She dialed Zainab's phone number dinnng dinnnnggggg it rang and she didn't pick up. Where is Zainab for God's sake she couldn't sit down, she kept pacing from one end of the room to the other. 10 missed calls and Zainab still wasn't picking up. She was desperate so she took her veil and handbag and ran out of the house, she stopped by mommy's room to inform her "mommy Zee wai bata jin dadi zanje in duba ta please"
"toh wa zai kai ki, ba kowa gida??" she asked Tahira.
"zan hau keke napep kawai, zan dawo yanzu ma In Shaa Allah"
"toh ki bari in sauke ki mana Tahira, nan da awa daya zan fita nima"
One hour was far too long for her to wait, anxiety was killing her. "no ba komai, ina so in dawo inyi assignment ne"
"toh Allah ya kiyaye"
"Amin mommy"
She paid more than enough so the napep driver wont carry anyone else, she was in a hurry and she had no patience for stops. When she arrived at their gate she asked if they where home and she was told that in fact they where. She knocked on the door and after waiting a while Zainab came to open the door "Ha'a Tahira ke ce haka da rana tsaka?"
"i called you, is he home?" she impatiently asked her
"yeah he's home, i was going to call you back fa, come inside mana" she invited her in but Knowing that Abdulzahir was Abdulmaleek's right hand she didn't want him to over hear them
"No! Walk with me in your beautiful garden"
Zainab wore her slippers and came out "Tee kina bani tsoro, meke faruwa ne wai?"
"who is Adilah Haasim, she was here ranan da muka taya ki aiki, i need to know everything about that day"
Immediately Tahira mentioned Adilah, Zainab knew it was about Abdulmaleek. "ita ce muka gani da Abdulmaleek da zaku wuce ai, twins?.. Well i believe he was dating her gaskiya, because of some things da ta dinga yi, kin gane? she couldn't leave his side for a second and from the way their friends where talking to her ma and there was a time Amal called her Mrs. Bashir."
Her voice was low "haba!!! Zee, shine ba za ki iya fada min ba, tun lokacin fa, haba!!! I cant believe you didn't tell me, da ni ce na miki haka zaki ji dadi? Na ma taba miki irin wannan??? Ke fa kika ce i should give him another chance and then you found out he was with someone else and you couldn't inform me? Gaskiya ba ki kyauta min ba"
Zainab felt guilty struck but she didn't want to admit that she was wrong "abokin mijina ne fa, kin san dana fada miki zai zama kaman munafinci ne, because he would know ni ce dai na fada and then kuma kinga na zo na kwanta asibiti and all the things that happened after that day, ina ta kai na ne fa ni ma"
"Lalle Zainab kin ce wani abu, ashe a kan ki aka fara miji, lalle Zainab kin ban mamaki. Before zuwan ki asibiti you could have told me tun ranan ai, it takes but a few minutes to make a phone call" Her anger was now focused on Zainab, she thought that Zainab would be there for her just as she was always there whenever her friend needed her. And now she thought reverse was the case.
"i thought i smelled betrayal, what i didn't know was that it was coming from my closest friend" it was the only word she could use to describe Zainab's silence.
"and for what? You think Abdulzahir would care if you told me? You're just blinding trying to win him in the wrong ways. Shiyasa har yau kin kasa gane kan sa, haka kuma zaki yi ta zama kina zaman wahala"
Zainab's mood also changed to anger and the girls where soon at each other's throat "Ya kamata kin ringa tauna magana, kar ki zo ki fada ba dai dai ba, i was going through a lot, simply because i didn't tell you doesn't mean i betrayed you"
"its exactly what it means Zainab, you knew exactly how i feel about him, shekara nawa muna tare, you knew ai, you knew why i asked you to help me call him, do you know that har gidan mu Adilah ta zo and we went shopping together, i didn't know ni kuma, only God knows why she did what she did, had you told me i would have at least known what i was dealing with"
Abdulzahir heard them arguing and peeped through the window to see who Zainab was talking to, all he could see was that they where seriously arguing but he could not make anything of what they where saying.
"you went shopping with her? Look Tahira i don't know what you're talking about, how did she contact you??"
"na yaushe kuma, bayan komai ya riga ya faru, i saw on the news this morning that they where getting married. And i'm the fool who was betrayed by her friend, cheated by love and played by his fiance"
Now she understood why Tahira was on edge and why she was blaming her for everything which she felt was unfair, she could see the pain in her eyes as her voice shook when she said the words "you are my friend, you should always have my back, before i came here i thought i was hurt seeing years of loving the same man go to waste and now..."
she paused and looked straight into Zainab's eyes ".. What you have done has hurt me more than anything he could do to me, and for what? A man that knows nothing about your value"
Zainab reached out to hold her but she moved away and started to walk away "Zainab ni kika wa haka ko? Na gode, da ga yau karki kara shiga harka ta, hanyan kifi daban da kaska"
Zainab began to follow her "Tahira wait, try and understand ni wallahi i would never purposely do anything to hurt you"
"don't worry, kin yi na karshe kenan" Tahira did not stop till she was out of the house, she entered inside napep to go home, unbelievable she was still shocked that Zainab knew and didn't tell her. The tears that have been dry began to fall like rainfall in drought every tear burning her skin as it ran down her cheeks and down her dress. At that moment she wasn't crying because Abdulmaleek was getting married, he had hurt her for years, she wasn't used to it but it wasn't something new, what was new was how close she was to Zainab and never knew she was capable of doing something like that to her.
Zainab went back inside and straight to the kitchen where she was working, Abdul came and stood by the door "is everything alright?"
"is Abdulmaleek getting married?" she asked with a frown on her face.
It was already all over the news, saying otherwise would prove him a liar "Yeah! To Adilah, the girl he was with that day, kin gane ta?"
She nods and continued her work.
"Tahira ce ta zo?" though he saw her, he wanted to hear from Zainab.
Again she nods "but i didn't know it was that serious fa, tana ta jin haushi wai ban fada mata Abdulmaleek was with Adilah ba"
He didn't want to involve himself in anything related to Tahira, Abdulmaleek was too sensitive about her, they never talk about her. He was used to that. "well maybe you should have told her, it won't have changed anything"
"i think it would have, because she told me Adilah approached her and they even went shopping together"
"Adilah Haasim din?" he was surprised "how?"
"she was upset, she didn't stop explain" immediately he turned around and left for his phone, and She dropped what she was doing and followed him, she stood from a distance and watched him as he tried to call Abdulmaleek to inform him. She understood then where she went unforgivably wrong. Disloyalty.
Tahira Muhammad went back home around 4 and met Salahuddeen about to head out "Hey! Daga ina?"
"gidan su Zainab, she wasn't feeling alright"
He looked closely at her "have you been crying?"
"no! Something fell in my eye, you said you where going to introduce me to your girlfriend" she changed the topic.
He came standing close to her "Tahira waya taba min ke?"
She was trying so hard not cry and he was being persistent, he put his arm around her shoulder "tell me what wrong with you"
Every emotion came back rushing and overwhelming her, her tears came back and she started to cry again. She hated not being able to control her emotions.
"Tee baby, tell me waya taba ki?"
She didn't know where to start Abdulmaleek, Adilah, Zainab, she decided to go with the most recent "Zainab!!! Zainab ce...saboda mijinta.. wai .. wai ...shine ni zata wa wulakanci"
He could hardly make sense of what she was saying through her sobbing "wai.. wai .. saboda mijin ta.. shine.. shine.."
He hugged her closely "its alright, kin san ku mata ba'a shiga tsakanin ku, kiyi hakuri, you shouldn't let people make you cry haka. Nasan people can disappoint but remember not everyone is worth your tears, kin ji?"
Letting her go slightly, she nods "bana so inga kina kuka haka kinji? Me Zainab din take baki da zata sa ki kuka? Never again kin ji?"
She nods and he began to wipe her tears while new tear continue to drop. "Zan fita, zan kai ki wurin Teemah gobe tunda kin masta, but no more crying"
When she finally stopped crying Salahuddeen went out and she went home.
"Shit" he stood up and continued to call her phone, 5 missed calls and Tahira was not picking up, he texted her and nothing. The news about his engagement was all over the media and the worst part of everything was that if he couldn't find a way to stabilize the poultry losses, that part of B.D Farms was about to crash and render them broke. The rest of the projects would drown with that part of the animal farms gone, his father was underestimating their losses but they had lost a lot of money and still they where losing money.
He was frustrated and the one person who could calm him down was not picking his calls. Abdulzahir's call came in "Hello?"
"kai!!! shege!! Do you know that Adilah met Tahira kuwa?"
"me ka ce?" he wasnt sure he heard him, and what he was saying sounded impossible "kai! Ni fa ban san hauka"
"wallahi they have met, kasan bana wasa da irin wannan, Tahira was in my house and argued with Zainab, then she told her wai they met and even went shopping or something like that dai"
"kai tsaya mana, bana ganewa fa, taya za'a yi Adilah da ba er gari ba ta hadu da Tahira and even go shopping? Its not making sense"
"toh nidai i thought you should know ne, dan kasan yadda zaka gyara. Zainab wont lie to me"
"bari i'll check it out and call you back"
Tahira met Adilah? It wasn't making sense to him, he called Lala "Hey, kina ina?"
"gamu nan muna ta packing fa" she said through the phone
"I'm on my way" he didn't even wait for her to reply him he took his car keys and went straight to their auntie's.
he parked outside and called her "Lala I'm outside"
"okay Should i send you Adi?"
"no! Just come" right now he didnt think it was a good idea for him to confront her, they still haven't been on okay terms since he refused to snap pre wedding pictures with her.
She didn't take long, she knocked on his window and he whined down the glass "shigo mana"
She sat beside him "hey, ya na ganka haka?"
"Lala who did Adilah go shopping with ranan?"
He remembered she told him she was going shopping with friends and he was surprised Lala wasn't going with them.
He looked directly at her without blinking and she looked back at him"with friends i don't know Adi's friends here in kd"
He knew it was a lie, the two of them where inseparable, there was no way she wouldn't know. "Tell me the truth Lala bamu fara haka da ke ba"
"no this isn't fair gaskiya, you should talk to her kawai, why are you always putting me in the middle, kasan dai sister na ne kuma sai ka rika sa ni tsiyan maganan ku?"
Of course he knew she wouldn't tell him, but what she just said confirmed what Abdul told him. He started to shake his head thinking of how to face Tahira "no this is too much" he muttered
And Lala looked at him sympathetically, she understood that he put himself in a bad position "I'm sorry for everything you're going through"
"l should head back, sorry for bothering you"
He didn't stop anywhere but Tahira's house, he called her several time but she didn't answer, he whatsapp and texted her "Hey!! I'm outside your house, please we need to talk"
He waited for an hour, calling her after every few minutes. He got tired of waiting and left.
Abdulmaleek found himself in a very frustrating position, how was he going to fix this. What was bothering him most was how Adilah went from someone who was willing to put her own happiness above his to someone who he could absolutely not trust. What exactly was Adilah Haasim capable of, how does he begin to measure her capabilities. Jealousy would drive a woman who was unable to control it straight to hell with her feet.
Lala didn't go back inside she sat on the porch near a flower and kept playing with it, she was mentally stressed, Abdulmaleek continued to involve her in their issues. There was this frown he always made when he was disappointed, or frustrated or in a bad position..to her always made his look extra beautiful, she wondered how a man could have his features and still look like a man. Ya Allah i like him. Her desire for the forbidden fruit increased everyday, Adilah was lucky she was her sister and she loved her, had it been anyone else she would have carefully and easily displaced them considering how Adilah has been making a mess of everything lately. She breathes in the scent of fresh air as the wind blew chills into her. Peaceful. Ya Allah i want him. Yet he was someone she knew she could never have, even if things don't workout with Adilah, there was absolutely no way she could be with him, it'll tear Adilah to bits and she would never do that to her. Tahira muhammad was also on another end, everything about him was complicated, alas contending for a man that seem to have it all would have been a game she would have enjoyed winning. As her grandfather would always say, Kowa rabansa yake ci ko da duka ne.
Anty Juwairiyya opened the door and saw her sitting down "Lala nan ki ke ashe, munji ki shuru"
Their aunt was just 4years older, she and Lala had a special bond, she was always closer to her than Adilah and most times they would team up against Adilah when they feel she had crossed a line. "Anty Jay I'm in trouble, i like Abdulmaleek, its so hard i don't know how long i can keep it to myself"
Anty Jay sat next to her on the porch "kin san when i was engaged to Jake i met a guy, very close to my wedding fa, i loved Jake but this man made me feel things and at a point i wanted to call off the wedding"
"I don't love Muktar Anty jay, i am out of options, grandaddy has managed to refuse every guy i loved or at least liked" sorrowfully she pointed out
"yes! I know, my point is there's more to life than a fine faced boy. Obstacles to this wedding are easy to find when you're desperately looking for them, with or without love. For your sake do not fall for your sister's fiance, fiance meaning they would be getting married the same day as you, otherwise you would subject yourself to a lifetime of torture."
After making her point Anty Jay stood up to leave "you never know, Muktar might end up being the love of your life one day, only time will tell" and she left Lala on the porch enjoying the breeze as it comes.