She sat on a two-seater chair, lost in thoughts that she herself did not know when she had fallen into, let alone when she would return from the distance of her worries and the turmoil her heart was experiencing regarding her marital life. She was slender but not too much, of average height, though she could not be called short, and she was not older than twenty-five.
This was Safiyya, the daughter of Malam Sadiq and Majida, with thoughts that crowded and tangled together, one thing stood out as the cornerstone of her suppressed joy and happiness: the label that some people threw at her, calling her a "WHITE FOOT". This name stung her heart, and she often wondered at what point she would set it aside, for she herself did not know the origin of this matter, let alone how to understand the reason for being called that, which she felt could lead to a significant problem in her life as long as people continued to see her as a "WHITE FOOT".
"What am I going to do with my life now? Where should I place myself? Why do people not recognize that I am also a human being like everyone else? I also have rights like any other woman. Why do people not understand that I have the right to live in my marriage like any other woman? But at my young age, this is my third marriage, and in every home, I have given birth, but the suspicion of ignorance does not allow me to continue living with my children in their father's house; rather, every time I leave, I abandon it not because I want to but because there is no other solution better than that.
Safiyya concluded her thoughts with a slight smile, adjusting her sitting position, even though she was still in the river of thoughts that had engulfed her.
"Every woman lives in her home with peace of mind, except for a few things that are not lacking, but in my home, it is different; I am always in fear and the darkness of my existence in this marriage, or the opposite. My ears are always afraid to hear the words of divorce because I know that the ignorance of people will not allow them to let me live in happiness.
Their distorted thoughts without foundation prevent them from allowing me to live in peace, as if I were the only woman on earth; I have no refuge in my husband's house or in the neighborhood. Why do people not understand that everything is decreed by God? Only God gives and withholds, enriches and impoverishes. He gives wealth to whom He wills at the time He wills, and He can take it away at the time He wills without anyone knowing, let alone to say that it is the cause of distress or the loss of something!" She concluded her speech while her hand rested on her slightly protruding belly, whether today or tomorrow.
Nothing was troubling her at that moment except seeing her husband Rabi'u becoming distant, and she heard him uttering words that people often threw at her, words that were the reason for her leaving her first husband Sani and her second husband Salisu. When Rabi'u was to marry her, he dismissed the words, claiming they were the ignorance of people, but now that the town was becoming aware, he began to speculate and started to believe the words of the people, which posed a significant threat to her marriage because she knew that it was equivalent to death, a burial of her marriage. Now she was afraid of Rabi'u; she knew he could divorce her at any time, and that would end her life always in marriages? Marriages that do not last long end up dying, with her youth being married off without any wrongdoing.
"Safiyya, Safiyya, Safiyya" The call from her husband Rabi'u jolted her back from the world of thoughts she did not know how long she had been in. Startled, she began to try to rise, feeling the weight of her body. On the other hand, her heart was experiencing a kind of flutter that was connected to the fall of her stomach, which she had visited without invitation or reason; a terrible fear was greeting her body. In that moment, she struggled to rise, fearing that she would be visited again because from hearing that call, she knew there was someone below, and she suspected something had happened or was about to happen.
Quickly, she got up and left the room, forgetting about her slightly protruding belly that was in its ninth month, due to the overwhelming anxiety she was in. Just as she reached the entrance to his room, they collided as he was trying to come out. As they collided, her body began to experience a different kind of shock, which was caused by the sight of the pen and paper in his hand.