Before you go

Chapter Eleven.

Fa'iza Mubarak Hakimi

I watch as Ruqayya comes down from the car that is no doubt BK's and then she disappears through the gate. I can't miss the drama that will unravel downstairs. I actually like drama that doesn't involve me or top notch violence.

I walk down the stairs, the edge of my veil flailing behind me but do I care about it? Absolutely not.

"Meye ne kikayi order?" Ummi says as she checks Mary and Blessing's work on the kitchen drawers. The way Ummi has been working since morning, she will definitely have a fever after the whole tambaya is done and Abba's brothers are gone.

Abba's milk brothers are menaces. Most of them have two or three wives, and so they expect Ummi to be all two or three of their wives. How that is supposed to be possible is a mystery none of us have been able to unravel.

And to top it off, they have zero manners for privacy. Baffa Bashiru literally barges into Ummi's room whenever he needs something. And he is the only one that still does that till this day. Whenever Abba talks, he will tell him that she's his Mahram and so he can even see her naked. He is utterly shameless, and not the kind of neutral shamelessness Ruqayya has. No, the disgusting kind.

"Bani nayi order bafa. Yimin akayi." Ummi stops the thorough inspection of the glass cups and turns to Ruqayya with a look that we all know too well. She's not buying whatever nonsense Ruqayya is saying. We all know she's lying.

"What?" Ruqayya widens her eyes as she drops the three Sahad stores bags.

Ummi looks at the white writing against the black and turns to Ruqayya.

"Since when does Sahad do deliveries?" Ruqayya opens the bag and brings out a small ice cream container that has my brows flying up.

"Ruqy na." I draw with a smile and she turns to me with a bored expression. I gesture to the ice-cream and she rolls her eyes.

"Shegiyar yarinya. You know very well it's you I'll give." She pushes the ice cream to me and I squeal and open it immediately.

"Ruqayya, don't call your sister that. It's not a good thing to say." I watch her discretely roll her eyes but she grumbles a reply to Ummi.

Next thing she pulls from the same bag is another nylon that is tied. She opens it and her face blooms into a smile.

"This is for me alone." She closes the bag but the scent of suya has already filled the entire kitchen.

I smile and reach for the bag but she smacks my hand away.

"Hawainiyarki ta kiyayi rama ta," Ruqayya says with narrowed eyes and I give her a cheeky smile.

"Amma hanu na ya kusanci suyan ki koh?" Ruqayya snatches the bag off the counter and puts it on the vertical fridge making me frown. She knows I can't reach the top of the fridge without using a stool and I'd rather give up on whatever is on there than go to the store, get a stool, use it and return it.

I'm not particularly short, but I'm at least a head and a half shorter than Ruqayya. And she never fails to use that to her advantage. Just like she did now.

Ruqayya opens the second nylon and brings out yogurt. She rolls her eyes and pushes it towards me, a frown on her face.

"Amma wanda ya miki order dinnan baisan baki shan abu mai sanyi bane?" I think Ummi is finally agreeing that Ruqayya didn't order the stuff by herself. We all know Ruqayya and money, she will never buy something unless she is going to use it.