Layla slouched in the corner of a circular booth in a restaurant she didn't recognise and didn't want to be in, but to her unfortunate circumstances, she loitered. Her stomach began growling in hunger at the sight and smells of dishes on the tables surrounding them, but they were yet to order anything. Her mother, Idil, tutted beside Auntie Beydaan, lightly kicking her shin from under the table as a silent plea to behave. Layla squeaked in response before grumpily mumbling something very unladylike under her breath.
"Wait until your father gets back before you start eating." Idil whispered sternly, turning to shoot a tight lipped grin at her relative.
Layla couldn't help but inaudibly scoff at her family's falsity. They all knew that auntie Beydaan was a difficult woman, and at that, the whole city was aware. In other words, she was judgemental beyond anyone she had ever come across. More so than the usual flock of aunties she sees patrolling the streets of Xamar Weyne or their respective neighbourhoods to further spread gossip caught from other gossipers and so on it goes until quite literally the whole of Mogadishu becomes aware of the gossip and the poor individual who fell subject to it.
'Here we go again.' Layla thought, leaning further back into the cushion with her nose haughtily upturned.
"See that wasn't so hard." Her mother quipped as the marbles hanging above the glass doors of the restaurant clinked together in harmony, announcing the entrance of her father and Abdihakeem trailing behind.
"It's hell finding parking out there this time of day. You shouldn't have waited." Mustafa remarked, taking seat on the edge of the booth before his grinning wife. His belly groaned just as his daughter's did previously, only it was louder and angrier. He hid the persistent sound with a loud and awkward guffaw, raking his well grown beard between his fingers. "I've kept you and myself waiting for too long".
Layla quietly chuckled at her father as she reached over and helped herself to one of the butter bread knots sooner her mother could deny her with a slap on her hand. Uttering a small bismillah, she contentedly chewed on her piece of bread and waited patiently with something to suffice on until actual food was ordered, not long after the whole party began to fill their bellies.
"What topic is the judge going to bring up today, I wonder"? Layla nudged her brother in the arm who sat next to her unbothered by the world until his younger sister bursted his little bubble. "Hm?"
"Don't be rude Layla." Abdihakeem said quietly so that only she could hear, tutting the same way his mother does, disapprovingly. "Are you not supposed to be studying anyway?" He asked, raising a thick brow.
"Shshh, no talk of studying, you're making me lose my appetite." She grumbled. Much like Hibbaq, Layla got into studying nursing too, though she was more keen on learning midwifery. It was something she saw herself doing in the future, so she took up the course, and she was pleased for it for she came to enjoy it much more than she reckoned
"Let me eat." She chastised, holding up a hand to conceal her sight from his scowling face.
"Abdihakeem aren't you just excited"?! A chirpy exclaim came from opposite them. He quickly wiped the scowl of his face and plastered on his notorious charming smile, making Layla once again scoff at all the falsity. She wasn't one to be pretentious, her words and feelings were rather sharp and not in the most kindest of ways sometimes. Whether it was by her parents or teachers or friends, she had always been scolded for it, hence why Auntie Beydaan and herself never got along.
"Yes, Habaryar?" Abdihakeem called, his eyebrows raising in question even though he knew very well what she was implying.
His unwanted engagement of course.
"You are getting married, no?" She said, sending a questioning look to Idil on her right for some assistance.
Idil quickly nodded her head in certainty.
"Of course he is, he's a man and ready to start a family of his own, In sha Allah."
Her steady words caused unsettling shivers to run up his spine in pure dismay to see that smile turn into a deep frown once he found the courage to tell her he didn't want to get married any time soon. Not if it wasn't to the one woman he had always considered.
Hibbaq Cali.
"We'll see, In sha Allah." He stated awkwardly as Layla and their father sent him smiles of sympathy.
They both were very aware of his interest in Warsame's daughter, perhaps Layla more so than her father. She couldn't contain the pity she felt for her brother. If only he had asked for her hand sooner...
"You'll see." Idil corrected, clearing her throat before taking a sip from a glass of water. Idil was a headstrong woman who made headstrong decisions. She felt confident that her son would be thankful later on in his life, even though he remained hesitant now; when he becomes settled and cherished by an amazing wife, he would be thankful. Though, she stayed clueless to just how much pain and stress her decision making caused her son, especially when they were decisions he should have been making for himself.
The whole table fell into a prolonged silence after that, the chatter and laughter in the restaurant substituted for the tense and hushed space. Auntie Beydaan then set her sights on Layla, who sat, still eating in content. Layla slowly peered up, feeling two sets of eyes burning into her forehead before pounding her chest as she choked on a mouthful of food that raced down her throat.
'Oh no, she's going to sink her teeth into me.' She dreaded inwardly, swallowing the uncomfortable bite, waiting for the inconvenient questions yet to be asked. Auntie Beydaan was not only quite the froward woman, she didn't have to open her mouth to make one feel uncomfortable.
"What about Layla, Idil"? Beydaan turned to her cousin, picking at the food in front of her and taking small bites every once in a while. It irritated Layla watching her eat like that, knowing very well Beydaan wasn't round and plump off of grass and lemons.
'God this woman, it's okay to eat'! She exclaimed, wanting to say it aloud and outright as she normally would, but she knew that would only result in all hell breaking loose. Her mother's warnings about guarding someones feelings also rung like bells in her head, so she kept quiet... for now.
A quiet snort sounded from Abdihakeem, anticipating the long discussion of finding Layla a perfect suitor as she once did ever dinner time in his case. Layla, however, scoffed, giving her brother a smug look.
"Oh, I'm interested in this conversation too, at least I'm not the one getting married anytime soon." She relayed quietly over his shoulder.
"Layla will soon be settled, In sha Allah, but she's studying right now, I want her to finish." Idil answered, surveying her daughter with scrutiny. "Layla, do you want get married"? She asked after a few seconds of observation.
"I am with your first statement, hooyo macaan." Layla replied with a sweet smile, though tilted her head at Abdihakeem in a poking manner.
Now it was his turn to scoff, but in irritation.
"Yes I agree." Mustafa suddenly interjected. Mustafa remained fairly quiet the whole dinner, occasionally muttering his opinions and questions on subjects, it wasn't anything new to the family as Mustafa Muse was quite the anti - social type unlike his wife and children. "Layla should finish her studies." He added, winking at his daughter, and Layla returned the gesture with an air kiss. Obviously, she was a daddy's girl while her proud brother was so clearly a mummy's boy.
Then there was a few more minutes of pretentious laughter and chatter and of course arguments over who pays the bill between the three parents, which Auntie Beydaan won by fire and force, threatening to never call on them again if she didn't pay. Though, Layla knew it was said as a joke, to her it didn't seem all too bad if truth be told. The long dinner finally came to an end much to her liking. She looked over to her suit clad father, knowing he felt the same by the way his eyes drooped in exhaustion. She too was tired and the masculine voice of her fluffy bed calling her name sounded heavenly in her imagination.
Once they dropped auntie Beydaan off at her house not far from their own, Layla kicked back in her seat and took a short lived nap the remainder of the car ride, noting she had a lot of work to do with organising the welfare event with Hibaaq the next morning; too exhausted and worn out to even sigh at her plans for the following day.
...
A pov from layla's family :)