𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮

19# A CHOICE

THE KHALIL RESIDENCE,
ASOKORO.
JANUARY, 2021.

Zaynab loved Hafsah.

She truly did.

While her love might not have been the conventional type one would have, it was true.

No, they didn't go on girls trips and tie each other's head wraps.

No, you might not guess there was a relationship between them by mere observing them.

But Hafsah had helped Zaynab at the worst point of her life, many years ago.

She'd met her at the masjid she used to frequent when Ayman was about three years old.

At the time, Zaynab had just lost her husband, barely a year after she got married to him.

Ammar Yusuf, Zaynab's late husband, had left her with their little house and a pregnancy that was beginning to show.

And when his family had taken the house from her possession, she took refuge in the masjid.

The Friday she'd met Hafsah, her situation had just been announced after the khutbah(sermon).

The imam was soliciting for people to assist her to set up her own business.

Zaynab hadn't felt more embarrassed than she did that day. And even though she'd been made anonymous, she could see the looks of sympathy from the people who knew her.

She'd run away, going to hide by a little shed where they kept the mosque supplies. On her way there, she'd bumped into Hafsah, quite literally.

It would've been a funny sight if Zaynab didn't feel like she would shatter any second.

She'd fallen to the ground and knocked Hafsah down with her.

Jamil, in his characteristic way, had avoided her before she fell, moving out of the way like he'd predicted the entire thing.

But then in a manner unlike the toddler he was, he'd placed his hands over both women's heads as they sat on the ground, patting softly like he was consoling them.

Zaynab and Hafsah had stared at each other for a split second, bursting into fits of laughter.

Zaynab, in just that moment, had forgotten her sadness.

For that moment only.

By the time Hafsah had helped her stand up, she'd fallen into her former state.

The women took shelter in the tent, and in the calm environment, talked at length.

Zaynah had learnt from their talk that Hafsah was the deputy governor's wife.

She couldn't help but smile hearing that.

She'd heard that the deputy governor, Yahya Khalil, was a principled but honest man. But Zaynab wasn't one to believe the news.

Not with the countless lies the government fed its citizens, preying on their ignorance and helplessness as they shamelessly exercised their power.

Seeing Hafsah and her son however, Zaynab had a good impression of the man.

Hafsah, she'd learnt, was only temporarily in the country and would be leaving in the coming month.

Hafsah was just as perceptive of the woman opposite her.

She'd noticed Zaynab's silent assessment of her and Jamil, and had been running one of the woman too.

She'd learnt Zaynab had been an instructor at the masjid before her husband died but was in search of better paying job to prepare for her delivery.