Twice His Age

14: Mother's Curse

She had been laying on her praying mat, wide-eyed as she stared up at the ceiling until the adhzan for Subh prayer was called and she heaved a sigh, closing her eyes to be able to get through with the pain that had struck her veins at once. Remembering that it was only less than ten hours left until she got mercilessly hitched with the man she had never even looked at twice.

Yes, she knew her choices didn't matter, they had never mattered. Not even on non-important things, but even the most important ones, like her marriage. She had been married twice, but she had never been privileged to even see the grooms until after she was taken to her matrimonial home. Maybe she should be happy about this? That she got to even know him, bad and terrible as he was as a man.

She got up and decided to bring an end to these thoughts because if she continued recalling her life, nothing could stop her from having yet another mental breakdown and she knew for a fact that today was going to be one hell of a ride, so she couldn't afford to exhaust herself.

She prayed her raka'atanil fajr and then offered her subh prayer before she stayed on the prayer mat and brought out her Qur'an to read from and when she pulled it from her drawer, she didn't know when she broke into tears. She fondled the Qur'an lovingly and remembered when Alhaji Babba gave her this Qur'an. It was her tenth birthday.

She opened the Qur'an and stared at what he had written for her. That year, he had told her that his birthday gift was going to be something so huge and she had been anticipating it for almost a month and when the birthday came, Sabeeha could hardly wait for morning when she was going to leave for school. Hence, after she prayed her Subh salah, she waited for him in his living room until he arrived.

She ran and hugged him, grinning at him widely. "Alhaji Babba, it's my birthday today." She said excitedly and he chucked softly before he fondled the top of her head.

"I know, Diyar Albarka. And happy birthday to you. You promised this year there won't be any trip to Disney land, right? You agreed, right?" He had asked, and she chuckled, eagerly tapping her feet on the floor as she escorted him to sit on his usual chair.

"That's because you said that you have something huge than any trip could be. And I'd have to cherish it forever. Where is my gift, Alhaji Babba? I want to sleep before Ladi comes and gets me ready for school." She whined and he chuckled, placing his rosary by his side.

"Go to my room, on my bedside drawer, there's a package, bring it over." And she ran to his room and brought out the package. She wondered what was inside the middle boxed package and Alhaji Babba promised that it would be so huge than any trip she'd ever take.

He opened the package and there laid the most beautiful Qur'an she had ever seen in her life. She was smiling when he handed it to her and he brought out a rosary that was sparkling beautifully. She collected them both and said a brisk. "Thank you, Alhaji na. Now, where is my gift?" Because foolishly, Sabeeha thought that wasn't the gift he had made her become excited for.

"That's the gift. You see this Qur'an? You need to read it everyday, it'd guide you and bring so much light into your life. It will ease all your worries and enlighten your heart. And for the rosary, make sure you are tasbih everyday with it, because in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find peace."

At that time, she had cried and thrown a tantrum because she felt cheated. I mean, ten was a big number to her. She had expected something so huge and glamorous that it might take another year while she thought about it. And when Alhaji Babba got tired of her tantrums, he promised her that they'd go on a trip and this time, he got to choose where they went to. And when they traveled, he took her to Saudi Arabia. The first and probably the last time she'd ever visit the sacred land.