[STORY] IMPERSONATION (Episode 13)

Episode 13.

Kate soon began to wail too. Then the first chance she got, she had me doubling back.
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“Take a deep breath, Moshood. Tell me, what exactly happened to her?” Kate asked, muttering. Her makeup was already ruined from crying. “I know Aunty Haj died from cancer but I want to know how it all began.”
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“Just like you, K, Aunty Haj didn’t get married on time. But unlike you, the real pressure wasn’t from Aunty Haj’s immediate family members, which would certainly be my mother but very much from extended family members. Family members who breathed down my mother’s neck, accusing her of deliberately holding Aunty Haj back from leaving her own life. Aunty Haj wasn’t one known to be involved with a lot of guys and if we are counting, I’ll honestly tell you that I’ve only known Aunty Haj with two guys. The third was whom she unfortunately, eventually ended up with…”

“…unfortunately?”

“Hmmn! Yes, K. Aunty Haj dated Uncle Ismail, her first lover, for a very long time. If we are to put an estimated time to it, I’ll say eight years. But of course it could have been more or less, I’m not sure. Uncle Ismail was that man everyone had no choice but to love. He was loving, caring, kind and very jovial. His sense of humor was on a level that I grew up believing should be a standard for an average man. This was in an age where the size of a man’s pocket played very little role in determining his shot at a woman. My mother loved uncle Ismail and definitely approved of his relationship with Aunty Haj but there was one tiny problem. Uncle Ismail didn’t seem ready to take what he had going with Aunty Haj to the next level. Then as the years wound by, the size of a man’s pocket that wasn’t so much of a factor years before, gradually started becoming one…”
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Kate had now wiped her tears. She was buried comfortably in my sofa with her leg thrown over the other as her eyes stayed glued to me, toggling between my lips and eyes. Her facial expression, depicting keen interest.
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“…uncle Ismail’s love for Aunty Haj was never a thing to doubt. His desire to spend the rest of his life with Aunty Haj was never something to doubt either but just like most men in this day and age, uncle Ismail had a goal. Uncle Ismail had this set goal he needed to accomplish first, before he feels ready to settle and until then, getting married; settling down to raise a family didn’t seem such a great idea…”

“…was he working at the time? Even if it was something small. He had a steady source of income, right?” Kate asked. I believe in a bid to try to understand why a man who loves and wants more than anything in the world to be with a woman as rare as Aunty Haj wouldn’t jump at any opportunity he gets.
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“No! None that I knew of at the tim…”

“…the entire period that they were together, he wasn’t working or he stopped working at one point?” Kate asked again, trying to get a clearer picture of what I was saying.
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“Honestly K, I don’t know. All I remember is that for the time I was conscious enough to understand that this was whom Aunty Haj was seeing, nothing of note pointed towards the fact that uncle Ismail had something serious going for him. But he still wasn’t doing bad at all. His source of income, if he had any, was certainly something I am sure Aunty Haj would have known. But that’s even by the way. All I needed to know to certify uncle Ismail a correct guy was for Aunty Haj to seem in love. I was automatically hooked and compelled to like the guy once I discovered that Aunty Haj indeed, was heads over heels in love with him. On more than one occasion, my mother had had to invite uncle Ismail over for a chat, primarily to verify what his plans are for Aunty Haj. And every time this meeting took place, uncle Ismail would always go on to assure my mother that marriage was his end game…”
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Kate readjusted her seating position, still maintaining her gaze.
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“…a couple of suitors came forth over the years, seeking Aunty Haj’s hand in marriage but being ready and willing to settle doesn’t automatically mean that the next man who professes love and desire to put a ring on it, should be accepted, right? Aunty Haj turned all these men down. I’m sure uncle Ismail had a hand in it. Anyways, Aunty Haj eventually broke up with uncle Ismail when it became obvious that they were both only wasting each other’s time. It was not a bad breakup. They still remained friends afterwards. Years later, Aunty Haj went on to accept this man who came professing love and promising marriage. That was also never to happen. Aunty Haj’s experience with that man was a terrible one. If you’d asked her, I’m sure she would have called men scum too at that point, out of the frustration and heartbreak she’d had to endure from that guy…”
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I saw as Kate let out what seemed like a smile. A smile I understood very well meant, “Tell me what I already don’t know about that gender”.

Kate’s smile soon transitioned back into a face with ardent expression on it.
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“…then I came back from school after a while of being away, during a semester break, only to discover that everyone had begun to make preparations for Aunty Haj’s wedding. This was rather surprising because I’d never met this man before now, nor heard anything about him. It was very unusual of Aunty Haj to have gone ahead to be this serious with a man and I’d be the last person to know about it. I asked her about it. I demanded an explanation actually, and all Aunty Haj did was apologize. I asked if she was sure about this; about this man; about this marriage. Aunty Haj simply smiled and nodded her head in the affirmative. This wedding took place barely one month after Aunty Haj supposedly met this man for the first time and the first red flag was when my mother had to single handedly sponsor the marriage…”

“Single handedly ke? Why?” Kate asked, bemusedly.

To be continued…

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