Atonement

22. His mother's daughter

The flight back to Nigeria was a long one. Anwar and Sultana left early in the morning because Anwar is expected to be in a Conference in Abuja. She slept throughout the flight and Anwar didn't bother waking her up.

In order to meet up with his schedule, Anwar asked the driver to take them to his family's mansion, promising Sultana he will take her back home as soon as he is done.

"My daughterrrr...come here." Amma welcomed her. Sultana went to where she is seated and squatted. They exchanged pleasantries and Anwar excused himself. Amma informed Sultana that Aneesa is not coming home today and the triplets went to kano to visit their friend whose wedding they missed.

"Come Sultan, let me take you to the memory room." Amma said walking down into an underground room while Sultana followed, gasping at the beauty of the room. It's quite large, a comfy carpet spread out covering the entire surface of the room, a very large screen covered a complete wall, a shelf containing books and albums, a fridge and pillows.

Sultana watched as Amma sat on the carpet using a remote to turn on the large screen. She scrolled through before finally settling on a Folder titled 'Us'.

"Come and lay down on my laps Sultana." Hesitant as first, Sultana found comfort on Amma's lap.A maid brought a bowl of warm coconut oil and placed it beside Amma.

Amma started massaging Sultana's head/hair gently as the screen starts to display. A picture of two cute babies and an older boy showed.

"This is Anwar and Aneesa,the babies and their elder brother,Adam. You see Adam is the first child i had, but Alhamdulillah we lost him to the cold hands of death at the age of 12. He was a vibrant child, full of life. Then, we were not here, we stayed in Lagos for a while, everyone loved him, both family and friends."

She dipped her hands in the oil and put it back into Sultana's head.

"They kidnapped him and killed him. All trying to get to His father. He was also Anwar's favorite person..everything Anwar was Adam and everything Adam was Anwar. I can remember how jealous Aneesa was then." She chuckled.

"She used to hide Anwar's shoes whenever they are going out together."

"That sound like something she would do." Sultana said laughing.

They went silent for a while. "Allah Ya mishi rahama." Sultana said.

"Do you want to know how the name Adam came into existence?"

Sultana nodded curiously.

"Adam as it is said in the Quran is created from dust while in some other places, The Almighty Allah said 'we created everything from water'. Udmat means to mix, it could mean a mixture of dust, that is clay and water..So Adam is derived from the Word 'Udmat' meaning to mix."

"That is interesting Amma, i never actually thought there could be a reason behind the name." Sultana said pinning it in her head. Anwar is right, There is no way you will sit with Amma without getting knowledge.

"Oh really, now i am sure you don't know about the story behind the name Faruk."

"Now i am all ears Amma, Increase my knowledge." Sultana said adjusting her head.

"Faruk is a nickname given to Sayyidina Umar by the Prophet, it is derived from the word Farrakta meaning a barrier, to serve as a barrier."

"Wow."

"I know right. Umar is one of the toughest Sahabas of the Prophet, and funny much, do you know he went with the intentions of killing the Prophet when he turned into a muslim?"

"No way!" Sultana said sitting upright.

"Yes way, but with Allah, nothing is impossible. After he became a muslim, he asked the muslims why they hide while praying and they replied its because of the people in Makkah. He made them come out and instructed them to pray while he stood there guarding the with his sword."

"He most be really tough." Sultana commented.
"Even the arabs then were scared of him so no one dared attacking them. That was when the Prophet named him Umar Faruk for he was the barrier between them and the Quraish."

"That is really knowledgeable Amma, Anwar never tell them all these." She complained. She picked up one of Amma's foot and placed him on her laps.

"I am  sure he will, Oh this girl, you know right what i want. Allah Yayi Albaraka."

They stayed like that for a while with Sultana listening to Amma as she tells her stories, some from the pictures as she scrolled through while some from the life of the Prophet.

The Adhan for asr was called, Amma lead the way as Sultana followed behind, they prayed together and then walked to the kitchen.

"Jennifer! Jennifer!" Amma shouted immediately they entered the kitchen. A young maid wearing a black and white apron ran into the kitchen.

"Get my spices and also, meet The newest madam in the house."

"Good day ma'am." The maid said bowing her head at Sultana.

"Good day jennifer."

Jennifer brought the spices in less than a minute.

"Today i will be making your favorite soup with you. Only that i am cooking for my husband today. You have to make yours today."

Sultana smiled widely to an extent of laughing.

They got into cooking with Amma giving directories and within a short period of time they finished. Sultana tasted hers and frowned.

"Amma mine is not tasting like yours." She complained.

Amma collected the spoon and tasted it. "But it's good Sultana, very good even."

"Not as good as yours." She said tasting from Amma's pot.

"That's because you used a high temperature when pan grilling the chicken. It cooks faster like that but you won't get enough juices out of it. But if you cook it on a low temperature, it will cook slowly and all the juices from the chicken will be out." Amma explained serving the soup in a bowl.

"Now let's go so you can greet Baba. By the way, Don't ever tell your husband your food is not tasting nice, one thing with men is that they believe what you tell them about yourself. If you always complain about your food, they will follow you and complain to an extent that it will start tasting awful to them. But if you always praise your food, They shall do that too, always."

Sultana smiled totally enjoying the company of her mother in law. She held the tray and walked behind Amma.

"Ah ah! Sultana ce agidan namu?" Alhaji Waziri said dropping the newspaper in his hand.

She smiled and dropped the try on the table in front of him.

"Ina yini Baba." They exchanged pleasantries and gisted a bit before Anwar came in. Changed into a white Jallabiya now.

"Shall we?"

He asked Sultana. She said her byes and collected her soup from Jennifer..They reached Alhaji Mubarak Gamawa's mansion just at the time for Maghreb so he just dropped her off promising to visit tomorrow.