Garin Mazugal

Chapter 9 (cont).

Dr.Yaro woke up to the sordid reality of being motherless. His head ached badly. He could see his mum,Hajiya Talle,lying lifeless. Nobody came to console him  4 hours after her death. "Hasn't the news spread? Why is nobody coming? Or am I over thinking?"
Yaro asked himself these questions and more. He just couldn't wrap his head around it. People's absence was more surprising than anything he had witnessed for a very long time. He dragged her out and covered her corpse,his eyes divorcing tears in rapid succession. He went to Mazugal Imam League(MIL) with the hope of getting an imam to come pray for her. Amazingly,they all had one silly reason not to attend. It was an incredibly pitiable sight. Dr.Yaro was as astounded as the word itself. What had she done? What is this all about? What did she do to deserve all this?. Did she offend anyone? Is she owing anyone? What is all this for??

Yaro sat in front of the MIL HQ building confused on what step to take. His eyes was rumpled from numerous fondling. It was like a tree bark. His voice was muzzled as a result of too much wailing. The tears has ceased to pour. His heartbeat resonated in voluminous proportions,making itself within hearing distance of any passer by.  He sat with his mouth open,not knowing if closing or opening it will be of any use. He was staring into emptiness evidently restless and confused. It was a sight too emotional to behold. His mum's corpse was at home unattended to while he was here unattended to. What then differentiates them?

It was in this state of palpable confusion, a state of pity and sesquipedalian emotions that  Mal.Ishaq came passing by. His mind was occupied with getting money to fund his dream wedding with his dream girl,Hauwa. The Islamiyya school he superintendents and Hauwa are the only things he thought of. Every other thing was secondary. He was walking,facing the ground oblivious of the sitting Dr.Yaro and everything around. His thoughts were too precious to be disturbed. He passed by him without even noticing his presence or existence. A fly that perched on his neck was what jolted Mal. Ishaq to reality. He swinged his hands with the diabolic aim of crushing the soul of the fly into extinction. The turn he made was what made him notice the presence of Dr. He hesitated at first but conclusively went to meet him. He was worried because he likes Dr.Yaro and seeing him in this mood breaks his heart. Haj.Talle had also promised to give a substantial donation,cash donation, to his dream wedding with  Hauwa when she finally agrees to his request. Anyone that does automatically becomes family. Yaro was more like family.

"Dr..Salaamun alaikum (Greetings)" .

He neither moved nor answered.

   "Yaro.."

There was no acknowledgement of movement,speech or existence. Mal Ishaq went closer to him.

  "Kai..Yaro!"

Yaro turned.Mal Ishaq was appalled with what he saw. Dr.Yaro was reduced to an almost lifeless living thing. His fave bore no emotions. His tongue was suspended in between his teeth giving him this imbecilic look that contrasted with the intelligence he was known with.

"What happened?' Ishaq asked. Yaro responded with a deep breath. He would have preferred to be left to grieve alone. He termed what Ishaq was doing as intrusion into his privacy. Or was he just grieving too much that he has lost his senses?

   " Yaro " Ishaq called, shaking the shoulders of Dr.Yaro vigorously... "Talk to me!.What's the problem?

"Mama.."

   "What happened? Mama. is she sick?".

The " sick" made Yaro chuckle. Sick..!

"Mama ta rasu(Mama is dead)
The suddenness of the news left him dumbstruck. He stood,with his mouth wide open,with the appearance of a man who lost his girlfriend to his rich younger brother. This wasn't something he was expecting but expectations as they say,hurts a lot.

" Have you buried her?"
  "No"

"Why?"

"Your colleagues at MIL don't want to have anything to do with me"

  "Kai haba!! Its Hajiya fa..!"
Yaro kept quiet. Talking was becoming very fruitless talk more of crying. He wanted to scream his lungs out,cry and roll in the mud but the strength wasn't there. He just continued staring into space bereft of ideas and emotions,a blank expression colonizing the perimeter of his face.

"Tashi mu je (Let's be going) " Ishaq said "I'll do the Janazah ( prayer for the dead) and all other things. There's no need to worry. Hajiya lived a beautiful life. We shouldn't desecrate her in death either. So go announce it to people, fix a time,and I'll come"

Yaro said nothing. He stood up, dusted the colony of dust that has made his trousers their sanctuary, mechanically walking to the path that led to his house. Mal Ishaq couldn't help but lament.

"Duniya kenan! People can go lengths to get what they want forgetting that we all are going to die one day. The person you killed today might be in heaven while you,who thought this whole time that you're invincible, might be in hell..Just look at what they've done to this boy. They first all of  schemed him out of the party primaries. Then they fixed the girl he wanted making his wife to a man amongst them. As if that is not enough,they killed his mum!! Wallahi they killed her!!..."

His sobs drowned the remaining things he had to say. Realising that the time fixed for the Janazah is approaching, he hurriedly cleaned himself and made for the house. Hell address the shamelessness exhibited by his MIL colleagues on a much later date. Now,trying to console Yaro is of  paramount importance.
"Yaro is a good man. I'm sure he'll fulfill the promise his mother of sponsoring my wedding even after her death. I'm sure of that. All I have to do is to show that he can count on me anytime"