Abba took a few steps towards them and the guy kept stepping backwards until he was able to grip Aisha's wrist. He pulled her to himself and she fell in his chest. He looked at the guy and grimaced his face even angrier, "What's your name?" He asked, and the guy straightened his collar and looked at Aisha with a beautiful smile on his lips.
"Should I tell him or you'll do me the favour. It's been months we met, I missed you." He was trying to touch her face when Abba punched his face and he lost his balance and fell on the ground.
He looked at Aisha who was shedding distraught tears, she was still held firmly on Abba's chest. "One of your men? Or he's on your list for this month?" Abba hissed and walked Aisha to his car, he flung her on the back seat and Aisha flinched back at the way he closed the door with so much rage.
He looked at the guy and hissed loudly, "Be careful of whose property you mess with, young guy." He drove off in a speed Aisha got afraid that they might get into an accident if luck wasn't on their side. She cried throughout their drive back home, because she knew the best she saw in Abba would surely be revealed today.
He threw her into the living room and her head got in contact with the centre table, she didn't flinch, because the pain was a minor compared to what was awaiting her. He squatted down before she and Aisha pushed herself backwards, the fear and panic making her heart pound beneath its enclosure.
"Who's that guy and what's his name? Who are the other guys you have on your list as he mentioned?" His voice was dangerously cold, and his eyes were a shade of red. Aisha closed her eyes and it gave more way to her tears. She looked at him and shook her head, her veins pumping in an unhealthy rate.
The next thing she heard was her head being deliberately smashed on the centre table and she wailed in pain. Like the beast he was, he stood up and unhooked his belt, "Tell me who the hell is he to guy hug you like that, Aisha!! Was he the guy I saw you within the hotel? Is he the guy you takes you to school and you claim you take the cab? I never gave you a dime, how do you pay the cab driver?! Aisha, it's either you tell me the truth or I'll have your face smashed with this table." He roared and Aisha stood up and tried running to her room when Abba pulled her from behind and mercilessly pushed her down on her face. The pain was so much that she couldn't even cry.
She turned and her nose was bleeding, her lips were cracked and they had blood on them as well. She wished her eyes would bleed too, more than just the salty liquid that fills up her mouth and itched the cracks on her lips. "I swear to Allah that was the first time I saw him, I don't know anything. And it's Ya Firdausi that sends me money. I don't know anyone in this state, Ya Abba. Please you should believe me." She was trembling and her heart was making some move that she was sure would soon end her life.
The first stroke of his belt on her back tore her skin and she laid flat on the floor. "Tell me who it is or I'll beat you till you couldn't treat yourself this time. How can you be in a relationship with a guy while you're married to me? Oh, it's because I let you go to school right? Go and bring me your student ID card and also your credentials. Also, your ATM, let's see the way you can go out again." He escorted her to her room with the strokes of his belt, Aisha crawled on her knees until she got to her bedside drawer, he was beating her mercilessly and she could only flinch when a stroke landed on her bed.
She didn't look at the mirror, because she was sure the Aisha she would see there was nothing compared to the Aisha that walked into this house months ago. With hands trembling, Aisha handed him her student ID card and her ATM card. "Give me your phone, Aisha." She looked at him with her eyes and wished he could see her pain through her eyes.
"Ya Abba, Mama calls me every day, how can she reach me?" The most painful stroke slashed her back and she bent and wailed even more painful. It was getting even more painful.
"If you like, Aisha call her now and tell her what you're going through. And I'll tell her the kind of life you live here in Taraba. Give me the goddamn phone!" He roared and Aisha didn't know when she handed him the phone and he sat down on the bed. She flinched back in fear and looked at her with eyes that spoke how much of a monster he was.
"Aisha, from today henceforth, don't you ever step your feet out of this house. Don't you dare, or I'll end your dirty life. You're mine and mine alone. But even if for a mistake you walk out of this house, you're going to regret it, Aisha. Don't say I didn't warn you." He uttered and smacked her head using his fist.
He was driving to Nuriyya's department to pick her up when he saw Aisha being hugged warmly by a guy, the sight had blinded his eyes and up till now, it ached him to remember how she looked being embraced by another guy not him. He walked out of the house and locked her from outside. She heard when his car drove out of the driveway and she laid flat on the floor. She watched as the blood gushed out of her body and she felt the painful stink of her blood on the flesh he tore with his belt. Aisha had never felt something more painful than Abba's belt.
She closed her face and imagined Nasir's face if he were to know what had been happening in her life now. He turned into the monster of his brother when he was angry and she was glad that he didn't know. She didn't bother clearing her tears because they were cascading down carelessly. And she wondered how they got their ways out because last she checked she was numb and had no feeling whatsoever in her heart. She wondered if it was possible to cry while within your soul you feel dead and utterly useless. She felt as though her soul had been taken away from her a very long time, she was only living in another person's body living the life she was supposed to.
She ignored the achings, the throbbings and let the darkness that had her soul mortgaged to engulf her entire sou. She smiled as she fell into darkness. She loved it more than the life she lived now, it was safe and sound. With no voice to interrupt her and no violence to make her life miserable. The darkness engulfed her being and she slackened completely on the ground, with no control over her soul and body. She prayed this wasn't meant for her to come back. The preferred the dark yet peaceful world.
❃
Humaira looked around and smiled weakly at Daddy, he grimaced his face and looked away from her face. She whined and hugged him, "Daddy please just this once, I promise not to cause any trouble, don't you trust your girl again?" She asked, looking at him with teary eyes.
"Aisha I don't like you mingling with people. You can't be the good girl you always promised to be. I know what you did to Dawoud, the police called. Why do you interact with men if you hate them that much not to forgive them?" He asked with straight eyes.
She planted a smooch on his cheeks and giggled. "But I don't hate my Daddy, that I'm certain of." He laughed and turned her until she sat down on the chair opposite him.
"You can't go to the park today, I want to spend some time with you." He said and looked more into his phone.
"Daddy I promise to be a good girl. I'll use the front door today, I won't sneak out and I'll be back early. And I'll stay indoors all weekend, deal?" She smiled cutely at him and gave him her best puppy smile.
Daddy heaved a defeated sigh and smiled back at her. "I won't say you should leave with the bodyguard because I'll only make you go against your words. Be safe, Aisha. I don't want to go to the police station today."
She laughed and stood up, "Aye aye, captain. I'll do as I promised." She giggled and went off. She was only this lovely when she was together with either Daddy or Ilham, but to the world, Humaira was as cold as an iceberg.
She rushed to her room and got ready, she had an appointment with her men. The current girlfriend of Dawoud was giving her a hard time, she had been calling and insulting her that Dawoud hardly forgot about her and he was all he spoke of, she had surely enchanted him. She smiled to herself seeing as she walked through the front door, even the maids and the guards were giving her some confused looks.
Directly, Humaira drove to her house and took her leather belt from her back seat. She didn't beat girls often, she only beat guys and that's what gave her the feeling of satisfaction she had grown to love. She entered the house and met them circled on the girl as she cried bitterly. "Disappear!" She ordered and in a second they had disappeared into the house.
The girl whose name was Habeeba wasn't tied because Humaira felt it was of no use tying up a girl. She pulled a chair and sat down opposite a crying Habeeba. "Your name, please?" She asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
Habeeba looked up and she felt her throat run dry the moment she saw Humaira seated in front of her while she played with her belt. "What were you saying over the phone? Did they sound like an insult over Dawoud right? I wanted to hear it in person that's why I have you here. Speak up, girl." She lifted her chin and smiled at.
"Humaira, let me go or what I'm going to do will have you locked up for the rest of your life." Habeeba threatened.
Humaira laughed and lifted her hands in surrender. "I don't have you tied, Habeeba, you're on your own accord." Before the echo of Humaira's laughter died down, she felt a painful strike of her palm on her cheeks.
Habeeba looked up and Aisha smiled as if she wasn't the one that gave her the most painful slap of her life. Seeing the rage dancing in Habeba's eyes, Humaira laughed and motioned at the door with her eyes. "With one move, you'll have them circled you, Habeeba."
She stood up and began circling the chair Habeeba was seated on, she looked dangerous from her looks, and when she smiled; it loomed enigmatically. "I have to make somethings clear with you, Habeeba. I'm done with Dawoud for all the life there is. But if you feel like your threatening messages will harm me in any way, continue, please. You'll do the barking while mine is to bite silently." She clapped her hands and the guys appeared in front of her.
"Before you drop her home, buy her ice cream to cool her down." She smiled triumphantly and walked out of the living room. She entered the car and ignited the engine to life. This life had never been fine for Humaira like it did now. She drove directly to A & H hotels and walked up directly to her reserved room. She wanted to cool herself off with some time alone. Even though she was sure before she was done having a time of her own, Daddy would call her and ask her to come back home that someone had called him and told him was there. Humaira slumped on her bed and closed her eyes to relish on the joy seeping into her heart.
Before she drifted off into a slumber, she made a mental note to fire whoever was going to report her to Daddy today. Yes, she was the heiress of A & H hotels. The only daughter there is to the noble owner of the hotels. Not just the hotel, but the filthy business mogul enshrouded in the name of A & H.
❃
The wind whispered into my ears, 'It's still not the time'
I don't know what it meant, but it sounded like a ray of hope
Maybe the time for my tears to stop
Or the ruptures of my heart to halt
Or the gobbling sound of my lungs as they choke
The wind whispered to my soul, 'Just a little more'
I understand this to be
A little more of the pains
A little more of the pains
A little more of the bruises and aches
A little more of the strokes and slaps
A little more...And a little more of all
The whispered to my mind, 'More of it'
I wanted to ask the wind
'Should I leave more space in my heart
For it to break even in its flimsiest corner?'
I wanted to whisper back
'More of the midnight breakdowns?'
I wanted to have an answer
'My soul, should I hold on or give up?'
Aisha U. Faruk.
She dropped down her pen and hugged her knees to her chest. She was hiding in the tiniest corner of her room, she seldom walked out of that area unless she was going to the bathroom or she was going to the kitchen, and that happened only at night. Midnight precisely. She found love in that corner, and that's where she sat all day and night, her bed had no crease on it. She couldn't remember the last time she slept on her bed.
It might have taken her months for her physical wounds to heal, but she was sure her emotional pains would take her a lifetime. Because they were the most painful wounds, the ones that haunted her at night and made her woke at daytime. They were the wounds that made her flinch even when she heard his voice talking to Nuriyya over the phone or when she visited. They were the wounds that nurtured a beautiful garden at the tiniest corner of her room for her because whenever she pulled herself out of her sanctuary, it felt painful all over again.
She glanced at the clock, it was only some minutes to midnight. A few seconds left and she was staring at it intently with her eyes unwavering. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! "Happy 20th Birthday, Aisha Umar Faruk." She spoke to herself and the tsunami of her demons came haunting like it did every midnight. And she broke apart despite the time she took moulding herself at daytime. She felt the stitches she painfully did to her heart were slowly being torn apart by the memories she wished she can erase. Still, at 20, it wasn't easy for her.
Oh my baby🥺💔 someone in Taraba should go and rescue our baby🤧🤧
Complete book available on both okadabooks and selar. Link on my bio.