CHAPTER ONE

It's a beautiful Sunday evening towards the end of August when the raining season is at it crest. It has rained in the morning and so the weather is undeniably chilly.

"Khairee" she heard her mum shouted from outside.

"Khairee where are you? "her mum shouted again

"yes Umma I'm coming" Khairee shouted from her room, she quickly went out and saw her mum standing furiously near the tap.

"Khairee this is the third time I am telling you to wash this dishes but you refused, what were you  doing in your room " Umma asked

"Umma I'm studying but I will wash it now"

"studying for what? Aren't you done with your studies?" Umma asked looking at Khairee.  When she didn't get any answer from her, she continued

"so you prefer to study rather than to do what I asked you to do right?  Do you want me to stop you from studying? " she asked again placing her hands on Khairee's shoulder

"No Umma please am sorry I won't do it again, please don't stop me from studying" Khairee pleaded hugging her mum's legs.

" it's okay my dear but don't do it again okay? "

"Yes" she nodded her head and started washing the dishes. Umma headed back to her room with a heavy heart.

'oh this girl what is the use of studying hard when you know it is of no use' she thought.

Half way into her work, a young boy came into the house seeking for Khairee

"Sale, What is it?" Khairee asked the familiar face.

"There is a man outside calling for you" the boy said

Khairee looked confuse for a moment

"Who is he?" She asked

"I don't know him"

"What does he want"

"I don't know him, he just asked me to call you"

"But are you sure it's me he's seeking for?" Khairee still couldn't believe her ears, no man has even for come to their house to look for her.

"Tell him I'm not around" Khairee turned to continue her work

The boy stood there confused, how can he say she's not around when she's around

"Kai yaro(hey boy) tell him, she's coming" came her mother's voice from her room.

"Umma" Khairee whined

"Go and see who is it"

"But umma.."

"Just go and see, you dont know who he might be"

Khairee sighed, she rinsed her hand which was covered with foam and headed to her room to get her veil. When she came out the boy was long gone so she headed aftered him to see the impromptu visitor.

Outside, the visitor stood leaning by the wall smiling at God knows what. His smiled widened when he saw her exiting from her house. Khairee stood by door wondering what this man want from her.

"Assalamu alaikum Ummulkhairee" The visitor said, he is a man in his late thirties who lived few lanes away.

"Wa'alaikumus salam, Good evening" She greeted the familiar face

"Evening how are you?" He said

"I'm fine"

"Good" they both were quiet for a moment

"If you're looking for my father, I'm sorry but he's not around" she said politely

"Not that's not the case, ermm I'm actually here to see and talk to you"

"Me?" Khairee almost shouted

"Yes you" he started "I've been watching you for a while, and I realise that you are most certainly the woman of my dream, if you don't mind, I will love to be the key to your heart and open a new beautiful phase in both our lives" He finished smiling from ear to ear.

Khairee looked at him unbelievably.

"You didn't say anything?" He chirped into her thought.

"I....I uhm I mean....uhm wait" Khairee didn't even know where to start, but she know she have to put a stop to this.

"First of all, I'm not a woman I'm just a girl and not due for all this, I'm sorry" Khairee stated

"Well ummulkhairee, I agree that you are a girl, but there is no better time for you to this than now, while you're still in your prime"

Khairee felt her blood boiling but tried to keep her calm, she know not to treat an elder with disrespect "But you're already happily married" She tried to smile but failed.

"I can't...say happily....married, you see I.." He stuttered scratching the back of his head.

"I'm sorry but i have to go back inside, my mother is waiting for me" Khairee cut him off

"Okay, My regards to her please" There was a pinch of disappointment in his voice

"Ok" Khairee turned to leave

"Till I come back later" he said after her

Khairee pretended she didnt hear that and sprinted back into the house.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ummulkhairee  is a twelve year old beautiful Fulani girl who lived with her mum(Aisha/umma) and her dad (malam Abubakar jauro/abba) in a small village called Sumana in Kano state.  She is the only child to her parents and so she given full attention that is she was brought up with an excellent character.

Khairee just concluded her primary school and her biggest dream is to be like those people who used to talk in the radio that is she want to be a journalist, But unfortunately for a female child to exceed primary school in Sumana village is unacceptable.

Since there is no secondary school in the village, they believe that for a girl to leave her home to go to school in another town is immoral and unrighteous.

So they married off there daughters at the age of 12/13, which leads to a lot of cases of young girls getting infected with enuresis(urinary incontinence) or even end up losing their lives while giving birth.

The word 'marriage' itself scares Khairee out not to talk of giving birth. She knows that convincing her mother to let her further her education is not a big problem but the biggest problem is how to convince her father.

************************************