Chronicles of idris.

Shukura idris has enjoyed a great deal of his life as the third son of his father. He has enjoyed the wealth that comes along with petroleum business owned by his father and registered in his family name. idris, like his siblings had formal and religious  education as insisted by abdulkadir shukura, his father.
A year ago when idris became 23 years old, his father tried talking him into marriage and settling down. “idris”, his father had called him that Friday night into their visitors parlor, “get me water and come, I want to talk to you, ka ji ko?”. Idris was not so close to his father and wasn’t used to having discussions with him, only on issues that directly concerned idris and his sister, Hafsat. Hafsat is his only sister. So when his father used the sentence ‘I want to talk to you’, idris felt a little uncomfortable and totally uncertain over this discussion.
“baba, here is the water” idris dropped the bottled water and a glass cup in a small wooden tray on baba’s stool. “I just opened the last carton of water available and called the station to buy more”. He sat on the couch directly opposite his father; picked a plate of groundnut and garden egg he kept earlier.
Folding his newspaper, he removed his glasses and cased it. Filled his glass and drank a half the bottle. “ina hafsat?” he asked.
“Na tabbata tana daki”
“ ta san na shigo?” his father asked almost absent minded.
“kuwa?, tana gama girki ta shiga dakin ta, bata kara fito ba”
His father cleared his voice “how is she?”
“She?” not knowing what his father really meant. “She is fine. Was she sick?” a somewhat confused idris questioned.
“idi, I don’t mean hafsat”
“Toh baba who are we talking about?”
“Oho! You should know better idi” he said with a smile.
 “haba baba, I don’t  know who fa”.  He replied with a guilt filled smile. He knows what his father is meaning but really choose to coy away. He instantly picks his phone and sent hafsat a bbm a message ‘maza maza ki zo, baba ya dawo’, hoping her presence will take his father’s concentration off him.
“You see my son, I want the best for my children, and I don’t relent until I offer the best to them. Your brothers are happily married today, business is fine for them and they have focused lives because the old man you are looking at sank fatherly wisdom in them. So you see idris, I want to tell you what I told them”…he grabbed his glass of water and drank two mouth full’s. “Idris, at 23 you should be married and own your family. You have the resources any young man craves, most especially age and time”.
Idris almost couldn’t listen to his father. He did not see marriage suggestion coming from his father, at least not now; he is 23 and has just returned from service.
“A wife gives you focus in life, a high sense of responsibility, boosts your status in town, and really gets you connected, which is good for business.” His father spoke convincingly. “I married your mother at 26, ‘o may allah rest her soul’, and she was 17 then, I began a little late and that is because I lacked support. You should have a better start like your brothers”.
Hafsat walks into the palour, “baba ka dawo? Sannu da zuwa.” She then sits at his feet.
Although till this day his father have not raised the topic again, idris is certain his father has his ears to the ground.

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