Tears of Zubaida.

•••••TEARS OF ZUBAIDA••••• •••Chapter Twenty-Nine•••

The value of friendship,
Is like a treasure.

Once it get lost,
And you let it be.

Trust me, even if it's back,
It will never be like before!

So cherish it now,
Before it gets late!
~HalimatuAbdulrazak ✨

••• ••• •••
Worried.

Disturbed.

Were what she felt at the moment. One minute she's forgotten everything and is all happy like nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong in her life, and the next she remembers what's going on.

Fortnight ago was her sister and now, their mother. She wiped her tears with a tissue and leaned on the window, watching as different vehicles move to their different locations.
She was getting bored with the journey which seems unending at the moment.

"Ruqayyah, I told you to stop crying, didn't I? Why won't you stop dan Allah." Baraka said.

Ruqayyah closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep so as to avoid more talks from her aunt. Her heart aches her so badly, it feels like she has failed woefully. First, she couldn't do anything to help her sister and presumed she could handle whatsoever the problem was and now their mother; the woman that played a motherly role in her life. She can't bear the thought of loosing her.

Definitely, she too couldn't bear the burden, it's just much which prompted to awakening her illness; long-forgotten illness.

The car was packed near a fruits vendor, and Ruqayyah weakly opened her now red eyes. She stared at the window, giving all her attention to the car that passed at low speed, and gently parked by the other fruit vendor. Her heart palpitated upon seeing someone so familiar at the backseat, at first, she thought it was a mere hallucination, until she wound the glass down and had a better view of the person she saw.

She's the one.

Before she could make any move to approach the car, theirs was roared to life and she quickly copied the other car's plate number, making a mental note to tell Aleeyu, if he could help her trace it. She quickly sent him a message attaching the number along.

••• ••• •••
Zubaida held the baby so gently, afraid any small mistake, the baby will fall from her. He looked just like her, with his full hair that covered up to his forehead. His lashes that looked so curly which landed below his eyes and the way he cuddled more into the shawl, wriggling his hands up the air, made him looked so cute and she instantly felt affection for the boy. A pure mother's love.

She ducked her head low as the room's door was opened, Hayaat and Farida walked into the room. Farida, whom is Hayaat's cousin, stayed by the door and the former, Hayaat walked to where Zubaida is seated on the bed.

"Maman Baby." She teased, passing her hands to collect the baby from Zubaida.
At first, Zubaida didn't want to separate her warmth from the baby's, but later on gave her the baby.

"He's so cute. What name do you have in mind for him?" She asked.

Zubaida didn't know what to say next, she stared dumbly at the baby, then Hayaat and finally Farida who sent her a threatening dagger.

"Farida, come and see the cute boy, you still haven't carried him since we returned from the hospital." Hayaat motioned.

Farida inwardly eyed the baby, cursing Zubaida under her breath and marched towards Hayaat to collect the baby.

"Can we call him Um-"

"Auwal," Zubaida cut her through. "His name is Auwal." She said.

Hayaat was disappointed, but quickly shrugged it off. "Okay then, we shall call him Auwal," she stared at the baby. "Allah ya raya mana Auwal." She smiled.

"Amin." Zubaida replied.

She was discharged from the hospital the previous day and since they knew nothing about her, they decided to take her to their home. Unfortunately, Zubaida can't remember anything from her past, not even her name.
Special thanks to Mu'az who donated his blood, he recognized her immediately and told them her name.

At first, he suggested her parents should be informed but, Yunus, the doctor decided against it. As she's lost her memories and it'd be too early to start bringing in people or events from her past. So Gaddafi and Hayaat decided to take her with them, with Mu'az promising to be visiting them from time to time to see how she's fairing and to be giving little informations he knew about her.

••• ••• •••
"Ruqayyah," Zainaba smiled warmly at her. "You took in the features of your mother."

Ruqayyah returned the smiling gesture, picking interest in what Zainaba just said. "Inna, could you tell me more about her please?"

"Ha'an, Ruqayyah, you came to visit a patient not a storyteller. Let her rest, will you?" Baraka interrupted.

"I feel better. Let me tell her, since she requested."

October 21, 2002.

The house premises was filled with people, different groups of women were doing one thing or the other, some were by the tripod stove preparing a massive amount of tuwo, some were preparing soup on another tripod stone, some preparing jollof rice, some chopping onions/spinach and so on.

"Zaliha, come and take your bath, the water has been set." Said an elderly woman. "Give Huwaila the baby, let her get dressed."

Zaliha did as urged and left to the bathroom to have a bath.
Zainaba, the first wife of Malam Musa walked into the room dressed in a three quarter sewn blouse and wrapper that was solely for this occasion, with a genuine smile plastered on her face, she took the baby that was laid on the bed after been dressed in a pink gown. Immediately, the baby started wailing for her mother.

"Give her to me, you're just so unfortunate, you've been married to our brother for over seven years and yet you couldn't conceive. Now that he got married again and has finally gotten a child, you want to rub some of your barrenness to the child? Toh aniyar ki ta biki."

"But Yaya Indo-"

"Never! I forbid you. I am not your sister. Allah ya tsari gatari da saran shuka."  Indo spitted venomously.

Zaliha who just entered the room after eavesdropping on what just transpired between the duo said, "Yaya Indo, as far as I'm concerned, Yaya deserves some respect from you, she's your brother's first wife. And her not conceiving doesn't means she's never going to. Who knows what the future holds. Gaskiya I don't like such things. This is a happy occasion, don't ruin it for any of us."

She turned to Zainaba, "Yaya, I'm so sorry. Kiyi hakuri."

"It's alright." The latter smiled.

•••
"She'd need some rest now, could you let her be please. Maybe some other time, the story continues." A nurse interrupted.

Ruqayyah wearily eyed and scoffed.

"It's alright, we shall come back tomorrow, it's late now already. Allah ya kara sauki."  Baraka said and they left to a relative's place there in Zaria.

•~•~•~