Sadiya |REWRITING

Chapter Two

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ABUJA, NIGERIA.

Ramlah stared soul-deep into his eyes. One's stance would have faltered under the heated gaze they were set under. However, it was a usual occurrence. If the concept ever made sense, it was a 'frequent' occurrence. The disagreements and everything else of the sort. He had said the words again...spat them, rather. As if spitting it out once was not enough, he returned her steel gaze.

"I. Do. Not. Love you, Ramlah."

She kept mum. His eyes twitched. It was obvious a reaction was the one thing he was expecting from her. A reaction though, he did not get. And if ever, she set herself not to give off any. Ramlah refused to give him that satisfaction. The topic of the...fight that day was simply an absurd one. Well, pending on how someone wished to term it as - it was absurd.

Ramlah shut her eyes tight, faltering under his darkened orbs that turned acid-like. It was too much to take in...the hatred, fury. He was churlish, yes. Mean, yes, heartless, even. But she looked above the roughened wall. At least, she tried to. Alas, there was only so much one could take in. It'd been years already, nothing changed.

She bit the inside of her cheek, then asked, "is there something I should know?" That was a first. Yazid knew his wife would never utter not even a word at the heat of the moment. That one moment though, he was taken aback, to say the least. The rage in him took over. He fisted his palms and tried calming himself before anything regrettable would be done.

Yazid counted for the brief seconds that passed. One. Two. Three--

"Do you just seem to forget I'm your wife?" Six. Seven. Eight. Nine--

"Yazid, I'm talking to you!" She hissed irritably. The man paused, stepped back and grabbed his phone from the bed. "Yazid!" He began walking away. Ten. And she did it, the one thing he hated the most. Physical contact. She grabbed his arm, he turned and being blinded by fury and irritation, he hit her. Her body ran cold as the blood running through her veins, Ramlah's hands shook as she lifted one onto her reddened cheek.

He slapped her.

He slapped her.

Yazid slapped her.

Her stance did not falter from the hit, she gazed downward. Without realizing it, she began shaking, as if drenched in an ice-cold pail of water. Ramlah's eyes watered. As she finally dragged her eyes to his, an unmistakable emotion flashed in them as quickly as it appeared. Fear.

He turned and walked out of the room.

He hit her because she took his phone. Amidst the tears, she scoffed. That was the last straw; the end of it all. A feeling gnawed her chest and she did not ignore it. Fury. 

And that, that was when Ramlah made a silent vow to herself and his retreating back.

Ramlah walked into the bathroom in slow steps. Was marriage not supposed to be peaceful? At least, it was what she grew up thinking.

Ramlah stared back at her reflection on the mirror, thinning her lips to stop the scream threatening to escape them, though was dying to do more than that. She tilted her head, putting more emphasis on the print. A dark chuckle resonated the walls of the bathroom. She shook her head in mock pity.