JIDDARH ✔️ (Preview)

9.

Recap:

I walked down the corridor, desperately trying to stop the tears. Till when will it stop? What am I expected to do? What do they want me to do? I thought working as a maid is the best option I have, it's the most secure job I can get. But—It's too much wallah, it's too much. The load I carry feels unbearable sometimes, times like this. A tattered note of two hundred Naira is all I have left, there would have been no food in our house had Sa'adah not bought all those things. I used the last card I have— the one I've been saving in case of emergency— to buy Umma her medicine, which is about to finish too. There's a limit to what one can go through.

I've wanted to quit times without number but remembering what Alhaji did for us, how he—

I almost collided with a body, which stopped my train of thought.

I looked at the person in shock.

*****

Ya ilahi, it's Alhaji. I hastily wiped my tears. "Good Afternoon." No matter how hard I tried to hide the crack in my voice, it became audible at the end.

"What happened? Hauwa'u? Tell me."

I looked away, not wanting to say anything. I cleared my throat. "There's nothing, something fell into my eyes."

"When did you start lying?" Alhaji questioned. I looked down, feeling embarrassed and guilty. Lying is one of the things my mother warned me off, always say the truth no matter where you find yourself Jiddarh is what she always tells me.

With much hesitation, my mouth shaking as I stammer. I told him what happened, not because I wanted to but because I so much respect him that I could not lie to him. I honestly didn't want to tell him though because it'll be as if I'm reporting Hajiya to him.

Alhaji Hameed shook his head, mumbling to himself. 'But she told me she has increased your salary, it has been almost a year now.'

He shook his head again after a while. He then dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a bundle of money.

I started shaking my head before he could even hand me the money. No!

"Hauwa'u," he called sternly. "collect this."

With a shaky voice, I said. "No, this is more than what I'm supposed to be given."

Alhaji sighed. "Do you not respect me anymore?" Oh no! He's going to blackmail me.

"I do," I mumbled.

"If you do then you'll collect this money. I thought you considered me to be like a father to you huh Hauwa'u?"

I gulped. I can never forget what this kind of man did for me and my family.

About six months after my father left, the people he sold the house to came to claim the house. They—without sympathy— threw us out on the streets. We didn't leave with anything except our clothing. We stayed with Umma's friend, who's a childless widow. My mother didn't want our grandparents to know, but you know how things spread like a wildfire, they found out.