𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮

46# TRIVIA

THE KHALIL RESIDENCE,
ASOKORO.
APRIL, 2022.

"I meant to say liver ", Ayman pleaded, lips set in a frown even though his eyes were shining in amusement.

Hamdan rolled his eyes, "Take your L, bro. You failed this one".

Across Hamdan, Jamilah was clutching onto the sides of Jamil's shirt and laughing.

It'd been a while since there'd been laughter in the Khalil mansion, so the bubbly atmosphere was a very welcome .

The moon had been sighted only hours before and the next day was Eid. On an average eid-eve in the Khalil residence, Hajia Zaynab would've been in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, Ayman would've been with her, 'helping out', even though they both knew he only wanted to stuff his face, Yahya would be in the living room, making calls to the orphanages and hospitals so something could be arranged for the less privileged to enjoy their celebration. Jamil would be in his room, working. Every few hours, he'd come downstairs with a drink for Hajia and Ayman to re-fresh, nod at his father and then go back to work.

However, Eid wasn't the same that year. For one, the house was packed. From the permanent nurses and the family doctor, to the consulting physiotherapist, to the family members who were visiting, to Hamdan and Rahma, the house was bubbling with activity.

Also, for the Eid that year, it wasn't Hajia Zaynab who would be overseeing the affairs that year, but the new daughter-in-law of the family, Jamilah.

It was a bit nerve-wracking for her though, so the rest had pitched in. Jamil had hired a catering service to handle all the cooking and Yahya had invited people to take care of the decor, so Jamilah was only left with over seeing their work.

It was a relief, seeing as she wanted nothing more than to be in the living room with everyone else, talking and laughing.

The day had originally been scheduled by Ayman for a late night drive, but Hajia Zaynab wasn't allowed to leave home. Hamdan had instead suggested that they play some kind of trivia game.

They'd all seemed very excited, and so he'd spent the entire afternoon preparing a list of questions. At the moment, there were about thirty-six people in the room, excluding the host, Hamdan and about thirty had lost.

There was only Rahma, Jamil, Ayman, the physiotherapist, Harry, one nurse, Julia and the family doctor, Mr Kamal left.

At the moment, Ayman was fighting and struggling to remain in the game, and annoying Hamdan in the process.

"Take your L and go, bro", Hamdan pleaded, eyeing Ayman in annoyance.

"But you just asked what the largest organ was. You didn't indicate if it was internal or external", His bestfriend justified. Ayman was by Hamdan's side, tugging at his shirt like a toddler and batting his eyelashes.

Around them, the whole room had been thrown into laughter.

"Join us", one of the nurses chimed, "don't be a sore loser".

Ayman glared in the man's general direction, looking offended. "I'm a winner okay?... I'm not joining the loser's club over this. Never!".

Across the room, Rahma stifled her laughter, eyes trained on Ayman. Since the game started, he'd been answering the questions correctly. Hamdan had thrown him questions in science, current affairs, politics, psychology...and he'd answered them all can correctly.

With the doctor, physical therapist, nurse and herself, she wasn't too surprised. She was a teacher, and she taught most of the topics anyway, the last three medical practitioners standing too were academics. But Ayman and Jamil? She hadn't expected that they'd last that long. Jamilah had only just been benched, unable to answer a question on current affairs.