HEAL

Chapter One

(unedited)

Bala district, in its own way had Aaisha tied to it. It was almost six months since she had been here for her housmanship program and the town has never ceased to fascinate her.
      She wished she was accepted instead at the central hospital at the state’s capital; where she dreamed of working with experts in the field of neurology and having to gather lots of experience at her first shot at being a Doctor but here she was, in Bala.
    The District's hospital to her was below the standard of a hospital. It was small building located very far from the Town's market and had little or no medical facility.
     Prior to her appointment there, the hospital had only one Medical doctor; a middle aged man who had a private hospital in the city and was not always at the District hospital most times, two Nurses; one an aged matron who is among the few old indigenes of Bala who were educated and the other a young nurse who got transferred from the State general hospital as a respite for job irresponsibility, the Matron told her that she was caught selling unlicensed drugs to patients.
       The five other non-medical staff that she knew were all natives of Bala district; Two gatemen who were also the security staff, one attendant, one cleaner and a computer operator who resigned a few weeks after she started working there. The Matron also told her that the hospital had more staffs than those but they were all ghost workers.
     She got a mild depression in the first few months she got to Bala because she had problem adjusting with the swift paradigm shift that occurred within a short time; First, she started her a new life as a Muslim in a totally strange place where basic amenities were lacking, and coming from a place where water runs technically everywhere she found waking up every day at dawn to struggle for some buckets of water ten miles away was very uncomfortable. She was unable to work in her dream hospital but instead got stucked in a small hospital always a staff short, patients who doesn’t speak the same language as hers, and worse of it all; her mother stopped talking to her the Sunday after her induction when her parents found out she had become a Muslim.

   On that Sunday she was in her room scanning through a copy of the translated Qur'an a friend gifted her after she became a Muslim. She had prayed her First Fajr(Dawn)Solah using the Qur'an and with the fervor of most converts, she couldn't wait to start memorizing some chapters so that she would be able to recite the beautiful words by heart and wouldn't have recite from The Qur’an each time she has to pray.
      Her mother was caught up in the preparation for the day's Sunday service and the special thanksgiving program she had the family’s pastor organize for the mercy The Lord had bestowed on the family in making her only daughter a medical Doctor despite all the obstacles her enemies has planned.
     She entered God's favor now Aaisha (She chose Aaisha as her new name) room while she was still reading the Qur'an.
    Aaisha upon seeing her mother jumped slightly and tried closing the Qur'an on her laps and using her bed spread to hide it but decided against it, sooner or later her mother would come to know she had become a Muslim.
    Her mother was a strict Christian and wouldn't miss any church service for the world. Her Father, although a firm believer himself wasn't as strict as her mother who considered it sacrilegious not take part in any religious activity even as little as not saying a simple Amen to a prayer.
  On seeing Aaisha not dressed when it was obvious they were running late for Church, she cried and started scolding her about not waking up early and eventually making them late for Church.
"I'm not going to Church".
Aaisha said with her head bowed to the ground, her voice low but loud enough for her mother to hear.
    Her mother earlier outburst momentarily turned to sympathy as she muttered her infamous "the devil is a liar."
    "Are you sick? having headache isn't enough reason to miss Church service especially on a day like this, do you want the enemy's plan come to pass?"
"I'm not sick."
Her head was still bowed as if there was something fascinating there except for her grey tiles.
"I'm not going to church”. She repeated.
    "Then what is wrong? child please have mercy on me". Her pleaded.
"I am now a Muslim Mummy," she said in a low voice finally raising her head up.
    Her room was eerily quiet and seeing her mother stance and expression unchanged, she wondered if those words really came out of her mouth.
    The mother stared hard at her daughter for a long time who remained still on her bed and a part of her already knew that she has lost the battle even before it began, for she knows that even though she considered her daughter weak and flexible when it comes to making decisions, she was also aware of the strong stubborn side of her daughter once a decision is made.
    Her gaze went to The Qur'an on her daughter's bed and it irked her. Having God's favor sick and not being able to go to church would have pleased her and would have been better excuse than the thought of having her daughter as a Muslim.
   No! She wouldn't give up easily, her daughter can't be a Muslim; the mere thought of her being a Muslim almost made her want to throw up.
"What did you just say?"
   Aaisha refused to answer because now; she was sure her mother heard her right.
  "Tell me, what did you say? “Her mother repeated raising her voice so high that no doubt, their neighbors would hear.
   Her loud voice drew her Father's attention to her room and the poor man entered the room scared and alert.
    Not waiting for him to reach the doorstep, her mother ran to him dragged him by his shirt into the room.
   "Hear the nonsense that is coming out of your daughter's mouth." Her mother said pointing to her as if she was an alien, her volume not tuning down a bit.
   "What is happening"? Her father said, confused.
"Ask your daughter, she says she is a..."Her mother grimaced as if the word tasted like a bitter pill.
"She is what? Her father was getting more confused.
"She want to be like those that wears...", She raised her hand and used her thumb to make a circle round her head to indicate a Hijab.
    Concluding that his wife wasn't in the right emotion with her inability to form coherent words, her father decided to question Aaisha because obviously, it was her that something was wrong with since his wife keeps pointing at her.
   "God’s favor, what is wrong with you? Why do you want to wear_" A small smile crawl up her father's face as he mimicked her mother's attempt at describing the Hijab.
   Aaisha found it amusing that despite himself, her father still had his sense of humor, although she was also aware of the worry that was still on his face, for he still had no idea of what was wrong and his wife who leaned against the wall wasn't helping. Aaisha decided to save her mother the trouble of breaking the news to her father.
   "I'm not a Christian anymore, I’m a Muslim”. She mouthed
     Her father like her mother gave her a long stare but instead of shouting at her like her mother did, he threw her a disappointed look, shook his head and strolled out of her room.
    She was left in her room with her mother again and she could not bring herself to look at her mother face who was now sitting on the tiled floor muttering something to herself.
   The still air in her room was broken as her little brother Samuel, barged in her room and like everyone else except her, he was also in his Sunday outfit.
   Her mother on seeing Samuel quickly stood up from where she was sitting as if the floor has suddenly become hot. She rushed to her son and grabbed his hand roughly to lead him out of the room while saying, "The Devil is in this room; we don't want him poisoning your mind as he did to this girl."
    With that she left the room with her younger brother not before turning to Aaisha and saying, "And you as long as you call yourself a Muslim, forget that I ever gave birth to you, you are not my daughter anymore."
    After she took the Shahaada, Aaisha had braced for whatever her parent’s reaction would be and she had been holding up quite good until those words left her mother's mouth.
    The words stabbed her right in the heart and her knees went weak because although she was resolute on being a Muslim, she still cherished and respected her Mother's view and seeing her vehemently oppose to her being a Muslim and even denouncing her as her daughter was hurtful.
   She believed that within a few weeks her Mother would have taken back her words or at least go back to speaking terms with her but she was wrong, totally.
   The three weeks she spent in her home while she was awaiting to be posted for her housmanship program after informing her parents that she was a Muslim were suffocating.
    Her mother was bent on not having anything to do with her and all her attempt to talk to her were futile, her father on the other hand would only answer in monosyllables whenever she talked to him. Samuel was the only one in her family who didn’t strain his relationship with her but even the little boy was aware that something was not right.
  Her thoughts were interrupted and she came back to her immediate environment by a noise coming from a small crowd some feet’s away from her.
    She walked closer to the crowd who formed a semi-circle because among the things she learned in Bala is to never walk pass a crowd, it is required of you to stop by a crowd no matter how big or small it is and inquire about what went wrong. It was sort of like the many unwritten law of the town which every resident of the town unconsciously adheres to.
   Moving closer to the crowd who circled some few feet’s round a youth lying on the bare ground and was in NYSC uniform. His eyes were almost closed and his body was shaking, he was rolling on the ground dirtying his spotless white vest.
    Apparently he was having an epileptic fit because everyone surrounding him could not move close to him neither can they leave him alone, they all stood watching him while shaking their head.
     Instinctively, a woman in the crowd splashed a bowl of water over him in an attempt to calm him down but that did nothing but to dirty his cloth the more.
   Realizing the danger of what would happen if he was left unattended to in that state and that the people would only do something close to nothing in helping him because of the prejudice that is bounded with people with epilepsy, she moved to his side and knelt before him. She would do everything she can to help him.