The Face Behind The Veil✔

Chapter 22

        The house was filled with young ladies who were present for the kunshi. Hafsah's friends were dressed beautifully in different colours and sat around her while henna was drawn on her hands. This ritual's known as saa lalle or henna ceremony. Her friends sang and danced around her as the henna artist was working on her hands. Sameerah was sat beside her best friend, holding her hands in place.

     Haneed on the other hand was throwing a bachelor's party with his friends. This was the last night he had being single so he was going to enjoy it to the fullest. His friends arranged for a hooker pot and non alcoholic drinks of different flavours.

     Haneed felt like a child again when they decided to play never have I ever. Since drinking alcohol was haram, the decided to use the hooker pot. If you'd done anything someone said, you'd take a smoke.

     "Never have I ever cheated on my girlfriend." Ubaidullah smirked. They all took turns to smoke except for Haneed.

     "Why aren't you smoking?" they asked him. "I've never had a girlfriend so..." he replied.

     "Man, this is your last night as a bachelor. I know some girls I could call right now." Abdulhadi said jokingly.

     "No thanks. Hafsah is enough for me." he replied.

     "Seriously? There's this Zeena, one Abuja chick like that. She's a freak in bed. Ask Ubaid and the others. We've all had a taste of her." Abdulhadi told him and they all laughed.

     "I'm fine guys. Who's next?" Haneed asked, referring to the game.

     "Never have I ever had a one night stand." they all smoked again except for Haneed.

     "What the hell man? Do you ever have fun?" Yusuf laughed.

     "I do have fun." Haneed replied. "By fun you mean?" Yusuf asked.

     "Spending time with Hafsah. Taking her to pizza places and having ice cream with her. Just spending time with her is more fun than these one night stands of yours." Haneed said. They all started laughing again.

     "Man you're whipped." Ubaid said. "Yeah whatever!"

     Hafsah's henna was in progress and the artist was almost done. "What is your husband's name?" the artist asked her.

     "Haneed." she replied, blushing. "Ooh Haneed. Haneed Haneed Haneed Haneed Haneed." the girls teased, making Hafsah's cheeks heat up furiously. Her cheeks were a bright crimson and she could feel the heat radiating off of her face. The artist carefully wrote a letter 'h' which was hidden between two flowers. Later on, Haneed would have to find the letter on her hands.

     Hafsah's henna was finished and the other girls took turns to get their hands decorated. An hour later, Hafsah's mother brought a bowl of tumeric powder mixed in milk so that Hafsah could dip her hands and feet in it to make her henna stand out than the others. Sameerah's henna was looking just as beautiful as Hafsah's. They were best friends after all.

     Haneed and his friends were done with the party and it was time for them to go to Hafsah's house for the remaining part of the henna ceremony. Normally, men weren't allowed but they had to let go of some of their traditions. It wasn't the stone age.

     Farouq also arrived later that night for the ceremony. All the men were sat on a mat on the ground with the ladies opposite of them. With the way they were looking, they would definitely get a rich husband at the wedding. After all, the guests were mostly people that worked in the National Assembly.

     "The next part of the ceremony is about to begin." Farouq said into the mic. They all quieted down and listened to him.

     "Haneed and Hafsah, please step forward." he said. They both stood up and walked to the middle to the living room.

     "So...Haneed. The first letter of your name has been drawn on her palms and you have ten seconds to find it. If you don't find it, you'll have to pay each girl here ten thousand naira." Farouq announced and the countdown began.

10

9

Haneed took her hands in his and searched frantically.

8

7

6

He still hadn't found it and he wasn't giving up yet. He continued checking between the flowers that were intertwined on her palms.

5

4

3

2

     "Found it!" he yelled.

     "Where?" Farouq asked and everybody gathered around to see. Haneed pointed at the beautifully drawn 'h' on her palm and kissed it. Hafsah's face was as red as a tomato. She wasn't used to such PDAs. The girls whined about how they didn't get money from Haneed and decided to get him back for it. They gathered at a corner and whispered between themselves. "Perfect idea." Sameerah said as Khairat finished talking.

     While Haneed and Hafsah were busy talking and the other guys were laughing, Sameerah and some of the girls snuck out and packed all of their shoes and hid them somewhere they wouldn't find it. They went back into the living room as if nothing happened and joined in the celebration. At this time, they were all chatting and eating. Some girls even got asked out to dinner after the wedding was over.

     The function came to an end and it was time for the visitors to leave. When the guys went out, they couldn't find their shoes.

     "Hey, where are my shoes?" Yusuf asked, looking behind a flower pot.

     "I can't find mine either." Haneed added. All the guys began searching for their shoes while the girls stood there laughing.

     "Sameerah I know this is your doing." Farouq said.

     "Maybe, maybe not." she said, smirking.

     "Can we have our shoes?" they asked. "Yes, but only if you give us some money." Zubaida answered.

     "Damn this girls." Abdulhadi huffed. He brought out some money and handed it over to Zubaida.

     "What's your shoe size and make?" she asked him. He told her and she went inside to get it.

     "What are y'all waiting for? Pay up." Sameerah laughed. They groaned and brought out money to pay before they were allowed inside to get their shoes.

     Next time, you'll learn to keep your shoes." Sameerah laughed and escorted the guests to their cars.