FreeFreeDescription
Aalimah
By Sumayyah Abdulkadir Takori
Phone: 07030137870
Free Pages: Part 1
The American Airways flight landed Aalimah Mansour in the city of Massachusetts, United States of America, on the twenty-fifth day of May, twenty-sixteen (2016). She slowly joined the queue of passengers disembarking from the aircraft, with a medium-sized women's handbag slung over her arm. She was dressed in a long gown and a matching Tehran-style veil of a maroon color, which she had wrapped carefully around her face. Her black shoes perfectly matched her handbag, featuring low heels for comfortable walking. Moving with an innate calmness, she stepped onto the asphalt of the airport grounds at Boston Logan International Airport and boarded the shuttle van with the other passengers. The van transported them to the main airport terminal building, where she successfully cleared all immigration checks before finally collecting her luggage and heading outside.
The bright rays of the gentle morning sun began to break through the sky, dazzling her eyes. She raised the palm of her hand to shield her brow just as a fleet of taxis began pulling up near her.
The drivers swarmed her, asking for her destination. She fixed her large, beautiful, yet exhausted eyes upon them as if evaluating her options, trying to deduce who would be the safest choice. At a single glance, anyone could tell she was a stranger who had never set foot in the country before. Eventually, her gaze settled on a lean, white American driver. She pulled a small jotter from her handbag and pointed to the address she had written inside. The driver took her luggage, stowed it in the trunk of his car, and opened the rear door for her. She stepped inside and took her seat. He then walked around to the driver's side, climbed in, and started the engine.
They drove smoothly along the asphalt of the massive highways of Massachusetts, while Aalimah quietly admired the beautiful streets sliding past her window.
Massachusetts stands as one of the prominent states the United States prides itself on, housing a diverse population from various backgrounds and every corner of the globe. In 2017, the population of the capital city was estimated to be around 685,094. Geographically, it sits near Cambridge to the east, borders New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, is flanked by the massive state of New York to the west, and is bordered by Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south. To the east, it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, making it a key state in the northeastern region of the USA.
The taxi driver eventually brought the vehicle to a halt inside an estate known as Martha’s Vineyard, stopping right in front of a beautiful lodge within the city of Boston, the capital of Massachusetts.
Aalimah Mansour let out a deep sigh of relief. She reached into her bag, pulled out the exact fare the driver requested, and handed it to him. He gave her the remaining change and retrieved her heavy luggage from the trunk. Slowly and deliberately, she walked toward the front door of the house, taking in the exquisite neighborhood. It was clearly one of the most elite gated estates in the city of Boston. Mounted above the front door was the house number alongside the name of its owner: "ISHAQ RAAZEE".
She reached out and pressed the doorbell, ringing it three times before she finally heard a woman's voice calling out from inside in English, saying she was on her way. Aalimah’s heart began to thud violently against her ribs, as if it might burst from her chest. She had absolutely no idea what kind of reception she would receive from her paternal uncle, nor did she know how his wife, Mummy Zulaiha, and their children would treat her. Everyone back home in the extended family knew all too well that Mummy Zulaiha was a fiercely protective woman who preferred to distance herself from the relatives. She wanted no one lingering around her husband or her children, lest anyone try to rely on their immense wealth or ride the coattails of their success. This was especially true for Aalimah's immediate family, as her own father was the least financially well-off among all the siblings in the family tree. Had it not been for her mother’s stubborn insistence that Aalimah must not live in a university hostel when her own blood uncle and his family resided in the exact same foreign country, there would be absolutely no reason for her to step foot in her uncle’s house.
Deep down, Aalimah knew she would have found far more peace of mind living in a student hostel, but how could she defy the strict orders of her parents? She had already set her heart entirely on pursuing this degree; it was as vital to her as life itself. Furthermore, she knew absolutely no one else in this foreign land besides them. As strict as her mother was—especially regarding strict moral upbringing and discipline—she had given Aalimah a rigid ultimatum: she would either live under her uncle’s roof and pursue her education directly under his supervision, facing whatever hostility came from his wife and children, or she would forget about university entirely and get married. Her mother's mind would be much more at ease if Aalimah simply gave up her academic ambitions.
Mahmoud was the only young man she had ever allowed into her life, the only one who had ever spoken to her of marriage. He was a student himself and wasn't entirely settled yet, currently navigating his final year at the university. She and Mahmoud Kaita had nurtured their love in complete secrecy away from her parents' eyes. In fact, she deliberately hid her relationship with Mahmoud because she knew that if her mother ever found out she had a serious suitor, despite how much she wanted her daughter to be educated, she would immediately halt her studies and marry her off. Aside from her eldest brother, Aboubacar (Abubakar), no one else in her household knew about Mahmoud. He only knew because Mahmoud happened to be his close friend, and it was through him that they had met in the first place.
Aalimah stood lost in this deep train of thought at her uncle's doorstep, waiting for the door to open. Less than five minutes had passed when Esther, Mummy Zulaiha’s housemaid, finally unlocked and opened the door. For a few brief seconds, Aalimah and Esther stood staring at each other in total silence, completely unacquainted. Then, without even asking whom Aalimah was looking for, Esther stepped aside and gestured for her to come inside. The only reason Esther let Aalimah in so freely without questioning her was because of the striking, undeniable resemblance she shared with the children of the house, especially the daughters.
Aalimah stepped across the threshold, pulling her luggage gracefully behind her. Esther closed the heavy door behind them. At that exact moment, Mummy Zulaiha appeared at the top of the stairs, fully dressed and ready to go out. She walked down the steps with sharp, clicking strides, wearing the kind of elegant high heels worn by sophisticated, worldly women who command attention wherever they go. She was holding a stylish handbag and her car keys, clearly on her way out of the house.
Mummy Zulaiha’s jaw dropped in absolute shock as she stared at the Tuareg-Arab looking young woman who had just walked into her home. The girl was remarkably tall, slender, and exceptionally fair-skinned. She possessed a long, elegant nose, large white eyes, and naturally bright red, thin lips. Her head was crowned with a thick, luxuriant mass of hair that betrayed her biracial heritage; one look at her was enough to realize she wasn't entirely Hausa. She clearly carried the distinct bloodline of her husband, Ishaq Razee. She was the very last person Zulaiha ever expected to see in America, let alone standing right inside her own home, out of all her husband’s relatives.
Aalimah forced a polite, charming smile that radiated respect, bowing slightly as she greeted her uncle's wife. However, the sheer shock of the moment left Zulaiha completely speechless. Aalimah had to repeat her greeting twice before Zulaiha finally snapped out of her temporary state of disbelief, prodded by her youngest daughter, Yasmin, who nudged her and said:
"Mummy, she is greeting you."
Startled, Zulaiha blinked and looked at Aalimah, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. What on earth brought her here? Had Ishaq really grown so bold as to start bringing his fair-skinned Tuareg relatives into her home without even consulting her? This was something she would absolutely never tolerate. She answered the greeting coldly and half-heartedly before asking in a sharp, strained voice:
"Who did you come with?"
Aalimah lowered her gaze, answering in her characteristically soft, gentle voice:
"I came alone, Aunty."
"All by yourself, all the way from Nigeria?"
Aalimah nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes."
Zulaiha looked as if she wanted to snap at her, but she resisted the urge and continued walking down the stairs. Turning to Esther with a thoroughly sour expression, she ordered:
"Give her some food and show her to a bedroom. I am heading out."
Esther quickly replied, "Yes, Ma!"
Zulaiha then looked back at Aalimah, swallowing her rising anger, and said: "Go on with her. I'll be back later. I need to drop Yasmin off at school, and from there, I'll head straight to the office."
Aalimah responded with deep politeness, following behind Esther as Mummy Zulaiha and her daughter Yasmin exited the house.
Ishaq Raazee's home was a modest American-style lodge, built as a duplex. The upper floor housed the master bedroom for the husband and wife, as well as the bedrooms for their three daughters. The ground floor contained the kitchen and a large English-style living room, adjacent to the bedroom of their eldest sons. The housemaid, Esther, did not live on the property; she arrived every morning and left in the evening after preparing dinner. Because of this arrangement, Esther found herself at a loss as to which room she should allocate to their new guest. The house had never been built with the intention of hosting extended visitors. She felt it would be inappropriate to take Aalimah upstairs since the master of the house slept there, yet she also felt uneasy leaving her on the ground floor all by herself. In the downstairs living area, there was another room belonging to their eldest brother who was currently away at school, but it remained locked, and Esther had never seen it opened, so she didn't even consider putting her there. Consequently, she decided to take her to Yasmin’s room upstairs, which was directly adjacent to their mother’s room, despite feeling a nagging anxiety that she might be making a mistake. She then returned to the kitchen, arranged some food on a tray, and placed it by the edge of the bed for Aalimah. After bidding her a polite goodbye, she returned to her chores.
Before doing anything else, Aalimah decided to take a bath, as her skin felt sticky and uncomfortable from the long hours of travel. She had always loved bathing—she was like a duck in water, completely unfazed by cold weather, let alone the current summer heat. Even her scalp was beginning to feel intensely itchy, despite having washed her hair just three days prior. She untied her hair, pulled her toiletries from her bag, and walked into the en-suite bathroom.
She paused for a moment, examining the space. Though she had never traveled abroad before, she was by no means ignorant or uncultured. She admired the modern bathroom, which featured a light blue jacuzzi bathtub that matched every other fixture in the room. Reaching up, she slid the ribbon from her hair, allowing the massive, dense mane to cascade over her shoulders. It was pitch black, long, and silky—the unmistakable pride of her pure Tuareg lineage.
Mounted on the bathroom wall was a hand dryer, a sight that brought her immense satisfaction. Rows of expensive, high-end shampoos were neatly lined up on the shelf, a testament to the fact that the three daughters of the house also possessed thick, beautiful hair just like her own. In that blissful moment, she forgot all her worries. She filled the jacuzzi with warm water and immersed herself, indulging in her absolute favorite lifelong habit: bathing. She spent a long time scrubbing her smooth, radiant skin before thoroughly lathering her hair with Head & Shoulders shampoo. Once finished, she dried her hair completely with the hand dryer, performed her ablutions (Wudhu), and stepped out into the bedroom.
She dressed in a well-fitted long wax-print gown (atamfa), put on her prayer hijab, and stood up to pray. Only after she had successfully made up all her missed travel prayers did she finally feel a deep sense of peace. She sat down and began to eat her food.
It was a delicious potato porridge (faten dankalin Turawa) cooked with mushrooms and tender chunks of pure chicken breast. Arranged neatly on the side in a porcelain bowl was some grilled liver. She picked up a fork and began eating the liver slowly, having finished the potato porridge. Once she was done, she washed it down with a cold carton of apple juice and leaned back comfortably against the sofa to rest.
Suddenly, thoughts of her mother, her father, her younger siblings, and her beloved Mahmoud flooded her mind. She knew they must be anxiously waiting back home to hear from her. She quickly slid off the sofa and searched for her phone in her bag. But as she powered it on, she remembered she had no internet connection or local airtime. Unaware that the entire house was equipped with high-speed WiFi, she reluctantly set the phone aside. She picked up her empty dishes and walked downstairs.
As she scanned the doors around the living room trying to figure out which one led to the kitchen, she caught the faint clattering of dishes and the sound of running tap water. Realizing the door at the far end was the kitchen, she walked in and found Esther. They exchanged a warm, shy smile. Esther took the tray from her, adding it to the dishes she was washing. Unwilling to just go back to her room, Aalimah leaned against the kitchen cabinet, and the two began to chat.
Aalimah offered to help her with the remaining chores, but Esther immediately declined, begging her not to get her into trouble with her mistress, who had not authorized the guest to do housework. Still, Aalimah remained in the kitchen, pulling up a chair at the small dining table inside the room. As Esther worked, they conversationalized in a mix of light, broken English.
Esther was a Black American of African descent, born and raised in the United States. She explained to Aalimah that her family originally hailed from Kumasi, Ghana, but her parents and grandparents had all been born in America, spending their entire lives working in service to others. She then curiously asked Aalimah if she was her employer's niece, noting the striking resemblance she shared with her uncle and his children. Aalimah smiled and confirmed, explaining that Ishaq Razee was her father's elder brother.
Just then, they heard the distinct sound of two cars pulling into the driveway—one belonging to the master of the house and the other to Mummy Zulaiha. The daughters began entering the house one after another, filling the air with their loud, lively chatter. Aalimah stepped to the kitchen doorway to watch them. Basma was in the lead, followed by Khalisat, and finally the youngest, Yasmin. It had been six long years since she last saw them during their final visit to Nigeria, back when Aunty Zulaiha was still pregnant with Yasmin. They had all grown remarkably fast, taking on the impressive, well-nourished stature typical of children raised abroad. No one looking at Basma would ever guess she and Aalimah were peers, as Basma looked twice her size in physical build. Khalisat, the second daughter, was fourteen years old, making Aalimah two years her senior. Basma was just over sixteen. After giving birth to Khalisat, Mummy Zulaiha had experienced a long gap before having another child; it was only eight years later that she gave birth to her youngest, Yasmin.
Her first two pregnancies had resulted in boys, born five years apart. Mummy Zulaiha timed her pregnancies with precision, much like Westerners do. Her pregnancy with Khalisat, coming just two years after Basma, had been completely unplanned—an unwanted pregnancy she simply had to accept. Yet, after giving birth to her, Khalisat became her absolute favorite, cherished above all her other daughters. Khalisat, in turn, loved and clung to her mother more than anyone else in the household. Looking at Mummy Zulaiha, one would never guess she had given birth to such grown, mature children, thanks to her life of absolute luxury and meticulous self-care. Though she was rapidly approaching fifty, she easily passed for a woman of thirty-five.
Both she and her husband, Ishaq, had married quite young. It was a match born of an intense, blind love—the kind of consuming romance that prompted Zulaiha's parents to pull her out of school during her fifth year of secondary school just to marry her off to Ishaq. At the time, Ishaq was only in his third year at Ahmadu Bello University. He possessed absolutely nothing to support a wife, and his own student expenses were a burden. Consequently, he took her back to his home country, the Niger Republic, and settled her into the large family estate belonging to the extended clan of Malam Ibrahim Raazi. He enrolled her in a secondary school in his hometown of Niamey. Despite her initial inability to speak French, she gradually mastered the language. Ishaq would only visit her during his semester breaks, and even then, not every single holiday.
Ever since his childhood, Ishaq had harbored a deep fascination with Nigeria and desired to live there. When he finished his secondary education, he explicitly told his father, Malam Ibrahim Razee, that he wished to attend university in Nigeria to perfect his command of the English language. His father did not object, but he insisted that Ishaq must travel alongside his younger brother, Mansour. Thanks to his exceptional brilliance, Mansour had received a double promotion in school, allowing the two brothers to graduate from secondary school in the exact same year. Their father felt that studying together in Nigeria would make them feel more at home.
Free Pages: Part 2
Securing admission to Ahmadu Bello University proved to be entirely seamless for the brothers. In those days, the government was aggressively scouting for qualified international students, and their academic credentials were exceptionally outstanding. Once their documents were translated into the Nigerian format, they enrolled in an intensive English language preparatory program organized by the university, as their entire prior education had been conducted strictly in French. They did absolutely everything together at A.B.U., being foreign students who had no one else to rely on but each other, born of the same mother and father.
Back home in Niger, they had rarely gotten along, being close in age and constantly competing with one another, as is common with siblings. But once they found themselves isolated in Nigeria, they had no choice but to embrace each other tightly. This, in reality, was the profound wisdom of their father, who had orchestrated this journey to unite them without their knowledge.
Both Mansour and Ishaq were exceptionally gifted students, though they pursued entirely different fields. Ishaq studied International Relations, while Mansour chose Mass Communication. They lived in the university hostels, and all their financial needs were taken care of by their father, who wired them money regularly through the bank.
Their father was a prominent Islamic scholar, but he was also a highly successful merchant in the capital city of Niamey. He dealt heavily in the food commodity trade and also managed a thriving business breeding and trading camels—a traditional commerce he had inherited from his own parents and ancestors. He had two wives, who remarkably gave birth around the same times; if one wife gave birth today, the other would inevitably deliver her own child a week or a month later.
Inna Bintou and Inna Kasisi were the two wives of Malam Raazee. Ishaq and Mansour were the biological children of Kasisi, the senior wife. The women gave birth almost every single year, and Malam Ibrahim had fathered twenty-five children before his wives eventually stopped bearing. Ishaq was not the eldest among Kasisi’s children; he had two older brothers, followed by himself, and then Mansour.
Not all of Malam Razee’s children shared a passion for Western education. In fact, almost all the sons despised it, preferring instead to throw themselves into their father's commercial businesses—with the sole exceptions of Ishaq and Mansour. As for the daughters, their father married them off the moment they completed their secondary education. This explained why, when Ishaq initially approached his father with the news that he had found a young woman in Nigeria whom he wished to marry, the old man didn't hesitate or prolong the matter; he actually favored the union. He even consulted Mansour to see if he had a lady he loved so they could celebrate a double wedding, but Mansour declined, stating he wasn't ready and preferred to complete his studies first.
Ishaq and Zulaiha had met at Ahmadu Bello University; she was the younger sister of his classmate, Ahmad Madobi, whose family hailed from Kano State. During Ishaq's second year at the university, Zulaiha and her family had come to visit her elder brother, Ahmad. At the time, Ahmad was hanging out with Ishaq, whom they affectionately nickednamed "The Tuareg" (Ba'abzine). It was a classic case of what Westerners call "love at first sight."
Zulaiha was a striking black beauty, a fresh and youthful secondary school girl. Her parents were not educated in the Western sense, but were traditional merchants. Ishaq would travel all the way from Zaria to Kano just to see her. An intense, fiery romance blossomed between them, which eventually convinced her parents that it was better to withdraw her from school and marry her off, as she had completely abandoned her studies to focus on Ishaq. Fortunately, his own parents were not rigid when it came to his education, and they gave their blessings to the marriage.
Zulaiha's parents only became anxious when Ishaq's family announced that they would be taking her to the family's main estate in Niger. They had mistakenly assumed that since he was still studying in Nigeria, he would simply rent a house for them to live in. In the end, seeing they had no alternative—as marriage is destined to take a woman anywhere—they conceded. They allowed Ishaq to take his bride to his country of birth, where he left her under the care of his parents before returning to university to continue his studies with a peaceful mind, having successfully claimed the woman his heart desired.
Given the deep bond of trust and harmony that existed between the co-wives, Inna Kasisi and Inna Bintou, the children of one were treated as the children of the other. Consequently, Zulaiha effectively became the daughter-in-law of Bintou rather than her biological mother-in-law, Kasisi. Inna Bintou took complete charge of her well-being while her husband was away. Malam Razee ensured Zulaiha lacked absolutely nothing, providing for her material needs as though her husband were right by her side. He even enrolled her in an expensive private school in Niamey until she successfully finished her secondary education.
However, Inna Bintou took no joy in having Zulaiha as a daughter-in-law due to her highly distorted and difficult character. Zulaiha was an ungrateful girl, plagued by a sense of toxic pride. No matter what the family did for her, she looked down upon it with open disdain and never showed appreciation. She never welcomed the family's grandchildren near her, and no child dared enter her private room. She refused to help with any household chores or family responsibilities, carrying herself with an immense arrogance and showing contempt for everyone. The only person she genuinely feared in the entire house was Inna Kasisi, because Kasisi absolutely tolerated no disrespect and possessed a fierce, fiery temperament. She was strict with her own children, and even her husband treaded carefully around her. Kasisi had perceived Zulaiha's true colors all on her own, without Inna Bintou ever having to utter a word. As a result, Kasisi maintained a rigid, dignified distance, holding her ground firmly in Zulaiha's presence. She never involved herself in Zulaiha’s affairs, and whenever the family gathered for events concerning the children and grandchildren, Zulaiha would isolate herself completely, looking down on everyone as beneath her status.
Malam Ibrahim remained entirely oblivious to Zulaiha’s poor behavior. He treated her with utmost kindness to the best of his ability, sympathizing with the fact that she had been separated from her parents and everything familiar to her. Furthermore, neither of his wives ever approached him with complaints, as he had never raised them to indulge in gossip, backbiting, or trivial drama.
Thus, Inna Bintou continued to endure Zulaiha with patience. That same year, Ishaq and Mansour successfully completed their university degrees and returned home. Mansour had thoroughly enjoyed his time in Nigeria and felt a deep desire to settle there permanently, especially since he too had found a romantic interest in the country. Consequently, he chose to undergo his mandatory national youth service (NYSC) there before returning to Niger. Upon completion, Ahmadu Bello University immediately offered him a position within the Faculty of Mass Communication as an assistant lecturer, owing to his brilliant academic records. Ishaq, on the other hand, returned permanently to Niger to live with his parents and his immediate family.
Among Inna Bintou’s children, daughters were the majority, whereas Inna Kasisi’s children were predominantly sons. By this time, Inna Kasisi’s eldest sons, Edrissa and Oussama, had established themselves as highly successful, wealthy merchants in Niamey. They had expanded the traditional business they inherited from their father, heavily importing rice and other food commodities from France into Niger. They had since demolished a portion of their father’s old estate to construct a massive, modern complex fitting for the wealthy elite of Niger. The grand estate was now divided into several distinct wings: wings for their respective mothers, and a wing for Malam.
