HAWA’S RETURN
CHAPTER 1
I had just gone to see my girlfriend off. She had spent the entire afternoon with me since it was a Sunday. She was still a student and lived with her parents. Therefore, I was only able to see her once a week and that was on Sundays. On that particular Sunday, she came as soon as she got back from church. As soon as she got to my house, she changed into something casual, went to the market, bought foodstuffs, came back home and cooked. After she was done, she rested a little and I took her to the bus stop where she got a cab and headed home.
Nerissa, as she was called, was still a virgin. I didn’t know that when I first met her. When I met her, I was struck by her beauty. I had gone to the market to get some stuffs when I saw her. Her mum owned a shop at the main market. So, after I had finished buying from her mother’s shop, I didn’t leave. I just stood there staring at her. I can still remember the conversation between her mum and me.
“Young man, have I given your change?” She had asked.
“Yes, Mam.”
“Then why are you still standing there? Do you want something else?”
“Yes, Mam. I mean, No. I mean, yes.” I stammered. “I am waiting for someone to meet me here. I asked someone to meet me here. If I leave now, he will be confused when he comes here and doesn’t find me.”
“Then you should have said that na, instead of standing there like a security guard.” Her mum said and Nerissa laughed. “Nne, give him a seat.”
I was offered a seat by Nerissa. I was very happy that she had come close to me. God!! She was very beautiful. I wanted to get her phone number at all costs before leaving the place. I waited for about thirty minutes before the opportunity presented itself. Nerissa’s mother told her she was going to the warehouse to get something. She told her to take good care of the shop. Before leaving, she casted a glance at me which suggested she didn’t want to see me by the time she returned.
As soon as she left and I realized that I was alone with Nerissa, I took my chances. Nerissa was not just beautiful; she was also playful. As soon as her mother left, she walked up to me.
“Security guard.” She laughed. “How long will you sit here waiting for your friend?”
“My friend has already come.” I replied.
“Where is he?” She asked, looking around.
“It’s not a ‘he’. It’s a ‘she’.
“What? But I don’t see anyone?”
“It’s you.”
“Me?” She laughed. “Am I your friend?”
“Nope, but you will soon be.”
“How do you mean?”
“May I have your number?” I ventured. I had to be fast before her mother returned.
“Ohhh!! So, it was my number you wanted all this while, and you couldn’t say so. You instead sat there and was behaving like a frustrated goat.” She laughed.
“You can call me what you want, as long as you end up giving me your number.”
“No number for you.” She spoke.
“Why na?”
“What do you want with my number.”
“I want to call you so that we can chat later.” I told her.
“What do you want us to talk about, enh security guard?” She laughed again.
Needless to say, I ended up collecting her number and we started communicating. One day, I invited her to my house, and she came. After we had exchanged pleasantries, I was a sharp guy and I didn’t want to waste any time. I tried to make love to her but I couldn’t penetrate her. Instead, she screamed and pushed me back. I wondered what was happening. Then it dawned on me that she could be a virgin.
“How old are you?” I asked her.
“21.”
“And you are still a virgin?”
“Yes.” She said shyly. “Is anything the matter?”
“No, it’s just that it’s not every day you meet a twenty-one-year-old virgin.”
“There are many out there. You just haven’t looked hard enough.” She spoke.
“So, my job is to go around looking for virgins?” I asked, laughing. She laughed too.
“Can I put on my clothes now?”
“Yes, you can. We will try another day.”
That was how we started dating. We had been together for eight months now and up until now, she was still a virgin. Each time we tried, she screamed so loudly that I had to give up and postponed it for another day.
Now, let us go back to that day that I had taken her to the bus stop. When I got home, I saw two females sitting in front of the compound. One was my neighbour but the other was a strange girl I had never met before. I greeted them and went inside. However, when I went inside my house, something bothered me. The strange girl had given me a very strange look. I couldn’t tell what was behind that look. So, I decided to let it go.
The next day, when I got back from work, I was in for a big shock. The strange girl had moved into the neighbourhood. In fact, she was my next-door neighbour. I couldn’t believe it. There was a vacant room next to mine. She had occupied the room. As soon as she heard me opening my door. She came out of her house and greeted me. I responded casually.
In the evening, around 8:00 PM, I was at home watching my favourite channel, CNN when I heard a knock on the door. I asked whoever it was to come in. She shifted the drapes and walked in. She was wearing a miniskirt that almost went up to her buttocks and a white T Shirt.
“Good evening. I am your new neighbour.”
“I know. How are you?”
“I am good. How are you, too?” She asked.
“Fine. What is your name?”
“Hawa.”
“Your name sounds like you come from the Northern part of the country.” I asked.
“Correct.”
“Are you a Muslim?”
“My parents are or let me say they were. They are both of late now. I am not a Muslim. I have been living in the East almost all my life.”
“Oh!! I am sorry about your parents. So, since you are not a Muslim, does that mean you are a Christian?”
“I will just say, I believe in God.”
“Allah”
“He is the same person. Enough about me. What is your name?” She asked.
“Ike.”
“Alright, I am glad to know you. Hope we can be good neighbours.”
“I hope too.”
That was how my friendship with Hawa started. She was a strange kind of person. She told me she worked at a hairdressing salon at the main market. However, she was almost always at home in the day and only went out at night. I couldn’t understand why. Many times, I had planned to ask her what she really did for a living, but I kept postponing it for no obvious reason.
Hawa looked different from all the other girls in the neighbourhood. She was dark, very dark. In fact, it will suffice to say she was as black as tar. She had a long shiny black hair that rested on her shoulders, and like most girls from the North, she was beautiful. She was a real black beauty. However, she dressed nothing like girls from the North. That was because she had lived her entire life in the East. She was also, easy going, always smiling and very kind. However, behind all that, my instincts told me there was something sinister about her. Something was just not right.
She was always with me when I got back from work. She stayed with me until it was time for to go to wherever she went to at night. Because I saw my girlfriend for just a few hours on Sundays every week, Hawa started playing the role of my girlfriend in every way but s*x. She helped me clean, wash and cooked. Since my family lived far away from me, she became the only sister I had. She was always checking on me and making sure that I was okay. One day I had a talk with her.
“Why do you care so much about me, Hawa?”
“You are a nice man, Ike. You are calm, reserved, hardworking and you are handsome, too.”
I blushed when she said that.
“Is that all?” I asked.
“Nope! That’s not all. Even though you are from the East, you look so much like my former boyfriend, Ali. Oh! I miss him. He was going to marry me, but he died suddenly.”
“Oh! I am sorry. What happened? How did he die?”
“He went to the village to see his family. I warned him not to go because the Boko boys were very active in his village. He refused and went, nevertheless. That was the last time I saw him. That was the last time I saw my Ali.” She said tearfully.
“Did you ever find out how he died.”
“Yes, there was a Boko Haram raid. He died in the raid. He died without even saying goodbye. My poor, Ali. May God receive his soul.”
“Amen!”
“May I meet him again in the afterlife.”
“Inshallah.”
“What?! Who taught you that? You have friends from the North?”
“Yowa!”
“There you go again.” She laughed. “You are very smart.”
I thanked God for bringing Hawa to me. She had made life very easy for me. I prayed that God rewards her bountifully for her kindness and goodwill. Though there was an air of mystery surrounding her, I decided to push that to the subconscious part of my brain. For now, I would just take her the way she was. Someday, if there was anything sinister about her, time will reveal it.
One Sunday afternoon, Hawa and me were sitting comfortably on my bed, watching a movie when Nerissa, my girlfriend showed up unannounced.
TO BE CONTINUED…
