If only…..Yes, if only she had told Ben to reschedule their date night. The signs were obvious. She hit her left foot against the sofa. According to her cultural belief, it was a bad omen for a person to hit the left and not right foot against anything. Of course, she had to shove that being modernised. It was unheard of for someone with all her education and qualification to still fall for such ideologies.
But that was not all, the gown she had planned to wear had a zip fault. She had to choose another outfit. It got burnt in the process of ironing. Binta settled for something else that didn’t require ironing. Her mother had called earlier that morning asking about her welfare. From the tone of her voice, it appeared she was worried. Binta had planned to see her the next day because of her date. So she called Tare, her cousin living close to her mother to check on her behalf.
‘Momma’ as she fondly called her mum, was staying in another region, quite a distance. In the phone call, Momma had also insinuated evil was lurking around. She said she had a disturbing dream that Binta was in severe pain. She called on her to ensure that she was safe and all was well.
Thinking it was her usual paranoia, Binta almost brushed it aside. She was eager to see Ben after a long while. They had been involved in a long-distance relationship and had seen occasionally. It had not been rosy for them. They had moments of conflict. The distance barrier contributed to the misunderstanding. However, they were able to manage the differences well and fight for their relationship.
It was a month before their wedding. Ben was planning to propose that day. If Binta had been in his thought, she would have known. For her, it was more about the joy of being in his arms and presence. At the five star restaurant, he got on his knee and proposed. She forgot all the obstacles that would have prevented her from meeting the love of her life that fateful day. Hugging him, she screamed for joy. She was so happy that she was getting married to this man. She forgot that she had been struggling with shoes to wear for the date. The one she had in mind got spoilt. Its buckle developed a fault. That was another sign but she reached out for another replacement.
Ben was rare. For his age, he had already achieved much. She was more endeared to him because of his giving nature. The scars on his left eye, even made him more handsome in her eyes. She met him at the venue. It was while they were returning from their date night that the worst happened. Around 8 p.m, three policemen asked them to pull over. Sensing Binta was scared, Ben reassured her of safety in his car as he obeyed. The policemen demanded his papers to which he obliged. There was no fault. Yet right before her eyes, they shot Ben for nothing when he refused to ‘settle’ them. They disappeared quickly knowing they had committed a hideous crime. She was left alone in the pool of Ben’s blood. This police brutality that has been ravaging society for decades. It is more painful that the culprits are roaming around freely still attacking other innocent people. She had to speak up and get justice. This societal ill must end. And it was going to start with her.
In one night, Binta’s destiny with Ben was cut short. Now, everything seemed to add up. If only she had told him to shift the date night to some other day. Perhaps, the story would have ended well. But she was too eager and even with the ‘signs’ to see Ben.