Shirk in Disguise

Chapter 34

"Oh my God, noooooo..." she groaned as the pregnancy test results stared her in the face. Her plans had just been shattered; what was she supposed to do??

Angrily flushing the annoying tester down the water closet, Azeema repeatedly lamented her misfortune. She banged the toilet door shut as if to vent her anger before making her way to her exquisite bedroom which, by the way, had been decorated using her own money. Not a dime came from her stingy husband.

Making sure Adnan wasn't back, she flopped herself on her lush bed and reached for her phone. Without hesitation, she dialed the number of her only friend and confidante, Bilqees.

"Hey, Friendy! What's up?" came Bilqees's chatty voice.

Azeema certainly wasn't in the mood for small talk. "I'm pregnant," she lamented as if it was a life sentence.

Bilqees was aware of her friend's intention of ending her marriage. "Oh, is that why you sound so mournful?" she asked. "Why not just flush it out?

"You think that'd be the solution?"

"Of course!" Bilqees concurred. "Except if you fancy a baby tailing after you when you haven't finished enjoying your youth."

"But I'm scared! You know what happened to Candie..."

"That was just an unfortunate incident," Bilqees dismissed. Two years earlier, their friend Kande Bello, a.k.a Candie-Bell died while having her fourth abortion. She'd been unmarried and didn't want a baby to complicate things for her.

"But still..."

"Well, the choice is yours," Bilqees stated offhandedly. Without waiting for Azeema's reply, she hung up.

Azeema sighed as she threw the phone far away from her. She'd thought she would hear a shattering noise as the phone met the wall but instead, she heard a soft plop. She gazed in the direction she'd thrown the phone and saw it on a pillow propped up against the wall at the end of the large king-size bed. Mechanically, she picked it up and dialed the number again.

The call wasn't picked the first time but she wasn't deterred. She dialed again and was relieved when it was finally picked up. Bilqees sometimes treated her badly but she couldn't do anything about it; she was her only friend in this big, bad world.

"Yes?" came Bilqees's voice. The chatty tone was gone.

"Are you at home?" Azeema asked.

"It's a Friday evening," Bilqees stated the obvious. Azeema of all people knew that she was always at home on Friday evenings.

"Right, I'm coming over."

"Okay," came the short reply.

As Azeema meandered her car into the driveway leading to the grounds of Bilqees's mansion, she wondered how to go about the situation. It certainly wouldn't help matters if Bilqees refused to talk to her.

However, Bilqees took Azeema by surprise. She was actually smiling and had gotten some snacks and drinks ready for her visitor. Azeema, who had expected a sullen-looking Bilqees, was pleasantly surprised.

"I'm sorry about the way I reacted on the phone," Bilqees cooed. "I guess I was a bit perturbed about the news I received earlier today."

"What news?" Azeema asked as she sat on a couch and helped herself to some snacks and juice.

"Can you believe that Mumzy is pregnant?!"