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"Adeelah," Haneey called out. Adeelah hummed at her and continued reading her Qur'an. Lately Abba said everyone should make sure they read a chapter of the Qur'an and recite it to him. He didn't press hard, it wasn't memorisation. Just recitation was enough, at least better than sitting just like that. And after individual recitations by everyone including the wives, Malam Ya'u would come and lecture them all. By all, workers in the house included.

The routine started the day before, and Malam Ya'u would come today.

"Ya Adeelah." Haneey said, with a frown. She knew it for the world, if she didn't call Adeelah's name with respect, Adeelah won't listen to her. She's here because she had no other choice if not she would have given up.

"Yes Haneey what do you have for me?" Adeelah marked the place she stopped in her brain. She tilted her lips to a lopsided smile because she knew she got Haneey.

Haneey sat on the bed blinking.

"I can't read this page straight. Yesterday Abba threatened to seize all my gadgets." She said with tears in her eyes. In this century, she couldn't imagine living without internet. And she's pretty sure Abba would do worst than he said.

Adeelah turned off her reading lamp, she placed her Qur'an on the desk before her and sashayed to where Haneey was.

Haneey was Hafsatu's daughter but it didn't matter. She would help Haneey in whatever situation since they were sisters and her mother's attitude won't affect their bond.

"Let's see..." They started reading together till Haneey caught up. The time she finished, Hajiya Sadiya knocked at the door and made a salam even though it was open. They answered her at the same time and she came in.

Adeelah smiled. She loved the woman so much because she knew what was right. Saying salam was something great and what everyone's supposed to get used to. It's said that if you go to a house and made a salam, if you get no answer then don't enter. That's better for you.

"Abba is already out, under the moonlight waiting for all of you, I think he's feeling nostalgic or whatever you call it. I hope you're all ready." She said, bouncing inside.

Haneey stretched a smile. "We are." And they followed her outside.

Five mats have been spread in the balcony with some lamps placed by each edge of the mats. By the front was a chair placed, undoubtedly for Malam Ya'u, the teacher. Few inches away was two different mats for the gents.

Adeelah gulped. This was getting serious and she didn't know the logic behind all those. Why would Abba put them in one place with the workers in the house. God forbid, if they couldn't read well that's how the workers would be laughing at them.

Then she sighted Abba sitting on his rocking chair from a distance. He was going to watch them and possibly smile in pride.

"What do you think about the new chauffeur?" Haneey asked Adeelah as they strolled closer to the mats.

"Talkative is one word for him. What again? He's mad." Haneey whistle a laughter.

"There he is, already sitting. I hope he knows alif." Haneey chriped.

Adeelah rolled her eyes in a manner of nonchalance.

"He claims to. And please drop his topic, okay?" Haneey nodded.

They reached the place and they were the first to come out. Abba saw them from where he was sitting. He walked to the spot they stood wondering which mat was for them to sit. They sighted Salisu leaning by one of the cars in the house. His attention was clearly not with them, his mouth was moving slowly as Haneey spotted. She's just intrigued by the chauffeur despite his odd appearance. She didn't care about his facials maybe someday he would get a cosmetic surgery to remove all the patches on his face or he may decide to leave them. Howbeit was it, he was secretively handsome to Haneey's eyes.

Adeelah noticed Haneey's silence and the way her eyes weren't flickering. Her gaze was fixed ahead and Adeelah dared not to look. She knew Salisu was there.

"Haneey? You okay?" She asked, waving in front of Haneey's face. Haneey suspired, removing her eyes from him. He seemed not to notice her at all.

She turned to look at Adeelah with a quizzical look. She didn't know what to tell Adeelah because she was one hundred and one percent sure, if that even existed, that Adeelah would lambast her for what she would say.

But she would say it still since he was Adeelah's chauffeur and only Adeelah could tell her a lot about him. She knew she was too young for love and probably knew nothing about it but then since she set her eyes on him, she felt something different and not ordinary.

"I think he's cool." She mouthed.

"Who's cool?" Abba asked. Both of them turned to see Abba before them. Haneey scratched her head in a shy way but still she felt unease.

"You two are gossiping about me right? Saying Abba is old huh?" Adeelah busted. Haneey laughed with her to lessen the tension she felt within her heart. She loved that Abba didn't have an incline on what they were talking about.

"Sit here, others will join you. You're all reciting to Malam Ya'u and he will rate you." Abba said.

"Rating?" Haneey asked.

"Yes. He talked about a book yesterday and I asked him to buy for everyone. It's going to be for memorization though. For today, you are all going to recite and he would correct you in whatever way then the memorization will start tomorrow. A page each day." Haneey and Adeelah gasped.

"A page Abba!" They yelled, clutching their chests.

"Yes a page. No going back." He said with a serious tone that made them all loose hope. Abba could be all playful this minute and stern the next second. They wobbly sat down on the mat without another word each of them pondering. They doubt if they could memorise a page everyday.

With that, Abba left their sights and went back to his chair. Soon the wives came out all attired in their hijabs, with their legs shrouded in socks. The guys in the house with the exclusion of Fadeel who was at school came out too. They sat down after they had heard the necessary info from Abba.

The wives though, were to memorise three verses daily. Abba's reason was, they were now aged and could hardly memorise a lot at a go whilst Adeelah and her siblings were still kids and their memories were still sharp. Adeelah hoped she won't disappoint herself. She geared an intention to always make sure she memorize a page a day.

Salisu and Labaran, the gatekeeper came to sit last. They greeted everyone around and sat down. Malam Ya'u came and distributed the Qur'an memorization book, an exercise book where they would write the page they would memorise to everyone of them and new Qur'an for everyone.

Adeelah opened hers to see how it looked. The pages were divided in rows and columns. There are rows where one would write the chapter they would recite, the number of verses and date, the number and verses corrected column, then the remark column where the teacher would rate the memorization.

The recitation started with Haneey. She read it fluently except for places here and there. She marked them happily and left. There was a distance between the teacher and everyone so no one would hear except him.

Next was Adeelah. She started reading and she's corrected in various places too. She finished and noted the corrected alphabets and left.

And then it kept going on and on. It was Salisu's turn when she came out to inquire about something.

"I can barely read it Malam. I have the first Juz in my head though. Let this be our little secret." She heard him say but she pretended she didn't.

Adeelah paused and allowed them to finish before she went and asked what she wanted. On her way back, she met Salisu washing something.

"So the talkative chauffeur is a dumb head. Neither western education nor the most important, Islamic. What a shame." She said and faltered away.

Salisu had remained fixated at the spot, hurt by her words. By Allah he had never been this hurt. He swallowed something alongside forgiving her for what she said.

He didn't use to hold grudge. Whatever one did to him, he forgive them at the instant and go to bed with a clean heart. Even when he placed his head on his mattress, his heart was pouncing in pain. She couldn't understand that his life wasn't like hers. She couldn't understand that he wanted to be learned but opportunity didn't come. It pained him all over. He felt the pain distributing and seeping onto every part of his body. By Allah he felt feverish.

He hated to be mocked and be showed his weakness.

'Nor the most important, Islamic.' And that remained the painful and hurtful topic of his dream that night.

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Ameer smiled at everyone, his colleagues before he entered his office, picked and dropped some files and went to the broadcasting room to air his show. Two minutes with Ameer. He had thought of what to say before he came even though last night wasn't as peaceful as he wanted. He didn't understand what his wife was up to. She frowned unnecessarily at him and when he asked she said there's nothing. She even laughed but thereafter, she returned back her frown.

Shaking off the thought, he sat on the chair.

Around, there may be people who belittle you.
Many of them treat you bad just like that.
And they make you feel like a terrible being.
Zeal and vibe, you lost to their talks.
Incredibly, you allowed their negativity get you.
No, you shouldn't have done that.
Great.

"Genuinely, you're... Write this down and read the first capital letters. AMAZING!" He said with a finality. And he further talked before the time ended and he left the broadcasting room.

He was sitting at his office, drafting something in his system when the door chimed. He answered without moving his eyes away from the screen.

A man came in with a salam. Ameer raised his head up and smiled. He stood up with genuine respect and ambled to where the man stood. He ducked his head down and shook the man's hand.

They exchanged greetings with him.

"Have a sit manager." Alhaji Aliyu Isyaka was the managing director of the radio station. He hardly came around for supervision but once he come, for sure some people were going to be fired.

He shook his head. "You're doing great Ameer. I invite you for a meeting by four." He said and went for the door.

"Thank you Sir." Ameer raced to the door and opened it for him. They walked out together to the managing director office. Ameer walked back to his office with cold feet.

He's sure the director and his assistant were yet to come and if they're not lucky, they don't ever come to the station again. He prayed everything would be fine.

The hours passed in a blur and four clicked faster than Ameer thought.

In the meeting room, all staffs were present. The meeting was opened with a prayer by Mujahid, their co worker who's religious and took in charge of the religious shows the radio station aired.

The managing director said his speech and said that over the few hours he had noticed a lot of loops and he urged the director to explain everything.

The director stood, he talked. Half of what he said wasn't making sense. The MD just looked at him till he finished. At the end of the meeting, he gave the director and his assistant an envelope.

He shook their hands with a smile.

"Ameer," he called.

"Here," he said to Ameer and gave him an envelope too. Ameer and the other two were dismissed. The MD asked them to go home and open their envelopes. Whilst the other staffs were about to go, he stopped them.

"A complimentary tip of five thousand naira will be sent to you all immediately after the meeting. And..." He explained what those envelopes he handed to three people meant. The meeting was closed with a prayer at six pm.

Half of the people came out with gloomy faces.