THE TALE OF SARAH

Chapter Nine

Today was Tuesday. Sarah had been doing well since the event with Hamad. Of course she will do well, when she has people like Yusra and Fa'iza around her. And people like Huda? Sarah had been finding her actions rude lately. Of course Huda's actions were very rude and humor can't be found in any of them.

Like yesterday afternoon when Sarah was sitting with Yusra randomly at the dining in the quarters, enjoying the yam balls they decided to make for lunch( yes, they could decide what to eat), Huda came out of nowhere and started to claim the seat Sarah was sitting on, saying she had been sitting there ever since she came there. So she had asked Sarah to get up, and Sarah refused to saying that anybody could sit wherever they wanted, which was true.

This made Huda angrier, and she started to jerk Sarah's seat backward and forward. Yusra tried to stop Huda, but it only resulted in the jerking getting more fierce. As a result, Sarah's yam balls were spilled over herself and the floor. Huda, having been satisfied, smirked and left the dining without even apologizing.

Sarah was left with no option than to wonder whether the issue was beyond jealousy.

Apart from Huda, life had been great. Madam Munirah was to attend a conference in Paris which was to last for almost a month. And she was due to leave tomorrow night, so Sa'ad had come to spend her last few days with her. So lucky Sarah hadn't been serving any family meals lately, so she didn't have to see him.

Hamad.

But now that Munirah was going to be away for a month, how was she supposed to be serving him alone?

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It was around 10am and it was time to clean. Sarah peeked into the living room on the ground floor to see whether Munirah was there. They were about to execute their plan to help Umm Hakeem. The whole idea was to get Munirah to know about Hakeem's surgery so she could offer financial assistance. Munirah was in the sitting room, sitting on the sofa opposite the TV, alternating between using her phone and watching Al-Jazeera news. She was to spend Monday and Tuesday at home to rest, before the journey.

Beaming, Sarah went outside the main building to inform Yusra that they could enter now. They were to go clean their portions and they had to go through the living room to the kitchen store where the tools were kept.

Slowly making their way through the large living room, they pretended to be having a random conversation but on a louder volume so they could grab Munirah's attention.

"Yusra, when is Umm Hakeem going to come back?" Sarah started.

"Honestly I don't know. Her son needs to go to India for surgery and its so expensive. It will take time to raise the money."

By this time, Munirah was already listening intently.

"I just, I just pray time doesn't run out before she finishes gathering the money."

They had almost reached the other end of the living room where they could follow the large hallway to the kitchen. They were about worrying that they didn't achieve their aim when Munirah interjected.

"Why does Hakeem need a surgery?" She asked, her head turned towards where they were standing.

Yusra and Sarah exchanged triumphant looks.

"He is suffering from chronic renal failure." Yusra replied, trying to keep the joy out of her voice.

Munirah's eyes went wide in shock as she gasped loudly. "Subhanallahil 'Azeem. What... when...for how long has is it been going on?" She shook her head, as if to clear her mind. "Give me...do you have...okay I have it. I have her number, let me call her." She held her phone clumsily, scrolling down the screen, looking for Umm Hakeem's contact. When she found it, she dialed it.