He stirred in his sleep, stretched and opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure, but he thought he could hear birds chipping outside or was he dreaming. Sitting up, it took about 10 seconds to register where he was. “How did I end up here?” He thought trying to remember. Then it all came to him, the night before, the fever, her barging into his room, giving him drugs, cooking that stuff she called food, all of it. Slowly, he got to his feet, the headache was gone and he felt slightly better than the day before. It was then he realised it was morning, he could see the rays of the sun as it shuns through the window, quickly he looked at the wall clock.
“Subhnallah” he exclaimed as he realised what time it was, 10:17am. He was about to stand up when he realised she was sitting on the chair beside his.
“Good morning to you husband, hope you had a good night rest? It must have been good considering how you slept like the fool you are.”
Farhan stirred at her in amazement? “Why didn’t you wake me?” He wanted to ask but didn’t. Without another word he hurried upstairs.
Risha smiled wickedly
As soon as Farhan rushed into the room, he realised instantly that something was wrong, everything was scattered, his files, documents, his cloths, his bed, everything. The suit he had collected from the laundry lay on the ground rumpled, there was nothing he could wear to work. He looked around, shaking his head unbelievably, this isn’t happening he whispered. He was already about three hours late for work, and he had an important meeting in about 20 minutes time.
“What to do now?” he thought thinking, at a loss, he went to sit on the bed.
Risha sat waiting eagerly, she looked to the dining table and the covered plates on it and smiled at her own genius. However, about two hours passed and still he didn’t come down. She was beginning to get frustrated, when finally, she heard him coming down the stairs. She looked to see him dressed in trouser and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He came to sit on the sofa with an easy pose, he reached for the TV remote.
Risha waited for him to speak but he didn’t, she observed him to see if there was any sign of anger, there was none.
“Aren’t you going to work?” She snapped.
“Nope.” he said casually without looking at her.
“Why?” she demanded
“I took the day off” he said in the same tone.
She glared at him angrily.
He smiled at her and continued, “I called in sick, and besides being a fresh groom, its only reasonable I get some break from work don’t you agree? Plus, someone or something has been very busy in the room I presently occupy. Everything was a mess; I spent the last hour and half cleaning up. I don’t suppose you saw any one going in there?” He asked feigning ignorance.
Trying her best to control her rising temper, she smiled a little. “I see you have a response for everything right? We shall see how long it will continue. This attitude will only make things worse for you, I assure you.”
Looking puzzled as if he didn’t have the slightest idea about what she meant, he decided to change the topic. “I should thank you for your help yesterday night and sorry I disturbed your sleep,” he thanked her sincerely.
She stared at him as if he had just said the most stupid thing possible, “Help you? You think I did all that to help you? You are foolish then. You were disturbing my sleep with all that sneezing and I didn’t want you dying just yet,” she commented savagely. “That’s it.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he whispered, “thanks any way” as he spoke his eyes went to the dining table.
She noticed “oh, you must be hungry right? Let’s have breakfast. She said standing up and walking to the dining table.
Sceptical and wondering what to expect this time, he followed suit.
“Go on” she gestured to the sit in front of her, “sit.”
He did, all the time looking at her suspiciously
There were plates covered in front of him, slowly he opened up the plates one after the other. The first had sliced bread, dried sliced bread, strong and hard, the second had eggs, raw from the look of them, the last plate had vegetables, tomatoes and lettuce arranged beautifully. He smiled amused, slowly he looked up at her and surely, those sharp eyes were staring at him mischievously. She was holding in her hand a enticingly looking sandwich, before her on the table was a plate of scrambled eggs and a hot mug of chocolate tea.
“Any problems?” She smiled sweetly.
He studied her closely, contemplating his options, “should I just walk away?” No, that was what she expected, so he decided to do the exact opposite.
Returning the smile, he said pleasantly, “not at all, everything is perfect, did you manage all these yourself? I have to say, you are really thoughtful.” And with that, he went on to eat, breaking the dried bread and taking it with the tomatoes, occasionally, he even had a few lettuces. It all tasted horrible but the smile never left his face, much to her disgust.
The more he ate, the angrier she found herself becoming, unable to take it anymore, she stood up and angrily emptied her cup of hot coffee over him and then without a word, stalked angrily away.
Farhan closed his eyes shocked, his face and shoulders burning with pain, he felt his anger rise as the stuff dripped from his face. When he opened his eyes, she was gone, he heard her steps on the stairs. For just a flinching second, he felt the urge to run after her and give her a piece of his mind, but he controlled himself, slowly, he took deep steady breaths steadying his emotions.
Then he smiled. Her sandwich and scrambled eggs were right in front of him, without wasting another second, he reached for it and helped himself, laughing a little at how childish it all seemed. It felt like a joke, like some funny dream. For now, he didn’t care, breakfast was served. “Now, let’s wait and see what’s for lunch,” the thought, a little surprised at how amused he found the prospect.”
Finding nothing to do after a few hours of brain storming over his predicament and finding no plausible solution, Farhan decided to take a personal tour of the infamous Shehu villa. The gigantic house held so many rooms, there were about 30 rooms by his own count. Most were locked, so he couldn’t explore the inside. It gave him a strange feeling walking through the corridors and trying doors to see if they were open, it made him feel like a child walking through a haunted mansion that held so many stories. The prospect of discovering what lay behind some of those doors was very intriguing to him. By the looks of it, so many of them had not been opened for years, but the few he was able to access, held some exciting discoveries for him, some had pictures on the wall of people he did not know, some rooms looked somewhat untouched almost as if nobody had ever stayed in them. While about three evidently had signs of life, there were cloths covered in dust inside the ward drop, a tablet soap in the bathroom, white with age, magazines and newspapers. One even had some glass cups and a bottle of French wine that still had some content inside it, close to that was an ashtray filled with litters and half smoked cigars. It was so mystical, imagining the people who may had lived here long ago, imagine what conversations they had, he could almost see them in his mind’s eyes. Looking around, there was something sad about the house now, Farhan thought, as if it missed the liveliness that once was, everywhere was so quiet now, so devoid of life, in sharp contrast to what undoubtedly had been, the glorious days of the past.
In the last room, he walked into, at the far-right end of the house, he came across some very exciting surprises, the room was dimmed, illuminated only by the rays of the sun that seeped in through the closed windows, but still, he could already see the beauty it held. Slowly, he switched on the light and the sight that greeted his eyes was truly breath-taking, the walls were covered with beautiful art works of different kinds, some of inanimate objects, beautiful breath-taking views of nature, landscapes, the sun setting…, while the others held portraits of animals, beautiful animals, captured through the eyes of a truly gifted artist, animals grazing, birds in their nest…from the look of the room, it was some kind of atelier, there were still some unfinished works hanging randomly at different spots. On the table close to the wall, he could see the tools of who ever had drawn the master pieces on the walls, slowly, he found himself picking up the tiny brushes, the vas of ink and paint, some of the brushes still had dried paints on them, some of the vas were still open, the paint inside dried from the years. It was such a beautiful heart touching moment for him, he felt strangely connected to the place, it felt so alive, almost like who ever had painted all these would walk in anything to finish those that remained to be finished. Walking slowly around, he continued to admire the paintings that hung on the wall, one of them was unmistakably a painting of the house he stood in right then, the infamous Shehu villa. It looked so different from the gloom it was now, so beautiful and bright at must have been back then. Then his eyes caught something hidden behind a shelf. Against his better judgement, he reached for it and slowly, very slowly, he pulled the sheet that covered it away.
Farhan’s breath caught as he beheld the portrait, it was of a little girl who couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14. To Farhan, it was the most beautiful painting of any human he had ever laid eyes on. The painting emitted such innocence and grace, the little girl was smiling, a full smile, beautiful and pure. Her eyes twinkled with life and warmth. It was hard to believe that this was really a painting, it felt so alive so real. Slowly, he found his fingers tracing the delicate lines of the brows, the thick black locks of hair that fell over her shoulders. The face looked so familiar, yet so strange at the same time. There was something about those sharp magnetic eyes.
“Where have I seen these eyes?” He thought, trying to recall. Then suddenly, it hit him. “Those eyes, that lady, those eyes, it was the same eyes, the same sharpness. It had to be her, that crazy girl upstairs.” He couldn’t believe it but the more he studied the painting, the more he saw the uncanny resemblance, but there was something different about her now, definitely something missing in the person he spoke to earlier today. This child held such purity, such calming grace, the eyes looking back at him was friendly and warm.
“Wow!” He whispered slowly, still finding it unbelievable. “What was it that was different about her now?” She seemed so different from the angel that smiled back at him. Slowly, he replaced the sheet and carefully put it back where he found it. As he turned to walk out, he saw a book at the top of the shelf. It was huge in size and covered in dust, as he opened it, he realised it was a picture journal. Slowly he turned the pages. It seemed to be a family album, Alhaji’s family. He could see picture of Alhaji, a younger version of him with a beautiful woman and a little baby in her arms.
At that moment, his alarm rang, he reached for his phone to find it was time for the zuhr prayers. He contemplated dropping the book, before deciding on taking it along with him. What harm could that do? Just a peek through and he would return it.
Some minutes later after returning from the mosque, he sat in the parlour going through the album, he saw pictures of a younger Alhaji Shehu, as a teenager, as a young adult, pictures of him and a woman, a very beautiful looking lady, she looked so much like his crazy wise, “her mother”, he guessed, they looked so much alike, in one of the pictures, the woman was dressed as a doctor, others were pictures of all three, Alhaji his wife and their daughter. They looked so happy, so full of joy. The album captured the progress in the life of the little girl, as a baby, as a toddler, her numerous birthday celebrations. No matter how much it seemed so, he just could not believe this little girl was the same lady he had been forced to live with so far.
“What the hell are you doing?” he heard her voice behind him.
Startled, he looked up to see her standing there, her sharp eyes aflame with unmistakable anger. “Where did you get that from?” She spoke again her voice still full with anger.
“Oh this? I found it in one of the rooms down there,” he said jovially, pointing in the direction of the atelier. “I hope you don’t…”
He didn’t even finish before she grabbed it away savagely “how dare you? who gave you the right to go in there? Who told you that you can go into any place of this house without my permission?” she was shaking due to the intensity of her anger.
Farhan looked baffled, at a loss for words, she was just too much, he thought, unbelievable. How could anyone be so worked up over something so trivial? He wanted to protest, to tell her she being unfair and unreasonable. But the murderous look in her eyes made him decide against it.
“I am sorry” he said, “I was bored so I looked around the house a little, I didn’t know it would upset you so much.”
“Don’t you ever again, this house is not yours, you get that? You are only here for as long as I want so take your time. If it happens again, if you so much as step into any room without my saying so, you will regret it, I promise you this. With that, she turned to walk away angrily. Leaving Farhan to wonder at what devil he was dealing with.
Now, he realised the difference between this hard lady and the little girl in those pictures, the angelic child in that painting, that held such innocence, warmth and grace. Yes, she was still beautiful, maybe even more beautiful, yes, those sharps eyes had lost none of their sharpness, but the innocence was absent, the kindness and peace it emitted was lost in this lady, he now saw instead that those eyes held hate, anger, fire and an unmistakable awareness that made two different people.
Muttering his frustration and feeling like a child that had been scolded unfairly, he went upstairs to read a novel, but while he did, his mind could not help wonder at the lady in the room next to his, how much she had changed from that little girl. Then he remembered seeing her that morning looking at that object she was holding and yes, it was there, some ounce of humanity, some semblance of that little girl she once was. “What could have changed her so much? He wondered curious. The way she had snatched the album showed it was of sentimental attachment to her. But perhaps her anger was justified after all, he had no right snooping around this house, it was not his business, soon he would be away from all these, away from this house. He was only a passing stranger after all.
After his Asr prayer, he decided to buy her some snacks, to make up for what he had done earlier. Nothing would be gained if she stayed angry at him. When he returned, he found her in the parlour sitting on the sofa, her legs crossed. She was wearing a short jean trouser that barely went below her knees. Her white top was sleeveless revealing the milky complexion of her upper arms, her hair was bare as usual. She rested her head on the sofa humming to the music she was listening to.
It felt so awkward seeing her like that, he had sisters and they dressed casually at home, but with this girl, it felt so strange, so different. Self-consciously, he looked away.
“Should I just go upstairs?” He thought not wanting to sit there with her dressed like that, then he remembered the snacks and his plans to make peace. Reluctantly, he walked up to her and sat on the chair beside hers, he tried not to look at her bare legs.
“Hi” he ventured mildly.
She didn’t move, her eyes were closed, was she sleeping? He wondered, no, she was definitely humming to the song she was listening to, it sounded more like noise to his ears rather than music.
“Hey” he tried again
That was when she opened her eyes slowly and looked at him inquisitively. She did not say anything, just raised her brows as if to say “Ehen?”
He felt his heart clutch a little, as those sharp eyes looked at him like that. “I bought you this” he said raising the nylon bag he was holding.
She did not appear to hear him due to the music. Slowly, she reached for the iPod to turn off the music, as she did; she brought her legs to the ground.
Subconsciously, he found his gaze following them, soft and so feminine. Quickly he looked away, relieved that she didn’t notice.
“Yes?” She asked her voice full of contempt
“I got you snacks” he said smiling
She looked at the nylon he was holding and then back to him and said, “What?” Not so much from not understanding but more from surprise.
“Snacks” he repeated, beginning to feel foolish at the strange way she was looking him.
“Do I look stupid to you?” She asked angrily, “all these seems to be some joke to you right? It appears you don’t realise the danger you are in. ‘Snacks’” she repeated, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Farhan didn’t know what to say, he started to say something then stopped himself. Taking a few seconds to gather his composure, he tried again. “It seems I keep offending you even without trying, I only got these snacks to apologise for my stupidity earlier, you were right, I didn’t, I don’t have any business going around this house and earlier this morning, you didn’t have breakfast because of me, so I figured you might be hungry…what I am trying to say is I am sorry” he concluded.
Something seem to change in her facial expression, as quick as a flash, it was there and disappeared just as fast, was that surprise or another version of her anger? He couldn’t tell.
She observed him glaring, but when she spoke, her voice was normal, it still sounded hostile and unfriendly but devoid of the anger he sensed earlier. “I am glad to know you realise just how stupid you are, but I prefer to collect my debts in kind, just wait and see, I will make you regret your actions. Besides, do I look like a fool? What if you poison me?” She asked sarcastically.
He smiled, despite her reply. Not risking another word, he just nodded in resignation
That seem to please her, she smiled a little, resting her head on the headrest and closed her eyes.
He took the opportunity to compare once again this lady with the portrait from earlier. There wasn’t much difference when he looked at her like this. Just a bigger prettier version of the little girl she once was. Again, he couldn’t help wonder how old she was. It was hard to guess, she had such a commanding presence, such fearless and direct way with words, he couldn’t even tell if he was her senior. Just as he was doing this, she opened her eyes; they were looking straight at him. Their eyes held for a few seconds before he looked away quickly. There was something sensational about those sharp eyes something unique.
Glaring him angrily, she sat up. “Anything else?” She asked
“Hmm?” He responded
“What are you still doing here? I said I don’t want your stupid snacks.” She snapped.
“Oh yes,” he commented feeling silly “I was about to go upstairs, but can you tell me who draw those paintings? I am a great lover of art and I have to admit those are some of the best works I have seen. Whoever draw them has no small amount talent.” He said with true appreciation
Involuntarily, Risha found herself smiling. “It’s mummy’s atelier,” she said proudly, “she used to draw at her leisure time or when she wanted to get something off her mind” the words left her lips even before she realised it.
The pleasant tone in her voice was unexpected, but he didn’t show his surprise. “I noticed she prefers to capture nature’s beauty, very few artists can do that.”
“Yes”, Risha found herself saying, she used to go out sometimes to draw. “She would always take me along with her. Sometimes, we went to the zoo.” She said it dreamingly as if she was recollecting something beautiful. She was smiling now, deep in thought. She looked so different all of a sudden, so peaceful, the smile on her face now was very different from what he had seen before.
“I wonder why she didn’t just study art as a career,” she was saying. As she said this, she looked at Farhan and there was no hate, no anger, just the normal expression you would expect from a lively conversationist.
“She wasn’t an artist? I mean a career artist?” Farhan asked truly amazed.
“Nope,” Risha smiled proudly, “she was a doctor, can you imagine? a doctor who draws and don’t think she was any kind of doctor, the best there was also, top of her class. That’s mummy; she was good at everything.”
Farhan smiled but kept quiet, clearly she was having a moment, he reached for pack a of biscuit opened it and started to eat slowly. “Do you draw?” He asked conversationally
“Me? No, not at all or at least not anymore, Mummy thought me the basics but that’s all, I used to sketch a little,” as she spoke, she also reached for a pack of biscuit and opened it.
Farhan watched in amazement as she ate slowly. Then she seemed to realise what she had done and stopped. A look of anger darkened her features instantly. Without warning she threw the pack at him, it hit him square on the face
Farhan blinked in surprise, he looked at her, stunned.
“Why are you asking me all these questions?” She fumed angrily, “we are not friends, do you hear me?” With that she hissed and stood up, gave him that savage look that he had become familiar with and walked up stairs.
“Subhanallahi” he whispered when he finally could speak. “What just happened” he thought, “certainly, she must have some mental problem” he concluded. There was no other explanation for it.