Becca, ran towards them, and then, she screamed on top of her voice. She kicked the man on the groin, and rescued Safiya.
“Awww” the man moaned holding his groin, while Becca grabbed Safiya and they began to run, back to the event.
“Thank you, thank you for saving me from the clutches of that evil man” Safiya said and hugged Becca.
She became indebted to Safiya, which Becca liked very much.
“How did you know, to come to the parking lot?” Safiya asked.
“I was looking for you, then I remembered what kind of person you were, and I thought perhaps you were tired of the party and going to leave. So I came after you” Becca replied, stuttering.
“Alhamdulilai, if you had not come…” Safiya hugged her again, as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Safiya went about telling everyone about how Becca saved her from a kidnapper. While Hadiza was skeptical, Bashir believed that his lover had accepted his marriage to Safiya.
On the day of the Fatiha, Safiya was adorned in jewelries and fine raiment. Her hair was dyed and braided, while her body was decorated with henna.
She was the most beautiful bride, and even Bashir could not help but swoon over her. He could not take his eyes off her, and Becca noticed it all.
“They aren’t even married, and he is already swooning? Men are so fickle!” She thought within as she watched the procession.
Becca regretted that she could not stop the wedding, but she swore that she would make Safiya’s life miserable, so much that she would pack her things and run from her matrimonial home.
“It is such a pity Safiya because, when I am done with you, you would wish that you never crossed path with Bashir” Becca thought, and smiled when Safiya smiled at her.
The wider her smile, the deeper her hatred for Safiya. Safiya was taking her man, and she couldn’t even object.
Before her eyes, the bride and groom were about to be joined by the Imam. She thought of what to do, but nothing was coming to mind.
“Stop!” Becca screamed.
******
Everyone turned to look at Becca. Hadiza looked pale like she was going to faint. She wondered if Becca was going to expose the affair between her and Bashir. Bashir on the other hand peered at her, trying to send her a message through his eyes. People began to murmur among themselves. They had all heard the rumours about Bashir having an affair with a Christian girl from the East. But when they saw Becca being close to Safiya, and Bashir getting married to Safiya, the rumours were dispelled.
But with Becca trying to stop the marriage, everyone remembered the rumours and wondered if they had come to witness a drama instead of a wedding. They watched Becca walk to the couple who had turned to look at her.
“Don’t look so scared. I am not stopping your wedding. I just want the opportunity to present your ring because you two are my favorite couple” Becca said and took the box of rings from the Imam.
She took one and gave it to Safiya, and the other to Bashir.
“With the same hands I used in joining you, I will use in destroying your marriage” Becca thought as she smiled at them.
After they were joined, it was time for the reception. The reception was to take place at an event hall which had been decorated to show the affluence of the groom’s family. There were plenty to eat and drink, as people came from far and near. Everyone in the state, who was healthy, was invited to the wedding reception. They were given food in bags to take home. Everything was done, to score points with the people who would vote in the coming election.
While everyone ate and drank to merriment, Becca prowled the hall, like a predator looking for prey. When the party was well into the evening and almost time for the couple to go to the mansion, Becca brought a tray containing three glasses of wine. She gave each glass to each person, and took one for herself.
“Let us drink to this union” Becca said and emptied her glass in a gulp.
It was wine from the vine, as they were not allowed alcohol. But in Safiya’s glass, Becca had added a strong whiskey. Safiya imitated Becca and gulped hers. She tasted the strong taste, but before she could complain, she began to manifest. Safiya stood up from where she was seated with Bashir and began to dance without control.
She even went to grab a man from his wife, and began to dance with him. Everyone was surprised and ashamed of witnessing such humiliating performance.
“If I can’t stop the wedding, at least I can punish you for marrying him. This is just the beginning” Becca thought, and smiled wickedly, as she saw Bashir go to carry his wife.
“What is going on, is Safiya drunk?” Becca asked aloud, making sure everyone heard.
“How can she be drunk, she didn’t take alcohol” Hadiza said and rushed to hold Safiya who was pushing everyone who tried to hold her.
While Safiya was jumping up and down, something fell from the pocket of her dress, and rolled on the floor.
“Ah” everyone was surprised to see that Safiya was hiding a bottle of liquor in the folds of her clothes. The question on everyone’s lips was, “Was Safiya an alcoholic and been hiding it?”
Hadiza beckoned to some female hands and Safiya’s friends. She instructed them to take Safiya back to the mansion and help her sleep off her intoxication. Then she went over to Safiya’s family and scolded them.
“If you knew your daughter was an alcohol addict, you would have told us instead of allowing us find out like this. How can a proper Muslim girl be so addicted to alcohol that she hides it in her wedding dress” Hadiza was exasperated. She began to wonder if she had made a wrong choice for her son.
“My daughter has never had alcohol before” she said matter-of-factly, “I don’t understand what is going on here. Since my daughter agreed to marry your son, it has been one calamity or the other. I am beginning to think that my daughter is not safe, somebody is sabotaging her marriage” Safiya’s mother said as she looked around for Becca.
She had been watching her since the Fatiha. When she didn’t see Becca around, she also noticed that Bashir was also nowhere to be found.
What is going on? the woman pondered, as a sense of foreboding suddenly gripped her.
****
While Hadiza was busy talking with Safiya’s family, Becca went to Bashir, who was sitting in a corner with his heads in his hands. Becca had heard all the snide remarks made about Safiya, and it had given her great pleasure. She congratulated herself for ending the wedding ceremony in a bad way, disgracing Safiya before everyone.
“Bashir my love, I wish I could stop you from being so humiliated, or even carry your shame, but I can’t. Come on, let’s leave this place” she said and pulled Bashir away. They went back to the mansion, and to Becca’s quarter, in the guest wing.
“Your wife is too drunk to give you a wedding night. Perhaps I can take back my man for the night” Becca said as she undressed before him.
Despite standing naked before Bashir, he still looked distracted, like he was worried. He was obviously worried about Safiya.
“I wonder what happened at the reception party. If it were you, I would understand that you are used to that
life, not Safiya. She doesn’t look like she has has ever had alcohol in her life” Bashir said thoughtfully.
“What are you saying to me” Becca grabbed her night robe and covered her nakedness, “I am naked before you, and all you care about is what happened to Safiya?” She yelled.
“She is my wife, Becca” Bashiru quipped, and it shook Becca to her bones.
“He is beginning to care for her. What will happen when they begin to share a bed” She thought as she paced up and down the room.
Becca decided that the best way to get her lover back would be through softness and not being hard on him.
“My love, I understand how you feel about all this. It hurts me too, seeing you unhappy” she said and massaged his shoulders, while she pressed her boobs on him.
“I feel bad because I feel like this happened because of me. Thanks for being here with me” he said and relaxed into the massage.
Soon,Becca extended her hands to his chest, and weaved her fingers through the hairs on his chest. While she did it, she pushed her boobs on him. Then she came to sit on his thighs and began to kiss him. In the blink of an eye, Bashir forgot his worries about Safiya, and enjoyed the passion that Becca was offering.
They made love all through the night, until the early hours of the morning before Bashir snuck out of the guest wing, back to his quarter where his new wife was waiting.
Her head was clear and her friends had told her how she disgraced herself at the reception party. Safiya could not understand how that could happen, and stranger still, was her husband’s absence from the bed.
“My husband, where did you spend the night? I was here all alone, waiting for you” Safiya said, taking in his rumpled attire.
“You didn’t expect me to share the same bed with a drunken woman, who disgraced herself on her wedding day” Bashir flung at her and began to undress, ready for his morning shower.
As he passed by her, Safiya caught a whiff of a woman’s perfume on him, and knew that her husband had cheated on her even before the marriage began.
Will Safiya be able, to weather the storm and save her marriage, or will Becca win and get Bashir back?
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