The ‘kept’ generation

‘Patience Bint, please be a little more patient.’ She answered, looking out of the window of her car towards the house near which we parked. ‘But for how long? You know this is Saturday, I have lots of things to do as my weekend chores.’ I persisted. ‘Ok, if nobody comes out of this house […]

‘Patience Bint, please be a little more patient.’ She answered, looking out of the window of her car towards the house near which we parked.

‘But for how long? You know this is Saturday, I have lots of things to do as my weekend chores.’ I persisted.

‘Ok, if nobody comes out of this house in the next five minutes, we will drive away and then I will explain everything to you. But if someone does, then we will have to wait and study the person before I do the explaining ’  Maryam promised.

‘That’s fair enough, but I can’t afford more than 5 minutes.’ I said and quickly put on the radio to listen to some news. A few minutes later, Maryam accepted defeat and said to me. ‘Ok, we can go now.’

‘You seemed really disturbed the day you told me what transpired between Asabe and yourself when you went to visit her.’ She said, as soon as she began to drive. ‘You were particularly disturbed by the fact that there seems to be no other woman in Mansur’s life yet he still went ahead to divorce her and  live alone. Amazingly that was exactly what i was thinking about the day you went to see her when I couldn’t make it along with you. I drove down to this street to, like I told you, help my colleague Aisha organise her children’s Qur’anic graduation Walima. Quite by chance I ran into a crowd of young women coming out of that house we parked in front of. They all looked beautifully dressed, as if they were going to a wedding or some other occasion. But one of them really stood out, very fair and beautiful, exquisitely-dressed and acting as if the world really revolved around her. I actually waited for some minutes to enable them to pass before I drove on, that was how I had a good look at them. When I reached Aisha’s house, I casually asked whether some wedding was taking place on her street and described what I saw. ‘Was the crowd coming from a very nice house with well-manicured flowers and hedges?’ Aisha asked. ‘Yes, exactly’ I answered. And the next thing she had to say really shocked me. ‘That is no wedding crowd Maryam, marriage breakers is more like what I will call them.’ She explained. ‘But one lady in particular looked exquisitely-attired, like a bride in an Indian film.’ I insisted. ‘Yes, that must be Leena, that’s how she always looks actually. She spares no expense in order to look good and she owns the house.’ Aisha dlsclosed. ‘Owns that house?’ I exclaimed, ‘She must be some real heiress, i mean the lady I saw can’t be more than twenty, in fact, she can easily pass for a teenger of around 18 or 19.’ I responded. ‘That is Leena all right, she is beautiful and young, but she is no heiress, in fact she is a kept woman.’ Aisha said with disgust. ‘A kept woman? How did you know?’ I asked. ‘It’s common knowledge on this street. We all regularly see the kind of men who troop to the house to visit her. Top politicians, big businessmen, well-known office holders, you name them, she has them. In fact all the other young women you see are her hangers-on. They live in the house and cater for her every need while she lives like a queen on what she gets from lecherous rich men.’ Aisha explained. ‘Kai, what a life, and doesn’t she have parents? Is there no one to talk her out of her sinful bad ways?’ I asked. ‘They say her parents are alive but live in other towns.’ She relied. ‘How pathetic, a beauty like that should be queen in someone’s heart, in a respectable circumstance, within a marriage.’ I mourned. ‘That depends on if it’s what she wants. If she is only after the glitter of this life, the foreign travels, the beautiful clothes, the lovely house, money in abundance, I don’t think she’ll agree that her situation is pathetic. Right now she believes she has her whole life ahead of her and has to make optimum use of her youth and beauty.’ Aisha added. ‘And the issue of diseases and unwanted pregnancies, and Almighty God’s wrath do not bother her?’ I persisted. ‘I don’t think they do or else she wouldn’t be living like this for the past few years.’ She answered. ‘May Allah guide her aright, she certainly needs our prayers.’ I said to Aisha before we set out to do the Walima snacks. Yet that conversation kept haunting me the whole day. Afterwards the thought occurred  to me that Mansur was probably ensnared by one of them, after all, Aisha did tell me that Leena is only one of several girls who have given up their lives of respectability, for  lives of luxury and wealth, as kept mistresses in this city.’

‘You may be right. But will he need to divorce Asabe if he is involved with these young women when he knows they are not after marriage?’ I asked Maryam after her long narrative.

Well, you know men are fools sometimes. If he is totally infatuated with her, he might decide to divorce Asabe in order to convince her to quit her ways and go for him. I mean didn’t you see how he quickly furnished and moved into his new house as soon as he effected the divorce?’ Maryam asked.

‘Yes, you may be right again. I mean look at the way he made it 3 divorce at a go, in order to prevent reconciliation, and again that’s the only reason he will feel too ashamed to tell anyone, even his best friends.’ I said, suddenly getting convinced.