More To It

Chapter 10-Women Are Important

Khalid

"Are you well rested?",mama asks Zaynab who walks down the stairs with Yousif beside her. Her face is still a bit swollen, her head still bandaged, but other than that, she's okay.

"Yeah, am fine",she nods.

"Let's go see daddy today",Yousif frowns.

"We can't, not yet. Maybe next week",she tells Yousif who glares at her.

"YOU SAID THAT LAST WEEK",he yells at her.

"Okay, first of all, I don't know who you think you yelling at, and secondly, next week. Okay? Next week",she snaps at him.

His glare hardens then he pushes her away into the stairs.

Well a beast has been unleashed.

"YOUSIF!",everyone yells and stands up. I didn't even bother. I already had a bad feeling that something like this would happen when she started lying to him about taking him to meet his father. She just keeps lying to him because she doesn't want to go.

She looks at Yousif with shock, I guess surprised by his strength.

"I WANT TO SEE HIM AND I WANT TO SEE HIM NOW!",he screams at her.

Anger flashes through her face then next thing I know she stands up abruptly and slaps him so hard the boy fell down and hits his head on the couch.

"DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT ME. YOU'RE NOT MEETING HIM AND FOR WHAT YOU JUST DID, YOU'RE NOT MEETING HIM NEXT WEEK EITHER. IF YOU WANT BANG YOUR HEAD ON THE WALL",she yells at him.

"ZAYNAB",her dad yells.

Yousif looks up at Zaynab with his hand on his cheek then stands up. Wallahi the boy did not shed one tear.

"Am telling daddy on you. You promised that I'd see him. You lied to us. Daddy doesn't like liers. I don't like liers either",he tells her but his tone wasn't shaky or nothing, it was stern and threatening.

"You shouldn't have slapped me mommy. You'll pay for this",he snaps at her then he pushes past her and runs up the stairs.

Zaynab's eyes widens and her jaws drop.

"You shouldn't have slapped him. He's only a child",her dad tells her.

"He's Abiodun in a child form. He's going to turn out exactly like him",she whispers in a shaky tone.

"You're going to turn him like that if you don't stop being too hard on him",aunt Jumoke tells Zaynab who looks at her shocked.

"What?".

"Abiodun grew up with violence. All he knew was violence. He turned out like his father. But he wants to change. For his son. He doesn't want his son to be like him. That's why he's getting help. What you're doing to Yousif won't get him to change, it's going to worsen him. You have to be extra careful with him. And you can't keep him from his father. Abiodun has just as much right as you do on him. If you keep doing this, you are going to end up hurting yourself, Abiodun and Yousif. And if Abiodun gets angry, am not so sure I can stop him. And if Yousif gets angry. He'll turn out to be exactly what you don't want him to be",she explains to him.

Zaynab groans lowly then she rubs her head.

"I can't promise that I won't smack him now. Will you talk to him?",she asks me.

"Me? Talk to him?",I raise an eyebrow.

"Why so you say it like that?",she asks looking offended.

"I don't know. It just kinda seemed like it was just y'all. I didn't exist anymore, so am kinda shocked that am now being asked to talk to him",I shrug.