ENSHROUDED

35

Aisha gulped down a lump in her throat and smiled bitterly, "He has divorced me, Hajar. I think the only thing that will make me go into that house is to get my things then I go back home." And she did just like that, she went in together with Hajar at night and packed all that belonged to Aisha. They made no memories there, and that made it a lot easier for Aisha.

The next morning Hajar and her husband took her to the car park early in the morning and paid for her transport fare back to Bauchi, he gave her some money also to keep for herself. She thanked them and hugged Hajar. "Thank you so much, Hajar. I think you're the best human I've ever met. I won't forget you, Insha Allah." Aisha's car took off from the park under the pitiful eyes of Hajar and her husband.

That was a new phase, Aisha thought as she closed her eyes and leaned more onto her chair. She knew she was supposed to be crying non-stop, but she felt there was only a little to be crying for. When they arrived in Bauchi, she took a cab and asked him to take her to Mommy's house, it was a step she took with so much aplomb. He said she shouldn't go back to his family, and she promised herself not to. She'd rather live with her prostitute of a mother than go back to the monster's family. Yes, she knew Mama and especially Nasir didn't deserve that from her, but that's just how she felt towards him and his family.

She got down from the cab and walked softly to the huge gate. She stood and stared at the gate and smiled bitterly at herself, this was the right spot she saw Mommy together with two men as she answered her unvoiced questions She pushed that thought aside and brought back the good memories of Mommy that she have. Trudging to the gate, she got down on her knees and scavenged for the extra key they always kept below the gate in case someone had lost his own while he was ou. The night was still young, and she knew it would be a miracle for Mommy to be home by now.

She can just get in and get herself ready in her room, and when Mommy is back, she can act as if nothing had ever happened, and she wasn't away from home for years. That might be hard, but she can give it a try. She brought her hands back to herself and there was no key there. She knew knocking on the gate was pointless, so she pulled her trolly to the mall.

As soon as she entered, Bilya caught a glimpse of her and rushed to where she was standing, "My Allah! Aisha?!" He asked, unsure of who the girl standing beside him was. The whole area knew that she was abducted for a year and they concluded that she might have been killed.

She flashed him a rueful smiled and shifted onto her left feet, "Bilya has Mommy bee around recently, please?" She asked.

He shook his head silently and smiled. "Aisha, your Mommy sold out that house five months after you were nowhere to be found. I guess it was hard for her to live where you lived while knowing you were killed. But how comes? You escaped?"

Aisha felt a tightening in her chest and she nearly lost her balance. She felt as the bags under her eyes deepened and she felt more hollow from her inside. "Please Bilya, do you know where she lives now?" She asked with so much eagerness. Knowing of their acquaintance with him, Mommy might've told him where she relocated to.

"I don't know, Aisha. She spoke to no one about it, you know she doesn't interact with people so much. We knew when we saw a truck taking all your belongs. You might've seen someone from the new occupants of the house if you knocked." He was sure he saw a meteor of pain ran across her eyes before she closed her eyes and gripped the wall she was leaning on.

"Thank you so much, Bilya. Don't tell anyone about me please, I'll take my leave now." She turned around and left, not minding how Bilya had been calling her back. She hailed a cab and sat back on the seat, closing her aching eyes.

"Where am I taking you, Hajia?" The cab driver asked for the umpteenth time, they had been roaming around the town for almost ten minutes with no precise location to drop her.