Love Will Prevail

by Emma Easter

  When the bus stopped at a traffic jam, she bought some snacks and drinks from some street hawkers who also sold their food to all the passengers in the bus. After eating the snacks and drinking the juice, which tasted more like sugar water than fruit, she leaned her back against her seat and shut her eyes briefly.

  She woke up with a start and rubbed her eyes. She had dozed off unknowingly. She looked out the window again just as the bus pulled into a bus station that was far less busy than the one in Nira. When the bus stopped, she disembarked from it with the other passengers and then carried her luggage out of the trunk.

  She took a few steps forward and then stopped to look around her. Karim Keita had told her to ask anyone for the location of his farm. Hopefully, the man was right and everyone knew where the farm was. She asked one of her fellow passengers, a woman who had sat in front of her on the bus if she knew where Karim Keita’s farm was.

  The woman shook her head and told Leila she didn’t know. “I am just a visitor here,” the woman said.

  Leila looked around her. She saw a teenage girl of about seventeen years sitting in front of the bus station, a table with a spread of cheap candies in front of her. She went and asked the girl if she knew where Karim Keita’s farm was.

  “Yes, I do,” the girl said. “It’s not far from here.” The girl peered at Leila. “You are a stranger here. I heard the farm caught fire about two days ago. I haven’t been there myself but I saw the smoke all the way from my house.”

  Leila nodded impatiently. She just wished the girl would direct to the farm so she could be on her way. Finally, when Leila continued looking inquisitively at the girl, she gave Leila specific directions to the location of the farm.

  Leila thanked her and made her way out of the bus station. She followed the directions the girl had given her, walking with determined steps until she got to the farm.

  She stood staring with her mouth open at the sight before her. There was still some smoke in the air and the land in front of her, acres and acres of it, was nothing but ashes. If Jibril had truly done this, he was wicked beyond words. Her heart flooded with sympathy for the men who worked on the farm and especially for Malik. He would have been devastated when the farm started. What kind of mood would she meet him in? Hopefully, she would be able to take the edge off the pain this must cause him.

  She noticed the huts that surrounded the farm. Malik lived in one of those huts. She saw a man who looked slightly lost and dressed in an off-white khaki shirt and trousers and asked him which of the huts was Malik’s.

  At first, he stared at her without answering, and then he said, “Malik? He lives in the brick house behind those huts there.” He pointed at a row of huts, and she could make out, though barely, a zinc roof behind them.

  Leila thanked him and he moved on, staggering as though he carried the whole world on his shoulders.

  She reached the row of huts and walked between two of them. She found Malik’s house—a tiny, unpainted building with a wooden door. It was definitely bigger than the huts, but still, it looked so small to her. As she walked to the door, she thought about how completely different from Dauda’s the house was. Dauda lived in a mansion, while Malik lived here, in this tiny house. Granted, he had a better house in Nira, but compared to Dauda’s, that house might as well be a hut.

  She smiled as she reached the door. None of that meant anything to her, though. She would live with him in his house anytime compared with staying married to Dauda and living in his mansion. All she cared about was that they could now get married and finally be together.

  However, there were two things that stood in the way of their complete happiness and their future as husband and wife. One was Dauda. He had to come to Nira and dissolve the marriage as soon as possible. The other was something more complex, but which she hoped would be resolved soon. Malik was still a Muslim, as far as she knew. She could never marry him unless he shared her faith. Hopefully, that would be resolved soon.

  She took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. Tapping her feet as she waited for him to open the door, she looked around her. She was puzzled when she saw some men standing in front of one of the huts, gaping at her. When Malik did not answer the door after a while, she frowned and knocked again. She waited for some time and still no one came to the door.

  He has probably gone somewhere. But where?

  Three of the men who had been gaping at her began to walk toward her. They were dressed similarly like the strange man she had met earlier. She felt slightly uncomfortable at the way they were looking at her and she felt like fleeing. However, she stood her ground and stared back at them with all the boldness she could muster. They reached her, but before they could say anything, she asked, “Do you men know where Malik Keita is?”

  “Wow!” One of them said with a glint in his eye. “Imagine! Such a beauty sent here just for us!”

  She blinked as she looked at the men. They were actually leering at her. Their eyes clearly glittered with lust and evil intentions. She stepped back slightly, looked around her, and considered crying out for help. If they moved one step closer to her, she would. However, whether she would find help in this place was another thing. Hopefully Malik was around somewhere and would come to her rescue.

  But what if he isn’t around here?

  Her heart raced wildly at the thought that Malik was not at the farm and that she was at the mercy of these wicked men.

  The men were still looking lustfully at her. They stepped closer to her and she shut her eyes briefly. Lord Jesus, please help me. She opened her eyes again and then screamed.

  That stopped them in their tracks for a few seconds as their eyes widened. And then, one of them grinned wickedly and grabbed her arm. She opened her mouth to scream again and another immediately covered her mouth.

  Fear took hold of her and she prayed earnestly in her heart for deliverance. They dragged her toward a bush close by, and she started to hyperventilate and pray at the same. And then a loud voice boomed from behind, “What are you all doing? Leave her alone right now!”

  Leila’s heart soared as she recognized Malik’s voice. And then it sank again as the men turned and laughed.

  What if they also hurt him? He was alone while there were three of them.

  “What are you going to do if we don’t let her go?” One of the men said. “You are not our boss anymore. As you can see, this whole place has been burned to the ground.” He chuckled. “We need some comforting and she will do.”

  Leila pressed her lips tightly together as Malik said in a voice that was completely calm and belied the dangerous situation they were in, “Maybe you all want to never work again; because I will tell my father about this. If you don’t let her go right now, you will all regret the day you were born. Maybe you would like my father’s men to show you what being uncomfortable truly means. You know how brutal they can be.”

  The men who were holding her arms immediately stepped away and the one who had covered her mouth smiled. “We were just playing around with her. We meant no harm.” He turned to the others and said to them, “Did we?”

  They all chorused that they didn’t mean Leila any harm and apologized profusely to Malik.

  He shook his head and said, “She is the one you wicked men need to apologize to, not me.”

  The men turned to Leila and told her they were sorry.

  She stared at them in disgust and turned away. They weren’t sorry. They had meant to rape her, but the Lord had delivered her.

  Malik barked, “And don’t you ever come near this house again! If you so much as look at my house or this woman again, you will wish you had been born without eyes. Now go!” he ordered.

  They scampered away and Leila finally turned to fully face him, her heart flooding with relief and overwhelming love for him. He still looked the same as the last time she’d seen him, though he seemed slightly world-weary. He did not look at her until the men had all gone far away.

  He finally turned
his gaze toward her and the look on his face made her pulse race. He walked up slowly to her, swiftly took her hand, and led her into the hut. He shut the door and immediately drew her into his arms. She trembled in anticipation as she held him tightly and lifted her head for his kiss. And then she gasped as he abruptly drew back from her.

  Disappointment flooded her mind as he turned away. “What is it, Malik?” she cried.

  He turned to her with an expression of deep longing on his face that made her head swim. “You shouldn’t be here, Leila,” he said hoarsely. “You are a married woman, remember?”

  She thinned her lips. She had forgotten about that in her joy of seeing him and finally being with him. She sighed loudly and said, “I remember… now that you remind me.” She looked at him in dismay and asked, “Aren’t you happy to see me?” Fear gripped her. What if he had fallen out of love with her?

  He shook his head slowly. “This place is dangerous for a woman like you, Leila.” He turned away and moved to the end of the hut.

  She drew closer to him and said incredulously, “What do you mean, a woman like me?”

  “A beautiful woman like you.” He looked her over. “And clearly wealthy. Does your husband know that you are here?” he asked, looking away from her again.

  This wasn’t the reception she had expected. She didn’t understand his reticence. “He knows, Malik. That was why I came. To tell you my husband has agreed to dissolve our marriage.” She said with desperation, “We can finally be together, Malik!”

  He turned to look at her, his eyes wide with astonishment. “Your husband wants to dissolve the marriage?”

  She nodded. “That means we can be together.” She gasped when he reached her as fast as lightning and swept her into his arms. She laughed as he hugged her tightly. He drew back slightly and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He stared into her eyes and then his gaze focused on her lips. Her heart began to race again. He was going to kiss her, and from the way he was looking at her, it would be a smoldering kiss. She wanted to kiss him with all her heart, however, she pulled back from him. Just like he said earlier, she was still married. Until she no longer was, they couldn’t kiss. She looked down at his arm around her body. And she certainly shouldn’t be held by him like this.

  She reluctantly extricated herself from him and sighed ruefully. “Until Dauda comes to Nira and gets our marriage dissolved, we can’t kiss or hold each other,” she said to him in a small voice.

  He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes moving over her body, causing her face to grow hot, and then he nodded. “I know that,” he said. “I just wanted to forget a minute ago when I almost kissed you.” He smiled sadly at her. “Are you sure it was a good idea for you to come here?”

  “Maybe not, but I just had to see you.”

  This time he gave her a bright smile. “I am glad you came.” They both sat on the single couch in the place and he looked at her again. “Talking rather than staring hungrily at each other will help us cool down,” he said. “Tell me everything that happened and how come Dauda decided to dissolve your marriage.”

  She smiled and said, “He decided to do that at my request.”

  She told him everything, from the time she and Zainah were brought out to Dauda and Jibril as brides, to when she finally left Saudi Arabia and came here. She finished and fought the urge to take his hand in hers.

  “I knew my father was wicked, but I didn’t know the depths of his wickedness. He showed you that picture of me tied up.” He told her what happened the day he was suddenly bundled away by some men and tied to a chair while his picture was taken.

  “I am just glad he didn’t hurt you,” Leila said. This time, she couldn’t resist taking his hand. “It is all in the past. Hopefully soon, we can get married and put everything bad that has happened behind us.”

  He squeezed her hand and smiled brightly. “I can’t wait for the day I can finally call you my wife.”

  Her heart filled with warmth at the look of love in his eyes. Why had she doubted that he still loved her? She had no doubt about how much he loved her as she looked into his eyes now. “I love you so much,” she said to him.

  “I love you too, Leila. I love you with everything that is in me.”

  For a long moment, they stared at each other. Leila saw that he wanted to draw her close and hold her in his arms as much as she wanted him to, but they both knew they couldn’t, shouldn’t. As hard and annoying as it was, she was grateful that he didn’t try to move close to her or she would not have been able to resist this time if he kissed her. Being alone here, what that would lead to was not difficult to guess.

  Malik suddenly broke the moment with a laugh. “Well, since we can’t do anything but talk, I might as well ask how your time was in Saudi Arabia.” He stood, went to quickly light a kerosene lamp that was in the corner of the room, and then came back to sit next to her. He smiled ruefully again. “Don’t tell me any details about you and Dauda, though. That would be hard to hear. Just tell me about the place and how your life was there. I have never visited, but I hope to one day.”

  She bit her lip as his words reminded her again that he was a Muslim. Of course he would love to visit Saudi Arabia. She always forgot he wasn’t a Christian and that she couldn’t marry him until he was. She looked at him and wondered if she should bring the topic up now. But she changed her mind immediately. It was a very serious topic and she’d just arrived. She hadn’t seen him in a long time. All she wanted now was for them to enjoy each other’s company. The talk about his faith would have to come soon. Probably tomorrow. She put her concerns behind and told him about her life in Dauda’s home.

  “I didn’t go out at all, so I can’t really tell you much about that country.”

  He frowned deeply. “Why didn’t you?” He had a horrified look on his face. “You were in purdah, weren’t you?”

  “No, I don’t think I was, though I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I were.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  She chuckled and said, “I pretended to be sick the whole time I was there so that Dauda wouldn’t touch me.”

  Malik stared at her and then shook his head. “That is kind of funny, but don’t tell me anything. I don’t want to know.”

  Leila sighed. “Nothing happened between me and Dauda, Malik. Just as I said, I pretended to be sick, although he told me later on that he knew I was pretending. Dauda was surprisingly kind to me. He wasn’t angry about any of it.”

  Malik’s mouth was open and he wore a look of surprise on his face. “He didn’t touch you at all?”

  Leila shook her head. “No. He didn’t.”

  She gasped in surprise when Malik pulled her close and kissed her hair and her forehead. He stared again at her lips and then sighed. Shifting away once more, he said, “That is a huge relief, though I know it would not have been your fault if you both had…” He didn’t finish his sentence.

  “You are the only man I love and want to be with in that way,” she said to him, gazing into his eyes.

  Once again, they gazed longingly at each other for a long moment. Finally, Leila broke their gaze and looked away. “This has to stop,” she said. “If we keep on like this…”

  “Don’t say it!” Malik stood and pulled her up. “It’s getting late. I know somewhere I can take you where you will be safe tonight.”

  She frowned, her stomach clenching with worry. “Will those men try to harm me again?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not talking about them. I mean safe from me.”

  She sighed. “You would never hurt me, Malik… but I know what you mean.”

  She left her traveling bag on the floor and followed him out of the house. They walked past some huts and around the burned farmland. Soon, they reached a cluster of huts surrounded by mango trees. Malik stopped in front of one of the huts and knocked on the wooden door.

  The door opened almost immediately and a girl peered out at them. Leila smile
d when she recognized the girl from the bus station who had given her directions to the farm. “Hello again,” she said to the girl.

  The girl smiled back at her and grinned at Malik. She opened the door wide and let Leila and Malik into the hut. A kerosene lamp was in the corner of the room, dimly lighting the place.

  “Is your grandmother home, Hauwa?” Malik asked her.

  “She is,” Hauwa answered. “Let me go and call her.” She pulled aside a curtain made out of an old wrapper and went in. A minute later, she appeared again with an old woman who had a wrapper tied around her chest.

  The old woman beamed at Malik and patted his back like he was a little boy. “You came to see me today?” She looked at Leila with curiosity.

  “Yes, Mama,” Malik said. “But most of all, I came because of my friend here.” He smiled at Leila. “She needs somewhere to live for the duration of her stay in Dogon… and, of course, she cannot stay in my house as I am a single man. Can she stay here?”

  The old woman laughed. “You don’t even need to ask, my son. Of course she can stay here.” She smiled at Leila and put her hand on her arm. “What’s your name, daughter?”

  “Leila, Ma.”

  “Leila, you can stay here for as long as you want. We don’t have that much space but what we have we can definitely share.”

  “Thank you, Ma,” Leila said, smiling at the kind old woman. “I don’t need much space at all.”

  The woman patted Leila’s arm and then her smile disappeared as she looked at Malik. “I’m really sorry for what happened at the farm. Is your father aware?”

  “Someone was sent to Nira days ago to tell him about it. I don’t think he is coming here. I’ll have to handle the fallout.”

  The woman nodded. She smiled again and said to Leila, “Well, come, child. You will share Hauwa’s room.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Ma. I will sleep right here.”

  “On the bare floor?” the old woman shook her head. “No, you will share Hauwa’s sleeping rug inside.”