A walk on thorns

Chapter 59| Goodbye Abuja!

Sabrina's POV

The door creaked open just as I was finishing changing into my golden Abaya—shiny, shimmering, too much for my exhausted heart to bear. I couldn’t bring myself to open the trolley and search through it; I was too tired, too overwhelmed, and the Abaya lay atop everything else, like the last semblance of dignity I could muster before stepping out into a world that seemed too vast and empty. It was the last piece of a life I once knew, a life now slipping through my fingers.

I inhaled deeply as the door swung open, a familiar breath that betrayed my anxiety. It wasn’t Anisha, as I had expected. It was Ruby.

She stood there, her face twisted in concern, pouting like the child she was, her lips quivering with a sadness so raw it pierced my soul. Rubina. The one who held half of my heart without knowing. She was my weakness, my constant reminder of innocence in a world that had taken so much from me.

“Your room is empty, Aunt Sabrina,” she said, her voice trembling. “Is it true that you’re leaving?”

“Yes, Ruby, I am,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, thick with the weight of all I had not said before.

Ruby’s gaze moved around the room, taking in the emptiness, the silence that had once been filled with laughter and voices. Then she turned back to me, and in her eyes, I saw an abyss, a deep well of sorrow that mirrored my own.

“Is it true that Abdul Majeed is dead?” she asked, her words slipping from her lips like a fatal blow. The pain was sharp, unexpected. The very mention of his name tore through me, the ache in my chest intensifying, as if my heart had never fully accepted the truth.

I crouched down to her level, my hands instinctively reaching for her shoulders, grounding myself in her fragile presence, in her innocent confusion.

“Who told you?” I whispered, my voice cracking, betraying the grief I’d tried so hard to conceal.

“I heard you telling my mom yesterday... Is it true?” Ruby’s small face was streaked with unshed tears. She looked at me with a hope so pure that it shattered something deep inside me. I wanted to protect her from this cruel reality. I wiped away her tears, wishing I could make everything better. I needed her to be strong.

“Yes, Ruby, it’s true. He’s gone. But he’s in a better place now. Allah will take care of him. He was a good person, and Allah loves him more than we ever could,” I murmured, trying to soothe the ache in both of us. But my words felt hollow, like a prayer I didn’t truly believe.

“Does that mean we’re never going to see him again?” Ruby asked, her small body trembling with sorrow.

“Yes, my love, but he’s with Allah now. Allah loves him the most, that’s why He took him. The world was unkind to him, but now he’s in a place of peace, a place where he deserves to be.”

Ruby’s sobs broke my heart into a thousand jagged pieces. She threw her arms around me, holding me so tightly, as if she could keep me from disappearing into the sorrow that surrounded us.

“Aunt Sabrina, please don’t go,” she sobbed, her words breaking my spirit. “I hate it here. Abdul Majeed is gone, and now you’re leaving too. Aunt Sarah left without saying goodbye. My mom is always in her room, crying, and my dad... he doesn’t even talk to me. That woman... she gives me ice cream and doesn’t sleep at night, but it’s not the same. Please don’t go, Aunt Sabrina.”

The floodgates broke. I couldn’t stop the tears. They fell freely, unbidden, as I hugged her back with a desperation I hadn’t known I still had.

“It’s going to be okay, Ruby,” I whispered between sobs, my voice barely audible. “Please don’t cry. I’ll come back one day. You need to be strong, like you always are. Celestine and Jenny will take good care of you. And I’ll always call you, I promise.”