Twice His Age

9: Promises Made

For all the months he had spent in Kano, he felt as though he were being suffocated. And even though he basically was suffocated by his much demanding mother and all that was happening around him, he knew it wasn't just about what was going on in Kano. He knew what he was restless about was in Adamawa. And today, when he went to the company and after their weekly meeting Ummah told him that he had to come to Adamawa and attend to one of their clients, he didn't know when a smile broke his lips.

He was sure she must've noticed as well. Because the last time she had seen his smile had been years he couldn't even bother to count. And he took the next available flight to Adamawa because that was solely what he had been longing to do. And their flight got delayed so bad that he had arrived so late at night and when he called Anas and told him that he was at the airport, he immediately rushed to pick him up.

They were walking to Anas's chamber when they heard the sound of her cries. At first, they didn't know she was the one. Because her voice was muffled with tears and it seemed as though she were begging for mercy. And the one she was begging didn't even care, for he was shouting and probably hitting her, they heard the sounds of the slaps he had given.

So, without any word shared between them, they rushed to the garden and behold! Sabeeha laid on the grass with nothing but her flimsy pant and bra, crying with so much agony while Idi hovered over her. That was the most infuriating sight in the eyes of Zaid, ever in his life.

He didn't know when he threw him a punch that pushed him off her and because he knew Anas would take care of the woman he loved, Zaid took it upon himself to take care of the man that nearly destroyed her dignity. He kept punching at him until it seemed like he was no longer breathing before he left him and looked up at them.

She was now dressed in probably one of the dresses she was going to wash and her entire body was shaking while she cried profusely. "I'll call the police on him," he informed, trying to pull his phone out of his pocket when Anas shook his head at him.

"I'd have to inform Mommy about it first. But now, Beeha is boiling, let's take her to the hospital." Without a word or even glancing her way the second time, Zaid walked out of the garden, huffing out of anger. He knew he had punched his frustration out on that animal, but he still couldn't get the picture of him hovered over Sabeeha out of his mind.

He was the one that drove to the hospital while Anas sat in the back seat together with her. He noticed how she flinched and gasped whenever Anas tried to get any closer to her, afraid of even the slightest of touches. And she was still crying.

"I need to finish washing Meeral's clothes," she whimpered, wiping at her tears with her thumb, even though it proved to be a useless task because more tears kept gushing out of her eyes. "I shouldn't be wearing her gown, Hajia wouldn't take it lightly with me." At the mention of Hajia's name, some sort of agony clouded her eyes and he noticed how her tears had intensified.

What was going on in this woman's life? How much misery was she going through? He wanted to know. His heart ached for her. He felt this insatiable urge to take care of whoever made her cry and make sure he painted a smile on her lips. He had seen her smiled once, and even though he was certain that smile too was a fake, but he wanted to paint even if it was that kind of smile on her lips.

They arrived at the hospital and she turned to Anas with no intention of getting out of the car. "What are you doing, Beeha? You're terribly sick, you need to get checked, okay?"

She shook her head and when she stopped her tears for a moment, they did abide by what she had said. "I know. But I'll just take the medicines back home. And I have to finish washing Meeral's clothes and if you'd please get me something to wear because if Hajia sees me wearing her..."