Bound ✅

Sperm Bank

Halima wrapped her hijab carefully, walking to the mirror to check it out. She moved her head this way and that before securing the ends on the left side of her face with a pin.

"Sadiyya?" Halima turned to the door and squatted to greet her mother.

"Ina Kwana Mummy." Her mom asked about her health reminding Halima of the way she had felt the previous night.

"I'm fine now. The heat must have been too much." Her mother nodded and told her breakfast was on the table.

Halima got up from her crouch and walked behind her mother to the dining table that had been in their house since they moved in nineteen years ago. The wood creaked and the chairs had been repaired over and over, making them mismatched.

"Kosai!" She exclaimed. "Thank you Mummy." Her mother nodded absentmindedly and sat watching Halima down the hot liquid and fried delicacy that was eaten with it.

"When are you going to see Salisu's mother." Halima shut her eyes and savoured the ginger spiciness of the pap, she hid a groan also. She had hoped to lesve the house without acknowledging that she had to see her former mother in law.

"I'll see her when I return from the viewing I'm going to." Her mother sighed and nodded. Halima knew  that whatever Salisu's mother had over her head was large.

"So, no one caught your fancy over there?" Immediately her mother spoke, a picture of Jamal came to her mind's eye but, she shook her head and replied. "No."

Her mother stared skeptically at her. "Not even an oyinbo?" Halima stared pointedly at her mother before she got up, signaling the end of their conversation. She looked resignedly at the plate of Akara on the table before her. She'd have to let go of her delicacy to not groan at her mother.

"See you later Mummy. I have plenty places to view." Her mother handed her the bag she had placed behind her.

"Allah Hafiz." Halima shook her head deep in thought. She definitely needed Allah's help at this point.

*********

"So, what do you think?" Halima walked to the show window and looked outside. The show window would be perfect for pictures, for looking down to the car park. So she bit her lips in quiet thinking.

While she stood there, her fingers against the glass, her phone rang. She wrestled it out of her Abaya's pocket.

"Assalamualaikum." Summayah's voice filled her with warmth.  "How are you?". Halima shrugged and remembering that Summayah could not see her, she tapped her tongue against the roof of her mouth, making a tsk tsk sound.

"That bad? Tell me all about it." Halima smiled at the real estate agent abd walked into another room to talk to Summayah.

"I don't know what to pick. Whether to take the one with the large show window on the second floor, or the one with the small show window on the first floor." Summayah made an ah sound. Making Halima worry.

"What do you want for your clients?" Halima began listing her words. Summayah waited for her to finish.

"If you want the place to be what you said, just pick the second floor. There is tendency for it to have plenty of light, for people to be more happy in lit up places. Okay?" Halima replied and walked out into the place where the agent was waiting.

"Can i see?" Halima cut the call to change it to a video call.

"She began to carefully wave the phone around, showing Summayah places in the shop. "What is that space for?"

"In my mind's eye, it's a place where you'll just sit and your hair gets as much heat as it needs." Summayah said an okay.

"I think you should take it." Summayah said once she put her call back on audio. "Really?" Summayah sighed.

"Yes, I feel like when your clients need some space and they come to the salon, they should get what they want." Halima nodded and walked to the real estate agent.

"Can I sign today?" She wanted to badly do it before meeting Salisu's mother.

"Yes you can. Congratulations by the way." Halima nodded her thanks. The joy she should have felt was tamped down by the one she was meeting after.

*****

Standing at the black gate, she rubbed her sweaty hands against a dry wipe she found in her bag and wondered if she should have worn the Abaya at all. Salisu's mother would say she was wasting money.

She swung the rickety gate and marveled at the indoors. It was pretty spruced up. Probably, Salisu's sisters had forked out some money for renovations.

Whwn she reached the main door, she had found it difficult to shut her mouth in surprise. The house had been renovated in no small way.

"Asalam Alaykum." She said after removing her sandals and knocking quietly.

"Come in." Salisu's mother was fond of never replying salams but she had done her own duty.

"Ah! You look like you went there to enjoy. I thought they said you went to work as a child care keeper. How come your skin is shining like you got married?" Halima  smiled demurely and said nothing in reply. She stood there, beside the door while Salisu's mother looked her over.

"And you didn't even call. Even not for my son that married you, but for the respect you should have had for me." Halima raised her hand to her face to hide the pursing of her lips behind the sleeve of her abaya.

"Come in and sit down. Stop behaving like a stranger." Halima nodded and sat on one of the new chairs that littered the room. The new decorator surely knew what they were doing.

"So, how was London? I hear it's always cold." Halima wanted to shout at her and ask what she wanted but she just smiled and talked the weather of London with her.

"They said one big man brought you home the day you came, is that true?" Halima squinted in surprise. So the gossip mill had spinned this one?

"That was my boss's son. She just asked him to drop me off, since he was going to his office." She wtched the older woman nod.

"Because it would be bad if you had a fiancé or something and I didn't know. It would spoil all my plans." Halima braced herself. She knew the time had come.

"Read this letter." Halima noticed foe the first time, a letter on the low table in front of them. She collected the white paper and opened the leaflet.

The letter read a few jargon first, it was from a sperm bank in Maitama that had stored Salisu's sperm for the past years since his demise. According to the letter, nearly a year before he died.

"What does this mean? Mama?" The recipient of her question leaned back on the chair with a gleam in her eyes.

"What do you think it means? Hhm, because you're asking dumb questions."

******

Hello,

How are you doing? Fine?

I got messages from a particular lady who is a friend of one of my friends. Thank you so much for feeling excited about what I write. Your messages were what I needed to write this chapter. So, thank you.

This chapter however, is for someone who lets me know what I think about my work. @Ummeetarh136  p.s (I tried to tag you. God knows)

See y'all.

God bless you.