KATSINA

Anyone who knows Umaru Musa Yaradua University in Katsina knows it is located outside the town, at least a forty-five (45) minute drive into the town. The first-year students from the Department of MicroBiology came out tired from class around 6:05 PM after having lectures 4-6. Mimi was yawning from sheer exhaustion, she looked at her two friends and said, "Oh God! It seems we will spend the night in the hostel today, look how the town is gloomy, is it going to rain?"

Usheey, worried, said, "Oh! The captain must find us relief from this lecturer, we need to reschedule the lectures, why should we have 4-6 on a Saturday morning?" Another girl wearing a niqab said, "Please, let’s hurry, so they don’t fill the bus, you know these guys won’t be patient, especially seeing this situation, everyone wants to go home." Mimi said, "I don’t have that strength."
Usheey said, "We will go, we will leave you behind," and they continued walking.

The girl in the niqab said, "Oh no! Did you see, the school buses have left." Mimi said, "Honestly, you are worried, did you see that the bus left us?" The girl in the niqab looked away knowing that if she opened her mouth again, she might burst into tears. Usheey said, "Mimi, what time do you think we will get home? I know it’s not good for you."

After that, no one spoke again, by the time they reached the Student Center, it was getting dark, and the women there were few, some had been given lifts. Mimi said, "Should we sit on the SUG chairs until the bus returns?" Usheey said, "Let’s just wait for it to come back, right?" Another girl said, "So what do we do? Should we walk to the gate, maybe we can find a commercial vehicle there?" Mimi said, "Honestly, I can’t walk for twenty minutes." Usheey said, "Then we will leave you here."

As they started walking, Mimi said, "Oh no, you can’t leave me here," and she hurried after them. They were walking and chatting, and night was beginning to fall as the rain started to gather. The clock on her phone showed 7:00 PM, with 15 minutes to go, the eyes of the girl in the niqab filled with tears as few cars passed by, Mimi said, "Honestly, we are in trouble, we need to get a lift. Usheey said, "Yes, indeed."

They hadn’t finished speaking when a black car with tinted windows sped past them, almost hitting them, then the car started reversing. Mimi quickly adjusted her dress, saying, "Well, I know that the prophets don’t run out of luck, here comes a lift." Usheey said, "May God ease our troubles, we don’t have to go to the gate." The girl in the niqab, surprised, asked her friends, "Are you really going to get into that tinted car? Do you hear the sound coming from it as if it’s not night?" Usheey and Mimi both clicked their tongues in unison, Usheey said, "You see, Besty, if we let that car leave, we won’t know when we will get home, it just came out of the school, let alone if we say we are being kidnapped." Mimi, filled with frustration, said, "It’s simple, if it doesn’t stop, we will just walk away and leave it here." Before she could say anything else, the car arrived and stopped right in front of them.

They looked at the tinted window of the car, slowly the glass began to lower, the eyes of the three girls inside were visible, two of them were sitting in the front seats, one in the driver’s seat, and the other in the passenger seat, they seemed to be friends. Mimi, with a smile, said, "Hello, please, are you going into town?" The driver slightly frowned, briefly saying, "Yes," while the other didn’t even look at them. Without wasting time, Mimi reached for the back door to get in, but the driver said, "You can’t let that ninja in my car, can you?" Mimi looked at him in surprise, saying, "Ninja?" He said, "Yes, that one in the niqab." Usheey slowly said, "Seebi, take off your niqab," the one called Seebi looked at Usheey with annoyance and said, "I won’t take it off, I won’t remove it." At that moment, the friend turned to look at the one in the niqab, and she also raised her head, they locked eyes for almost ten seconds, he quickly looked away and turned his gaze back to his friend, speaking in a low voice as if he didn’t want to talk, he said, "Maalesh, please let’s go." The one called Maalesh looked at Mimi and said, "Miss, can you close the door for me?" Mimi was about to protest that he should be patient, but the girl in the niqab quickly closed the door, and Maalesh drove off, leaving the place.