By Maryam Altine Baba
Chapter Seventeen
“Zee!” Hauwa called out more than twice at the door, but still, there was no answer.
“I told you this was a very bad idea, as always.”
Asma’u was already getting piqued. It has happened one too many times and the reason Hauwa still dragged her here again eluded her. It was clear Zee had cut off ties with them, and she had driven in the words louder and clearer.
“That’s not what we agreed on.” Hauwa was adamant. And then pleaded further, “Please Sister Asma’u, we need to do this.”
Asma’u sighed. She knew Hauwa was right, especially since she herself wouldn’t want to leave without saying good bye.
It was a final attempt albeit a feeble one, to get them to reconcile before Asma’u’s slated wedding expected in the next seven days. She had called on Zee previously and knew she had received the messages she’d left for her, but she had stubbornly evaded them.
Hauwa called out twice again and then decided to push at the locally made heavy iron door. It was locked from the outside. “That’s strange. The door is locked from outside. Zainab rarely goes anywhere.”
“Apparently she is not around to give us the warm hugs you’d envisaged.” Asma’u felt heat rise up to her throat. Oh, that was the last straw. At that instant, she’d made up her mind. To hell with reconciliation, she was getting herself out of there.
Zainab had seen them and locked the door to her special room and sprang to avoid them! Hump! Who did she think herself to be?
As she made for the main door, she heard Hauwa’s voice, “Wait!!”
She turned around and was alerted to find Hauwa raptly at Zainab’s door, her eyes filled with determination.
“What are you listening to?” she demanded, more annoyed.
“Shhh,” Hauwa begged for absolute silence. “I think I have heard something.”
“And so?” Asma’u asked exasperatedly. “We cannot afford to laze around here like fools!”
Hauwa was motionless, apparently not giving up. Then it came with streaks. The first few sounds were so faint they were almost inaudible. It was then they heard the mournful sounds.
“Zee?” Hauwa called out almost alarmingly.
Asma’u felt a sudden surge of adrenaline as they shook the rigid door in their feeble attempts to open it. They could have tried to push down the whole building as well. The urge to scream for help was compelling.
Hauwa dashed for the main door, “Stay here, I’ll go get some help.” she’d announced and sprinted out, taking two steps at a time.
Asma’u kept pushing at the door since the only window was also shut. She tried peeping through an opening at the wood that served as the window, but the room was dark.
Oh Ya Allah! If Zainab was in the room at that time, she dreaded to know in what condition she must be in then. She must be in there somewhere in the small room; in excruciating pain, perhaps?
She called out severally to her, but the sounds stopped coming. It was suddenly quiet and Asma’u’s heart thumped heavily in her chest. Only Allah knows what was happening. She prayed it wasn’t worse than what she was thinking. Ya Allah! How could she harbor such thoughts at that apprehensive moment?
Sooner than she’d left, Hauwa was back in a jiffy trailing their cousin, Habib and a few of his friends who were equally ardent with vigor. In matter of minutes, they’d broken the wooden panel that held the door carefully minding not to cause more damage and kept the door aside.
Asma’u rushed in to the dark room trying to adjust her sight. They groped about the room, a stench assaulted their nostrils. That moment was more terrifying than when they waited outside without inkling as to what had happened to Zainab.
Then they felt her on the floor, almost crumpled up in a pile of clothes where she laid in a pool of blood, lying powerlessly and sub-conscious. A wooden club lay next to her with a metallic bowl by its side. It was no doubt what she had banged with the little strength left in her when she’d heard their voices outside the door earlier.
A shrill left Asma’u’s throat in near hysteria as she rushed to her side. The sight of Zainab lying helplessly on the floor sent fright to her heart. Her heart thumped as she shook her vigorously, calling out her name.
Their helpers sprang to action, as they immediately took her out of the room to the cottage hospital that served the village and other hamlets around its environment. During the process, the attention of some of the household members was caught. Some came to the scene to sympathize, for others it was just so they could say ‘we knew it’ later, while some just needed a time off to waste out of their busy daily schedules.
