A Promise to Aabidah (#1 Natives series) #ProjectNigeria

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

            ABDULAZEEZ DAWUD WANTED NOTHING MORE but to be in the confines of his room.

Why his parents wanted a girl like Shamsiyah Garba to be their daughter-in-law was beyond him. But then, he wasn't giving them much of a chance when it came to selecting a wife from the very abundance of female specimen they had in his town, was he?

He had completed his Maghrib prayers before going to Baba Hamza's house like he'd told his father he would do. He had only gone there out of respect for his father and because shamefully it had been a while since he'd paid the older man a visit. With his mother playing matchmaker, AbdulAzeez felt awfully on edge and uncomfortable every time he was in the presence of the girl and her folks.

They were trying too hard, was what he thought. His parents and Shamsiyah's. Trying too hard for something that had no hope of sprouting much less growing and baring fruits.

Shamsiyah was not the kind of person he wanted for a wife. She had double personalities and was just too materialistic. He feared if he married her he wouldn't have any peace of mind.

He always prayed that if he were to marry, it would be to someone who would be the coolness of his eyes and also the peace to him mind. Although those were part of the reasons he couldn't –wouldn't– marry her, Shamsiyah was a gossip. The major downfall, he had concluded.

As far as gossips went in a small town as the one they lived in, Shamsiyah was one of the main source in town. She knew things before others and by others, he meant people like himself who didn't engage in gossips.

But, a feeling nagged at him. A feeling that harbored lots of questions unasked. A feeling that threatened to drag him into the state of dirt he had never dared to near.

The feeling persisted and nudged at him as he listened to the girl talk.

Surely, he mused, she must have heard if the Ali's were coming back. And if they were coming back everyone in town would have known about it by now. His mother would have and she wouldn't have been able to keep it to herself even if she tried.

AbdulAzeez turned to face the light skinned and lanky girl, a question in his dark eyes. He was a good head taller than she was. He preferred his woman to be of average height.

The feeling, the questions, the urge to know, to be one hundred percent sure won over his restraint.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shamsiyah, a bit taken aback though piqued by his sudden interest, asked. The ends of her lips tugging up as she took him in.

"Alhaji Ali," he asked "do you know if they are coming back?"

Shamsiyah's big black eyes narrowed a bit as she stared back at him, then she slowly nodded. "Yes." And then, because it was so webbed into her daily routine, into her character, she began to tell him everything he needed, and didn't need to know. "A while ago, before school closed for the term,Walidah told me she overhead her physics teacher on the phone in school. But from what she could hear, it seemed like sister Aabidah and her son would be the only ones coming back. She tried to hear more of the conversation but she had to go to class." She sounded disappointed.

AbdulAzeez scoffed and fixed her with a piercing gaze. Walidah was Shamsiyah's younger sister, the girl was only fourteen and she too, like her sister was a gossip monger. "So your sister is your news informant, right?"

Shamsiyah flared up. "Don't look at me like that. I did not ask her to poke around for me, she only had to do something in the staff room that was how she even got to hear Basmah in the first place."

"But she still came around to tell you about her little eavesdrop, didn't she?"

Shamsiyah hissed a string. "Your hypocrisy must have been the reason you lost Aabidah to that handsome Yoruba pilot. Didn't you also ask me about Alhaji Ali so you would know? You're getting information from a gulma, yet you have the mind to be critical. Hello! Kutumelesi!" She clapped her hands disbelievingly. "You're not serious. Escort yourself the rest of the way out," she turned and started back for her house. "As for me, I have more gossiping to do. And, oh, don't worry, I'll tell our parents that I don't want to marry you. What can someone like you even give me? Judging first before asking to know what happened? Allah ya sauke!"

With a trail of a long hissing sound behind her, Shamsiyah angrily stomped off.

AbdulAzeez shook his head with a small, pitiful smile on his face. Even though she had a lot of attributes that turned him off, he still appreciated the fact that she stayed true to herself.

Ignoring the fact that he was four years her senior, she had told him straight up what she thought of him. And, regardless of the fact that she had spoken the truth, he couldn't help the pang of hurt and guilt that ate at him.

How could he criticize her when he himself had been the one who had asked the question? Wasn't that being hypocritical?

That night after completing his daily prayer, AbdulAzeez had asked his Lord for forgiveness and guidance before lying on his bed. He couldn't find sleep. His mind was in disarray. It made up conversations —scenarios in which he would meet the one girl he had ever loved— none of them ended well for him.

He finally caught some sleep a few hours before Fajr prayers after tons of restless turns and sighs.

***
Asalamualaykum guys! Hi,

Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Also, don't forget to vote, comment and share. 

Take care
Ma' as salaam.

—ZainaHijabi😘