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

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

          "YOU'RE HOME LATE." SULAIMAN jumped on his sister the second she stepped out of her car.

"Leave her alone," Aminu barked from his place on the patio as he set out a mat. In small Bilal's arms were stacks of bedsheets, his eyes wide as he stared at his mother.

"What are you people doing outside?" she asked.

"There's no light!" Bilal was the one who answered. "And the generator is not working."

"So we're going to have a little folktale time under the moon." Aminullah finished for the boy with a fond smile. "I cooked."

"And I helped!" Sulaiman added, turning to scowl at the younger man who only returned the favour.

"Me too." Bilal shouted.

"You didn't do anything." Sulaiman grunted dismissively without giving the boy so much as a glance.

Aabidah paused by the hood of her car as she took in the scene before her. Her annoying older brother seated on the stairs peeling off the back of an orange as he bantered back and forth with the others. Her younger brother and son arranging a place to lie down on. All were men in her life who regardless of their differences meant the world to her.

AbdulAzeez had been such a man, but now he was just someone who had taught her for the first time what it felt like to have butterflies and deeply miss someone even after you'd just left that person. He had been her first special love and he would still remain so because even with all the hurt and heartache, he had been special. Their love had been special.

Exhaling, Aabidah looked up at the late evening sky. The sky was a shade of space blue and pigeon blue mixed with a little bit of the orange streak the setting sun had left behind. Bats flew home in tons and a few scattered stars twinkled across the black canvas. There was no moon in sight yet. The breeze was even more chilly than before but she didn't mind it. There was something about the breeze now, it blew freely and smelt sweetly, and she loved it.

"Why are you smiling?"

Aabidah turned to look at her older brother who had asked the question. "What? I was?"

He pressed his lips into flat lines. His gaze piercing. "You were."

Aabidah threw her head back as she let out a robust laugh then walked up to Sulaiman and plopped down on the cold ground next to him. Aminullah choked on an unexpected cough when she leaned her head on his shoulder. Sulaiman on the other hand unconsciously let go of the knife in his hand. 

"Are you okay?" he asked her, concern and unease coating his words.

Aabidah breathed in through her nose then let it out from her mouth. She kept her gaze fixated on the night sky as she made the announcement. "I broke up with AbdulAzeez."

The bedsheets Aminullah had just collected from his nephew slipped from his hands and fell to the ground as he gaped at his sister.

"You, not him?" The oldest of the three siblings interrogated.

Aabidah nodded with a sigh. "Me." She said and wanting nothing more than a little time alone, she stood up and headed inside. On her way in she ran her fingers through her son's hair and decided to take him barbing during the weekend, then she slipped inside, leaving her brothers to stare anxiously after her.

In her room, Aabidah slipped off her shoes, unwound the soft chiffon material from her head and slumped into bed. She shuffled around until she found a comfortable spot on the bed, then she counted to ten in an effort to get her breathing even so she could fall asleep; it was pointless.