can’t remember what her real name was.
Maryam returned to school the following day to find that the whole school was upside down. The final year students had just finished their exams and left and a riot had broken between form four students, Maryam’s classmates and form three students, Mommy’s classmates.
Maryam had no idea where to find Mommy because most students had teamed up with their classmates due to the tension in the school.
For this reason, Maryam herself remained with her classmates because venturing out alone can lead to someone getting beaten up by the enemy group. By the following morning the management of the school had decided to close own the school out of fear that the problem could lead to worse violence. So buses were provided to take students home till the problem was over.
As soon as Maryam returned home, she told her parents she wasn’t able to deliver Mommy’s message to her because of the riot in the school.
Maryam’s mother advised her to quickly take the money back to Mommy’s parents and explain why she wasn’t able to deliver it. Maryam went and told Mommy’s stepmother everything while returning the ten naira to her. She also asked whether Mommy was home since the school had been closed but was told she hadn’t arrived yet.
A few hours later, Mommy’s younger sister came to Maryam’s home and said their stepmother wanted to see her. Apparently Mommy and all her siblings were the children of a divorced wife, their stepmother didn’t have any children. So Maryam walked over to Mommy’s family home and met the shock of her life. The stepmother and Mommy’s elder sister, Bilkisu both descended on Maryam with insults and accusations. They called her a traitor and a hypocrite who not only knew what happened to their daughter but was the one who ordered her friends to beat Mommy up.
At first Maryam was speechless with shock, then she recovered and swore to them that she never even saw Mommy at school. ‘You know that I only returned to school yesterday, I was sick and at home. I went back in the middle of the riot. In fact if I had known about the crisis, I wouldn’t have allowed our driver, who took me back to school to leave me there. But he dropped me in front of the principal’s office and drove off, so I had to walk down to the hostel. That was when I heard about the riot. I couldn’t look for Mommy because I heard the clash was with her classmates who had all gone into hiding. But since the matrons and teachers were all working to solve the problem, I thought I could look for her and give her your message when normalcy returns. Unfortunately the problem persisted till nightfall and by morning the principal ordered the school closed.’ Maryam explained.
‘Liar, you know exactly what you did. You instigated your friends to beat her and you had the guts to return our money and say you never saw her. It was when she came that we found out you ordered her beating. You are a shameless hypocrite Maryam, a false friend and neighbour.’ Bilkisu accused.
‘Please and please listen to me; since you said Mommy herself said I ordered her beating, call her here so that she can look me in the eye and say I asked someone to beat her. Let her come here and swear that she had seen me yesterday. The last time I saw Mommy was the day I was coming home when she asked me to come and tell you she needed money. I swear I didn’t see her yesterday and had no idea she was beaten up, believe me.’ Maryam pleaded. But both irate sister and stepmother wouldn’t listen to her. And they refused to produce Mommy to testify.
Indeed they simply chased her out with more insults. ‘Just get out of our home and never step foot here again; liar and hypocrite.’ The stepmother shouted.
Maryam left the house in tears and went home to tell her parents. Her mother considered going there herself to defend her daughter and insist that Mommy be called to repeat what she claimed had happened but her father advised that they should leave he matter till the school re-opens then they can take it to the school authority to investigate. Unfortunately, by the time the school was opened, Mommy had been transferred to another school. The truth was never established in favour of Maryam but she said that it took her years to get over what she called her ‘baptism of fire.’
‘It was the most painful thing I’d ever encountered in my life to date. And I was only 16 years old. I had no idea people were capable of making up stories that never happened and that others were capable of believing them blindly. Bilkisu was my friend, I had expected her to believe me even if their stepmother wouldn’t. As for Mommy, I always saw her as my younger sister and I treated her as such. I had no idea she had this lying, dark side to her. Up to know I still wonder why she did it and what she hoped to achieve.’ Maryam told us.
‘Poor Maryam’ Tahir said, rising up from the dining table ‘that was a real baptism of fire.