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Chapter 34
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2024-10-29 19:42:56*
Maryam had been reluctant to call Adnan ever since they left their house. Her mother had given her his phone number despite her refusal, and insisted she call him at once.
Mercifully, her attention had been drawn elsewhere afterwards, and she didn't get a chance to pressurize her any further. But once she had dealt with the problem at hand, she returned to her daughter's room with a purposeful stride.
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*Halima had always had such beautiful hair, right from her childhood. It fell right down to her shoulders, thick and jet-black with a sheen unlike any other. Her hair was one of the many things Afrah was glad she inherited."Abba doesn't know how lucky he is," Amina said as she watched Afrah plaiting her hair. They were sitting in Halima's room, where the noise of the men down below couldn't be heard.
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*Afrah had straightened up and smoothed out her gown by the time Adnan came up the balcony. She had more than enough time, seeing as he got lost twice on the way up, with no one to guide him. The first time, he wound up in the upstairs kitchen where he found a man who appeared to be just as lost as him."I... I was looking for the bathroom," he said, with his phone pressed to his ear and a guilty look on his face. "D... Do you know where t
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*"Adnan," Halima smiled warmly as she saw him approaching. "You naughty boy. You've been here all along and you didn't come to see me.""Forgive me, aunt," he bowed his head. "I lost track of time. Congratulations on your anniversary."
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*The days leading up to Afrah's return to Kano were a blur. She didn't remember most of it. Just bits and pieces which didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.They left Abuja two days after she had received the message. Her father insisted that the entire family would go, so they had to wait for his schedule to clear up. He understood that Afrah was hurting, and she needed her family at a time like that.
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*The curtains were drawn shut, as they always were. Somehow, though, a few inches remained between them so that a sliver of light crept into the room and onto the carpet. Slowly, meticulously, it crawled up the side of the bed as the sun rose higher into the sky until the light touched Afrah's sleeping face.
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*Nafisa's scream echoed through the house."I knew it!" she squealed. "I just knew you were madly in love with her. I knew it!" "I said I want to marry her," Adnan pointed out. "When did I ever mention anything about being madly in love with her?" "Just look at the way you're grinning right now," she laughed. "Of course you're in love with her." "That's enough, Nafisa," their mother said, rising from her prayer mat. She walked slowly towards her bed, sinking into the mattress with a decided groan. "I'm happy for you, Adnan," she said, watching him as he walked towards the window. The sight outside was enough to instantly spoil his mood as he saw Zainab sitting beside their father out by the pool, smiling at something he said. "Adnan?" she called, her tone indicating that he had failed to answer a question. "Hm?" "Don't you think it's a bit too soon to be talking about marriage?" she asked. "I've known Afrah for nearly a year now," he said. "I think I'm fairly certain that I w
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* "Marriage?!" Damn it! "Afrah, I can explain.""I don't want to marry you, Adnan," the words tumbled out of her without so much as a pause. Adnan sat up on the bed, his eyes drawn to the clock. It was 11pm, the ungodliest hour of the day. "Afrah, please let me explain." "Why would you think that I would ever want to marry you?" "Wow," he said, trying at humor. "That's a nice boost to a man's ego." "Why did you do this behind my back?" she asked. "I'm sorry," he said. "Truly, I am. But perhaps if you would let me get in a word, then you will understand my own point of view." "I don't want to hear it," she said. "Afrah, please." He sounded calm. Too calm. It wasn't fair, when her mind was spinning in a million different directions. Marriage to him? Of all people? Imagine that. But the terrifying part was that she actually could. She could imagine them together, and she could imagine him as her husband. It was exactly what she had been trying to stop herself from imagini
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*Carpets and curtains. She dreamt of them both, not as separate entities, but as one. Throughout her existence, Afrah had been surrounded by carpets and curtains, each lending its own unique addition to the story of her life. They were always silent, never considered but ever present. She recalled the carpets in her bedroom, how soft and flat it was. Twice a year, the carpets would be taken out so they could be washed and returned. The curtains were washed every month, and Afrah remembered sitting in the middle of her room one time when both carpets and curtains were removed, and she simply stared at the barrenness of her room. Strange how something as insignificant as carpets and curtains could change the entire appearance of her bedroom. She recalled the carpets in her father's room, the plush cream color stretching from wall to wall. His curtains were white, which she remembered complaining to her mother about once. "Why can't I have white curtains as well?" she'd asked. "Bec
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*Afrah didn't know she was capable of doing it until she'd done it. Spontaneous action was never her area of expertise, knowing fully well that she was more of a reactive person than a proactive one. But the sight of Fahad falling to the floor jolted her to action. It was like a spark had awakened in her, grinding the gears in her brain. She began by lunging for the gun. Yusuf wasn't expecting her to move. Neither did he hear her move, since the carpet muffled her footsteps. He was still pointing the gun at Fahad's twitching corpse when Afrah's hands suddenly wrapped around the gun and yanked it out of his hands. He staggered back, bewildered by her action. And then she brought the gun to his chest, looking him dead in the eye. Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Neither he nor she dared to move. Between them was their hateful glare, separated by the barrel of the gun. His breathing was calm, while hers was irregular, coming in short bursts. In that moment, their roles were rev
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*Every movement caused Afrah to jump; every second his eyes spent watching her made her skin crawl. She didn't sit. Instead she remained where she was standing, her arms folded in front of her. Yusuf meanwhile had leaned back into the seat, sighing comfortably. "What would you like to have?" he asked nonchalantly. "Some water, perhaps? I have some orange juice which still happens to be fresh. Or would you prefer a coke? I have some wine as well, but then knowing how close you and Adnan are, I'm sure he's taught you to stray away from fine wine. So, which would you prefer to have?""I would like to have my daughter back," Afrah replied. Yusuf studied her for a few seconds before he chuckled. "Of course," he said. "It's why you're here, is it not? As for me, I'd like a Bloody Mary."He stood up then, stretched with a slight groan before he left the room. Afrah remained where she was, awkwardly staring at the stained walls with nothing but a single wall clock hanging on them. She tho
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*Adnan couldn't bring himself to do it. All through the flight to Kano, he kept staring at his mother in-law's phone number, debating whether he should do it or not. He couldn't. What exactly would he say?'Hello, yes I was just wondering if you have a hand in kidnapping my daughter and I was just wondering if you knew where she was so I can get her back?'Stupid. He couldn't tell Afrah either. Not when it involved her mother. She would be heart broken if she found out. But then Zainab might be lying. She was a pathological liar after all. Why wouldn't she lie to him? It didn't make any sense. Surely she must have just said that to throw him off their scent. And stupid as he was, he'd left the state knowing that she'd been pardoned by the governor. Now she was free; free to wreak her havoc over them once again. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place. When they landed in Kano, Adnan's first stop was the police station. The sergeant was eager to help, and very soon all t
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*Some say terror brings an overwhelming sense of confusion, so sharp and painful that the person isn't able to decipher his left from his right. It robs the mind of its tact, and ensnares the person in its claws. For Afrah, terror brought an overwhelming sense of calm. In the seconds after Adnan spoke to her on the phone, her senses heightened, and something inside of her seemed to snap. She was neither aware of walking out of the hospital, nor was she aware of hopping into her car and driving off. Her heart was racing, and the wailing of a thousand exhausted cars desperately trying to maneuver around each other was lost to her. All she heard was silence, so pure and complete that even her breathing was faint, almost nonexistent. And then she screamed.No one heard her, of course. No one heard the anguish in her voice, or the desperation in her every breath. The pain came from within her, seeping out of her pores and wrapping her in a dreadful blanket. Remarkable however, was the f
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*Hafsah grew rapidly. It was almost as if one day she went to sleep a baby, and woke up the next day with a vocabulary of over five hundred words. Her growth spurt happened right around the time that Afrah and Adnan moved to Kano. Amina called it their migration, while everyone else called it a relocation. Like birds which migrated south for the winter, Amina told everyone who listened that they'd migrated north for The Long Winter, one which would stretch on for years if care was not taken. Adnan was much too happy to move. Knowing they were leaving the danger of Abuja behind was the only thing which finally made him able to sleep. That, and the knowledge that Zainab was serving a life sentence. The charges leveled against her would have easily amounted to culpable homicide punishable with death, but an unknown party was said to have bribed the judge and reduced the charges to culpable homicide not punishable with death. Adnan had been ready to appeal, but Afrah assured him that
