HER WORTH ✓

43~Drugged 1

Habiba's POV:

Waking up to everyone's prayers was a blessing for me, receiving everyone's good wishes gives me the confidence that my exams will go well.

"Habiba write well and return with flying colors, okay?" Grandma says as they all escorted me to the car garage.

"I can assure you that she will; after all, she has been digging her neck into her books for a week, we're surely going to start referring to her as barrister Habiba soon," Amina says with a smile.

"In sha Allah, but sincerely I'm a bit nervous...

"Should I come with you?" Amina asks.

"Yes, please come."

"No." Grandma cuts in. "Habiba, I want you to be independent, you have to learn how to do things yourself."

"But...

"No buts, you are an adult, you can't always rely on Amina and others, and the driver will be around." She says.

"Okay, Grandma."

"I wish you luck." She says.

"I don't get this. Is she going to a battlefield? C'mon, let her go and write her exams, it's already past 8." Mother-in-law sighed while she handed me a food flask.

"I got you something nice; it's a good luck lunch pack; you will enjoy it." She smiled but it made me nervous.

Is she smiling at me? Her smiles only mean trouble. I thought with a fake smile plastered on my face, I collected the food flask.

"Yes, Habiba, Mom made this for me when I was writing my final exams, too, and guess what? I excelled." Amina says excitedly, more like she was assuring me that I shouldn't worry.

"Okay, thank you ma." I smiled at her, and she waved me goodbye and headed off into the house; watching her leave, Grandma pulled me to the car.

"I don't trust this food, don't eat it," She whispered pointing at the food flask in my hand.

"Trash it." She added while making me sit in the car, she shut the door while whispering again that I trash the food.

Saying our bye's, my journey to school commences.

"Why was grandma telling me to trash the food? It's just food." I sighed while opening the flask. The whole car was filled with aroma, and to my surprise, it was one of my favorites.

One of the foods popularly known in Kano state was Gurasa; I couldn't resist not taking a bite, especially when it was garnished with grounded kuli, chili, onions, tomatoes, oil, and lots of cabbage.

"Yummy! It's been ages." I gasped salivating at the food.

I was about to take a bite when I recalled Grandma's stern warnings again,  making me hesitant to eat; as much as I wanted to taste the meal, I also wanted to heed Grandma's warnings.

"Driver, please, if you get a chance, can we stop by?"

"Sure, Ma'am." He replied.

But suddenly guilt swept me. Was I just about to waste food? Many people die of hunger while many only get to eat one square meal a day and here I was about to waste this?

"Habiba you can't be wasteful. She made it herself, and everyone was there to witness that she couldn't poison me, and just as Amina said, it was just a good luck meal. Sorry, Grandma, but I can't trash this."

"Ma'am this is a good spot to stop by." Driver uttered while parking by the side of the road.

"Don't worry, drive on," I replied.