Nilefa: The Union

CHAPTER 37

Nilefa was swarmed with guests from different parts of the country as it was just a day before the grand wedding. The families had booked almost all the guest inns and hotels in the city in anticipation of their arriving guests.

It was sufficiently obvious that Dr Abdulkarim was a man of people considering the striking number that gathered around his home to wish him well.

Besides people, Dr Abdulkarim was also a man of family.  His family name dated back to the birth of Nilefa as an old city. The family house, Fato Kura as they called it, was the largest house in the city, larger than the Royal Palace itself. Bakura Habeeb was the current head of the house, being the eldest member of the family, after  their father's death. He was Abdulkarim's cousin and the eldest grandson to his grandfather who had ruled Nilefa in the past as a governor.

Fato Kura was proud of it's name and position in the state. A house of nobility and history, one of the oldest in Nilefa. Every man wished to marry from the house and parents wished for their daughters to be married into it.

The fact that Fato Kura hosted several events in the city, whether it was one of  family or not had made everyone assume that all of Yasmeen's wedding functions would be held there. However, it wasn't so because Aishe resisted.

There had been a long standing feud between Aishe and the Fato Kura inlaws. She was the only daughter inlaw that had stayed in the Family house the least because Abdulkarim had to relocate to the UK in the early days of their marriage.

Aishe knew she would not have it her way if the wedding was to be held in Fato Kura and that she would be treated like an outsider as she'd always been, so she came up with excuses. She proposed that it was safer to hold the functions at their mansion, especially now that Abdulkarim was running for governor.

Bakura Habeeb adored Aishe because her first child was named after him. He would not take anyone's word against hers. They agreed that the Niya(wedding fatiha) would be performed at Fato Kura as it had always been for the daughters of the house. For that rite, the bride didn't have to be there.

Everyone had to settle for Bakura Habeeb's decision. One great thing about the Mai Kuras was that they never went against the words of their elders. No matter how inconvenient it was for them, they obeyed. The elders also, fair enough did not subject their younger ones to things that would bring them discomfort. Not all the time.

The Mai Kuras arrived at the mansion in the late morning hours as Bakura Habeeb instructed. They all would be of full and active participation in all functions until the seventh day. They presented themselves properly as the 'Bawaa'(paternal aunts), by bringing gifts, including food stuff.

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Yasmeen had not endured anything more that she'd done this photoshoot. She'd changed  six different traditional costumes just for the shoot. Both Kanuri and Shuwa Arab. She'd changed heavy jewelry and hairstyles for each costume.

The photographer had such unrealistic ideas for the shoot. He'd made her stand amidst peacocks for some shots, and the others were just absurd. She'd thought no one could invade her life more than Kolo could, but it seemed this photographer was tight in competition, being there for just two hours. It was supposed to be a marvelous experience, but this was Yasmeen. Everything had to be tea or nothing.

She took a cup of tea as soon as the shoot was over. She'd woken up at 6am, after having close to no sleep the previous night. The shoot started around 8:00 am in the morning, and it was almost getting to 12:00pm now.   This day didn't quite look like a short one neither.