Chasing Safia.

[-Lily-]

So BOB, when will Safiya put Ibrahim in his place and realize the world does not allow room for naivety? And will we get to see them meet once Ibrahim is rich beyond his wildes dreams? Or will Safiya's family loose their fortune in the war and finally both will be equals? Do tell, I'm looking forward to the next bit.

[BOB]

in principal Ibrahim didn't mind being laughed at or being at the center of every joke imaginable which were mainly based on him being the poorest fellow in the entire school and the sarcastic smiles and the daily taunting remarks and jeering made him despise poverty even more and many times after his daily dose of humiliation at school he would go straight at home and fall onto his bed and start staring at the ceiling long into the night and his father got used to his 'dark days' as he liked to call them and learned to respect his son's strange behaviour and these endless humiliations had their effects on this prince and many times he asked himself 'what's my life's purpose' and sometimes he would end up doubting himself but he knew too well that he had no choice but to tolerate them because he believed that great ambitions numb the pain of ridicule.

 

but unfortunately this time, particularly today, however, the stings went deeper not because he had a guest he was dying to impress but they said something against his beloved mother which made him swung around with a murderous glare.

 

"What's the matter? Can't you take a joke?"

 

"Yeah, sure, I can take a joke" Ibrahim replied and turned back to his admiring companion but he was too agitated, too depressed with himself, too unhappy with himself to take the long-term view and he turned around instead and went straight for the guy with the widest grin and soon they were rolling on the floor inseparable.

 

Ibrahim's violent reaction had taken everybody by surprise and two full minutes passed before the two fighters were separated and the brawl came to an end and it was while Safia was watching the fight that it occurred to her that the interesting young prince was very much on his own and desperately needed a friend and as he stood up and started to gather his books making a point of not retreating from the scene, Safia stood beside him to see if he was all right.

 

 

"Did he hurt you?" she asked

 

"He will limp for few days" replied Ibrahim taking a deep breath 'Allah booto badanaa'.

 

Then he took another deep breath and forgot all about the fight and suddenly noticed her standing so close beside him and what a sight that was to his eyes, a beautiful rose that was brimming with life, a nineteen year old mother earth who had such force of gravity and he felt his sense of smell drawn down to her lekker smelling perfume.

 

"Are you sure you are all right?" she asked with a look that said 'I like you too'.

 

"I am a little dizzy"

 

"You should have something to eat"

 

"I don't feel like eating"

 

"You should have your lunch and then go and lie down" Safia advised him, blushing.

 

Ibrahim forced himself to eat and she tried to reassure him that the guys didn't really mean to hurt his feelings and they were just being silly.

 

Safia's blind faith in people's good intentions, her willingness to see a world of good in everybody had made Ibrahim shy away from her up to then but there's nothing like a kick in the stomach to make a man appreciate goodwill and the warmth of the person sitting in front of him melted his heart, that is to say, produced a melting sensation in his chest and in his head.

 

"it sucks to be here not knowing anybody at all, I hate it here" mourned Ibrahim.

 

"I know the feeling myself Ibrahim" she lied just to make him feel better, Safia was at home everywhere and she was the most polpular student at Sayyid Mohammed Abdulle Hassan University and not because she was the daughter of Xaaji Lacag or she was drop dead gorgeous but she was rather genuinely a good person with a golden heart.

 

"Are you religious Ibrahim?"

 

"What else would I be if I wasn't faithful to my almighty creator, praying is all that I can afford since it costs nothing".

 

Safia drew back to look at him with that smile of approval and he could swear the stars didn't sound far-fetched from the lips of this extraordinary girl who gave him a sense of creation and an immense confidence in his ability to bring a excitement into someone else's dull life and it seemed to him that he had never stopped thinking about her and he attributed his sense of well-being to the thoughts of her and such is the gratitude of those already possessed by longing.

 

They say men and women are not made for mutual satisfaction, women cannot always flow and when they do, they well up slowly while men are quick as torrents and they are primed by nature to burst forth at different times.

 

Safia & Ibrahim were too young to feel bitter, Ibrahim was afraid that he was too cheap and too fast for Safia while she was afraid that she was too expensive and too slow for Ibrahim.

 

it was the end of April, warm enough for sleeping out and they sat down on the soft sands of the crystal clear waters of Qandal Beach just few miles from the great and the beautiful city of Kismayo and they were looking at the clear sky with full of winking stars, the atmosphere was so clear that the stars seemed round and almost tangible, suddenly Safia stood up and ran down to her car and a minute later Ibrahim could hear the music of the film they had just seen coming through the speakers of her brand new BMW 3-series that her dad bought for her on her 19th birthday, thought he liked the tune in the film, hearing it again hurt, he put two and two together, she was a member of Hawa Tako Lyric Opera of Kismayo and he knew nothing about Music.

 

He couldn't understand what such a clever, educated beautiful rich girl saw in him and she knew who's who in the entire country and vice versa while even the lowlifes didn't know him never mind the elite.

 

"She must think that I am just an ignorant guy" Ibrahim thought, hating her. "She is bound to get bored with me" to make matters worse she was quoting from a book he hadn't read.

 

Happy with her chosen companion, with the night, with the stars and she wouldn't have mentioned it if she hadn't wanted to share the thought with him but Ibrahim tried not to listen.

 

The self doubt had crept into his thoughts again and Ibrahim was feeling inferior in her presence but only if he knew how much she liked him and how much respect she had for him by standing up for himself the other day but then again without the daily taunting and humiliation he was exposed to at school Ibrahim would've never lacked a confidence and he wouldn't have felt intimidated at no one else's presence, never mind the presence of this rich but very much likeable girl who was beginning to see Ibrahim in a different light altogether, far from the inferior complex that he was seeing himself in.

 

 

PS. Wish me a safe journey back to Q-Town tonight and hopefully you're going to hear from me with in the next couple of days Insha Allah.

 

May Peace Be With You All Insha Allah.

 

 

Peace,Love & Unity.

[mantra]

Originally posted by B0B:

Salam My Sister Mantra,

 

Me and you should have a very private meeting where we discuss about these strange similarities between you and my Safia and I like the way you are being modest about your looks because it's a rare quality but very positive one to possess.

 

I am glad you enjoyed reading my story because you are a potential buyer to my future books Insha Allah, this is just to wet your appetites before the real meal which I hope to serve one day soon Insha Allah.

 

PS. Maybe this story is based on a true story that might have happened to a friend or some one I know or thought i know like yourself

, who knows?

 

 

Peace,Love & Unity.

ahh..dear boy your almost as naive as your characters..

but if you insist my understatement was out of modesty..then hey who am I to challenge that? oh yeah im the one who puts up with my reflection everyday.

much as I love your fairytale I dont see where its going..

when will they ever rent that motel room?

 

joke..

 

 

haye get to 'Q town' safely, in the meantime try and make Ibraheem a little more annoying like all farahs

[Pacifist]

Bob may your journey home be safe. amin Keep in touch brother.

 

I already like safiyas character down to earth and a nice heart. More please nyabonga

[SoMa_InC]

Thanks Bob, appreciated Sxb.

 

PS: I was never a gunner and will never ever be one. Always a BLUE and will die as one.

 

I am feeling the flow of the story though, I think I need to print them out and read them on my way to work inshallah.

 

Peace

[Mr.Faarax]

Waa wareeey

 

Bob filin hindi ah uu caadi noogu daaray kawaran.hehehe I think i know that filin'

waryaa aaway kii cajiinlihii' maan laakiin waa kuu qaleenaa ma rabo hada inaan noqdo ilfuur..hehehe

[BOB]

"Poor my father" Ibrahim said forgiving everything. "You've been poor for far too long".

 

"Yes Sonny, that's how you learn" replied Mr Osman, frowning at the mirror as if it were an old poster.."I can be a giant on billboard across Hotel Waamo and still end up as a welfare case and that is all there is to fame".

 

hearing the fear in his father's voice,Ibarhim was overcome by emotions and genuinely felt sorry for his Dad...here was the man not only he loved more than the life itself but also adored and idolised as his one and only hero in the whole world standing before him trembling with fear. he put his arm around his old man's shoulder-they were now the same height- and shook him a little..

 

"Have no worries my beloved father..you have a God given talent that no one can ever take away from you and sooner rather than later you are going to have the break your talent deserves". Ibrahim whispered to his Dad.

 

the prospect of providing his dad with the missing part of his luck so moved Ibrahim that he couldn't help embracing him,smelling that familiar strong smell of the cheap Lifebuoy soap which happened to be their favourite soap.. they hadn't been so physically close for years and both were moved by a sudden surprising sense of being of the same flesh & blood, they hugged each other with passion of the family feeling that brought tears to their eyes.

 

"Thanks for the generous thought Sonny" said Mr Osman as they disengaged.. "so long as you understand that we don't have S.SH 10,000 for you to start your 'Project' with".

 

"Sure dad, but you can borrow it from the goverment"

 

the suggestion that he should go into debt awoke so many anxieties in the great but poor painter that he lost his self control..

 

"and i was worried that you weren't rotten enough to be rich" he groaned.."you would ruin me without qualm but you are turning into a rotten soul"

 

Ibrahim reddened "You don't have to insult me dad"

 

"I am your father, it's my job to insult you" Mr Osman insisted, letting go of his famous Somali temper in the way most parents do by thinking that its for the good of the child.. "I haven't done a thing for the past 19 years without ever considering how it would affect you, you were still in your beloved Mother's womb (May Allah s.w have mercy on her soul) when i started to worry about you and now you are trying to shake me down for some crazy gamble without giving a thought to my welfare"

 

"Dad,you know i will take care of you to my last breath, please try to understand"

 

"take care? take care of me whith what?" you expect me to provide for you but you don't do anything for your keep, you hardly ever go to school and you don't take in a word i say, i am afraid you will never be any use to anybody"

 

Ibrahim never heard such abuse from his father, he was still at an age when words hurt more than when the girl you like at school turned your dusty behind down for a date and he was horribly shaken to the core.

 

"now what are you so worked up about Dad?" he softly asked with tears in his eyes, "When i become rich..i will be useful not only to you Dad but to the rest of the world and i promise to make every Somali soul proud of me"

 

"is that something you heard from that spoiled little rich girl?"

 

"What's wrong with listening to advice and Safia isn't spoiled but a good girl with a genuine heart underneath her chest"

 

the painter dismissed the sunbject with a look.

 

"Why don't you act like the kids of your age and dream of becoming a doctor or sports star and make contribution to history"

 

"Dad, i am not a kid and i will make my contribution to history in my own way without ever following anybody else's footsteps" replied the proud prince with tears rolling down on his cheeks..hurt that his dad is willing to dismiss him without a second thought.

 

"Oh yeah? by becoming a dumbbell who couldn't finish school at Qiilmawaaye Hotel?" asked his dad sarcastically.

 

"Who's dumbbell" Ibrahim protested. he was desperate but in the way the young and the healthy are desperate, he despaired of the world not himself and never his beloved father.

 

"Come on Dad, i know a lot and i am intelligent"

 

"Intelligent!" the painter shook his head mournfully, then sighed and even looked at his son to show he could mourn with his eyes "Intelligence is no recommendation my dear son and most people haven't the faintest notion of intelligence, it could be tall, short, Somali or non-Somali, if you want to get a good job unlike me and i mean any kind of good job in anywhere in the world, you need some official proof that you have brains, it seems to me the most sensible thing you could do is get top marks and study as if you wanted to join the board of directors at Sayyid Muhammed Abdulle Hassan University"

 

"Hey dad, you've got a point there" said Ibrahim, grateful that his father was no longer opposing him.

 

He had planned to spend the evening with his father celebrating his breakthrough with Safia as she finally admitted to him that she liked him more than she thought she ever will and strangely for the first time in his young life he was bitterly conscious of being on his own.. feeling distraught by his father's cruel words he headed for the beach with the rest of the early evening strollers who amazingly most of them were the pretty girls from Calanley neighbourhood and here he was breathing sea air spiced with perfumes. He was so agitated, his nerves stood on end and he noticed girls more than at other times now and he secretly wished that one of them would run to him, embrace him, love him and live for him.

 

A certain genius named Boodhari (God bless his soul) who summed up his life with the initials of the woman he loved taught us that LOVE has very little to do with the beloved person and everything to do with the lover's imagination, nothing is so seductive as our own thoughts, the passion that sweeps us off our feet is all our own.

 

At any rate there seems to be no other way to account for the fact that Safia in love with Ibrahim long before they saw each other on that fateful day almost eight months ago now. first she became lively and energetic and like most people with slightly low blood pressure (like my dear friend Ali Bungoma aka Mbwa Kali ) with nothing urgent to do, she was late sleeper and slow starter, spending the first hours of the day in a lazy haze but the morning after meeting Ibrahim she woke early and was wide awake the instant she opened her eyes jumping out of bed, she ran to the window to draw the curtains.

 

The sea was calmand the night wasn't spent yet, though the sun already signalled its coming by lighting the clouds from below the horizon, she put on her favourite Guntiino and went downstairs listening to the silence in the house, "I've got a head start on everybody else today" she thought with the elation of a racer breaking a record.

 

How wonderful and simple everything had seemed when she first caught sight of him and the last thing she wanted was him to think of himself as a bloody Hindu beggar and her as the daughter of the maharaj but as a simple girl who loved him regardless of his poor background, after all she was just an ordinary girl who wasn't born in a higher form of existance but Ibrahim knew that happy lovers are not born but they somehow learn to outwit nature in Aargada like roundaboutway.

 

"What's wrong" asked Ibrahim worried.

 

"I thought we agreed that you'd take your education more serious now"

 

"I will, as soon as i am done with my plans.. you know? ohh, never mind"

 

"and when will that be?"

 

"Why? it could be tomorrow"

 

"Do you honestly believe that the goverment will lend you SSH 10,000 without a guardian and you said your dad isn't willing to bail you out this time and i hate to be the one burst your bubble but since you've already exhausted your loans as a student..i doubt if they will even bother replying to your letter".

 

"I take my chance, after all i got nothing to lose but the whole world to gain"

 

"Ibrahim, come on.. be realistic for once in your life, will you?" asked Safia trying to sound tough. "i hate seeing you punish yourself for something you or your dad or anybodyelse had anything to do with, not only do i want you safe and sound but sane as well and i speak for the rest of the world when i say we will be poorer without you" she continued.. over come by a new kind of protective love for him or maybe she was hiding something from him that is why she was suddenly worried to death about him..could it be the bad dream she had last night which was all about Ibrahim and his life?

 

"How awful she can look" he thought, she must really care about me if it can spoil her beautiful face, longing to comfort her and cheer her up, he tried to swallow his impatience..

 

"All right, i will slow it down for a while"

 

she continued to stare at him with an ugly face.

 

"What good would that do?"

 

"All right, i will quit this whole scheme of making quick millions and take a good care of myself" he lied in a humble voice hoping that her fears would wear off in a day or two.. "forget the whole thing, i will give it all up"

 

"You don't mean that Ibrahim,men don't give up anything for women"

 

Ibrahim turned pale then met her fearful eyes with a difiant look as his lie wasn't believed, he began to believe it himself. if she could picture him dying in some horrible disaster, he could see himself as the man who renounced his riches for a woman's smile and they were both in that state of vibrant exhaustion in which anything seemed possible..

 

"I will quit" he said.

 

"Do you promise Ibrahim?"

 

"I want you to be happy Safia"

 

"Good"

 

Safia became beautiful again as she began to have a sense of her power over him.

 

"Remember you promised my handsome poor rich man, i just don't want to lose you" she said teasing.

 

Glad to say anything that pleased his pretty princess Ibrahim promised again and she knew that he only half meant it but it was good enough for a start, she had time she could wait as she was always a patient about everything and she always liked to listen to him as he had a way with words and and he was a good story teller too.

 

"My father says that for a woman to love a man and think he's genius is one and the same thing" she told him.

 

"Oh God, please don't tell me you think that i am genius" he mocked.

 

"i am sure i am objective about you,i knew you were brilliant as soon as we started talking on the bus..just make sure you finish university so when you marry me..if we ever get married you can take a good care of us..now there is no demeaning about that..lots of rich girls marry poor guys who in the end make it on their own and go on to have a successful marriage and a happy life" Ibrahim managed a smile and he was amazed the faith she had in him which meant the world to him...he sighed loudly and said "but it will be far simpler if we were both rich and Safia was determined to find out how serious he was about giving up and she seemed to be saying to herself "if he doesn't have to give up anything for me then how could i ever tell whether he really loves me as much as he says he does".

 

"Who would think highly of her because of me" he worried .."i am still nobody" he was overwhelmed by remorse for his lack of break and most of all his lack of wealth. "if i keep this up, i will never amount to anything" he said to himself.

 

She loved him as much as anybody ever loved before her and she was kind and mighty brave as there aren't many girls who would ever want to do anything with a poor fellow never mind the wealthy ones and yet never worry about whatever people may say or do, it makes no difference to her way of life. she can live as she pleases, nothing she does has any material consequences simply because SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT ITS TO BE POOR..but how could he ever explain that to her?

 

All the harsh truths of life crowded in on him when Safia left him alone. he decided to have a serious talk with her, explain to her that she must stop being a spoiled rich girl bossing him around. (he could be very critical of her when she wasn't around).

 

He swore he would make her understand that there was more to life than being a rich girl who knew nothing about how the majority lived and that he didn't want to be kept by anybody, that he had to find his wealth if they were to be equals and death isn't as bad as it's made to sound as long as one knew he was dying for the right cause but as soon as they met again with her genuine love and care for him and Oh that Smile..he would think of her ugly look and said nothing because LOVE made him coward and he just didn't have the courage to upset her.

 

Ibrahim may not admit this to anybody including to himself but he was genuinely Madly,Fully and Totally in Love with her..his beloved Princess Safia.

 

 

Peace,Love & Unity.

[Baashi]

Noticed this:

 

“…can be a giant on billboard across Hotel Waamo and still end up as a welfare case and that is all there is to fame…â€

 

And then this:

 

“…they somehow learn to outwit nature in Aargada like roundabout way…â€

 

And

 

“…feeling distraught by his father's cruel words he headed for the beach with the rest of the early evening strollers who amazingly most of them were the pretty girls from Calanley neighbourhood and here he was breathing sea air spiced with perfumes.â€

 

^Boby you are true to your city roots wallahi sxb.

 

-----

 

A certain genius named Boodhari (God bless his soul) who summed up his life with the initials of the woman he loved taught us that LOVE has very little to do with the beloved person and everything to do with the lover's imagination, nothing is so seductive as our own thoughts, the passion that sweeps us off our feet is all our own.

Interesting thought there widaay.

 

"Intelligent!" the painter shook his head mournfully, then sighed and even looked at his son to show he could mourn with his eyes "Intelligence is no recommendation my dear son and most people haven’t the faintest notion of intelligence, it could be tall, short, Somali or non-Somali, if you want to get a good job unlike me and i mean any kind of good job in anywhere in the world, you need some official proof that you have brains, it seems to me the most sensible thing you could do is get top marks and study as if you wanted to join the board of directors at Sayyid Muhammed Abdulle Hassan University"

Right there…words of wisdom.

 

The sea was calm and the night wasn't spent yet, though the sun already signaled its coming by lighting the clouds from below the horizon, she put on her favorite

Guntiino

and went downstairs listening to the silence in the house…

Ummmhh! Alla yaa cizak.

 

Awoowe Waxaa-la-yiri nuqulka jimacaha gacan iyo lug iyo waliba labo faryareey iyo giddi suulasha buu u taagay sheekadan.

 

Keep it coming awoowe.

[- Femme -]

Wow. Loving it, Bobby Boy.

[Pacifist]

Ibrahim turned pale then met her fearful eyes with a difiant look as his lie wasn't believed, he began to believe it himself. if she could picture him dying in some horrible disaster, he could see himself as the man who renounced his riches for a woman's smile and they were both in that state of vibrant exhaustion in which anything seemed possible..

Keep it coming BOB, Am loving Ibrahim. More please.

[BOB]

Salama Caleykum W.W My Brother Baashi, long time heh..I hope everything is SHA SHAX for you and the rest of the family Insha Allah.

 

Bro, how can i not stay true to my roots when you and i know none of us would be here without our beloved KISMAAYO CADEEY heh? besides my friends would label me a sell-out which I AM NOT if i didn't mention our hometown..since i can't heal her pains, i can paint her in less gory picture through my pen and remind everybody in here Somali or non-Somali what a great place its with all its amazing natural beauty...that's the least thing i can do, for now that is. Take care my brother and Stay Yicaal Sikyaamo 4ever!

 

 

Salama Caleykum W.W Ladies...Scarlet and Pacifist..Good to know you are both enjoying this "Mahala" story...

 

 

Peace,Love & Unity.

[BOB]

As poor as he was, Ibrahim had a professional ethics which was entirely based upon his dream and ambition and he swore never to double-cross or betray them for nobody and he didn't share Safia's fear that he was headed for trouble that will have a huge bearing on his young life while looking for fortune and he accepted it as a one of the hazards he had to face if he ever wanted to fulfil his life long ambition and his Dad was right when he said "There are no short-cut to success" .

 

Life was logical but was Ibrahim really willing to forsake his Love for fortune and would it ever make sense to him that he should break up with his beloved Safia over money which is said to be the route of all evil?

 

The only means of advancement are talent and calculation and while the doctors, dentists and lawyers hang their diplomas on their office walls, the walls of Ibrahim's tiny house was decorated with giant framed photos of all the men he admired, and coincedently, all of them were born into poverty yet grew up to become powerful and influential figures with tons of cash to boot. "Am not very bright, but am practical" he told Safia many a times with the disarming modesty which is an absolute MUST for the ambitious and he never agreed with his favourite Professor at school on his theory of "The way to enslave a man is to be his slave" for he never wanted to enslave nobody and certainly never to be the slave of anybody.

 

"What are you thinking about my dearest?" asked Safia.

 

"I was just thinking of how time goes" he sighed, "We've wasted six whole days" he continued.

 

Surprise made the insult all the worse.. "What do you mean 'Wasted'?" she asked and staring him in disbelief. he tried to explain..they argued, drifting further apart.

 

"I despise people who think of nothing but Money" she hissed with tears in her pretty eyes.

 

"Safia please love" Ibrahim begged.."Once we found the wealth we will have our whole lives to enjoy ourselves". she looked at him as if he had turned into a stranger. "No, thanks.. i already have a father who puts first things first unlike you" and with that she stood up and stormed off without saying anything anymore and Ibrahim tried his best to calm her and talk to her but she would have none of it whatsoever and she got into her car and sped off but not before lowering the electronic windows in her BMW and said the most heart-breaking and soul shattering words he's ever heard "It's over between me and you" and she was gone just like that.

 

What was sp terrible about saying that they had 'Wasted' six whole days? it didn't mean he didn't Love her and didn't she ever say something stup!d? why, she even believed in Luck, which to him was plain stup!d and how could she ever fail to see that it was demeaning to be a Rich Girl's Poor Lover, but whatever he thought of telling her, she wasn't here to hear it.

 

There were times when he couldn't recall the length of her dyed hair or the smell of her exotic and sweet perfume or the shade of brown in her beautiful black eyes and these lapses of memory made her absence all the more intolerable. he had a great longing to remember her exactly and couldn't forgive himself for not taking pictures of her or ask her for a few while he had the opportunity...but was it really over between them? besdies..didn't she have tears in her eyes when she left him?

 

At moments when his heart was dead from sorrow and grief to all hopeful sentiments he thought they were tears of rage, the tears of an infuriated spoiled girl, at other times he felt that she had cried because she was hurt and she was hurt because she LOVED him...but what about what his Dad told him about the tears of a woman?

'no no, not a chance, there's no way his beloved Safia would just up and leave..she couldn't, she wouldn't. she wouldn't even hurt a fly let alone her dearest darling Ibrahim. sje just left because she is angry and she will be back tomorrow Insha Allah and this time he will never ever make her sad never mind cry by saying something so stup!d.

 

Few days passed without him seeing or hearing from Safia and he finally decided to go and see her at School and wouldn't you know..his heat skipped a beat when one of her girlfriends told him that Safia hasn't set a foot outsdie of her room and wouldn't even take their calls.. "I hope you didn't have anything to do with that..now did you?"...Ibrahim just smiled at her and turned around when she said "I always knew you weren't worthy of her and i told her this many times..but somehow she just wouldn't listen" not sure if he's even heard her right, he contunued to walk.

 

As painful and insensitive thos words might be he wasn't offended because after all he knew all along that Safia and him lived entirely on a different planet, however, he didn't like to be criticised at all, especially by strangers who knew nothing about him.

 

One evening, overwhelmed by remorseful longing, he walked to Xaaji Lacag mansion to ask for Safia and the news he was given to him by the doorman ripped the heart out of his chest and he felt devastated..he was told that his loving Safia went to Sweden to visit her Eedo who lived there with her husband and their children and nobody could tell when she'll be back to her beloved hometown of Kismayo.

 

All wasn't lost though because there was still Hodan whom Safia introduced to him as her best friend in the whole world and he decided right there and then to go and see her even if it was getting bit late.

 

"I'm really-truly glad to see you Ibrahim" greeted Hodan..Safia went to Sweden to get her head cleared a bit,she explained. "I swear you have everything to do with it" she continued, anxious to make peace between the two young lovers. "I will go and get her number for you".

Ibrahim thanked her more profusely than he's ever thanked anybody before, moved almost to tears that the people those who were really close to her didn't despise him. Wasn't that a good omen?

 

He had to give his name several times to the woman who answered the phone and had to wait quite a while for Safia to come to the phone but in the end he heard her voice.

 

"Hello Ibrahim, have you found the wealth you were looking for?" she greeted him cheerfully, "or have you decided to stop 'Wasting' your valuable time on it and decided to honour the promise that you made to me?". Shaken that she could sound so happy away from him,Ibrahim couldn't take in the sense of what she was saying, he didn't even have the presence of mind to say Hello. she was feeling the kind of elation that comes from being involved in something bigger than oneself but the silence on the line made her tense,unhappy.. he missed her, he was miserable and she could feel it.

 

"Are you there Ibrahim?"

 

"When are you coming back home?" he asked impatiently.."I would like to take you on the offer you made me, you know, when we first met but i can't quit what i am doing but i want to do it with you".

 

it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear and yet she was glad. she was glad and frightened of being glad. she felt so dizzy she thought she might faint.

 

How many lives are ruined on the phone? if he had been there she would've fallen into his loving arms, but he was far away.Trying to clear her head, to regain her self-possession, she spoke in a cold, hostile voice directed more at herself than at Ibrahim, she wanted her heart to stop from pounding.

 

"I'm not going anywhere, i have too much to do here"

 

"What could be more important than -->US<-- Safia?" Ibrahim protested bitterly.

 

"Well, somebody ought to be interested in family affairs before its too late" she rebuked him sharply.

 

"I thought i was part of the family too"

 

"I was referring to blood family" she answered cruelly.

 

"I don't mind being an outsider, i just mind you not being here"

 

"I don't think i could ever live on hope, its way too unrealistic for me and dare i say..i don't believe in ILLUSIONS, Sorry Ibrahim". she replied, just like that without ever caring how cruel her words sounded.she wanted to be free from any burden and clear headed. a full person and not just a Girl but also a Woman.

 

"Hope always springs eternal but i guess you wouldn't know anything about that now, would you? I'm sorry i disturbed you Madam" not trusting his voice any further, Ibrahim just put down the reciever. he decided to forget all about her right there and then but few nights later he dreamed that she was lying beside him with in his mattress. he felt such joy that he woke up and realising that he was alone in his old mattress, started shivering.

 

Unable to go back to sleep, he got out of bed, put on swimming trunks, pullover and sneakers and slipped out of the house and headed for the beach,the flood-lights of the port which was so powerful plus the fool moon that Kismayo was enjoying made the visibility all that clearer and being in the middle of March where the tempreture soared high.helped him not find taking a dip such a nasty experience as the water were warm and the sea was calm without a hint of a wave.

 

Tormented by the memory of her spineless voice on the phone, he couldn't master the courage to call her again and for the first time in his young life he felt defeated and found himself cursing the whole universe, he began to question his whole being and wondered if he was on this earth just to complete the numbers of the most worthless souls or losers, if you like.

 

But luckily for him, the insulted Prince that lived in the insecure poor boy didn't succumb to it all and thought of it all as a new challenge and new obstacle which stood between him and the ultimate price and glory. he never lost faith in neither himself nor in humanity and once he came over what he dismissed as an emotional reaction, he was quite prepared to look at the incident from another point of view and decided that it was a whole new positive development.

 

After almost two months since he last heard from his beloved,one day Ibrahim was standing outside their favourite and secret meeting place which was the public library, named after the founding father of this great and magnificent city of Kismayo, Ali Shara Public Library, situated on Af-Madow Street next to Afar Irdood Avenue, when he suddenly saw some one that looked like just like Safia in every sense of the word, but there was something wrong in this picture, something disturbing and mightily wrong.

 

First, his eyes weren't playing pranks on him, it was Safia indeed, but with a guy and to make matters worse, they were holding hands and she seemed to be enjoying the 'stranger's company just like she used to enjoy his company every time they were together.

 

Why is she smiling at him like the way she used to smile at me? Why is she holding him when never allowed me to come close to her let alone touch her? Why is she allowed another man to be in her company when she said i was the only one? Why did she let another man to occupy my rightful space?.

 

Overwhelmed by a profound sense of his insignificance he backed into a poor guy busy talking to his fancy G-3 cellphone and didn't even bother to apologize. He ran home, locked the door and fell on his mattress, So she's back, the proud and heartless rich girl who played him for a fool and most of all played with his already fragile emotions.

 

How cruel of her to take her new lover to their favourite hang out spot in the whole world where they both considered to be sacred to them?

How she must look down on him and disrespect him thinking he will never amount to anything. He couldn't decide whether she had noticed him outside or not but if she did then he hoped she could see how much he HATED her.

 

 

Peace,Love & Unity.

[Baashi]

Boby WSW brother. Everything is more than shax-shax. BTW I’m counting all the subliminal city references be it names, style, or even teenage tradition exclusive to ciyaal Kismaayo. This is what I gleaned from last rendition: Af-madow, Afar Irdood, Sweden, and frustrated, devastated Ibrahim taking a dip in Calanleey beach .

 

The review below appeared in Waxa-la-yiri Magazine Friday edition under Fanka iyo Suugaanta page->

 

Brilliant and in somewhat realistic tale of two young lovers who are going through the process of coming of age. Boby aka Shaka Zula has managed to present both sides of female and male coming of age story through the lens of traditional eyes of a boy (third person) who traces his roots in Majengo - a town within town in the heart of Calanleey – the oldest, most sophisticated, and most diverse multi-ethnic xaafad in Kismaayo.

 

Waxa-la-yiri magazine readers rated Chasing Safia saga - known in some biibito circles especially Raage Qoobeey biibito in Aargada where literature gurus sip their nes-café as Coming of Age in Kismayo - one of the best portrayal of late-adolescence experiences (associated of age of sexual maturity) of ciyaalka xaafada.

 

Our readers are having their fingers crossed for the anticipation of Ibrahim becoming tubaako addict is very real. A view reinforced by the real story of heart broken Weynaade - a man-like teenage boy who roamed the streets of Kismaayo as is-koris after tasting the bitter medicine of rejection at young tender age of seventeen. Rumor has it his lover Suleeqo of Farjano misled him for 18 months into believing that he has her heart in his fist like boojo. Suleeqo eloped with an old man from Xamar leaving Weynaade devastated and heart-broken.

 

Inna-Kaadi Najaasle who has received an advanced copy of next rendition is floating around the rumor that Ibrahim in the heat of jealousy will resort to Baajuun-style sixir and even worse lose his sanity and let his old man down.

 

Keep them coming widaay.

 

PS: I'm coming to ur neck of the wood in late June.

[Castro]

^ I dunno about reading all that between the lines but Bob's Chasing Safia is a serious contender to Scarlet and her M&M factory over in another section.

 

And it's all free.

[Baashi]

^not even close Hey Scarlet no pun intended baayo