Chapter 6

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MAHMOOD's POV

"my one and only Amma" I cajoled knowing she was going to complain I didn't call her for 9 days
"ubanka nace, nace kan ubanka, kaji ni,uban ubanka (your father, I said your father's head, you hear me, your father's father)", with those insults, I knew I was in a deep mess,
"despite my warning, you left the country, the very next day" and it dawned on me why,
"Amma, I had too, I swear it was very important" I said in a quite tone so as to not anger her  the more, but no
"importance din ubanka Mahnood, she was sick for God's sake, and you left, so it has reach the stage where we tell you to do or not do something, and you will do your wish, am I right"
"wallahi no Amma, am sorry" I wanted to tell her am back because she still thinks am not in the country because I do roam my number, when she said something
"and the poor girl has being covering for you"
"cover for me" I asked, i was taken aback
"don't end the call" she warned and put me on hold, some seconds later she reconnected and I heard her soft voice

"My Ammaa" she called calmly and sweatly
"how are you and your health" Amma sweatly asked as if she wasn't the woman boiling in anger some minutes ago
"Amma am fine, am owkey am so strong, I can lift an elephant" and the two of them laughed out loud, I also found myself chuckling inaudible,
"fine I hear, where is Moody"
"moody" she asked confused, I internally groan, because I hate that nick name
"your husband" Amma said now sounding impatient
"oh, Moody is his nick name" she asked and laughed, again I internally groan,
"where is he" Amma repeated
"well he just stepped out to get us some fruits, he didn't want to disturb Alfred", damn, if I myself wasn't here, I will believe I really stepped out, she sounded so convincing, man that girl can lie good, but why was she lieing, covering for me,
"are you sure, its like you are hiding something, are you sure isn't out of the country" Amma pressed and the girl chuckled

"Amma why will I hide something from you, if he is not in this country, he will surely let you know, he cant stay away for this long without calling you and you know that", shit another deepshit,
"he has turn into a stupid son with no regards for his parents"
"no Amma, that's not him, he will surely call you, and besides he just stepped out, I could have say you should call him now, but both his phones are here" another perfect lie, this girl is pro,
"if you say so, so now you two are cool"
"Amma old people like you don't use cool" she said and I had to mute the call to laugh out loud, Amma laughed and said "answer my question joor"
"we are getting there Amma" she now quietly added and some seconds later they said their goodbyes and she ended the call,
"now you hear, she has being doing this since the day you left, only for me to find out you have left the country since that day"
"from whom" I asked
"uwarka, daga uwarka (your mother, from your mother)" she will never tell me who,
"am sorry Amma"
"fly back immedtatly, I don't care the millions or billions you will loose, but fly back immeditatly" without waiting for me to tell her am back she hung up and just like that I decided to go home.

"where" Silas asked making all of them turn to me as I turned to towards the door
"home" I replied and I immedtiatly wished I had lied because they started hooting and teasing
"already she has that hold on you, man its gonna be a good yeah" Taiwo sang and they fist bumped eachother with Naseem
"no, I just flew in from Korea, I am tired" I said and grabbed my Blazer and my phones
"we heard you, our regards to her, tell her we will soon meet", I didn't reply any of them as I set out and soon drove off to my house.



AMEERAH'S POV (some days earlier)

In the afternoon after dhur prayer, I decided to go down for some lunch because I skipped breakfast and a nice aroma was coming from downstairs, and yes on reaching downstairs I saw Alfred setting the table for lunch

"God bless you Alfred, am starving" I jovially said as I sat down by the table and begun to stuff my plate,
"you skipped breakfast Ma'am and its very bad" he said with a chuckle at the way I was eating halve of the content from the serving spoon before reaching my plate,
"everywhere is clean, you cleaned it" I asked
"no there are cleaners , who do their job and just disappear" he said, I shrugged and continued eating,

some minutes later I head the door bell ring, as my appetite was about to disappear at the thought of the person by the door being Mr grumpy, I heard a voice from the speaker
"let me in, its mmeeeeeeee" it was Aisha's loud voice and I heard another voice "why why, why do you have to be so loud about it" that was Kassim, Amma's last born of 22,

I stood up in excitement and ran to the door admist Zainab's voice now on the speaker "you two are a piece of work"

On opening the door, there they were, Kassim, Zainab, Aisha and Maryam who was leaning on the wall shaking her head at her sibilings banter, they are always like that even thou Aisha seniors Kassim with 5 years, she acts like his age mate and always argue with him, even infront of her two little kids, she does it.

It was maryam that hugged me first and I stepped away to let her in, then Zainab, then Aisha and then we high fived with Kassim,
Instead of settiling in one of the sitting room, I led them to the dining where already Alfred has set extra plates and cutleries, without wasting time we dug in as we talk about random things and that was when Kassim asked "what about Ya Mahmood"
"what about him" I asked and I looked up to see their eyes all on me
"don't tell me he traveled or else am calling Amma wallahi" Maryam snapped as she brought out her phone,
"no, he went to work, he was reluctant at first, but I assured him, it was fine, I mean I don't need him to babysit me when he has work piling up, so I insisted he goes, but he promised not to take long", I found myself lying, why, I don't know,or maybe because he will hate me the more when he heard Maryam reported him to Amma because of me

"are you sure" Aisha asked with concern and I nodded, after they all exchange looks they shrugged and we continued to dig in.

They left in the evening after a hearty dinner, I did well to hide my sadness as I watch them leave, but I have to keep up the charade.

The next morning during breakfast, I decided to call my three friends, then Baba, Abbu, Mama and Amma, Abbu and Amma asked if grumpy was in town and if I am sure of what I was saying, I insisted and they had to let it go.

The next day Najlah and two ladies came over, whom she introduced to me as her friends, we had a good time and I enjoyed their company, we even ganged up to tease Najlah on her massive appetite.

9 days after grumpy's depature, I was still keeping the charade of him being in town even when Amma and Kassim visited early in the morning, I had to lie to her this very evening to Amma again on the phone, and highlight of the day, grumpy's nick name is moody, gosh that is hilariuous, something just in line with what I call him.

It was past 9 pm and I was doing some night Yoga in a halve vest and a pink yoga pants, my hair in a messy bun on the wide corridor upstairs, for a moment I thought I heard a sound downstairs, but I knew there is a tight security so I shrugged it off,

I was now seated, meditating with my eyes close when the now so familiar scent hit my nose and it could only mean one thing, he is here, grumpy is here, I quickly opened my eyes to see him leaning by the wall at the edge of the stairs, his blazer in one hand, his hazel eyes on me, with the usual frown he always has when he sees me,

"how did you get in" I blurted
"its my house" he calmly but rudely said, I frowned also at his rudness and stood up from my mat, totally forgetting what I was wearing and my bun came loose,
"welcome" I murmured without bothering if he heard or not
"you always speak under your breath, why" he asked
"nothing, I murmured again" and I quickly entered my room, so much for my alone time.

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