Mrs Ahmed Shehu

10

AHMED

Something's going on. I don't know what it is yet but something's wrong.

My meeting stretched longer than I would have liked so instead of being home with at least an hour and half to spare before Maghrib, I came back after Isha. The kids weren't on the other side of the door like they usually are on days when I come back late. That's all shades of wrong. It has never happened before, only on nights when I was aware they'd gone to bed early.

A walk to the kitchen reveals they've eaten dinner. The kitchen is sparkling clean, their plates are on the drying rack, and my dinner portion is kept in the microwave. I dismiss it as me being late and them being unable to wait. I meet them in the family lounge, curled into Suraiya like kittens seeking warmth from the mother cat. They – Adeelah and Teslimah – smile tiredly at me while Nurudeen doesn't even bother. He turns the other way.

Suraiya gives me a small smile. "Welcome back."

"Are they okay?"

Adeelah is the one who nods, replying a moment later. "We're tired, Baba." She sits up and stretches out her arms. "Baba, I want a hug."

Still not convinced that everything's fine, I give her what she wants and then hug Teslimah when she sits up and opens her own arms. Nurudeen still doesn't look at me and when I look at Suraiya, she gives me another small smile.

What on earth is going on? The girls get me out of the family lounge and all but push me into my room which makes everything more suspicious.

"Freshen up and have dinner, Baba." Teslimah says. "We'll just get ready for bed."

"But –"

They slam the door shut. Something is definitely up and it should have something to do majorly with Nurudeen. What on earth is going on here? I remove my suit jacket and my tie follows. I remove my cufflinks and then my shirt comes off. The whole time, my mind is reeling. Nurudeen was fine as at the time they left this morning and no one called to say anything was wrong so what's going on?

Shower is a breeze and when I'm in much more comfortable clothes, I check in on the kids. Teslimah's finishing up her assignment and she smiles at me when I walk in. "Hi, Baba."

"Hey, sweetheart."

"How was work today?"

I raise a brow. Since when did she start asking that? I walk over to her table and look down at her open book. Quantitative Reasoning, of course. "It was fine...Is there something I should know, Teslimah?"

"Nope!" She turns back to her book and erases an answer that's obviously correct. "We're just tired. School was tiring."

"And what did you three do?"

"We played, a lot. There were crafts too!"

"And why is Nurudeen quiet this night?"

She erases yet another answer that's perfectly correct. She's nervous and that heightens my suspicion. "He's really tired, Baba."

I open my mouth to ask more questions until she comes clean but I decide against it. I sigh and lean in to kiss her head. "Don't stay up too late, Teslimah. Those answers are correct."

She visibly relaxes and while my chest squeezes, I kiss her head again before I leave her be. Adeelah's pretending to be asleep and I don't call her out for it. I just kiss her goodnight and switch off the lights. Suraiya's with Nurudeen and she gives me yet another small smile. He's asleep in her arms or at least he's doing a good job faking it.

She stands with him in her arms and then proceeds to gently put him down. He stirs a little and I realize he's actually sleeping. She tucks him in and I let her do everything. When she straightens and face me, I put my hands in my pockets. "Is he okay?"