Chapter 55 B

"Aren t we going to learn today, Teacher Aminu? I can go back and you can go home if you re tired, we can do it tomorrow." He shook his head lazily and shifted towards her, Maryam shifted to the other end of the bench where it had been pinned to the wall and she knew if she were going to escape from this man then she had to stand up now and run!
"We re going to learn something today, Maryam, just that it isn't about anything study. I'm going to teach you something that should only happen between a man and a woman and you can t tell anyone about it, okay? You re sure that Bilkisu isn t home, right?" She wanted to stand up and run but he was seated so close to her that if she breathed deeply, she might be able to feel his scent.
"Get away from me, what are you trying to do?" She asked with a panicked voice and he chuckled at her.
"You re so beautiful, Maryam. I ve been wanting to tell you this since the first day I saw you and your eyes are so mesmerizing that I can't stop looking at you." He shifted dangerously close to her that even though Maryam knew there was no space left for her to shift, she did and he shifted towards her again to the point that the only thing separating them wasn't up to an inch.
"You re wearing a veil today and your lips look so delicious that I'd rather be killed than not taste how those lips would feel. Your body figure, I can t. Will you please just marry me?" He looked desperate and when Maryam briskly stared into his eyes, there was something running that she had once seen in Na im s eyes. Even though from how he always acted, she was sure he was trying to hide it as perfectly as he could.
"I'm married already. And I can't marry someone like you even if I wasn t married before. Now, get away from me or I'd call Na im right now and he will have you killed!" She was furious and she yelled at him, "You stupid pervert!" She thundered and before she was able to close her lips, she felt a loud striking slap on her right cheek and the tears she was holding back rushed down to her cheeks.
"You can't call me a pervert when all I do is desire you! And you re going to call Na im? Call him, if he isn t there preparing for his wedding, excited, as he gives no heed to you!" He yelled at her and Maryam instantly felt as though he had struck an arrow right into her heart. She was looking at him with a discombobulated look as if she couldn t believe what she had just heard from him and he laughed.
"What? Don t tell me you don t know about it? Everyone in the whole of Maiduguri knows that Yarima Na im is getting married in three weeks now! Don t be so foolish, and I see how you cling to him with just the way you look at him. I don t know your story but I'm sure that guy wouldn t get married to you, if that s what you re hoping to happen." He moved closer to her and wrapped his hands around her waist, bringing her closer than she would ever want to get with any man apart from Na im and even though she had been weakened by his words and revelations, Maryam felt herself panting for breath and he thought it was his touch that had affected her that way. "Let s run away from here, let s go somewhere and get married."
Her tears came down in showers. These two huge revelations were taking a toll on her that she might as well be blank for the whole day and she couldn t even understand it. He was getting married in three weeks now, he had referred to him as Yarima which only meant Na im was a prince. His father was the king she had been thinking day and night of how to meet so she could report about her missing sister. She had heard, even in Magumeri that the king was a chivalrous man and he loved everyone. That explained the Your Highness Bilkisu referred to him as, that explained...
She felt Teacher Aminu s lips on her neck and gasped with fear while her breath was threatening to stop. "Let go...of me." She managed to utter as she was beginning to feel all black and it was getting harder to breath than she had ever felt in her life.
"I'm going to make you mine right here in this place and that way, you d have no choice but to come home with me."
She was crying and Maryam mustered all the remaining courage she had because she could feel his hands around her body, something Na im had never done to her and she felt him turning her face in a way that told her he was going to kiss her. "Leave me alone!" She cried at the pitch of her voice and he smack the side of her face.
"It s getting dark and no one is here, shut the freak up or I'll make you regret it this instant." His hands were trying to find her zip and when they did, Maryam screamed when she felt his hands as they unhooked her bra and she knew it would only be a few minutes before she passed out at the unwanted touches of this despicable man.
"Please..." She cried, as he forcefully turned her to face him. "You should let me go, I don t like this, please!"
"I bet you wouldn t, but if it was that handsome Prince, you d have been grinning by now, right?" He said angrily. He had imagined this moment countless times in his mind that he had never imagined that she would act this way. Because in his fantasy filled world, he thought of the way she would touch him and would want to run away with him. She might even invite him inside so they could have a quickie before they got her things packed and leave.
"She will, that s certain because I'm her freaking husband and you re dead right after this minute!" He heard a roar that seemed like that of a lion and the next thing he felt was a foot stumbling him to the ground and he felt punches from where he had never imagined them. Whoever was beating him didn t even give him the right to even know who he was and Maryam was slumped on the ground as she tried to pull her veil around her while she cried painfully.
"I'll take care of him, Captain, she s about to faint." Hafiz said with his voice that was choked with anger as he pointed at Maryam that was still panting for her breath as she cried and her eyes were beginning to close.
Na im punched Teacher Aminu one last time before he rushed to where Maryam was and when she was about to slump entirely on the ground, she fell in his hands and without a second thought, he scooped her into his arms and looked at Hafiz that was beating Teacher Aminu with no sign of sympathy.
"Take him to the barrack, but this time, lock him in the dungeon, Lieutenant." He said through gritted teeth, panting softly from how he had punched the life out of him and Na im didn't even wait for Hafiz to answer him when he began walking to his chamber, with Maryam cradled in his arms.
He went into the room she had once slept in and laid her calmly on the bed before he took off the headgear that had almost half of her face covered and he stared at her face as lovingly as he felt her deep into his soul. She looked so beautiful even though there were remaining streaks of her tears on her cheeks and her lip was painted red, which made him smiled softly.
Her shirt was revealing some parts of her chest, so he pulled the duvet above her neck and went out of the room. He didn t know what he would do now, she was sleeping from her labored breaths but just when he thought he might have everything under control, this happened and now he had to think again.
He met Hafiz in his living room and he sighed, "I gave him to Faruk and Jafar and they re going to take care of him first before they take him to the barrack. I asked them to wait until at night so that Captain Bolori will have lower chances of knowing someone has been locked up again, by now. And obviously, because of the girl he s so curious about."
Na im sat on the sofa, they had just come back from a mini operation in one of the villages and their uniforms were still soiled with sand and blood but he had no intention of taking his off now. "I want to kill that guy with my two hands, Hafiz. How dare him lay his hands on her? Who the hell does he think he is?"
It had been so long since when Na im had last been this angry and Hafiz knew he had to be careful of his words unless he wanted him to vent everything to on him. "I should ve known that he might go to this length because of the way he had been looking at her the first time he saw her."
"I saw that too, but I thought maybe he had just fixed his eyes on her because of her eyes. Maybe he was curious of something. Damn that sonofabitch!" He said through gritted teeth and silence prevailed in the room before he turned slightly to face Hafiz, "What do you suggest that I do? And Bilkisu isn't coming back any time soon. I can t have her live in that apartment alone."
"She can continue to stay here before Bilkisu comes back, you said she d be there for two weeks, right? It will still give you a week before the wedding takes place. It s safe." Na im stared at him as he contemplated his words and he knew they were the truth. Since they both had been reported to that Sadeeq had someone overlooking his house in Damboa road, so if they moved her there, it would only take him some minutes to know.
"I'm so stressed out about everything going on, Hafiz. Alan Gubro isn t even allowing me into his bedchambers, I want to ask him to at least add more weeks or months to this wedding and he has refused to see me since that day!" He palmed his face and sighed out of exasperation while he thought of the perfect way out. Nafisa wasn't willing to back out, yesterday, she had even sent him the card she had distributed to her friends and the events she was going to hold in respect to the wedding. He had ignored her, but they both knew she was hell bent on marrying him and she wasn t going to back out.