UNCLE JUMMAH.

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The PIMME series

FACE MASK 1.1

Jummah slightly opened his room door as he watched his Baba sneak into Zainab’s room. This had been happening for weeks now, and he didn’t understand why his Baba always sneaked into Zainab’s room at midnight. So he decided to keep watch on a particular night. He saw his baba with a black cloth hidden at his back as he snuck into Zainab’s room, and immediately Jummah came out of his own room and put his ears on the door of Zainab’s room, only for him to hear muffled screams begging for help. He wanted to push the door open and save Zainab from whatever was happening in there, yank Baba off her, and beat him to pulp, but for some reason he retreated into his room, shut the door, and sat on the floor. A coward!. Early the next morning, he noticed Zainab’s walking step had changed, her eyes were puffy, and her lips were swollen. He didn’t know if he was seeing right, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her what had happened.

Jummah was Eighteen years old when this happened, and Zainab was only seven. They lost their mother to cancer many years ago, and they lived with an invalid they called Baba. Their mother was a nurse, and she single-handedly saw to the needs of the family while Baba spent everything on Alcohol and old newspapers. "I will get a job soon, Hauwa, and I will take care of you". He had promised her a day after they got married, but he never did.

Jummah took over where his mother had stopped. He was the one taking care of the home; he did menial jobs here and there: washing cars, working at the mechanic, driving trucks, and hawking local beads. He was able to pay to attend WAEC lessons, but he ended up failing woefully, and that was the end of schooling for him. Zainab had dropped out of primary two; her teachers had said she was an Olodo," and Jummah didn’t see any need for her to continue, so she joined him to hawk local beads until some people came to take her away. They were clad in suits and well-polished shoes, holding their briefcases tightly. three men and one woman. They said they were from an NGO organization and were looking for young girls to empower. They also said they would be taking them to Italy after a few months. What a lie! Baba angrily refused. He wasn’t ready to let his cherry go, but after so much pressure from this organization, he gave in.

"She deserves a better life; let her come with us". They said that no one had heard from Zainab since that day.

And five years later, Jummah was wearing the exact shoes of his baba, and they fit so perfectly. His late mother’s brother had sent for him. They were very comfortable, and they lived in Sokoto. He packed his things, dropped a letter for Baba on his special old wooden table, and left. He stayed at his uncle’s place with his wife and seven-year-old daughter, Habibi. He helped with house chores, and he was a good boy until his father's shoes began to look attractive to him. Taking a closer look, they were so old and ugly, but from afar, they looked very tempting. Day after day, he stared at the shoes until the very day he decided to wear them. He didn’t only wear the shoe; he polished it and made it brand new.

Habibi, his uncle's daughter, loved sweets, and her father would not let her have any. On the very day Jummah started, he made sure everyone had slept, and he snuck into Habibi’s room.

"Hey Habibi! Ya kike?" (How are you?)

"Lafiya lau, Uncle Jummah." She said, "Uncle Jummah, I’m watching a really nice cartoon. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure Habibi". Jummah said as he made himself comfortable on the bed beside her, and as they watched in silence, he quietly put his finger between her legs. "Uncle Jummah, stop! That hurts". She cried out, but he didn’t stop, and as soon as she started crying, he closed her mouth with his palms as tears streamed down his face. He had become like his father. When he was done, he dropped a few candies on the bed and snuck out.

The next morning, Habibi refused to come out of her room, and she kept on crying.

"Habibi menene ba daidai ba?" (What’s wrong?) Her father asked, but she wouldn’t say anything. How could a girl so young explain what had happened to her? And every night it kept happening, and Habibi decided to talk to her English teacher, Ms. Hadiza, about it.

"Oh dear! You can’t allow such a person to live". Ms. Hadiza said, "Do you want to die? Do you want to still be a lawyer?". Habibi nodded. "Then you have to kill him before he kills you... When I was your age, my father did that to me, and I killed him. So do the right thing, Okay?".

"Yes Aunty". Ms. Hadiza was her favorite teacher; most people referred to her as a psychopath and a murderer. She had killed her father and the four husbands she married, but the principal was her uncle, so she couldn’t be sacked, and no one had proof. She was always covered from head to toe, and she had green eyes. That night, Jummah didn’t have to go to Habibi’s room; she came to his room all cheerful and happy.

"Uncle Jummah, let's play hide and seek; I will tie this black cloth around your eyes, and you will sit on the bed, and I will go and hide in any corner of your room, and you will tell me wherever I am hiding, and I will come out, and then you’ll do what you used to do to me; I promise I won’t cry today". She said. Jummah was so shocked, but he went with what she said, and she was a little girl after all.

"But that’s not hide-and-seek, Habibi". Jummah said "That's what I want to play, Uncle Jummah.".

"Okay!" He agreed "You go first!". Habibi said. Her eyes were beaming with excitement. She tied the black cloth tightly around his eyes and walked farther away from him. She slipped a small knife from underneath her Hijab, held it behind her back, and shouted. "Tell me!". and she went close to him.

"You are….". Jummah said as his words were swallowed by the driving of the knife into his chest. Blood gushed out as Habibi stood there, staring. She was a murderer at seven, and she was a hero just like her teacher, Ms. Hadiza. She ran away from the room, locked the door, and disposed of the key.

"Jummah!! Jummah". His aunt knocked on his door. "Are you sleeping?".

Indeed, he had slept, never to wake up again.

THE END.

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