BY ZEE ASLAM
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“And you” Farida said referring to Bello.
He was so ashamed he couldn’t look at her in the face.
A quick recap will remind you of what I said on our wedding night “the day you open your mouth to divorce me then it’s over between us forever” She said bitterly.
“Mama I hold no grudges against you. Infact to cut the story short, I had made up my mind to stay with your son no matter the condition he is in but what did you do, you forced your son to divorce me and now that you found out he is the one with the problem, yo want me to stay with him”.
“Just the way you stood up for your son and made sure he got the best, am also someone’s child and am very sure you know all parent wants the best for their children. Even after all the insults and humiliation, you didn’t feel it was enough. You felt the best thing for me was to be divorced by you son”.
‘She said again leaving them speechless”.
Indeed mama was short sighted and only focuses on the gains before her without seeing the bigger picture.
“And before I go, I just want to let you know that I won’t need your help anymore”. She added and went into the room.
She took her important belongings they must have forgotten and arranged them in a bag. She also picked up few from the ones lying in the compound and still put them in the bag.
She went to Bello, opened his palm and dropped the car key after carrying what she needed from the car.
All he could do was stare at her speechlessly as she opened the gate and dragged her bag out.
It was quarter past six in the evening but the weather appeared relatively older than that.
Wind began blowing intensively, it was obvious to the eyes of the masses that heavy rainfall would certainly be experienced.
At the sight of the pregnant sky, Farida waved down a taxi and boarded it home.
When she got home, she quickly arranged everywhere and went to the hospital.
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The nurse maid and Sufyan just finished taking their dinner and she was preparing to take Sufyan back home when Farida arrived.
Unfortunately, she had just stepped her foot into the ward when she lost balance and slumped on the floor.
From the time she left Bello’s house, she had been feeling dizzy but she tried holding back herself not to loose control.
Finally coming to her senses, she forced open her eyes, holding back an excruciating headache. As her vision cleared, she could make out the figure of three people standing by her bedside. It was the doctor, the nurse maid and Sufyan.
She made to stand up but was held back by the doctor.
“Keep calm, you need to rest”, he said calmly.
“Doctor am fine, don’t worry”. She protested and sat upright with the support of a pillow being placed behind her back.
“What says the time”. She asked fixing her gaze on the nurse maid.
“40 mins past 1”. She replied.
“And why is Sufyan still awake”? She asked while pulling him over.
“He had refused to sleep” she replied.
After administering some injections to her, the doctor left.
The memories of what just happened at Bello’s came pouring into her head, before she knew it, tears began flowing freely on her chin. She tried holding it back but it was too late.
Sufyan and the nurse maid stared at her in pity. They both thought she was crying because of Umma’s condition.
Sufyan was at a tender age but he was smarter than his age. He came down from the bed where he was sitting close to his sister and walked to where the tissue was kept, he rolled it out and passed it to her.
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Without a word, she collected it from him and wiped off her tears. When she was sure to be okay, she looked at the nurse maid and said, “you don’t need to look after my mother and brother again, I will be available from now on”.
“Please madam don’t sack me, this is what I feed my children with” The nurse maid pleaded.
“It’s not like I want to sack you either, but I wouldn’t be needing your services anymore since am back home now” She explained.
The nurse maid didn’t understand what she meant by ‘am back home now’ all she cared about was her job.
She knelt down and started pleading, “Please madam, I beg you in the name of God, if you sack me now, I won’t have a means to feed my children. I am a widow with four children”.
“It’s alright please, stand up” she said to her.
The nurse maid stood up and started praying fervently “Thank you madam, God bless you and your family. May you never lack and may blessings and mercies be with you all the days of your life.
“Amin and you too” came the reply from Farida.
In reality, Farida was only worried about how things would turn out to be. She no longer have faith in her financial status.
How would she cope with her mother’s hospital bills, her brother’s school charges, the nurse maid’s salary and also feeding
She know things would be difficult now since she has decided to leave Bello. However she does not regret her decision.
