MY LIFE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Innalillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un! Verily from Him we are and to Him we shall return.

The death of Fadima touched the family. It was unexpected. None of them thought of it, even though we all cant exceed our time but Fadima's death shook them all. It reminded them that death doesn't wait till we are ready and it doesn't leave or skip one because of another. If it were to be possible, it would have left Fadima to take care of her day old baby.

Alhaji Arabi dropped his daughters at their grandmothers place and went to the bank to withdraw some money. He was through with his transactions so he decided to go and buy a ram for his wife before heading back to the hospital.

The moment he stepped foot inside the hospital, his body became cold. Something doesn't seem right but he couldn't tell what exactly. He received the news of his wife's death the moment he reached the ward. All he could do was recite "innalillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" for he was beyond shocked. His wife, the mother of his three children is no more. His children.....who will take care of them for him? his new baby who will feed and take care of him? The thought of how their life will change and the fear of what the future will hold and bring made tears start rushing from his eyes.

What will he tell his angel daughters? how will they receive the news? Diddi might still be young but the five weeks she spent with her aunty because of the mothers illness alone was torture to her because sometimes when she came to visit her mother she has to sleep before they return her back to her Goggo's house. What will now happen when she realise that she wont see her mother ever again?

Maimuna knows what death is because she cried when one of her uncles died four months back , he doesn't want to think of how she will react.

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Four weeks after the death of Fadima, the families moved on but the father and his two daughters are still struggling to survive. Alhaji Arabi sleeps with his daughters in his fathers house because he couldn't sleep in his house without Fadima. The first day he tried to sleep in the house, he couldn't. The memories they shared became fresh and it hit him hard that he will never see his beloved again. He cried like it would bring her back to life.

His elder sister Adda Maryam(Goggo) begged him to leave Diddi in her house but he couldn't. Now more than ever he feels pity for them even though he knows they will be well taken care of; but they really need him now since their mother is no more and it is still new to them.

His girls are very strong because sometimes when they want to complain about missing their mother, they change their mind and say something else because they noticed the pain in their fathers eyes whenever they are talking about her.

Six months after Fadima's death, Alhaji Arabi finally decided to leave Diddi in the hands of his elder sister Maryam while Maimuna will be staying with his aunty, her maternal grandmother who has been taking care of baby Abdulrahman. It pained him to share his children. His dreams of living with his family in the new house he is building wont come true.

*****

Two years after the death of Fadima, the family decided to give Alhaji Arabi Fadima's younger sister A'isha. Both Arabi and Aisha were not happy with the choice but after the long lecture they received from the elders about qadr, they decided to accept their destiny and walk into the journey of marriage.

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"When will you ever get tired of eating food? you eat all the time without control. Mtseeeeew spoilt girl kawai" Haydar said as he entered his mothers room. The girl is so spoilt and he dislikes spoilt children. Every time he complains about the girl his mother will say "she's an orphan who has no one to take care of but me so leave me to spoil her since that's what you think. Thank God you are also a spoilt child".