Chapter 1
Today is Zuwairah's wedding and she is so happy, many of her friends have been visiting and she can't wait to be called Mrs Rasheed.
"Hey! where's Tracy?" One of her friend whose name happens to be Comfort asked. Tracy had been her friend for over eighteen years now, and even though she isn't a Muslim, Zuwairah's family loves her so much. She's also one of her best friend.
"That's true, where is she?" Zulaiha chimed in.
"I think you guys should all calm down, okay? Her flight will soon land. Don't worry, she's going to make it?" Zuwairah assured them.
"She better be" they all chorused.
It been over an hour now, and there's no any traces of Tracy. The wedding is about to begin and Zuwairah had starting to get restless. Of all people,she wouldn't want Tracy to be the one who would miss her wedding day.
She asked Zulaiha to pass her the phone as she would wants to give Tracy another call. "Hey! where are you?"she asked immediately Tracy picked up.
"Hey girlfriend.... I'm so sorry, I won't be able to make it to your wedding. Something came up and I just couldn't...I'm sorry". She replied at the other line of the phone. Zuwairah was shocked by her sudden revelation.
They had been talking all these while on phone and she had never mentioned it that she wouldn't be able to attend her wedding. She thought.
Unknown to her that Tracy was already at the interior of the house.
"I will make it up to you " she hanged up without waiting for her reply.
"Did she just hang up on me?!" Zuwairah ask her self as she stare at her phone in bewilderment. She was speechless,speechless was even an understatement at the moment. She was beyond shocked and just as she was about to regain from the news her friend just buzz to her, then she heard her voice.
"Hello girls!" Tracy screamed excitedly as all the girls squeal to hug her.
"Unbelievable " Zuwairah scoffed whilst she rolled her eyes. Thought she had told me she wouldn't be able to make it? Was she pulling my leg all along?
"Baby" Tracy called, trying her best to give Zuwairah her innocent look.
"You! Were you pulling my leg when you had told me you wouldn't be able to make it?" She asked glaring.
"What! No baby, I can't do that! You know, you're my one and only". Tracy replied showing Zuwairah her puppy face.
"Well..." Zuwairah trail off but stopped as she glance over at everyone in the room "That will soon change, because I'm going to become someone else's one and only soon" she said blushing whilst the rest of the girls made their mouth in an 'O' shape.
"Oh my God! That's true, talking of the devil. I can't believe I'm your friend and you still haven't showed me his picture. Please don't tell me you are scared that I might take him away from you?" She asked smirking.
"Hey! you wouldn't dare do that!" She glared angrily at her.
"This girl is funny, she really don't have to take it that personal?" Tracy thought.
Tracy and the other girls burst into a laughter, before saying in unison to her "why don't you just show her his picture?".
"Okay then". She passed the phone to Zulaiha. Zulaiha didn't bother to look at the picture because she had met with him so many times already. Instead, she passed it to the other girls. They keep passing the phone till it reached Tracy's.
Tracy felt as if cold water has just been poured on her the moment her eyes came in contact with the picture "Is...is this....is this the man you wanted to marry?" She directly asked her friend.
"Of course, it's him. So what did you think? Isn't my love looking so handsome and charming?"
"Eh!...erm....yeah...yeah he's " she replied stuttering.
"Hey are you okay? You seem restless all of a sudden " A concerned Zuwairah asked.
"Yeah...yeah I'm perfectly OK! Erm Zuwairah?" she called whilst Zuwairah raised her brow in question "Can I see you for a sec?"
Zuwairah replied with an okay as they both walk out from the room to talk in private.
"Hey! what happened to you? Why the sudden change? " Zuwairah asked her friend.
"Zuwairah, I'm not Okay! I'm not okay at all. You see...you see... actually that guy is....I'm sorry Zuwairah but you can't just marry him! You can't marry him! no, you can never marry him!"
"Wait a minute Tracy, what are you saying?...Have you forgotten that today is my wedding day? You can't play those stupid pranks you used to, today. Please Tracy, I love that man so much and he's the one I'm going marry and no one else"
"Zuwairah I'm sorry if my words might have hurt you but I know what I'm talking about, he's the same person.... Abdul!"
Zuwairah couldn't help but to chuckle at Tracy's word "Okay you see, my love is totally different from that monster, okay? And moreover, his name is not Abdul, his name is Rasheed".
"Zuwairah please just calm down and listen to me, listen to me carefully. Yeah his name might be Rasheed, which I know that's what you and his parent calls him, right?"
"Right"
"But what does his friends call him?"
"Abdul" Zuwairah replied back. Now, her heart is beating two times faster than before.
"Good! which implies that his full name is Abdul Rasheed,his parent calls him Rasheed while his friends call him Abdul. And again, they look so much alike,same face,same hair,same nose. Zuwairah, please believe me, I'm very sure of what I'm saying. He's the same person, he's the one, you can't marry him!"
"Tracy are you sure of what you're saying?" She can't just believe what she had just heard, she doesn't know how she is feeling right now. Could he be the one? Could the man she had trusted so much with all of her heart be the monster they were talking about?
"I'm very sure Zuwairah,we really need to stop this wedding! I can't let you marry him! Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he did?! You can't marry a monster!" Tracy half yelled. She's so scared at that moment, she can't let her friend get married to the man whom everyone was so afraid of.
"What do we do now?" Zuwairah asked panicky.
"You have to call off the wedding" Tracy suggest.
"What?! No Tracy! I can't do that! I'll only ruin my families reputation " she said almost at the verge of crying. What's really going on? She was so happy this morning to get married to Rasheed but now, everything has changed! Everything is ruined. Everything had changed the moment she learnt that the person whom she's about to get married to has been doing so many evil things.
"You have to talk to aunty, at least she's better off than your parents, she will understand you " Tracy suggest whilst she nod in agreement.
•
"Aunty, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked her aunt whom was dressing already. She took a sit beside her.
"Hey! you aren't dressed yet?" She answered Zuwairah with a question.
"Erm.... yes Aunty I haven't, but I will soon" she said smiling. Now, how will she start narrating to her that she can't push through with the wedding anymore just because she had learnt that her husband to be has turn to someone she had never thought of him to be. She was very sure she's going to spank her butt so hard for uttering such nonsense. Yes! To her,it will sound absurd.
"Aunty you see, I've always wanting to ask you this question...What if may be... may God forbid Okay?" Her Aunty nod in anticipation "What if, may be on a wedding day, the wife refuse to push through with the wedding? Is that OK?"
"What! That's impossible. It can't be possible and can never be possible! I haven't heard something as absurd as that before in my life. What happened? Why are you asking?" She asked Zuwairah. These question of her took her off guard. She was astonished, how can she just blurt something like this out of the blue?
"Erm....nothing... Nothing, I was just asking you know, just to know....so you mean even if I were to be the one who had wanted to do something as such, you all won't give in your consent?" Zuwairah asked her again.
"No way dear, we'll never support such things which I trust you. You can never think of something as drastic as that,coz you love your man right?"
"Yeah, right" she replied nodding her head with an awkward smile on her face.
"Okay then, I think I should leave you to dress up" she said standing up,she could feel her palm sweating but she had to play along. she don't think she will be able to bear the puzzling circumstances that may occur if her parents comes to know.
"Yeah and you too...you know, you're the bride and this is your day"