Chapter 6
Basically, I spent the whole night in the clinic without sleeping. It was a long night of confusion after finding out that Kauna ate the glass that had fallen in the living room last night.
I was still trying to understand the whole situation, up till now. It was morning and dawn had already passed few hours ago.
For the whole night up till morning, I sat in the waiting room of Tafawa Balewa clinic, the only thing that was close to a hospital in Mansur. I waited and watched a lot of patients and nurses go in and out of the clinic entrance.
I kept getting weird glances from the black skinny woman who was at the receptionist desk and I could tell that was the receptionist. She came in once it was 6 am and I almost jumped on my chest when I saw a lady with so much colourful make up on her face, with colours like orange eyeshadow and pink lipstick that didn't fit a very dark woman like her. She didn't look like someone that was from kaduna either.
There was one thing I wanted to tell her every time she looked at me and that was 'Get rid of that thing on your face'. I wasn't a fan of make up myself and seeing her face makes me less of a fan.
At the moment I am the only one in the waiting room and she is stilling looking at me. Her staring made me more impatient as I kept checking the clock to keep myself busy. Right now it is 9:30 am.
A young black Kanuri-looking man in his late twenties dressed in a white doctor's coat walked into the waiting room immediately. I could tell that was Kauna's doctor.
"Are you the one that came with the small girl?" He asked the moment he spotted me.
"Yes." I stood up immediately and walked closer to him.
"She's free to go now but I need to discuss some things with you." He said and turned around, "follow me."
He started walking into the hallway and I followed him.
"What's the problem? Is she okay?" I asked worriedly.
"How long has she been eating glass?" He asked, ignoring my questions.
"I don't know." I responded as we walked down the long hallway. "I only found out yesterday.
"Well," he stopped walking and turned to look at me, "she has hyalophagia."
I frowned in confusion. He continued walking immediately without bothering about my expression.
"What is that?" I asked as I continue walking behind him hurriedly. He was such a fast walker and if anyone saw me, they'll think I was running.
"It's a disorder. When someone is addicted to eating glass."
The moment I heard 'disorder' I almost let out a loud gasp.
"She has to undergo some medications at the moment because it is really affecting her mouth and it seems like she has been doing this on frequent occasions." He stopped walking again, causing me to almost hit him because I was practically running after him.
"This kind of condition often happens to children from broken homes. I wonder what your house is like." He shook his head, "You're her sister right?"
"No." I shook my head.
He turned to look at me with furrowed eyebrows, "cousin?"
"No."
"Mother?"
"No!" I yelled causing the doctor to shake his head in disdain.
"Well whoever you are to her is none of my business," he said and continue walking to the end of the hallway, "but does she live with you?"
"For now, yes."
"Do you have a lot of glasses in your house?"
"Yes." I nodded, remembering that almost all the cups and plates in the house were glass.
"Then get rid of them." He said.
I frowned, "But almost all the kitchen utensils we have are glasses."
"It's none of my business. Just get rid of them." He said without getting bothered. He was such a harsh doctor.
I looked at him up and down to be sure if this guy was really a 'proper' doctor. Doctors don't just tell anyone that anything important was 'none of their business'. He even made the disease sound so normal.
"Doctor," I said as we were still walking, "how sure are you that you're right about what you're saying of the hypa-whatever. You don't seem to sound so serious about it."
He stopped walking and turned to me with a less bothered expression, "Do you think somebody is not a doctor because of the way they sound? For your information I studied in University of Maiduguri. That university has the best medical school in Nigeria. So don't question me about my job."
"Who cares about the school you went to. You don't sound like you even did a serious check up on the little girl." I scowled, "neither do you sound so serious about your job."
"Are you telling me that my degree is useless?" He frowned, looking like he was ready to throw me out soon.
"No but it's just that-"
"If you think you know better." He cuts me, "Come and take my white coat from me or I'll kick you out."
I kept shut and folded my mouth in order for me to stop talking. He hissed and turned around before approaching the last door at the end of the hallway. I rolled my eyes before following him to enter the ward.
There were three other patients in the room with Kauna. I could barely see their faces because of the mosquito nets above their beds but I could tell they were sleeping. Kauna was on the bed closest to the door and the doctor and I walked to her side of the bed. I looked at her and she was wide awake as she laid under the blanket.
"I've told whoever this girl is to you," the doctor said while talking to Kauna, "that you're ready to leave now."
He turned to look at me. I could tell he was still annoyed. "Before you leave, you have to go to the reception and pay for the hospital bill and the medicine will be given to you by one of the nurses."
Before I could say thank you, he already walked away from the bed and left for the door.
I shook my head and sat at the end of the bed and looked at Kauna. She was not looking at me as her eyes were looking at the other direction. She knew I was ready to start complaining.
"What happened?" I asked, sounding almost angry. "Why did you eat glass? You told me you've never eaten with your hand."
She turned to look at me without responding. I looked at her and waited for her to respond but it didn't seem like she was ready to talk.
"Lets go." I stood up, deciding not to waste my time here after I've had less sleep last night.
"It because I was hungry." She responded. I turned to look at her before she added, "and I was thinking of Ummah."
I sighed and sat down on the bed, "That doesn't give an excuse to eat glass. Of all things. How long have you been eating it?"
"I can't remember but almost long. It because it was the only thing that sustain me after watching Ummah and Audu fight." She said.
There was one thing I really did want to know and that is what goes on in the that house. There are a lot of stories there that you could even write a book about.
I sighed and touched her forehead. There was nothing I could say or do because I know nothing was easy for Kauna. I looked at below her bottom lip and there was already a scar there because of the glass she ate.
"Promise me one thing." I said. She looked at me curiously. "Never eat glass again."
*****
After paying for the hospital bill and medication with the small money Kaka gave me few days ago, we were finally ready to leave the clinic. The receptionist didn't stop looking at me in her annoying manner as she chewed her gum.
I quickly signed whatever was left and made my way out of the clinic. I held kauna's hand as we walked out of the entrance, finding our way around the large dusty compound. The moment I spotted the gate, I saw a guy in military uniform walking into the compound. It wasn't something that bothered me until... wait. It was that military man-boy by the river. He wasn't wearing his camouflage boonie hat but I could still recognize him. I didn't want to see him again after that horrible first encounter by the river.
I stopped walking and Kauna looked at me in confusion. I looked at him in shock, not knowing what to do. He was greeting the clinic gateman and was about to turn to catch my face when suddenly I turned around to back him.
I was lost at the moment and didn't know what to do. Kauna was still standing there looking at me in confusion. I looked round while looking at the clinic building and was about to make my way back inside when suddenly I heard,
"How far!" The military boy's voice. "It's you again."
I stopped walking and shut my eyes in frustration. I gradually turned around and pretended to be surprised.
"It's you... again." I waved, repeating what he just said.
"I am surprised to run into you once again." He grinned, and I was back to seeing the happy face once more. He walked closer and stood in front of Kauna and I. "So what are you doing here?"
I came to kill somebody again.
"Just came to..." I turned and pointed at Kauna, not sure of what to say, "pick her. She was sick."
"Sorry dear." He smiled at Kauna and turned back at me, "she's your sister right?"
"No." I shook my head.
"Cousin?"
I shook my head.
"Friend?"
I sighed in frustration and said, "she's just someone close to me. What of you? What are you doing here?"
"My sister is here as well. She has chicken pox." He said.
I nodded my head slowly. Instead of me to send my sympathy, I was standing like an idiot. But isn't chicken pox as child a good sign?
The young soldier folded his arms and smiled at me, like he always did the last time and said, "I actually didn't get your name."
"Ohh." I gawked, "what's your name?" I asked, practically skipping his question so that I don't have to give him my name.
"I know what you're doing there." He chuckled and put his hands on his hips, "My name is Abdulhamid but you can call me Abdul."
I nodded my head slowly in response.
"So are you going to tell me yours?" He asked with his arms crossed. He had a weird fetish of changing standing positions.
"Miriam." I said, "my name is Miriam."
"Oh," he nodded and smiled, "Mariam."
"No it's Miriam." I corrected, even though I clearly repeated it twice before.
"My sister's name is Mariam," he shrugged, "so why can't I call you Mariam?"
"Because my name is Miriam and not Mariam." I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What's the difference?"
The I and the A obviously.
I sighed, "The difference is the one that comes out of our parent's mouth first."
"I see..." He chuckled and put his hand to his chin before turning to Kauna, "So what is your sister- I mean close person's name?"
"Kauna." I responded for her.
"Hmm." He smiled at her, "Nice. You know what that means baa?"
I shook my head. He looked back at me, "Something special..."
I waited for him to say something as he stared at me while taking a short break from his sentence, then he finished by saying,
"...Love."
Oh. I looked away and nodded my head slowly.
"Okay..." I said still looking away. Then I turned back to look at him still smiling at me. "I think I should be going... Hamid."
"It's Abdul-"
"-Hamid." I cut him.
He chuckled like I was joking. But I wasn't. Two can play the game since he insists on calling me Mariam and not Miriam.
"So is that what you're going to be calling me? Hamid?" He asked.
That's if we ever see again.
"Well Hamid sounds better to me." I shrugged.
"No problem." He grinned, "although you're like one of the first few people to call me that."
I nodded my head slowly again. Must be nice.
He nodded too, causing a little silence to break between the three of us. I glanced down to see his name written above his shirt pocket. On it wrote; A.K Abdulhamid.
"Uhmm." I grimaced, while breaking the silence, "I think we need to rush back home. My grandmother will be worried if we aren't back on time."
"Oh no problem." He said, "will see you another time."
I nodded my head and took Kauna's hands and immediately made my way for the gate.
"Bye Mariam." Hamid said from behind.
I sighed, because I knew I couldn't complain about my name being Miriam and not Mariam anymore. I turned my face and gave him a small frustrated smile before walking away.
I really do hope I don't run into him again.
******
"So what do you think she is about to do?" Junior junior asked.
After coming back from the hospital, I sent someone to get Junior junior to come over to the house because he was the only one that could know what to do about kauna. It's Saturday and I couldn't leave Kauna alone because she could do something strange again. And I didn't know what to do for her either.
Earlier, Kaka suggested that we bring a priest or bishop to pray over her but I told her not to worry and that Kauna is only a child and let's try treating her like one first, then we'll see how things go. So I called junior junior to tell me what I could do for Kauna because he had a childish mentality and he probably knows what children like Kauna would like.
We were in the sitting room at the moment and Junior junior and I stood in front of Kauna and stared at her mysteriously. She was just sitting down on the carpet while staring back at us too. We were curious to see what movement she will make next after her action last night.
"I'm meant to be asking you." I told him, "what will you do after eating glass?"
He turned to me and scowled, "Do I look like someone that will eat glass?"
"And sand too. Yes." I responded after remembering the time last year Junior junior came back from lagos and fell sick because he swallowed the beach sand, thinking it was peak milk.
"Haba that time I was just trying to make sure I was right or not." He whined.
"Yeah sure," I said sarcastically and looked at Kauna, "what do you really think we should do now?"
"Can I ask you one question?" Junior junior asked and I turned to look back at him. "What did you love most when you were her age?"
"All the things children love." I said, "like toys, games, playground, movies-"
"-I know all those stuffs." He cuts me, "but what did you love the most? Like what was the one thing that if you hear it, it made you so happy?"
I tried to think but I couldn't just remember if there was actually one thing I loved when I was six years old. There were so many things I had then so I couldn't think of one that I know of that made me so happy.
"I don't know." I shook my head.
He groaned and talked again, "Okay. You mentioned movie before baa? What was your best movie when you were small?"
"Uhmm," I looked up to the ceiling to think, "Cinderella, sleeping beauty, lion king, sound of music-"
"I mean just one." He cuts me again, "which one was the most interesting from all the ones you mentioned?"
I thought for a little while before I snapped and said, "Lion king! I loved it so much."
"Then we can watch it with her." He said.
"She must have watched it. All children have." I said and turned to Kauna, "have you watched The Lion King?"
She shook her head at me.
Surprised at her response I went further to ask, "but you've heard of it right?"
She looked at me for a short moment and shook her head.
"Which child hasn't watched or heard of Lion King before!" I exclaimed. Then I put my hands on my hips and sighed, "You need to watch it right now."
I looked around to see there was light and it was the perfect time to watch a movie. I looked at the small shelf below our box tv and there was an old black videocassette player, but there was no Lion King videocassette among the other videocassettes below. But first-
"Junior junior." I said while staring at the tv section, "please can you help us buy the Lion King cassette. I will pay you back."
****
After junior junior came back with a pirated videocassette copy of The Lion King, we were set to watch it.
Luckily there was still light and we all sat down on the sofas happily as the movie started. I was on the single chair and Kauna and Junior junior were both on the long chair.
Once the movie started, something hit me. Something I remembered. The Lion King was Mama's favourite movie.
Before I could feel any pain rising from my chest, junior junior suddenly started laughing and talking to himself happily which caused me to look at him. He was back again with his insane behavior. We call it IIE- Inner Insane Excitement. Whenever he was excited, he laughs unexpectedly to himself.
This was something junior junior did often, especially when the place was silent. His father scolded him many times for this and warned him that he would disown him if he keeps doing it because it kept making people think he was a mad man. To me junior junior was just as normal as everyone and I felt this was the only way he could express his happiness to himself.
Kauna looked at him with a puzzled expression as she sat beside him. She turned to me and I just said, "Don't worry, he does this all the time."
We were about thirty minutes into the pirated movie and all eyes were glued to the screen. We were in the moment when Mufasa just died and I turned to look at Kauna and Junior junior. Kauna just stared at the TV emotionless while junior junior on the other hand was already overemotional. I snorted. He never changed.
I turned back to continue watching the movie.
"Dad. Come on" Simba said to a dead Mufasa, "Dad get up."
Something hit me immediately. Something from the past...
"Mama please wake up." I said while shaking her, "they've gone."
It was Mama's death.
"Dad." Simba pushed his father, "we gotta go home."
"Mama please wake up." I shook her violently, hoping this was still a play. "This is not the time to joke."
Scar came walking into the scene and said a few things. Then he said the words Simba didn't want to hear.
"If it weren't for you, he'll still be alive." Scar said.
"If it weren't for you, Mama will still be alive." A voice said in my head.
I shook my head. No stop blaming me. I held my chest, which was starting to clench. I couldn't take it anymore and stood up from the sofa immediately and ran off to my room.
I kept hitting my head with my hands as I entered the room. I really don't know why the voices in my head kept bringing those flashbacks back. I don't know why what happened in Lion King had the same effect with Mama's death.
I went straight to my peaceful zone, which was my bed side opposite the window. I sat there and stared outside the window like I always do. I don't think I can watch Lion King again. Not anymore.
I touched my face, only to realise I was crying all these while.
"Miriam." I heard a voice behind me. I turned to see Kauna sitting behind me. I didn't even know when she entered the room.
"You're not watching the movie?" I asked, trying to wipe away the tears from my face so that Kauna wouldn't notice.
She doesn't respond but just stood up from the bed and walked up to stand in front of me. I looked at her, wondering what she was trying to do.
She stood in front of me and stared at me, then she brought out her hands and tried touching my face but I moved back a bit. She still didn't move her hands away so I let her touch my face and she pressed her two thumbs below my eye bags and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
I gave her a small smile when she was done.
"It's okay." She mumbled, "I was sad that Mufasa died too."
I grinned at her, trying not to laugh about the fact that she thought I was crying because Mufasa died.
"I think you should go back and continue the movie." I said.
"I won't go unless you come." She said, still standing there.
This wasn't getting any better. I couldn't start explaining that I was about to have a phobia for Lion King to a 6 year old. She would think I was a baby and I didn't want such to happen.
I sighed and fought my fears, "fine let's go."
We were finally done with the movie and it seemed like everyone was in a good mood. I thought I was going to still think of Mama but surprisingly i didn't anymore. I noticed Simba and I were almost the same. Especially the fact that he was experiencing the same guilt that I was experiencing. Although his own story turned out to be better. The worst thing that could happen to any of us was to watch our loved one die from our own mistake. And that's what I'm living with.
"Hakunta matana!" Kauna shouted, cutting me from my thoughts. I didn't even realize she was standing in front of me.
"It's Hakuna matata not whatever you just said." Junior junior groaned.
"Hakunta matana." Kauna repeated her version, in a lower time as she looked at me to be sure.
"He's right." I scoffed. "Did you enjoy the movie?"
She nodded happily. I could see the happiness in her eyes but she never smiled to show it. That was the spirit of Lion King.
"Miriam I'm hungry! Is there something in your kitchen?" He stood up and walked to the kitchen without waiting for me to respond.
I rolled my eyes.
"Pumbaa." Kauna said.
I looked at her confused, "what?"
"Uncle," She pointed at junior junior, "is Pumbaa."
I chuckled at what she just said and played with her hair. She was right, both junior junior and Pumbaa loved food.
"You is mufasa." She pointed at me. I pointed at myself in a questioning manner. I was expecting Simba. "Yes you, you're very brave."
"What makes you think so?" I scoffed.
"Children without baba and mama by their side are the bravest of all."
I stared at her. I wanted to ask her how but I already got what she meant. She was right and i never saw myself that way. Kauna may be unpredictable and quiet but when she talked, she was just a sweetheart. If this was what she thought about orphans, then every orphan out there needed to know that they are the bravest of all.
"Then that makes you Mufasa too." I told her, "Your mama and baba are not here now too."
"No." She shook her head, "Ummah is coming back."
There was nothing more I could say about inna Hauwa coming back or not. My mind was still a bit moved by what she said earlier.
"Then which Lion King character do you think you are?" I asked.
"I think..." she stood and thought for a little moment before she said, "Me is Scar!"
"Why?" I snorted, "nobody wants to be like him."
"Me is black like Scar." She touched her skin. "Although I don't want to die like he did."
"Scar isn't dead actually." I said, "he was just punished."
"Why?"
"Didn't you see he was a wicked brother," I said, "you see in movies, the wicked people either suffer or become good... It's either of those two or none."
She stared at me with no response.
"Do you want to be a bad person and suffer?" I added.
She shook her head.
"Then don't be like Scar."
"Miriam they're leaving!" Junior junior shouted the moment he entered the parlor with a plate. I looked at him in confusion while he was pointing outside. I turned to the direction of our opened house gate to see Aanya, her parents and driver entering a car with a lot of bags. Wait. Are they moving?
I turned to look at junior junior and immediately stood up and we both started running off to the gate, leaving Kauna behind. We ran as fast we could so that we could catch up with Aanya and her parents before they leave without seeing us. The moment we got outside the gate, the car started driving away.
"Wait!" I waved my hands and tried following after them but there was no response.
I turned to their house front gate and I saw their house girl, Farida, locking the house gate. She also had two ghana-must-go bags with her.
Junior junior and I quickly went over to their front gate to meet Farida.
"What's happening?" I asked her.
"Oh Miriam." She gave a small sad smile, "They're going back to India and never coming back. Mansur is no longer safe for them. Arjun's casket had to be taken early this morning to the airpot and he is going to be buried there. Nobody else knew they were leaving today. It's too soon baa?"
"Yes. We didn't even get the chance to tell them bye bye." Junior junior said.
I didn't respond as I turned to stare at the car driving away in a distance. I shook my head in disapproval. I was upset already. How could they just leave without telling us?
And this was just the beginning. If Mansur is no longer safe, then we're going to lose more people. And we can never tell who will be next.
_________________
END OF CHAPTER 6
Sorry for the late update. Will try to update faster from now on.
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