Sekinat: Muted Voices

Chapter 14: Insecurity

Just few weeks prior, one of Sekinat's friends had gotten caught in the most recent spate of explosion which had occurred on the fringe of the market square where they normally sold their produce in wide metal basin with different sized scoops.

According to a surviving witness whose shop was adjacent to the immediate scene of the blast, and had witnessed the whole gory episode play out culminating in the explosion. She had observed a young girl of about 12 years old not much older than her own daughter covered up in full body hijab asking for some water. An old woman whose shop was next to hers selling provisions had heard her and obliged with a bowl of water, which the little girl had used to wash her perspiration covered face and dusty feet. All of a sudden without warning the girl turned back to face the woman who had handed her the bowl of water, a manic expression frozen upon her face as she screamed Allahu Akbar!! repeatedly about 3 to 4 times simultaneously raising one hand in a sort of preconceived but strangely co-ordinated gesture. The last sight the eye witness testified glimpsing was that of a sudden white and orange flash as something heavy slammed into her and sudden blackness as she drifted off into a coma.

The witness only came to at the hospital, in the midst of other victims she later learnt had been caught in the immediate area of the fatal bomb explosion. She had been lucky that her own wounds were minimal due to the distance and proximity unlike Sekinat's friend, who had borne the brunt of the full explosion. The young suicide bomber's charred remains scattered in uneven chunks and pieces according to responders had sketched a grotesque graffiti all over the scene of the explosion serving as a reminder of the terrible episode.

The grisly sight of Sekinat's friend, her battered frame laying on the hospital cot twisting and turning in discomfort shocked Sekinat to the bone marrow. She could only watch her friend dumbfounded and immobile with shock as she whimpered softly clutching at the bloody stump of her severed limb wrapped up in a crude bandage dressing.

She seemed to be battling an onset of fever as a thin film of perspiration covered her brow and patterned wrapper covering her semi naked modesty already soaked with sweat. Her wound had already soaked through the dressing judging by the creamy white of the bandage turned brownish by the blood which greeted her when she arrived to visit. The other leg which was thankfully less impacted by the accident displayed an ugly tapestry of mismatched and scarred wounds.

There was a copious network of unhealed lesions and lacerations strewn all over the severely ravaged skin, reaching up to her upper leg and thigh displaying a faint outline of exposed tendons. She could hardly exchange meaningful words with Sekinat due to the throes of pains she was going through only answering in sights and grunts.

The distressing sight had stayed with Sekinat long after she left her friend and other survivors at the government hospital they had all been rushed to for treatment. Although she was thankful that her friend's life was spared considering her nearness to the suicide bomber. The distressing sight of her amputated limb, and the network of wounds where metal shrapnel from the explosive had split her skin had a profound effect upon her. The experience had firmed her resolve to relocate from their town as soon as she concluded the business with her farm produce. Each time she thought about the impending relocation, her heart produced an involuntary shudder which underscored the panic she felt. This was the town of her birth, she had never left this town and knew nowhere else. Her late husband's Aunty she was going to meet, she had only met her once a long time ago when they had gotten married. What if their burden was too much for her to bear?

What if she had changed her warm and inviting disposition now that her husband had passed on, after all he was the only one she owed filial loyalty?

As she considered all the pros and cons the only thing which gave her a sense of comfort was the fact that nothing could be worse than what they were going through in their small town at the moment.

She could still hear the spine tingling screams of pain emitted at regular intervals by the other victims without let, some of the other victims simply starred dully into space oblivious to the presence of friends and family members congregated around them offering prayers and supplications to unseen gods and deities.

The sight of her friend's mangled body coupled with the cloying sweetish smell of slight decay mixed with an intense smell of disinfectant hanging thick over the hospital ward almost suffocating in its intensity firmed her decision not to visit the hospital again, at least until her friend was recovered and discharged from the hospital.