War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

Author:Tochi Onyebuchi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2019-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

32

The quiet of the courtroom is what Ify remembers the most. After all the lights and the cameras and the loud noises of this new city called Abuja, it was the quiet of the courtroom Daren had brought her to that struck her.

The courtroom is cavernous. Arabic script lines the walls and arcs over the domed ceiling. The floor is covered in geometric patterns that remind Ify of lessons she vaguely remembers reading through on a broken tablet in the camp. Benches fan out on both sides of the central walkway, and toward the front, there is a table and a set of chairs on each side facing what looks to her like a throne. Next to the throne, on both sides, are two large chairs with cushions so plush they look like you would sink into them if you sat down. In each chair sits a bearded man clad in glistening robes. All of the men sitting in the chairs have a cap on their heads to match their gowns. Purple and deep blue and orange, each dressed in a different color.

Daren, holding Ify’s hand, stops at the end of the path. Around the room stand guards with guns at their waists and green-and-white sashes across their chests. Daren bows his head briefly, then says, “Honorable qadi. Asalaam wa aleikum.”

The man in the center, adorned in a silver djellaba with a single green stripe down the center, nods to acknowledge him, “Wa aleikum es salaam.” Then he raises his chin to address the few people scattered throughout the courtroom. “We are gathered here today in the High Shari’a Civil Council of Abuja to determine a matter of kafala. Petitioner, state your claim.”

Daren lets go of Ify’s hand and takes a single step forward. “I, Officer Shehu Daren Suleiman Sékou Diallo, soldier and mobile-suit pilot of the Nigerian Armed Forces, wish to adopt this young girl into my family.”

The man at the center looks to Ify. “Child, what is your name?”

Ify snaps out of her daze and says, first with a soft voice, then louder, “Ify.”

“And what is your family name?”

“I . . .” The question hurts her heart, and she loses her words.

“Honorable qadi, this child was rescued from enemy forces. Her family was murdered by terrorists. She . . . she has no family name.”

The man frowns. “Is she a Muslim?”

The moment catches Daren off-guard. He puts a hand to his heart. “She is prepared to submit to the will of Allah.”

“Do not be so swift to speak for her, young man. If she is to join your family, she is to join the wider family of Muslims all over the world.” He leans forward in his seat. “Child. Are you a Muslim?”

Ify cannot come to an answer. She does not know. She knows that Onyii had taught her to hate all Nigerians who were not Igbo. She knows that Onyii had once told her all Hausa were dogs, beasts that could never be called human, that the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.