Baba Alhaji sat with a tight emphasis.

His wrinkly fingers wrapped around the slightly cold ceramic tea cup. He tutted, dropping the cup back to its platter. "It's not the normal ginger content."

The man with a striking resemblance to the senior man rose to his feet immediately. He reached for the tray with the motive of getting his dad a new one.

Baba Alhaji's cold hands halted the motive by holding down Sudais' hand that was ready to take the tray away.

"You don't have to do that, Abba."

"I can just-" The old man cocked his head, signaling to his son that he was fine.

"Joda. (Sit down.)"

Dread.

Dread was an easy way to describe what he had been feeling his entire short trip home. What could the old man possibly want to tell him that he had him fly across the country in a day?

Nonetheless, he knelt/sat and cast his head down with the man's stare drilling into him.

He didn't know what to think or what to expect. And that was the scariest part.

Voice as calm as ever, the dark man of high rank quizzed while dropping the platter on a table by his side. "Sudais, a andi ngandume noddumami? (Sudais, do you know why i called you?)"

Sudais shook his head in pan. "Aa. Mi anda ni. Kori baasi fuu walaa. (No, i don't know. i hope there are no problems.)"

"Sedda. (A little.)"

Sudais' eyes rose. He raised a hand as if to ask then what is it? Instead, he asked; "Abaa selli naa? Jam bandu na? (Are you in good health? How is your health?)"

His dad nodded, "Jam tan. (All good.)"

Then what the hell was going on? "Toh miya faru?"

Baba Alhaji took his eyes off his son to the high ceilings as he rocked on the lift chair harder, opening the topic of discussion. Or more like the topic of decisions. "We have a little family problem." He paused to scrutinize Sudais. "The council is talking...they've been talking for a long time now and it's time i listen to them and your mother."

Sudais sucked air over his teeth and exhaled. The sound made his old man study him for a moment before he was admiring the ceiling again. "You knew this was coming. I've given you time. Time after time. Opportunities after opportunities. Ka kawo mata, ka kawo mata. But you just don't seem to take it. Ya kake so nayi? Baaka jin magana na." The room was suddenly rewarded with the sound of sandals slapping against the tiles.

The woman in a laffaya closed the door, turning with a glass platter and a covert cup.

Sudais didn't need to be told who, after all, he spoke to her first before this so-called conversation.

Silently, she handed the platter to Sudais who hesitated to take it at first but eventually did. The mother planted herself on the bed before the father went on.

"Let me remind you of some of our realm rules that you seemed to have forgotten..." Baba Alhaji paused for a hypoxic break before raising an index, "First, every male child of the family must marry before or at 25," He raised another finger, "Second, The first two male children must marry from a royal home or a big and esteemed family," Then came the third finger, "Thirdly, their first marriage is arranged by their parents. A political marriage. Whether you like it or not." He paused to intertwine his fingers in between each other. "But you've turned a blind eye on everything."

If it wasn't the famous marriage talk again.

Sudais wanted to search for his phone to look at the calendar. Was it still the 16th century? Could they read his face? Because if they did, they'd know he was so over the conversation. But because he cherished his parents, he had to entertain stupid rules from stupid people who didn't walk this stupid earth anymore.

"I have given you a dateline a year ago, and you stepped on it." Sudais eternally winced. Omo na true ooo.

"Baba zanyi aurennan in lokacina yayi," Sudais reasoned.

"Dallah," the old man waved off, "I'm starting to believe your mother." Baba Alhaji gestured at his first wife, Queen Baraka. "Maybe she is right about my enemies holding your wife in their grasp, as lame as it sounds. Zamu sa ayi ta ma ruqiyya." Then, he gestured at the platter. "Yaru. (Drink that.)"

Sudais took the lid off to meet the water with black remnants. His quizzical eyes lifted to his parents.

"Drink. It." Baba Alhaji emphasized.

Sudais sniffed the content of the cup. He then proceeded to dip a finger in the content to suck it off. Besides the black bits, the water was tasteless.

He might've made his parents angry with his life choices, but that didn't mean they'd try to kill him by poisoning him, right? Right.

Sudais hoisted the cup to his mouth and gulped down most of the content. He dropped the cup, puffing out and wiping the moisture around his lips.

He couldn't help it, he had to ask. "Take no offense in my words Baba, but what is this?"

"Kasani ai, Rubutu ne. To hopefully wash off whatever hold my enemies have on you."

Sudais wanted to laugh but he was in the presence of his parents. Who were only trying to help in their twisted way.

What were they doing? Trying an exorcism on him by giving him written and washed off Ayaat's of the Qur'an in hopes to get him to loosen up about marriage? Where were they living? In a village? A village in which they believed in witchcraft?

Please.

In concealing his laughter, he coughed and even went as far as hitting his chest to indicate he wasn't faking it.

"Ka gama duk wani quni quni naka. Aure kam dole mu maka tinda munyi qoqarin sassauta maka amma kaqi ji."

With Sudais' hidden eyes that were filled with amusement, he did well in making his voice neutral when he said, "Ayi haquri."

"Haquri kam anyi, anyi, anyi har an gaji. Munce ka fito da mata ka mayar damu mahaukata. In ba rashin kunya ba, kanaso kace min bakada budurwa ne?" The old man was trying hard not to show his anger; The situation was getting more and more serious every single day. He raised 3 fingers on his right hand and 2 on his left. "32 years. That's how long you've been on this earth," Sudais hummed, "Ka duba yayanka Bello. He got married at 20 and has now fathered five kids."

Yeah, because he was a hoe. Not that Sudais wasn't too, but in his defense, at least he wasn't a pedophile.

Sudais nodded. Because that was what was expected. Those were the rules. To do as The Lamido wished and heed to what he wants and says.

"I won't continue to waste my time talking to you. We'll arrange a wife for you from nearby states as soon as we can." And with that, Sudais knew his dad was done talking.

But, he wasn't.

Sudais lurched forward a bit in hesitation, looking at Baba Alhaji who had hard eyes on him as he continued to rock back and forth as if he wasn't planning on ruining his son's life. "I have a few requests, useni. (Please)"

"No. I am not going to fall into your sweet talk about how you'll bring a wife home soon. Kai fa musulmi ne, Sudais. You have four slots. Our society has given me the right to get your first slot filled up. You can marry for love or whatever after that."

Sudais nodded, facial hardening and blood starting to boil. Like a child, he raised an excusing finger. "That was not my request."

He didn't even finish and the old man was asking. "What request then?"

"Requests, actually." Before the man could stop him, he blurted out so fast, that he wasn't even sure the man heard him. "Please, let the girl not be a teenager." He wasn't a pedophile and he hated pedophiles. "At least over 23. Not from Yola too." No, thank you but Yola girls had shown him shege. "And please, someone who has a job." So she can stay the hell away from me and i can do the same, he wanted to add so bad but held himself. He'd be lucky if his requests were even paid heed to.

"A'wawon volugo be hakkilo?" (Could you speak a little slower?)

And he did. Making sure the man heard every emphasis of his.

He didn't get a reply. Only a smile and a wave of the hand to signal that he had heard him. Whether he was going to pay heed to his appeal, allahu a'alamu.

With no further words, Sudais stood along with the platter and rushed out.

He hiked towards a clique of maids and one out of all didn't move out of his way. Insults were on the tip of his tongue as he got ready to ask where she had forgotten her manners when she tried to reach for the platter in his hand.

He looked for a second between the plate and her before he released the glass and didn't wait to hear her apologies for doing her job.

At his restroom, he took a deep breath.

He dipped his index and middle finger down his throat and wiggled them. Responsively, he gasped and guggled, the water content he had drowned not more than five minutes ago remigrating from his stomach into the sink he was gripping.

Feeling his stomach empty of any of that content, Sudais rinsed his mouth and his face.

He revved his ringing phone out of his kaftan pocket, and placed the answer phone to his ear. "Tahir kar ka jini shiru wallahi auren dole ake so a min. Na the matter make Baba Alhaji call me but I'll call you back, i have to go."

He waited for no response, ending the call and dialing the second to the last digits on his call log, and waited for two rings before a salam came.

"Fuel up, we leave for Lagos by 6 tomorrow."