Amina
"Wani yana neman ka" my five year old son tapped me on my back to get my attention and started jumping on my bed. "Oh" I grumbled looked at him with sleepy eyes.
"Who?" I asked while faking a sleepy and pretending to be snoring "Sleepy, sleepy mommy" he laughed.
"Who?" I asked again, this time sitting on my bed.
"A man, a big man with bear bear" he answered while using his hands to emphasize how big the man is " And I didn't open the door, I looked through the window" he added proudly.
"Good boy" I said and he beamed at my praise.
I had told my son Sagir not to open the door to strangers, this is Lagos, you don't know who is who. I climbed down from the bed.
"Mommy, when are we going to eat" Sagir called from where he was jumping on my bed.
"I thought you ate few minutes ago" I asked.
"But am hungry again" he grumbled following me while I walked towards the living room. I looked back at him, his face was in a pout as if he was going to cry. I laughed silently "that little bugger" he knows am going to feed him after am through with the mysterious visitor.
I walked into the living room and my eyes wander around, my gaze falls on a pictures of us, he had been eleven month old, I had to bribe him with a piece of pie to take that photo, it was our first year in Lagos. Moving to Lagos had not been easy, I had lived in Niger all my life, born in Niger, schooled in Niger, married in Niger.
"Married, now a widow" I said with a sad smile. I could still remember the day I meet Sahir, I meet my husband in school. I had been studying for my degree in engineering. Sahir had come visit his brother who had been a lecturer at my school, it was like a first sight.
Sahir death had been a real blow, he had been coming from the states, it was our year anniversary. They had been bombing in the north at that period and I guess he had been one of the unlucky ones. That day was the worst day of my life and if not for Sagir I don't think I would have survived.
I opened the door, it was a group of men, Sagir must have noticed only one of them from the side of the window, two men of the group were in police uniform. A man part from the group, he was a handsome man if you like the tall and macho type, his eyes was filled with fear, pain and anger, he brought out his hands and I extended mine to shake his.
"Good afternoon Mrs Khan" he said with a voice filled with misery "My name is Inspector Tony Okafor"
To be continued...