Destiny

Chapter thirty

Lagos

In times of pain, darkness provides a comforting blanket to help us dwell in the company of our agony.

The bedroom is in absolute darkness as Ahmad's dad made his way toward the bed, where his wife laid under the soft Italian duvet with botanical pattern embroidered on it.

He reached for the switch on the bedside lamp. The dim light burned into her eyes and she squinted. Her lips were parched and her complexion ashen, in all the years he had known his wife, he had never seen her this beaten. She refused to see the doctor and had became very withdrawn.

"How are you today?" He asked as he propped a pillow on the head board and helped her sit up.

"Am fine..."she whispered.

"Good."

silence

"Am not...oh God! I want to die..." She cried and hugged her husband. Through the muffled sound of her cries, he heard her voice.

"I want to see my son before I die...please find him for me...please."

"Hmmm..."

"What have I done to him? My son is no where to be found...he may be in danger and we wouldn't know... I pushed him to it...oh, how will he forgive me if I myself can't forgive me?"

"It's alright, don't beat yourself about it. I will find him...I promise." He said.

Unlike her usual self assured voice, she now sound feeble, almost child-like. Her helplessness thug at a chord in his heart and it constricted. He moved the hair that had covered her face and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Soon, my dear...soon, your pain will be gone, InshaAllah."

"Why are you doing this? I have hurt you as well...I should have listened to you when..."

"Shh...it's alright. We all make mistakes, it's what makes us human."

She continued to cry softly as he stroke her hair.

"Over the years, you have done the same for me... I have made my fair share of blunders in this life and you were there for me, more times than I can count. That's what marriage entails, it's all about been there for each other through thick and thin." He said soothingly.

He stayed with her until her cries subsided and she fell into a deep slumber.

He gently lay her down and draw the cover up to her chin before he switched on the vaporizer.

On his way downstairs, he smiled as he knows the time to make a call to Selma is due.
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Kano

The house was filled with women mostly concentrated at Baba Alhaji's part. Safiyya's (Ameena's mom) relatives have opted to stay out of it, except her step sister who came from Kaduna. Even she stayed back at Safiyyas part, refusing to go to Hajiya Adda's, as she thinks it an insult for them not to send the lefe over.The bulk of the women in attendance were Hajiya Adda's friends.

Some yodeled as they surf through the opened boxes. Ameena's mom was feeling a uneasy, giving her consent to this marriage had felt like the zenith of all the wrong decisions she has made in life. All she could do was pray and hope all turns out well.

"Yarinya tayi goshi mashaAllah." An aunty said as she lifted a designer amber abaya with intricate bead work.

"Salman has really tried...it is an indication of how good he will look after her." Explained another.

A younger aunt snorted at that...maybe out of personal experience, but that is only known to her. Luckily, it went unnoticed as the excitement in the room is almost electrifying.