The Second Path

Chapter 43

Song: No one's here to sleep by Naughty Boy ft Bastille

Chapter 43

"Inna Hauwa?" I called in disbelief.

She didn't say anything but just stared back at me with no emotions flashing through her face. I quickly grabbed the torchlight from the ground and held it out in front of me so that she wouldn't attack me again.

She broke eye contact with me and quietly began walking to the left side of the parlour. Slowly, I placed my hands under my right pocket and pressed the green button for long, in case I was about to die. Then I moved backwards and watched Hauwa's every movement, hoping she wasn't planning her next evil scheme on me.

She limped as she walked around and before she was about to take another step, she fell to the ground at the left side of the parlor. I scrambled backwards in fear and stared at her cautiously. What was doing this woman?

She let out a little groan on the ground before struggling to sit up. Her body was shaky and I noticed how very skinny she looked, like a starving child. But she didn't look like this the last time I saw her. What really was wrong with this woman?

She sat up completely and rested her back against the wall. She wrapped her skinny hands around her stomach and decided to stay on the ground instead of walking to only God knows where.

She seemed different today. She didn't seem like the same woman that dropped off her daughter in my house few months ago. The one that was so grateful and fearful at the same time. The one that General Abdulkareem made me believe was... dead.

"Inna Hauwa?" I called her again. I could feel half of my voice gone because of all the screaming I did earlier today.

Why was I still calling her aunty Hauwa? She was not even my aunty. She was a stranger and a murderer!

Hauwa didn't respond but just continued to stare at the ground.

Maybe this was my chance to escape. I gently dropped the torchlight beside me and slowly tucked my hand under Kauna's belly to lift her up, hoping her mother doesn't notice but then-

"Don't take her anywhere." Hauwa finally spoke, her thick Hausa accent coming out very faint.

I quickly grabbed the torchlight and stretched it out in front of me before she could attack me again. But she didn't move. She was just sitting still on the ground with her legs crossed.

"I'm not going to kill you." She added, probably noticing my every movement too, "I only hit you because I didn't want you to attack me first."

"Okay..." I trailed off, "but can I carry Kauna away before you kill her too?"

"Tie my hands." She ordered.

"Enh?" I asked to be sure I heard right.

"Please." She stretched out her hands together, "Tie my hands before I do another stupid thing."

I didn't argue and decided to do it for my safety. I put the torchlight under my armpit, so that if she was about to attack me, I would hit her head. I searched around the empty room for any rope-like material to tie her hands before I run away. But the only thing I was able to find was the blue long wire on the wall that was meant for a television set.