A Weakness Called Love: Memoirs of an African Housemaid

CHAPTER 26: LETS TRY FOREVER

Zakiyya and I arrived at my home that night safely. I made the Salam, I did not wait for an answer I simply went in while zakiyya followed suit.

"Laaa! What have you done? What am I seeing? Lord please wake me up from this horrible dream or let it be my eyes are deceiving me. Ladi! Please tell me you did not run! What do I do with you now?"
My mother screamed.

I said nothing, but I sure as hell wasn't sorry. I just looked at her in amazement wondering when she will get tired and finally shut up.

She was still talking when my father made his way to where we were. Apparently, her wailing had gotten his attention.
"What is happening? " he asked
"Look! Maigida. Look, Ladi is back again. What do I do with her?!" She exclaimed

"What the hell is wrong with you, you ungrateful brat? What do you want? Do you want to kill me before my Time" he cuts in

He was much more angry than I anticipated. He lost his cool and lunges at me. I covered my face to evade the blow, but the blow never landed. I peeped through the space between my fingers that were spread on my face to see what is taking the blow so long to land, only to find out My mother had swiftly held his hand.

"Maigida, let us not be hasty, beating her will not solve the problem. Ummhmm prayer Maigida. It's our last hope. Prayer is the answer, prayer is always the answer. Let's pray for Ladi together. God will see us through"

Without a word, he turned and left. My mother let out a sigh.
He is a handful, I thought to myself. We spent the night with Zakiyya in our house. The next morning I escorted her to her home. Her stepmother was sweeping the floor when we entered. She threw the broom away, raised both her hands up and exclaimed:
"What is wrong with you, why are you here?"

"We came back home, because of an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with immediately. It cannot wait" I replied
"Has Hajiya agreed to your coming here?"
She asked
"No" I simply said

"Maigida! Maigida! Come and see what your daughter has done. She is bent on shamming us for the rest of our mortal lives. What a disgrace." She wails

Hamisu came out of the family bathroom, that was located in the side of the courtyard. He was holding a kettle, his eyes landed on Zakiyya, then on me.

Uwani the step mother exclaimed what had happened. She even added that Zakiyya was such a mean person who detest helping her family.
Hamisu was red with anger, he lunges at her and landed a blow on her her cheek. She said nothing. He hurled insults at her.
They were making a scene so Malam Murtala came to check what was up.

Though fragile, he was radiating with power. He held so much resoluteness and calmness that one has to respect him.

"What is wrong? What is the matter? " he asked

Uwani started, before hamisu could speak
" zakiyya, ran away from town, who knows where she went to before she decided to come back home. She is bringing disgrace to our family"
Uwani is a bold woman she was confident, so confident that she spoke before her husband. speaking before one's husband speak is considered rude and not the behavior of a good wife.

" father, I'm tired of this girl. She is sucking all the sanity I have left. Why does she has to be so deviant"
Hamisu responded angrily

Malam Murtala did not speak, He was no doubt assessing the situation. Then he spoke with his clear and manly voice
" zakiyya, did you run away?"
"Yes" she simply replied
Her father attempted to hit her one more time but was stopped by the intimidating voice of Malam Murtala.
"Stop this madness" he fired at his son.

Then he turned to zakiyya and spoke softly
" this is the first time you ever ran away. Did she abused you or mistreated you in anyway?"
"No" she replied she was now sobbing
" then why did you run away? " he asked still calm.