Abdulmaleek woke up with a weight that felt like the world on his shoulders, it wasn't official yet but they were closing down, there was very little still keeping them in place. He sat up straight "Ya Allah deliver us from hardship"
Adilah travelled to Dubai with Lala on a shopping spree, and she had been taxing him even from there. He was worried she wasn't taking care of herself properly like any pregnant woman should, but there was nothing he could do. Adilah does what Adilah wants to do.
Its been two weeks, their plane should be landing in Abuja today. He got to his feet and to the bathroom to take a shower. 10minutes later he came out fresh as ever, he got dressed and went straight to the dining area to have breakfast. Amina was setting up the table, she was wearing a long night gown which was supposed to be covering her body but it really wasn't, he could see the shape of everything in it's place around her body. Abdulmaleek swallowed hard, why would Adilah leave him alone with a maid this appealing. He wished she was dirty and ugly, then maybe he wouldn't be having such a hard time staying under the same roof alone with her.
He took his eyes off and changed his mind about having breakfast, he took his keys and reached for the door. Her thin voice came from a distance approaching him "Ina kwana?"
Without turning around he answered her "lafiya lau" he continued towards the door
"Na gama abincin fa"
He honestly needed to get away from her to get some sanity but he was hungry and it was already 11am. How would he block these insane desires? should he eat home or eat out? Thoughts. He decided to man up and eat home "Ok toh" he didn't want her to feel bad after making such effort.
Turning back to the table his eyes immediately looked where they shouldn't, he looked away immediately. His thoughts where corrupted but he wasn't about to let it corrupt his actions..
He didn't care how Adilah would react, she was going to take the girl back to wherever she took her from, whether she wanted to or not.
***
Abdulzahir carried Teemah almost lifeless to his car. He driving as fast as he could without getting them into an accident. What have i done now? it wasn't a question he wanted answered. He knew exactly what he had done.
He rushed her to the emergency unit, where she was immediately taken to be examined. He was forced to wait.
Later the doctor declared that she had slipped into a coma, her brain was affected and it'll be a miracle if she could survive the damage to her skull, they did everything they could to stabilize her. Abdulzahir stood in the hall way thinking of the weight of what he did, he couldn't really remember that last time he cried. He pressed his shaking hands against the wall, his eyes turned red and 3 hot tears cracked his cheeks. Perhaps the tears would wash the blood away, perhaps regret would wake her up, and perhaps the love he had for her would heal her up.
It wasn't a question whether or not he still loved her, he did. But maybe she deserved this for what she did to him, maybe she deserves to die, maybe he should walk away and never look back or maybe he should finish her off and make sure she never takes another breath in this world. Just thoughts, angered thoughts that kept running through his head. All the things she said kept running through his head, for how long has she been doing what she was doing. "I tried to tell you so many times since we were kids.." her words came rushing through his head, he realized that it meant his father had been molesting her when they were kids.
He picked up his phone to do what he knew was absolutely inevitable, call her mother and make up a story.
***
"Look who decided to show up" Tahira's voice echoed loud enough for Zainab to hear her down the stairs.
"Toh ya zanyi tunda kinki kizo gida na" Zainab was wearing an abaya with a small baby hijab on her head. She met Tahira in front of her room and they hugged.
"Ha'an! see how my girl is looking fresh, Abuja ta karbe ki" Tahira led the way to her room.
Zainab sat by the dressing mirror taking off her hijab and keeping it by the side, Tahira sat on the bed "hmmm Tahira ki bari kawai, daga dawo na har na fara wahala, na zo miki da labari da dumi dumin sa"
"My sister don't leave me hanging like that, zubo min mana" with a hint of excitement she became so curious to know what Zainab had for her.
"My husband came home last night, kina ji ko? Since i came back fa ko kallo na baya yi, when he was the one ya matsa in dawo..."
"Mutumin naki ne akwai shi da sauran aiki"
"Ba karami ba wallahi. Anyway as i was saying he came back late and he looked out of it, so i stayed away. After a while i heard him go outside so I followed him to window na parlor to see ko fita zai sake yi ashe waya zai yi.." Zainab was now speaking in a low tune voice avoiding getting heard by anyone who might be passing by. "Tahira you wont believe what i heard..."
"Ki fada min mana Zainab, ya kike ja min rai?"
"...that he went to Teemah's house kina ji? Ni dama ina ji ya ce Teemah rai na ya baci, ace daga dawowa bazan huta ba sai Teemah? That he went to see her and found her bleeding on the floor and he took her to the hospital, it appears she had some kind of accident. Hmmm Tahira, she's comatose"
Tahira looked effortlessly sad, she didn't want to imagine what had happened but something told her it wasn't an accident. Without a word she looked through the space, how could someone be so affiliated with so many misfortunes, how could she have made so many mistakes and now that she was trying to fix them something like this happens, Tahira thought of something she knew Zainab would never agree to, that Teemah was attached by none else than Abdulzahir himself. She shook her head unknowingly, was her friend married to a monster? Was Zainab also in danger? How would she confirm Abdulzahir was responsible for Teema's present condition. Just thoughts going through her head, so deep she didn't know when Zainab left her position to sit next to her now tapping her shoulders "Tahira?? Tahira? Are you ok? What's wrong?"
"What kind of accident?"
"Honestly I don't know i was eavesdropping, why?"
Tahira kept quiet, she knew one thing for certain, she told Teemah not to tell him the relationship between her and his father. What if he met her home alone and she told him and that was why she was comatose in the hospital "Zainab i think your life might be in danger, Abdulzahir is out of control"
"Calm down I'm sure he wont hurt me after everything his parents did to ensure that"
Tahira did not add a word, she knew Zainab's blind eye to Abdulzahir's faults. She wanted to confirm first before warning Zainab. "Well Allah ya kara mata sauki"
Zainab frown "ah please tayi ta zama a chan ko mutum ya ji iska"
Tahira decided to wave off that particular conversation because it wasn't going how she would have want. "Anyway tell me about Abuja"
****
Deciding to see for herself, Tahira visited the hospital to check on Teemah. The reception directed her to a ward room, she opened the door and saw a girl sitting by Teemah's bedside with tissue in her hand. The girl was fairer than Teemah but by just looking at her she knew they had to be related.
"Assalamualaikum" Tahira said to the girl.
She looked up with swollen eyes "wa'alaikissalam... ga wuri ki zauna mana"
Tahira sat on a plastic chair next to the girl "ya mai jiki?"
"Toh da sauki za'a ce, are you her friend?"
To Tahira Muhammad, that was a complicated question, which she didn't know how to answer "she dated my brother" she answered truthfully
"Well my sister only truly dated one other person beside Abdulzahir, you must be Salahuddeen's sister"
Tahira nods "ya hakuri?" She asked, "Alhamdulillah," now she was sure the girl was Teemah's sister "I thought she dated a lot of ..." she paused realizing how inappropriate it was for her to ask that particular question.
The girl half smiled "my name is Fadila"
"Tahira"
"You must know my sister well"
"Not really, we only started to get along. What did they say happened?"
"Abdulzahir found her on the floor, we don't know who attacked her, the doctors said there were signs of struggle on her neck, whoever did this choked her. Our wall was stained with blood from how had she was hit to the wall"
"Oh Allah who would do such a thing? And you said Abdulzahir found her?"
"Yes we were lucky ma he brought her here da wuri ai da sai wani labari kuma"
"Toh Allah ya kara kare mu"
"Amin"
After sitting for like 10 more minutes thinking about it, Tahira was absolutely sure it was Abdulzahir, there was no other possible explanation. But she had no way of proving it. "Toh bari in tafi Allah ya bata lafiya"
"Amin. Allah ya bada lada"