No one's POV
EVERYTHING WAS GOING as planned for Suleiman,in the first five months his business was growing and he was able to pay the loan regularly, Rukkayah who was at the edge started calming down since she didn't hear from Rasheed any longer.
"Dear I can't be staying at home like this all day long,I want to start doing something too you know if I was engaged in one business or the other things wouldn't have been that hard for us when the custom seize your goods"Rukkayah told her husband in the evening after he finished eating his dinner and they sat in the sitting room massaging her husband legs
"We are okay now Rukkayah,you should be contented,I need you to take care of this children at home while I run around providing for us"Suleiman said and Rukkayah dropped his leg adjusting to face him
"Non of them is a kid any longer dear,Qadirah is thirteen,Aishah is ten and Abdul is six and they're going to school,I can start a mini business like selling provisions instead of me staying at home all day"Rukkayah said
"Just focus on your duties and stop disturbing me with business,I provide everything you need so why are you complaining? Things are going smoothly and I can provide everything my family needs,let me be and do your duties"Suleiman said annoyingly standing up leaving Rukkayah alone in the sitting room
*
Suleiman came back late in the night around 10:00pm,he groan and sat on the sitting room turning on the television while Rukkayah came out of the room,she met her husband catching up on the news and greeted him
"Welcome my dear,how was work?"she asked
"It was tiring but Alhamdulillah things are going smoothly"Suleiman said patting the seat next to him for his wife to join him
"Do you want to eat?"Rukkayah asked after sitting with her husband but Suleiman nodded no concentrating on the television
"The children?"Suleiman asked
"They're fast asleep"Rukkayah replied and they sat quietly except from the voice from the television
Twenty minutes later Suleiman phone started ringing bringing dozing Rukkayah back to life, Suleiman reluctantly pick the phone and suddenly shouted
"Subhana Allah la illa ha illa lah!"he stood up immediately dropping his phone
"What happened?"Rukkayah asked while Suleiman search frankly for his shoes
"My shop is on fire!"he said and Rukkayah went cold immediately,she rushed inside taking her long hijab and head to her children room waking Qadirah up
"Take care of the house and your siblings,your dad and I will be back"She said and Qadirah nodded sleepily
Rukkayah went out to meet her husband and they rushed to their car driving out of the compound,they went to the shop and met it on fire, Suleiman almost had an heart attack and kept on muttering "la illa ha illa lah"
They call the fire extinguishers immediately and few minutes later they came and started extinguishing the fire,the fire was finally tamed and Suleiman went inside the shop with his heart breaking into pieces
"No no no no!"he kept on muttering as he touched his goods which are burnt to ashes, Rukkayah covered her mouth crying bitterly
"Who done this?"she asked but her husband remain quiet,he left the shop and they silently drove back home, Rukkayah had a hunched that it was Rasheed and decided she's going to look for him the following day
Suleiman couldn't sleep throughout the night,he kept on rolling and rolling groaning and almost yelling,he was too hurt to cry and too hurt to feel pain,he was numb and kept on thinking how he is going to pay his debt
The following day came and Suleiman left the house early,he was planning to go on investigation about what happened in his shop, Rukkayah got her children for school and left the house immediately
She went to Mr Kandiri's house knocking the gate profusely,the gate man opened the gate shoting her a weird look
"You wan commot the gate?!"the gateman yelled and Rukkayah hissed
"Tell Rasheed to come out!"she yelled and the gate man clapped his hands
"You better call my oga name with respect if not I might decide locking you out here,who knows you might be a lunatic"The gate man said and he started bantering with Rukkayah
Mr Kandiri who was in his reading room heard noises and decided to come out,he was standing at the veranda of the top building
"Danjumo what's that?"he asked pulling out his goggle from his eyes enclosing it in its case
"It's this woman out here shouting she wants to see you"Danjumo said raising his head up to see his employer
"Let her in"Mr Kandiri said and Rukkayah entered the compound,Mr Kandiri smiled slyly while Rukkayah almost sneered
Mr Kandiri left the veranda coming down into the first floor,he opened the door ushering Rukkayah inside,she entered the house and Mr Kandiri closed the door
"Such a beautiful surprise,please sit"Kandiri said and Rukkayah shot him a glare
"I'm not here to sit down Rasheed,what have you done? Why will you burn down my husband's shop what are you trying to get at"Rukkayah said shooting him different questions at once
"How do you know I'm the one that did it"Mr Kandiri said folding his hands while Rukkayah glared at him
"No one but you can do that Rasheed,what's your game?"She asked and Mr Kandiri stepped closer adjusting her veil in her head and rubbing her cheek slightly with the back of his hand
"I want you Rukkayah just accept and come back to me,I promise you I'm going to take care of you and leave Suleiman alone,I won't ask him to pay the money any longer just you Rukkayah can make everything right or worst"Mr Kandiri said in a low hoarse voice
Rukkayah stepped back "I'm not coming back to you Rasheed,you're my past and continue to be my past,I'm just here to warn you leave my family alone!"Rukkayah yelled
"Your husband should never had came to me for help"he said almost snickering
"That doesn't justified anything!"Rukkayah said walking out of the house
*
Things got from bad to worst, Suleiman got lean by the day and couldn't pay Mr Kandiri's money at the right time,his one and an half year expired and he begged him for another six months which he gratefully added to him
Rukkayah got scared and think about what could go wrong if the six months got expired too and they are already in the third month,she left the house and went to visit Mr Kandiri who gratefully let her into his house
"Rasheed please just leave us alone,you're blocking everyway my husband can have money to pay you back,please pity my innocent children"she said crying kneeling while Mr Kandiri laughed richly
"Rukkayah stop being stubborn and come back to me,you're the cause of your husband predicament you can help him and you know it but you're just too stubborn"
"I'm not stubborn and you know what you're asking of me is something I can never do,please just let us be"
Mr Kandiri went closer to her standing her up and leaning on her ear "sleep with me,I want to feel your body again,I want to reminisce all we had done in the past how you moan under me and tell me how much you love it,make me feel alive again and I promise I will let your husband go"
GBAMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
Rukkayah slapped him across the face "how dare you ask me to sleep with you when you know I'm married"she said heaving
"It's not like it's the first time Rukkayah and you can't change the fact I'm your first and I wouldn't mind being your last"Mr Kandiri said and Rukkayah shook her head leaving his house
The six months expired and everyone in Suleiman's family were on edge except Abdul who doesn't know what's going on, Suleiman was busy pacing up and down in his sitting room while Rukkayah eats her fingers
"I think we should hide our kids the last time I spoke with Mr Kandiri he was so annoyed and promised to deal with us,I thought he was just babbling but I heard a lot about him how he deals with people that's not able to pay his money back"Suleiman said
"That's a good idea,I think we should take Abdul to the family house and Aishah and Qadirah can stay at mama Amana's house"Rukkayah said and her husband agreed immediately
Rukkayah packed AbdulSamad clothes in a small bag and he left with his dad
Hours upon hours were gone, Rukkayah didn't see her husband neither did he picks her call,she got scared and nervous walking up and down thinking about what might have went wrong,she calls the family house number and they told her her husband was here earlier dropping Abdul
It was 8:00pm she decided to dial his number again because she was becoming more restless when the call was picked,she thank almighty Allah and almost dropped the phone when she heard Kandiri's voice
"Your husband is here with me and I'm sending my boys to get you too"He said and she heard her husband yells in the background
"Run!! Please run with the children!!"her heart sank as she heard her husband voice,she ended the call immediately calling out Qadirah and Aishah who were panicking too
They tried running out of the house but we're stopped by a group of young men who dragged them into a car
They were taken into the basement were her husband was tied beated almost unrecognisable, Rukkayah's stomach churn when her eyes landed on her husband,she was tied along side with her children who were busy crying and calling their dad's name
"What a beautiful family moment to witness"Mr Kandiri said and Rukkayah shot him a glare,he went over and held Suleiman's cheek who was facing down to look at him
"I have a little short story to tell you"he said and laughed "there use to be a girl and a boy so deeply in love but the boy doesn't have money and was scared of loosing the lady,he worked hard but it seems legal business doesn't pay and got involved in some dirty business and started making money,he trusted the girl so much and told her how he made his money but the girl left him telling him he doesn't love how he makes his money and want to clear her head not knowing she's with another man, Rukkayah how do you find this story, interesting isn't?"he said and Rukkayah looked away
**
Mr Kandiri hold them hostage for five days and he could see there's nothing he is doing that's getting to Rukkayah,he wanted her to feel the pain he feels,on the sixth day he went to visit them and hold Aishah by the cheek,Aishah spits on him and kicked,Mr Kandiri slapped her and Qadirah shouted "leave my sister alone!"This grabbed Mr Kandiri attention and went over to Qadirah pulling her cheek up to see him in the eyes,he saw the resemblance she had with her mom and memories came back to him how he use to love and adore this face
"Strip her naked!"he ordered and Rukkayah shouted
"No! No! No!"she started kicking trying to free herself, Suleiman was already passed out,Aishah started crying while fear gripped Qadirah,she had never got naked in front of anyone since she started growing up, her fifteen years old self got scared and she closed her eyes as her clothes wear ripped out of her body,Her mother kept on shouting while Aishah weep,Qadirah became numb to do anything as tears fell freely from her eyes standing naked in front of the men