Tears of Zubaida.

•••••TEARS OF ZUBAIDA••••• •••Chapter three•••

Zubaida finished sweeping the yard of the house and quickly took her bath.
She got dressed in an atampha with the tabarma pattern known as mai tabarma. She smeared some lipstick and tied her headtie in a ture kaga tsiya style, draping a brown lace veil. She bid her mother goodbye and went to Mariya's place. From there, they would be going to their friend and also Zubaida's cousin Fatima's tirirrishi.

"Will you be allowed to go to Jamilah's naming ceremony?" Mariya asked on their way to the house where the tirirrishi was taking place.

"Yes, I told Inna." Replied Zubaida.

"What did she say?"

"Zata ma baba magana," Zubaida said, and they walked into the room where the Hausa song "Ayyiriri Amarya" was chanted by the bride's friends who were already there.

Zubaida and Mariya walked into the premises of the house and they met with their other friends, they exchanged pleasantries and went further to see the bride.
They ate, drank, and had fun with their friends and the bride before she was taken to her house.

"Has he agreed?" Zubaida asked Zainaba who walked into the room gloomily.
Zubaida had packed her clothes for the journey and was ready to leave for Kaduna for the naming ceremony which is tomorrow together with Mariya and her other relatives who were going later in the evening.

"Yace a'a 'yan'nan," Zainaba said shaking her head vigorously.

Zubaida was mum, although she wanted to go so bad, her father had said no and so be it.

"I am joking, he said you can go and here take this..." Zainaba said smiling as she handed over a thousand naira note to her daughter. "He gave me this to give you for the transport fee and tip if you might need something."

Zubaida's lips curved into a smile as she took the money and put it in her purse and put in her bag.

"And this one is from me, you can add it to the one your father has given you," Zainaba said giving Zubaida a five-hundred-naira note.

"A'a inna, wannan ma ya isa. Where will I take this amount to?" Zubaida declined politely.
After much insistence from her mother, she decided to collect the money.

Zainaba helped Zubaida with the bag her belongings were in, and walked her to the kwar gida.

"Safe journey," Zainaba said to her daughter and hugged her before Zubaida left for Mariya's place as they were running out of time.

Zubaida walked around the street as she stared in awe at everything and nothing especially the tall coconut trees and the streetlights, which adorned the street.
Everything seems to amaze her she walked around in awe without noticing the figure she bumped into.

"Yi hakuri." She said as she raised her head to see who she bumped into.
She was shocked to see the person she least expected to see right in front of her.

"I thought she was dead." Zubaida soliloquized to herself.

Without thinking twice, the person she saw quickly walked as fast as her legs could go with Zubaida running after her.

"Why were you running?" Mariya asked Zubaida.

"Nothing." She replied.

Many thoughts rummaged through Zubaida's mind. "Inna told me she was dead." That was the only thing she kept muttering to herself.

What if she tells Baba she has seen me?
What if they come looking for me?
What if they are even together?
Many 'what ifs' were running through her mind. She cleared the thoughts off her mind and called it a day.

The naming ceremony event went smoothly with Zubaida walking to and fro the street hoping she could sight her again.
Just as she was about to go, she heard her name being called.

"Zubaida."

She turned and saw her, debating on whether to go to her or stay back. She chose the former and walked slowly towards her.
Without thinking twice, she engulfed her in a hug.

"Ruqayya, I thought you were..."

"Shh! I wasn't, I ran away."

Zubaida released the hug because of the mist of tears she felt on her shoulder.

"Why are you crying then?" Zubaida asked.

"I want to go home, but I'm afraid I can't," Ruqayya said wiping her tears.

"But why?" Queried Zubaida.

"They believe I'm dead. And no one knows of my whereabouts except Inna."

"And me. Trust me no one will know, my lips are sealed." Zubaida said.

"I do trust you. And by the way, what are you doing here?"

"Jamilah gave birth to a baby boy and today is the naming ceremony," Zubaida replied.

"Okay, here take this..." Ruqayyah passed a parcel to her. Ki kaima inna."

"She gave you this?" Inna asked again.

Zubaida nodded her head positively.

"You have to remain quiet and don't tell anyone about it."

"About what?" Malam Musa's voice echoed in the room.

Glossary.

Atampha ... Textile.

Tabarma ... Mat.

Mai tabarma ... A type of textile that has mat patterns on it.

Ture kaga tsiya ... A style for tying a head-tie.

Tirirrishi ... Bridal shower.

Inna ... Mother.

Zata ma baba magana ... She will talk to father.

Zaure ... A hallway by the entrance of a house.

Ayyiriri amarya ... Yodels bride.

Yace a'a 'yan'nan ... He said No my daughter.

A'a inna, wannan ma ya isa ... No mother, this one is enough.

Kwar gida ... The facade of a house.

Yi hakuri ... I'm sorry.

Ki kaima inna ... Take it to inna.

0⃣7⃣/0⃣8⃣/2⃣0⃣1⃣9⃣

Thank you.🙏