INA SON KI (A heart battle) 1& 2

A beautiful picture of two corpers. Location; Bonny Island, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Episode one and two! 

*INA SONKI ( A ❤❤❤❤ story)*

Written by Munu Sarah

*Episode one*

Whatever holds us bound will one-day set us free.

***
The rush,
The push,
The tears,
The joys,
The fears,
The fresh remembrance of homes,
The uncertain taste of faraway places,
The loads here, there, people roaming everywhere,


In the midst of all these, Abubakar searched tirelessly for his friend Rachel. He dialled her number again. It was still Switched off.

'Aboki na, let us go! '

 Suleiman, his friend pulled him to the opposite direction.

He followed Suleiman and stopped. He pondered for some minutes and shook his head.

'Aboki na, we will find her there'

he pointed to the opposite direction.
He dragged Suleiman and Suleiman followed him reluctantly.

It was the last day at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation at Rivers camp. Only these two young corpers walked around the camp searching for a woman while their fellow corpers were busy looking for means to get to their PPA's or go home.

'See her there!'  Suleiman pinched his friend with one hand and pointed with the other hand.

'Where? ' he asked with his eyes lit up with excitement.

Rachel was miles away from him. He ran like Usain Bolt and caught up with her.

'Hi,  Rachel'.  He smiled.

'Hey, Abubakar'.  She murmured.

She tried to walk away. Abubakar held her hands. He smiled at her, she frowned. He was missing her already. He wondered if she was ever going to miss him. She was his best friend, eating partner, sitting partner, punishment partner and his favourite pest all through the camp. He knew her from the first day in camp.  The last three weeks have been like three years to him. He has gotten so fond of her and never wished the camp would come to an end. He loved dearly and she loved him dearly too.

 The end of camp means the end of whatever feeling they had for each other. He was relocating back to Abuja but she was staying behind in Rivers.

'I am missing you already' He confessed.

'Ta!' She laughed.

Abubakar had told her countless times that he was never going to miss her. He laughed a lot whenever she told him she was going to miss everything about him. He even laughed harder she jokingly told him she liked him a lot.

'Why have you been avoiding me? '  he asked.

'Hmm...' She slowly raised her. 'Not avoiding you'. She said avoiding looking his eyes.

'I want you to forget everything I said about out of sight, out of mind'. He said.

She shook her head. He knew she would never believe that.

'Ta! I know deep down you will never miss me, you will never even call me after today. You told me that my expiry time in your life is the day we will leave camp. I will never miss you too, I will block your number and I will delete all of our pictures'  she said.

He knew she was hurting, he didn't mean those words. He was making fun of her that night. He thought she understood. Rachel has never ceased to amaze him. She has the innocent heart to love as a child but the weakness of an adult to forgive.

He looked into her eyes. She was holding up her pains. She didn't want to cry. The more he looked into her eyes, the more she couldn't hold the tears. She wept.

'Go back to your Abuja and stop playing with my heart'  she cried.

He held her hands. He drew her closer to himself.

'For your sake, I will stay anywhere in the world but not now' he laughed.
He didn't know how to express his feelings to a lady without laughing.

'I got this for you as a forget me not gift' he whispered. ' I hope you will never forget me !'

He handed the gift to her.
She was amazed. She wasn't expecting it.
It's a very beautiful silver bracelet. She had shown him in the camp that she wanted but couldn't afford because it was too expensive.

'Bye'. he waved and walked away.

She sealed her lips from calling him back or saying thank you.

'INA SONKI!' He shouted at her.

'Me?' She shouted back at him.

'Yes, ina son in gaya muku cewa ina ƙaunarku da dukan zuciyata.' 
He yelled.

She noticed two male Hausa corpers laughing at her. She asked for the meaning of what Abubakar said to her.

'Only a strange man says or even yell such to a lady' the first corper laughs.

'It means I hate you very much' the other corper said.

The corpers laughed at her and walked away.
*****
If na you, how will you feel, what will you do? What do you think will happen next?

To be continued!

                               Episode 2 

Abubakar. Image from Pinterest. No copyright infringement is intended


Well, take a seat, episode 2 starts in a second.
Often times, man does not have the  power decide where love hits him. 
********
Abubakar's heartbeat has never been this fierce! Rachel's number has been unreachable. It's over a month since they saw each other in the camp. He felt miserable. he felt terrible. Her absence made his heart fonder. He has tried all possible means to get through to her.  Members of her platoon told him they have not heard from her. All the means to get through to her were abortive. He just wished she would at least call to say she got home safely. He deployed to Abuja so he could help with the family business. He didn't feel like working anymore. He wanted Rachel. He wanted to be sure she was alright. He wished all month Rachel that would just call him.

His father, Musa,  walked into the office.  

'Sannu Sana'  he called out from the door. 
'Father, I'm yet to finish with the report' Abubakar said remorsefully. 
'Tsanani!' His father exclaimed 'Don't tell me you are still thinking of that woman?'

He couldn't lie. The answer to the question was obvious. 
His father walked in. He took a seat. He shook his head. 
'I thought you said you were just friends?'. He smiled at his son. ' The OBS corpers were right then, you two are more than friends' he added. 
Abubakar laughed. His father had a way of making serious matters light! 

Those OBS corpers in Rivers camp we're busybodies. They were always at mami market in the night, spying on people and asking them questions afterwards. Their leader, Anita was nicknamed  'Queen of Amebo!'.  He can never forget the night Anita and two members of her team put them on camera. They didn't even care soldiers were around. 
'Abubakar, you seem to like Boli
 and fish a lot, is this your best food?' Anita asked. 
'Nah! I just enjoy eating it with Rachel' he smiled. 
They asked them questions about their activities in camp and their experiences so far. They answered all with wisdom, knowing that anything says can make it to the news the next morning. 
'If you had an opportunity to belong to  another platoon on this camp, which will it be?'
'I will choose my platoon over and over again ' Rachel answered first. 
'Why?'  Anita asked. 
'Because I love my platoon'. Rachel answered. 
'How about you Abubakar?'  Anita asked. 
'I would choose Rachel's platoon'. He answered smiling. 
They all said 'awwn, love in Rivers'.
'Why?'  Another OBS Corper chipped. 

Anita and her team questions were unending! The more you answered, they more they asked. They the less you answered, the more they stared until you answered. They stared at him for some minutes. Rachel had to pinch him to answer when their stares became too uncomfortable.
'Because I like her a lot and will love to always be closer to  her.'  He said. 
'Does that mean you hate your platoon? Anita asked. 
'Are you two just friends?'  Anita quickly chipped in. 
'Yes!' They both chorus. 
'But you said you like her a lot and would like to be closer to her?' 
'Shoo, shoo, shoo, be going ' they both drove away Anita and her team away like flies.

The next morning, their interview was the topic on air. They suddenly became popular.
He can never forget that day. 
His father too won't stop reminding him. 
'Wallahi Uba! We were more than just friends'  He confessed to his father. 

Musa smiled. His son is gradually becoming a man. He liked that. Where'ver Rachel was, she definitely had a part of her son's heart with her. He didn't like that. Why Rachel? Why not Mariam, why not Aminah? Why not Aisha? Why not Shekara? Why not Asabe Why not all these women? Why Rachel? He pondered.

'Uba, what are you thinking about'  Abubakar asked his father. 
'You dana' he smiled
'But it's my Rachel' he tapped his father's hand. 
They both laughed. 
'Mata is very complicated creature'. His father warned. 

'Sana, but she will certainly come around' his father gave him hope. 
He smiled. 
His father ordered him to go back to work. 

'Stop thinking of that woman when you are in my office'  his father laughed and walked away. 

He opened the door again almost immediately. 
'What is Rachel's other name?' His father asked
'Ngozi ' he answered. 
His father frowned and walked away. 

Meanings:
Sana: my son
Uba: Father
Mata: woman
Tsanani: seriously
Walahi: truly/I swear