..silence..!! Slap!
A resounding slap was heard and after hitting the walls, the sound echoed in the rooms of the whole house, including Sa'eeda's who was long in the dinning room as a result of bang she heard. Jasmine fell on the tiled ground with a thud as imprints on Muslim's fingers were obviously visible on her olive-toned face. Her upper lip got bruised and instantly swelled up a little. Getting up from the ground, her once messy bun loosened and fell flawlessly on her back, like the half-caste she is.
Seeing her slightly disfigured face, Muslim smirked painfully before leaving the house with a flounce, the sisters heard the revving of the engine of his car and he zoomed out of the vicinity.
Left on the ground sobbing hard was Jasmine, not because of guilt or regret but because of the way her face was hurting. It felt like his hand was a hot iron rod which he used to slap her, she had never seen that particular side of him before and that scared her. Sa'eeda slowly walked to where Jasmine was and crouched down to her level before helping her up and taking her to her room. She sat her down on bare matress of her room as she comforted her.
"What happened?" Sa'eeda asked after Jasmine's tears subsided.
"Sa'eeda I don't want anyone in the family to know about this please." Jasmine cried, she was about to snitch but she took Sa'eeda's reply as an advantage, which was, "you can't stop me from saying anything. I'm going to tell daddy and he'll do the right thing, I can't watch you being abused, why did you keep such crucial thing from everyone? Just look at your face, what was the slap for?" Sa'eeda finished, checking her sister's face.
"Please Sa'eeda, do this for me, don't tell them." Jasmine played along and hiccuped.
"No I can't, are you possessed or what?"
"No I'm not, I have plans to end this marriage before letting anyone know. If the elders know, they may try to extinguish my plans." Jasmine tried to convinced her sister who has sharp mind.
"I understand you. But what are your plans?" Sa'eeda asked with utmost care laced with her voice.
Jasmine explained her plans to Sa'eeda who nodded in support.
"How sure are you it's going to work? You know it is not allowed for a man to divorce his pregnant wife."
"I know. But with all that beating, do you think the baby will stay? Immediately we came back, he beat me up before going out again, that was when I lost my baby Sa'eeda. He even threatened me not to tell anyone." Jasmine swiftly cooked up, it felt not right to her but she had no choice. All is fair in love and war.
"Take heart sister." Sa'eeda said and hugged Jasmine who smiled demonically just like an enemy that wants to stab your back.
"Insha Allah." Jasmine faked a broken voice and she felt her back patted by Sa'eeda. She had succeeded in corrupting her mind and changing it to a different direction, making it to view things from a different perspective.
Sa'eeda put Jasmine to sleep before going to her room, both of them caring less about where Muslim went to. Sa'eeda slept with the thought of it on her mind, she was beyond astonished with what Muslim did.
*
"Good morning Hajiya." Hauwa greeted and she squatted beside Fatima's couch.
"Morning my dear, how's your mom?" Fatima asked as she smiled at her daughter's friend.
"She's fine alhamdulillah. She said I should send her regards and that she'll insha Allah come and visit you before my wedding." Hauwa said the last two words feeling shy, avoiding eye contact with her mother figure.
