"Nadiya, wake up! The henna artist has arrived!" Hajiya Hadiya woke up her daughter who was sleeping. Nadiya lazily stood up and stretched her body, her face frowned. She raised her head to check the time of the room's wall clock and didn't realized when she gaped.
"Mama it's 9am! Oh God!" She groaned loudly and noticed her cousins weren't in the room because she remembered she slept together with some of them. "Mama where are Halima and the rest?" She asked, confused.
"Exactly. That was why I woke you up. They're all downstairs getting their hands designed. You should also stand up and get ready now." Her mother said before leaving, not allowing her to utter any word.
"Is getting married resulting to your sleep getting cut short?!" Nadiya uttered to herself before she grumpily headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.
She came out few minutes later and changed her pajamas to a simple black A-line Abaya. She put on a black cap and headed straight to the living room where the rest were. She saw about four henna artists in the room professionally designing her family's hands and legs while one amongst them sat idle, not doing the same.
The type of henna that the designers were applying to the elders wasn't the black henna, but the local Indian henna paste that looked maroon once it's been washed off. But to the elders, it always turned out black because they were used to applying it.
Most of her cousins looked like they didn't just woke up from sleep, as if they'd awoken a long time ago. They appeared like they'd already bathed and their face didn't also look swollen like hers right now.
"There you are sleepy head!" Hafsah said, making her cousins to laugh when they saw her coming.
"We wanted to start and let you sleep before you start getting your hands designed. Looks like Aunt Hadiya didn't buy that." Halima said and chuckled.
"She really didn't." Nadiya said when she sat on the floor next to Halimah. She greeted the elders and the henna artist who responded politely.
"Look Nadiya, my henna looks so beautiful!" Yasmin exclaimed while outstretching her hands for everyone to see.
"Right. The designer made it perfectly, I loved it." Nadiya commented and the henna artist smiled gratefully at her.
"I know right? You should tell her to design your hands too."
Before Nadiya could agree, Halimah interrupted the conversation.
"No no. I agree the henna artist is really good and can design beautifully, but there's a henna artist who arrived specifically to design Nadiya's hands." Nadiya realized she must be the one who was not working on any hands earlier.
"Oh yeah I forgot. There she is even."
"Nadiya go and meet your henna artist and start already. It's going to be a long day!" Khadijah said and Nadiya nodded before standing. After exchanging pleasantries with the henna artist, they began.
About two hours later, Nadiya's hands, palms and legs had been beautifully decorated with both the Indian henna, turned into a paste, and the black liquified one. She's currently waiting for it to dry while her cousins and their mothers had already washed theirs as they did it long ago.
The henna artists were served food and they're currently eating before they'd leave. Her cousins were taking pictures of their hands and minutes after, they were now complimenting Nadiya's henna.
"Wow Nadiya, your henna looks amazing. I'm jealous." Yasmin said and Nadiya rolled her eyes.
"Well of course you'd be jealous. After all, it's a must that the bride's henna tops everyone else's own!" Halimah said.
The room suddenly became silent, some of the ladies had left to their rooms while Halima and Khadijah stayed behind to keep Nadiya company. Some of her aunts had also gone to their rooms as well while her mother and Aunt A'ee remained in the parlor, talking among themselves. By now, the henna artist had gone, thanking everyone for the food. Nadiya's gaze followed their retreating back and noticed three women entering the house with a Salam. The whole place echoed with a reply.
"Good morning everyone." They greeted simultaneously and the reply was also in sync. Nadiya and the rest of her mates exchanged greetings with them.
"You're welcome. You've arrived on time as her henna is just about to dry up then you can start."
"Okay Hajiya." They replied. Nadiya had no clue what her mother was talking about or why these women were here, but she knew it had to be something unbearable and tiresome again!
"Mama, what are they going to do?" She said as politely as she could so they wouldn't feel like she was being rude.
"Oh I didn't tell you. They're here to beautify your body. They're body beauticians. It was supposed to be done since, not five days to the wedding. But they said they could pull it off and that it takes them just three days to be done with everything." Nadiya watched her mother explaining and turned to the women, noticing each of them having a big bags by their sides.
Nadiya simply nodded, not sure what to say. Her cousins knew better than to tease her about it, seeing as she's clearly not in the mood for that. Her mother smiled before telling one of the maids she hired to help during the wedding to get foods for them.
The call to prayer was heard and everyone went to perform ablution and pray. Nadiya's henna had dried up already, so she stood and went outside to the tap to wash her hands and legs. She didn't want to use the toilet because it'd stain the tiles, so she preferred to go outside and use the tap. Khadijah escorted her outside to help her wash the henna off.
They were finally done after much pouring of water to the legs and hands, almost ruining some patterns in the design.
"Thank you." Nadiya said and Khadijah grinned before they headed inside.
Nadiya prayed and when she was done, she saw the three women in her room. They almost startled her but she maintained a neutral face before clearing her throat and was just about to speak when one amongst them began to.
"Hajiya told us to come here, that this is where we'd be doing the work." Nadiya simply nodded and watched them bringing out so many breakable and plastic bottles containing something oily inside. They also brought out both small and large containers that was filled with colored mixtures in liquid form. Then there was something one of them brought out of her bag which she recognized as a hair oil. That was the only thing that captivated her eyes as the oil was very effective and she experienced it makes hair to be black and grow longer.
"Are all these going to be applied on my skin?" She asked and saw them laughing softly.
"Yes dear and they're all going to finish once we use them consistently. We'll even need more!" A woman who looked around her mother's age said. She was the oldest amongst them, though the rest aren't young too.
"That is true. By the way, you're naturally beautiful and have such smooth face. But these natural products here will make your face even better and you'll glow by the grace of God." Nadiya smiled at the woman.
"We're so looking forward to this young lady. Our aim is to make a soon-to-be bride looks more beautiful than she was and she should also love the outcome. This product right here..." She held the product Nadiya noticed earlier. "...makes your hair grow longer, become pure black and silky! I'm sure you're going to love it as you ladies love long and black hair!" The last woman spoke and Nadiya couldn't contain her grin.
"We also have incense that will make your body scent nicely. There are also natural products to make your entire body shine and glow. This powdered thing can make your teeth white and fresh. Oh, this one here remove all kinds of spots and acne. I know most ladies nowadays get disturbed by it. I forgot to mention this too,—" They continued to explain every product they brought and Nadiya was grinning nonstop, already looking forward to seeing herself the way they were describing.
***
Nadiya's entire body was covered with a tumeric and other kinds of paste, including her face, making her look slightly like a zombie. All three women were standing in her front, applying various thingies to her skin. She was with only wrapper which she tied around her waist and a half vest, so that they can access her skin very well. It was almost 4pm and the paste is starting to dry off, thanks to the huge standing fan beside her.
"You can go shower now. It's dry." One of the beauticians informed Nadiya who was on a video call with Zaliha. Zaliha was getting her hands decorated so her cousin Naana was the one holding the phone.
Nadiya was at first chatting with the phone when she saw Zaliha online whose hands were without henna then. She requested for a video call and they talked about the activities they did and are yet to do until Zaliha said she needed to go but Nadiya insisted they continued their conversation, so Zaliha called Naana to help her hold the phone.
"Okay." Nadiya nodded at the woman before she turned her attention to the phone's screen.
"It's dry. You should go and shower. I'm just so happy I don't need to do this thing as I did it long ago." Zaliha said, laughing.
"I'm so happy for you! It's not easy. Mine is worse because we've not done them all gradually, it's now rushed." Nadiya said.
"Thank God it's now over. Go shower, we will talk later." Nadiya nodded before she disconnected the call and stood up to the bathroom.
***