He quickly raised his hand, "Look, Suwaiba, that's not why I called you. I want to know what caused the commotion?"

Annoyed at being interrupted, she said, "Alhaji, it's about that boy Sadeeq. Everyone knows he goes to Safara'u's place in this neighborhood, but yesterday evening he called for Munaya. Luckily, it wasn't the first time, so the messenger announced it openly in the middle of the compound. No one said anything because we thought it wasn't Safara'u's Sadeeq. By Maghrib prayer time, Safara'u came in crying. I questioned her, and she reluctantly told me that she saw the twins with Sadeeq in Malam Halilu's house, chatting and laughing. They even made faces at her. To verify her story, I sent Rahma to see for herself. She heard Sadeeq saying he would never marry Safara'u, that he would marry one of these deceitful girls instead. It was dark, so I decided to keep the matter until this morning, but Alhaji, I barely slept last night with Safara'u."

"Hmm," was all I could say, holding my head because the story had changed.

Baba Karemi looked at me and asked, "Munubiya or Munaya?" (because they couldn't tell us apart due to our striking resemblance).

With a heavy heart, I replied, "Baba, it's Munaya."

"Good, Munaya, where is your sister?"

"She's inside, Baba."

Baba turned to Safara'u, who had been pretending to cry, and said, "Safara'u, go call Munubiya for me."

Without replying, she got up and left. In a few minutes, she returned with Munubiya, who had clearly been crying, her eyes swollen. I silently hissed, irritated by her lack of courage, so much like our mother.

Baba's voice brought me back from my thoughts as he called my name. I looked up at him and responded, "Yes, Baba." He turned to Safara'u and asked, "Which one did you see with Sadeeq?"

Safara'u looked at us both, tears in her eyes, and said, "Baba, I can't tell them apart unless they identify themselves."

Baba said nothing because he knew this was true. (Only by our behavior could anyone distinguish us, even our own mother). Baba looked at us, trying to figure out who was who.

Quickly, Munubiya said, "Baba, it was me."

I immediately interrupted, "Baba, she's lying. It was me Sadeeq called yesterday, and there's nothing between us. He called me about Safara'u. They twisted the story."

Both Safara'u and her mother glared at me, and I returned the glare without hesitation.

Baba cut in, "What happened, Munaya?"

I lowered my gaze and replied, "Baba, he called me to ask what Safara'u likes because he wanted to give her a birthday gift and surprise her. I was listing things and teasing him to include fried groundnuts since she loves them. Just then, I saw her entering the house, and I teased her with a gesture. She must have misunderstood it. And Rahma is lying; she saw me with Yaa Hameed when he gave me his items to take inside while he went to the mosque. That's all that happened, and they are saying I took Sadeeq from her, disrespecting our mother this early in the morning."

Our mother sighed in relief, glad I wasn't guilty of their accusations.

Baba Jafaru shot a scornful look at Safara'u's mother, "Suwaiba, may God guide you. Please verify things before acting on what the children say. You heard what happened. And you, Safara'u, for your lack of manners, daring to disrespect Aisha, make sure I don't have to make Abdulhameed punish you and Rahama today. Aisha, please be patient."

Our mother struggled to get up, saying, "It's okay, let God remove any impending discord."

"Amen," we echoed, standing and following her out.

When we got outside, the women of the house stared at us as if seeing us for the first time. In my mind, I called them hypocrites, destined to end as such.

Our mother was deeply hurt this time, but being patient and resilient, she didn't show it.

Munubiya and I couldn't contain our anger. We knew whatever humiliation we faced in our grandmother's house was her doing. She opened every door to disgrace us. You would think we weren't family by the way we were treated. From our birth, we found ourselves in this situation. The same with our mother, facing contempt and mistreatment from our grandmother, our father's wives, and even his siblings' wives. We had no rights as children, and our mother had no respect as the household's matriarch. This stemmed from...