I See Fire

45 | Farouk x Family

Alhaji Abdullah wasn't one to be silent when he felt discomfort but he was doing everything for these children even if it wasn't a secret anymore that he wasn't their father.

There was still the love in their bonds but everyone was so disconnected and it was Hajiya Waleeda's fault. He was no longer angry at Aamanee but he felt sorry for her. His own brother knocked her up and he was going to get him for it.

As for her, he didn't feel she needed a punishment anymore. It was obvious she was generally unhappy and he wouldn't add to it. Instead of refusing to speak to her, he and his wife could talk to her privately to understand how it happened and how to help her.

He stopped eating for a second and watched his family become strangers to one another. He was missing a few in the bunch and every other thing seemed so irrelevant now. He was to take another work trip in a few days but they'd have to wait a bit for him to work on his family.

Heads dug into plates as forks scratched onto the ceramics. Munching of food could be heard but there were no words coming from anyone's mouths and that was when he realized, all the times he and his wife would yell at them to keep their devices away and eat quietly had just come true. Now he dreaded wanting it and wished he could take it back.

He clears his voice and drops his fork "Are you all enjoying the food?"

Their heads rise up and their eyes are focused on his but still, they're silent. He sees them nod and go back to their food and he looks at his wife for help.

"Who cooked this lovely meal for us?"

Amira's small voice, squeaky, answers "Me."

"It tastes great," she exclaims, waiting for the children to join her in praising Amira "Isn't it?"

They all answer positively and the rest of the dinner goes on in silence. There was no fixing that could be done now and both parents realized that. They needed hell of a lot of space to get past this.

After the lunch, Hajiya Waleeda and her daughters cleared the table in silence as the boys found their ways to other places in the house.

"You know what?" Their mother dropped the final cooler she was to pack from the living room on the counter and leaned on it to talk to the girls "You can go and rest. I'll take care of it."

None of them wasted a minute in doing what she asked. Aamanee washes her hands and Amira did so too as they all rushed to their rooms.

All of them released a very deep breathe of relief once they were in their separate rooms, happy to have escaped anymore conversations with their mother.

The silence told Hajiya Waleeda she's become a virus to her own family. Everyone would most likely vote to weed her out if they were given the chance but that was on the contrary.

Alhaji Abdullah has no choice but to pretend getting over it and find a way to heal with them all here. They'd do it together.

She began to whimper once she was sure Aamanee and Amira were gone. The life she so desired was there but the cost to stay in it was greater. There was shame, guilt and more disdain than she could ever realize she felt.

The door to the entrance of the house shuts itself and she runs to the window to see who's going out. The sound of the car warming itself up is what turns her neck to where her husband stood under a green canopy, about to enter the car.

He looked calm to a strangers eye but she knew when her husband was anything but that. She closes the curtain back and goes to the kitchen to finish her chores.

For now her problems would have to wait. She needed a break and it was going to be whenever her personal space was empty. No thoughts, she, herself and her—buried under logging books for her businesses or household deficiencies to pass time.