Flawed Perfection

Chapter Twenty-one: Darkening Sky

December, 2008.
Abuja, Nigeria.

Months passed by and Abdullah Umar Kallamu had mastered his way around crashing Aisha Ahmad Makama's hard built wall.

It never seized to baffle her how a renowned architect could be even better at demolition. Perhaps it was a job requirement and Aisha should not be moved by it, afterall sometimes old structures had to be destroyed for new ones to be created. But Aisha still could not deprive Abdullah of some much needed credit.

Abdullah Umar Kallamu was indeed beautiful, It was not like anyone could do the things he did as well as he did.

He would smile in a way that created a crease in the corners of his eyes and Aisha's mind would suddenly go blank. Just a smile from him and Aisha Ahmad Makama would be so warm, she could swear she would melt.

Slowly, Abdullah was plundering her fears. He called her name as if just doing that was a dream come true, as if it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever done and by Allah he was getting to her in ways she'd never thought he would.

The hardest part of living around Abdullah Umar Kallamu was knowing he was effortlessly too much of all the right things and having a head still intact and not broken by that single realization.

God! Abdullah made her want to love him so bad sometimes the thought of not doing it right enough hurt her.

Everyday of the past three months, he walked through the doors with eyes brewing with adoration. He'd buy hair removal creams for her, he'd crack jokes about helping her use them, he'd tell her about how he was only doing all that because she would only accept her body with no hair at all. Abdullah would smile so bright and wide, he'd tell her he already found her beautiful enough and beyond the amusement, she would look into his eyes and find a maddening sincerity.

Between the awe, jokes and warmth, Aisha Ahmad Makama knew he broke the record, for Abdullah Umar Kallamu was an exception. He was a man who would really go beyond comfort to create even just a slight stretch in her lips.

And Aisha was unbelievably grateful.

* * *

27nth September 2002.

I didn't know sounds emanated from the soul. Until mine cracked(even that was a discovery) and I heard the sound of every falling piece as it broke away and left my body and I knew those were pieces of myself I'd never get back. Jabir's Ummi passed away and although I'd gotten so used to her, I guess the pain I felt at the time wasn't entirely because I'd never see or talk to her again and I knew it. Perhaps the pain rooted alot deeper because the universe was cooking up a Qadr that'll change my life further. Perhaps I grieved so much for all the moments I'd lost, for all the ones I knew I would never witness. Heck! I unknowingly cried for all the things her demise would make me lose. I didn't expect that any wife lying on a death bed would say the things Jabir's Ummi said...'

Abdullah knew he should stop. He knew there was everything wrong with snooping around something that looked like the world's most guarded secret, or his wife's. But something made him want to read a minute longer, curiosity had already wrapped him in an embrace and all he wanted was another letter he would understand and unintentionally figure out the word, or a word that'll bring the next one ringing in his head, then he'll have a phrase that'll grow into a clause, then maybe just a group of sentences that gave him the exact meaning of everything that was written on that card board paper. But he was just a man with no super powers, all he had within him was the need to know.

Then as wrong as he knew it was, he figured all he had to do was stare and not read with moving lips and he did just that.

Not reading, not prying, not searching, just glancing and understanding at the same time.