Half Girlfriend

Chapter 26 - Imran

When Hajiya talked about inviting Barirah to stay with me in our house until her mother returns, I thought it wasn't going to be possible...

Seriously, I thought Barirah would never welcome the idea but guess what? She welcomed it with open arms. In fact, she was very happy about it. 

"So, you are scared of staying alone and you didn't talk?" I had asked the moment she expressed her happiness.

"No, not really actually..." she shook her head and told me it wasn't as if she was scared of staying alone in their house, but the fact that she might not be able to sleep knowing she's all alone. "Plus, I would be lonely" she had added.

"Oh, I see!" I had muttered.

On the day of their Islamic School's walima, I didn't go to work. I was all there for her. She introduced me to some of her friends, as well as the daughter of her Mallam, Sayyada – who for some unknown reasons kept looking at me strangely throughout the event as if she knew me somewhere. 

When the event was over and we were about leaving, she thanked us for coming and gave us a nylon filled with some take-home meals and drinks. "I really appreciate it, Barirah, and sorry about your aunt's loss" she sympathized.

"It's okay Sayyada, I believe she's in a better place now" Barirah muttered.

"God's Willing!" Sayyada said, "That reminds me," she continued, "Do you remember that lady, Minal? The one that once gave you lift home?"

"The beautiful lady with car?" Barirah confirmed, and that made me wondered who they were talking about. Was it the Minal I knew?

"Yes, ita. Chubby haka. She wanted coming too but her father is not in good health, he even underwent his second surgery today" Sayyada said, making me to exclaim.

"Second what? Surgery?" I chimed in.

"Yes wallahi, he had an accident last week that nearly cost him his life. But Alhamdulillah he survived. However, his spinal cord is affected" she elaborated.

"Subhanallah!" I muttered.

"You know her?" Barirah asked.

"Yeah, I... I think I do" I said to her before turning to Sayyada, "Is it not Siyyama's sister?"

"Yes she is" Sayyada uttered.

"We know each other" I turned to Barirah and gulped hard.

Just then Sayyada heaved a sigh and stepped closer to me. "Imran, please do me a favour. Pay Minal a visit" she said and continued before I could say a word, "Don't ask me why, just try and see her" she added and left, biding us goodnight. 

I didn't know exactly why she asked me to do that but I did know that I had to see Minal's father. The man was a nice person, and I was really touched by the news of his accident.

...

"So sad, spinal cord?" I muttered as Barirah and I hopped into my car.

"Daman ka santa ashe. Ita Minal d'in" Barirah muttered, "I never knew you guys know each other wallahi"

"Actually," I  said starting the car, "I used to be her elder sister's friend. She got my contact through her elder sister"

"Oh, you were her sister's friend? Eyyah, gaskiya the girl is a nice girl. Do you think we should go and see them in the hospital before going home?" she asked.

"Isn't it late? Plus, it's not as if we were that close. We stopped being friends long ago" I tried to bash the thought away, I didn't actually want to go there with her.

"It doesn't matter, Imran. Let's just try and visit them. I may not know what exactly happened between you guys but trust me, nobody knows tomorrow" she said to my utmost dismay.

"Okay then, but tomorrow morning"

"No problem, Imran"

When we arrived home, I logged into my WhatsApp and checked Minal's profile. She had been offline for some days now. I was tempted to call her but just when I was about to, I changed my mind.

I will do that tomorrow, I told myself.

The following day, after breakfast Barirah asked if she could prepare something to take to Minal and her family. "Even if it's just macaroni or spaghetti and some eggs, what do you think?"

"It's a nice idea, you can do that" I gave her the greenlight and went to the workout room for physical fitness.

When she was done cooking, she packaged everything in a big food warmer for them. Thus, we got ourselves prepared and then drove off.

While on our way to the hospital, I called Minal on phone and we greeted. Then I asked her about their dad. To be honest, I didn't even know when tears gathered in my eyes as she began explaining everything to me with her calm... dry voice.

"He just had a new surgery yesterday," she sniffed and continued, "we were hoping to see him back to his feet soon. We really hope to see him walking again because the doctor said it's a critical injury and he may or may not be able to walk again"

"It's okay, Minal, everything will be fine In Shaa Allah. Just keep praying, okay?" I encouraged her.

"In Shaa Allah" she sniffed, "Idan ka iso, call me so I can usher you in"

"Alright, I will" I said and then ended the call.

As soon as we arrived at the hospital I did as she told me, I called her and in less than a minute she came out and met us in the parking lot. 

"Ba... Barirah?" she stuttered, obviously surprised to see us together. "I... wait a minute, did you guys come together or you just met here?" she asked, wrinkling a brow at me.

"We came together" I chimed in.

"Oh," she muttered and then stepped forward and hugged Barirah, "nice to see you" she said in what seemed like a whisper before glancing at me with her eyes filled with tears.

"You are welcome, Minal" Barirah responded to her.

***************

Another update.