LAHADI (SUNDAY)

Chapter Nineteen

•••
It will not do! At all!
•••

It was Monday and Lami was staring at what she hoped was the ceiling. Shadows seemed to dance in the dark, they twist and turn into something alive, inhuman, and then not alive. It was so late at night that even the crickets and mice were quiet and the world was still, as if it was holding it's breath.

Lami hated Monday. It was the day she usually comes down from being high, an effect Mustapha had on her, only to realize it would be days before it's Sunday again.

The dream Lami had on that day, however, was what made her hate Mondays even more.

It wasn't a normal dream, it felt real, but the reality was amplified. She had never felt so happy, so content, so alive! She and Mustapha were walking to a classroom they sit at during her visits, she was walking behind Mustapha and she was grinning at his back because of something he said. She didn't remember what, she only remembered how she felt when he said it.

She had never laughed so hard, had never felt so in love with him. She stood still to catch her breath before she dies of asphyxiation when she felt a shift in the atmosphere. Fear shot up her spine and her body shivered in terror. The air was thick with vain and evil and she looked around, not knowing what she was looking for, not sure if she's prepared when she does saw that something. But there was nothing,no one. Only Mustapha.

Mustapha,who had his back turned the whole time, who had a posture that wasn't his, who kept walking and walking...and walking.

Mustapha! Ya Musty!

She opened her mouth and screamed,but no sound came out of her mouth. She tried again and again, but it still didn't work. She couldn't move. She screamed again.

"Ya Musty!" Panic impaled her heart when she realized it. That wasn't him, that's not him at all. Whatever it was, it heard her, it turned around, dark sharp eyes that made her almost pee all over herself. She couldn't move, she couldn't scream for help

It turned around completely, giving off an aura so evil, so cold, Lami felt goosebumps rise up her skin. It started moving towards her, hands outstretched, until it settled around her neck. Lami was really chocking now, but not because of laughter. She couldn't breathe, she's not sure how much longer she could hold. Yet she was afraid of what will happen if she closes her eyes. There was a dark smoke coming from the face of the thing, she felt her mouth open and tried so hard, so hard, to keep it shut but she couldn't.

Just as the smoke started to enter her mouth, Lami jerked awake coughing deeply. She was on her back the whole time, she might've chocked on her saliva, or maybe she almost suffocated on vomit, because there's something irritating her throat. She wanted to out and drink water, but she's scared of moving even an inch. She coughed and coughed until her airway was finally cleared. She settled back on her back and shut her eyes, too scared to think about her dream. She later realized her eyes opened at some point and was unaware until she blinked.

She definitely,definitely, hated Mondays with a passion now. But she can't do anything about it. It wasn't the first Monday she stood awake, heartache so painful it was physical. Knowing she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, Lami laid awake and burned.

•••

It was Tuesday, and Lami sat down on the local chair while she peeled onions in one container and sliced it in another. Her mother asked her to cook Jollof rice that day. She planned on cooking Jollof rice for Mustapha on Sunday but she can't because her mother will complain that they already ate it on Tuesday. Maybe she'll make chin-chin in Hafsah's house for him instead.

Lami was exhausted, and it wasn't even noon. She hadn't slept at all that night. She barely made it to 2:00pm, where after she made lunch, she dragged herself to Amatullah's house where she requested for some Du'as to read before sleeping. She knew most of them, which annoyed her, because she was hoping for more. She was honestly okay with having even a hundred,if it meant that she won't be having dreams like that ever again.

•••

Wednesday was uneventful, she went to Baraka's house to spend the day. She made dinner and ate with her two kids, Mansur and Ahmad. She asked them to come and sleep with her in the room she slept in (which was the reason she was there if she was being honest). And she slept better holding the tiny toddler, Ahmad, than she did since the beginning of the week.

•••

She didn't return home until Friday. She had so much fun with the kids that she had forgotten about her dream and was distracted from the feeling of something watching her. She had started the Du'as she collected from Amatullah and she slept like a baby those nights. Thursdays are the best days, whoever said otherwise was worse than the koko da kosai hater and is just an envious moron that dislikes those that enjoy Thursdays. She went to her shop and got all the ingredients she needed to make chin chin, she went to Hafsah's house and drop the ingredients, then made her way back home.

If she was free later on that day, then she'll go back to make the chin-chin. It seemed easier that way. However,she was sent on an errand to her uncle's house and she stayed to chat with her cousins till late in the evening. She could just make it the next day. It made no difference.

•••

"Gaskiya kina cin zali na. Yanzu duk yawan chin-chin dinnan kice abinda zanci kenan. Shi saurayin naki bashida me yi Masa chin-chin ne?" Hafsah complained.

Lami looked up, irritated. She wouldn't be bother by what Hafsah said, but Hafsah kept complaining even though she was eating the chin-chin she was disrespecting.

"Will you eat or won't you eat it? If you'll eat it, eat. If not hand over the rest." She retorted.

Hafsah pouted and kept eating her chin-chin. After she was done she threw the container her chin-chin was in and said, "baimayi dadi ba. In kika bashi kunya zakiji."

"Oho, koma dai me. Kema kiyiwa saurayin ki in kina dashi." Mustapha's not really her boyfriend, but Hafsah doesn't have to know.

"Bakida mutunci fah."

"Nice ma ke, kenan." Lami smirked and kept cutting the dough.

She ignored Hafsah, trying to think of what to say to Mustapha. She's not going to ask, she'll tell him in a way that's final. In a way he won't refuse.

With each passing week, every Sunday she met him, she felt happier, better.

With each passing week, every Sunday, Lami became greedier and greedier. Sundays are no longer enough to satisfy her. She needed more. She wanted Fridays and the whole weekend too. And Lami will do anything to make it possible. After she was satisfied with her plan, she rolled up all the chin-chin in newspaper and put it in a black nylon bag. Everything's going to be all right soon.

•••
It's Sunday.

•••

Make sure you pray before you sleep kids. How was it? Was I good in writing horror? Chapter's unedited because y'all chased me with a knife and demanded an update in exchange for my life. (I'm not even kidding!) I'm taking legal actions too. Juma'at Mubarak