Thorns and Berries

Chapter Twelve

Husna

Even when we asked if she was organizing a bonfire, Kaka maintained she was doing a get-together-night. But to everyone of us, it was nothing more or less of a bonfire.

The whole setting had a nice and homey atmosphere with a cosy yet bright fire slowly kindling from burning woods in the middle of our gathering. Mats were spread to form a large circle and everyone fixed themselves to comfortable spots, excluding the grown men who were instead in the sitting room, where they would be talking about politics, the stock market,  the problems with women and laughing loudly with vibrating protruded stomachs.
     
I made to take my place in the gathering but a hand suddenly caught me by the wrist. My heart leapt and I turned my head swiftly to see Salma.
       
"Hey."
       
"Hey."
    
We both greeted simultaneously.
       
"How've you been?
       
"How have you been?"
     
We repeated unconsciously again. This time, we both laughed it off. I had longed, after my father had left me alone to myself, to talk to Salma again. And now that we were standing very close to each other, I found everything really awkward. It was not that this was the first time we had gotten into a fuss with each other but then, that was years ago during our teens and not in our adulthood.
    
We stood for a few seconds staring at each other. I searched through my head for a perfect conversation starter.
       
"Last person to race and get a spot in the mat gets to help the cleaners pack cow dungs tomorrow morning." I dared.
   
What had happened the next minute grabbed the attention of everyone around and then a good feast of humorous laughter. We had both taken to our heels and raced to the mats. I won the race and I was surprised I did. Maybe the incident at the mall taught me to be a fast runner.
    
I punched the air and laughed wildly in jubilation. "Guess who'll be packing cow dungs tomorrow? You!"
       
"Stupid girl." Salma stroked my hair covering roughly.
   
I laughed again.
       
"See you after the bonfire, coz." Salma added and moved away from me to find any available space to sit. She found a space at the far end of the mat and arranged herself on it.
    
After having another round of hearty laugh in celebration of her win, I turned to greet the people sitting by my left, only to be greeted by the grinning faces of Yasmin, Hussain and Hussaina.
     
My heart missed a skip at the sight of them. Especially of the twins. All of a sudden, I felt guilty for drawing a wide distance between myself and the children. These were my siblings. Even if Khadijah gave birth to them, they still had the same blood of my father running through their veins. I would not blame myself entirely for my actions. I would do anything I could, just to avoid getting involved with Khadijah in any way.
      
"Hiii, Husna!" They all chorused and waved at me, faces glimmering as if seeing me was the best thing that had ever happened to them.
   
I coupled myself together and waved back at them timidly.
      
"Hey, guys."
      
I quickly averted my gaze from them and started into space.
      
"She isn't as beautiful as Salma." Came Hussaina's high pitched voice in an intended whisper which unfortunately for her, was a dead give-away.
       
"Whatever!" Came Hussain's voice. "Did you see the color of her eyes.  I've never seen anyone with it before. I wish I can just marry her."
      
This time around, I Husna blushed wildly inside and a small smile crept up my face.
      
"I like her better than everyone else around here. Even though at times, she is wayyy too serious." Yasmin added and they continued their gossips. This time, in lower tunes such that I could hear nothing anymore.
    
The family gathering added in numbers and sooner, everyone was seated and organized. Salma took up the task of serving everyone with fura-da-nono in local wooden bowls. When she arrived my turn, I gave a mischievous smile and whispered,
       
"When it's your turn to serve yourself, make sure you add enough fura so you can gather up enough energy to clean up cow poops tomorrow morning."
      
"What a wicked girl you are!" Salma gave a fake scowl and pinched her fingers into my arm before moving on to serve the rest.
     
I laughed in wicked satisfaction before glancing at the drink in front of me. I stirred the content for a minute with its wooden spoon before taking a scoop and drinking from it.
   
As the drink passed through my throat and the taste lingered on my tongue and a few on my lips, I licked my lips in greed and savoured the taste with relish. True, the fura tasted Kaka's. Kaka was a professional at making fura and even if I was miles away from home, I bet I could still be able to tell any made by Kaka by just a mere sip from it. That creamy, thick fura with coconut grated thinly into it. It had the power to take a man's worries away.
    
The next few minutes, I took my time alongside the rest, stirring, scooping and drinking from the drink and getting spell bound by its peculiar taste coupled with the cool and refreshing evening breeze.