AXED

Chapter two: Turkey

4 years earlier

"Mayma, are you done packing yet? Hurry up we are almost late." Hajia Umma asked.

"Yes Mami, I'm almost done." Umayma stated as she placed the last abaya and zipped the suitcase shut. It was the first time the family was traveling out of the country and everyone was ecstatic. She went down to the living room and handed her suitcase to Ilu, the gateman.

"Where is Ubaida?" Hajiya Umma asked.

"I'm here Mami, sorry I was in the toilet." Ubaida said wiping her hands on her huge pink flowered gown which hid her slim frame well.

"Ladi....Ladi..... ha'an wai ina Ladi ne?!" Hajiya Umma was agitated.

"Na'am hajjo, ga ni." Ladi appeared in the living room with a disgruntled look on her face. It was obvious she had been sleeping.

"Where were you, I thought I warned you against ignoring my call."

"Hajjo I was in the kitchen, the sound of the tap must've drained your voice." She lied. The sisters stifled their laughters.

"Mtsw," she hissed. "That is always your excuse. Toh, Ladi, we're leaving now, I want to come back and see this house the way it is now-sparkling clean.

"Always sweep the house thoroughly, not the rubbish you do everyday that you call sweeping fa. Always dust too, yanzu kin san it's very dusty around kin ji ko?"

"Yes hajjo. I will." She nodded. She was excited. Two weeks without her domineering boss was enough reason to make her jump for joy.

"Ladi looks very happy to see Mami gone," Ubaida laughed.

"Ah, who wouldn't, imagine staying two weeks without Mami. It's like winning the lottery." Umayma replied as they took their suitcases to the black Mercedes C-230.

"Baba we're ready." Ubaida announced.

"Uuda you look very happy, I think we should elongate this trip, this one that you're too happy."

"Baba, you promised you won't call me Uuda again," when Ubaida was five, she strongly proclaimed that her name was Uuda because it was shorter and nicer, and the name stuck. "And besides this is the first time I'm going to Turkey or anywhere outside Nigeria for that matter. I'm bound to be over-happy. Mayma is the one who doesn't want us to go because she's going to miss A-" She got socked in the stomach before she could finish her sentence. Her sister shot her daggers. It was a good thing their father stopped listening and turned his attention to the driver.

" Kai Mayma, I meant to say Amina, not another person.... and ouch." She winced. "And we both know that you're going to miss that person." She wiggled her eyebrows and winked.

"Uwaki, brazen child. Now I ever regret telling you about Ammar."

"Sure, but you're going to miss him right? Right? You know I'm right."

"Leave me alone this girl, haba."
•••

"Khayr, I've called Yusuf to come and carry the car when we reach the airport."

"Yes, you've told me, amma don't you think we should've gone to Ya Qaasim and Ya Salman's place before we left?" Hajiya Umma asked.

"Yes, I was considering that but time had already run out."

"Sahabi, your own brothers? You couldn't go to see your brothers before traveling because time had run out?"

"Don't worry Khayr, I will call them when we reach the airport." They drive on in silence for a while.

"Baba, how many hours is it from Nigeria to Turkey?" Ubaida asked to lighten the tense mood.

"It's approximately six hours."

"Which city are we going to stay in?"

"A big city called Bursa. It is very beautiful."

"How many da-" she was interrupted when her mother cut in.

"Ke keep quiet. You ask too many questions." Ubaida pouted but kept quiet. Alhaji Umar laughed.

"Uuda we're spending two weeks kin ji." She kept quiet for a little while.

"Baba, can I see your phone please?" Ubaida asked, reaching to the front seat where his phone was charging on the console.

"What do you want to do with it?"

"I want to play Word Trip. Baba, when am I going to get my own phone? Mayma already has hers and she likes to flaunt it."

"I already told you, you will get your phone when you reach SS1." He reached for the phone.

"Sahabi, just ignore this girl and continue driving. You should concentrate on the road. Ubaida, I don't want to hear your voice again. Sit down quietly." Hajiya Umma chided. Her husband ignored her and reached into the console for the phone.
Suddenly, the car screeched when another car hit it from behind. It somersaulted twice and landed on the roof. The windows shattered on impact.
Cars started stopping whilst people scrambled to get a glimpse of what happened. Some brought out their phones to video the incident to post on some social media platform. Others gawked, and another group of people, the sensible ones tried to figure out if there were survivors.

"Subhanallahi !" One excalaimed, as he peered into the car.

"-are there survivors?"

"Yes.. I think one person is trying to move, the others are motionless."

"-Hurry and get him out."

"-I think it's a girl."

"Get her out."

"-She's stuck I can't get her out alone, I need help." Some people came over to help pull the survivor out of the car. After a grueling amount of time, they managed to pull her out. She was wrapped in a cloth that someone offered and taken to the side of the road. Miraculously she wasn't seriously wounded and she was administered first aid. The other car was bruised in the front but no serious damage was done. The driver escaped unhurt.

"-There are no other survivors."

"-Poor girl they were probably her relatives."

"Is there a phone in there, let's call her family." A nice elderly man said.

"-But her family was involved in the crash."

"-Her other family, friends or people who know her."

"What is your name?" Someone attempted to ask. She didn't answer.

"She's in shock, leave her alone for sometime. Her family has been called and there will be here in a while. I will stay with her until her family arrives, poor girl." The elderly man said.
Most people already dispersed muttering how reckless drivers caused fatal accidents.
•••

"Umayma, Inna Lillaahi Wa Inna Ilayhir Raaji'un!! Subhanallahi." Her paternal aunt, Hadiza exclaimed when she arrived forty-five minutes later. She was accompanied by her elder brothers Qaasim and Sagir and her younger brother Yusuf. The bodies were already covered and the men moved toward them.

"Umayma, Umayma. Yaya, she's not saying anything."

"Yes, she hasn't said anything since the accident." The elderly man who called them pointed out. Qaasim and Sagir went to their sister who was supporting the distraught teenager.

"Umayma," Qaasim put his hand on her shoulder. "You know everything that happens in this world is with the knowledge of Allah. Everything happens according to destiny. It was destined that your parents and sister will die today and like this.
"It's okay to cry, but patience is an important aspect of life. Allah SWT says in surah Aali-'Imran 'O ye who believe, endure, outdo all others in endurance be ready and observe your duty to Allah in order that you may succeed.'
"In Shaa Allah, you shall meet your family in jannah, but for now we will be your family. Yi hakuri Umayma. May God bless you." She was still unmoving. Her eyes were dry. The brothers thanked the elderly man and he left. They called other relatives and the bodies were taken away.