Life Without You✔️.

5: Extended Family Tree.

Bibi's POV
Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

After he left, I walked back down and Mama informed me that he had brought dinner again, so I helped myself to some Chinese rice and a bottle of cold water. We eat together at the dinner table before retiring upstairs for the night. I'll be going to school with Mama to check it out and get registered, insha'Allah, i hope I get my admission letter soon. I go to bed thinking about the new friends I'll make at my new school. I can't believe I'm attending Oxford University.

The Next Morning.

Mama woke me up at 7:30 a.m. to get ready, and I now have thirty minutes to dress and meet her downstairs. I had a 15-minute bath, brushed my teeth and hair and then went into my closet to choose today's attire. I chose a floral-colored jumpsuit that I had hanging around and paired it with a white top. I draped a matching veil over my head and sprayed my favourite perfume. I grabbed my footwear, phone, and, of course, my AirPods.

I applied some eyeliner to highlight my eyes and lip balm. I quickly put everything I needed in my handbag and left the room. I hurried down the steps, taking care not to fall, and made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. I have five minutes left, and if I don't go outside within that time, mama will leave me at home.

Grabbing an empty zip-lock bag, I put in two slices of toast and seal it up. Making myself a cup of hot chocolate, I run out of the house just to meet Mama entering the car.

She explains a few things to me in relations to the school and informs me that we will be going to Uncle faiz's house this evening. So much for thinking i wouldn't be seeing that boys face today or anytime soon.







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The commute to school took twenty minutes. We made it in no time. Upon finishing the documents, I was asked a few questions to tie things up. The secretary requested me to step out so she could ask Mama a few questions, so I collected my belongings and left. I decided to go round the school and I end up bumping into an Arabian-looking female. "I apologise; I wasn't looking at where I was going. I hope I did not hit you hard." She enquired with a concerned expression.

"No, it's fine."I'm Nadia; nice to meet you," I said. "And I'm Iman; nice to meet you too." . She showed me around the school and we learnt a little about each other. We are taking the same course business psychology, so we get to spend most of our time together, which means I won't be alone on my first day of school. Talk about luck.

She's also a transfer student who was transferred here one six months ago, but it's like she has learned a lot already. From the looks of it, we are going to be good friends.

I introduced her to Mama, and we left.

In the evening, we leave the house for Uncle Faiz's residence. He lives in Faringdon, which is not far from where we live, so Mama drives us down to his place. "Mama Dan Allah, please let's not stay long." I beg, "Wannan keh kika sani. That's your own business, I'm here to see my brother, whom I haven't seen in years, and you're urging me not to stay too long. I didn't advise you to fight your cousin; that's between the two of you. She responds and parks her car in the driveway.

Knowing that begging her is pointless, I give in and go in with her. The door is opened by a female who looks exactly like Ayman but is much shorter and has lighter skin. "Assalamu Alaikum Aunty Ameena ina wuni, Good evening." She greets us, making way for us to enter. When she sees me, her smile expands.

"You must be Bibi; I almost came over yesterday, but Mummy told me not to disturb you and to wait because you were coming over today." She giggles as she approaches for a hug, unlike someone else. I instantly like her. "Aww you should have come over but it's fine we're here today." I propose we move into the sitting room, where refreshments are delivered for us, and Aunty Maimuna and Uncle Faiz enter a few minutes later.

"Assalamu alaikum, suwaye bakin namu, who are these guests we have here." Aunty Maimuma jokes, and we all laugh. "Ina wuni, good evening Aunty Maimuma." I welcome after older people had finished their hellos, "Don't greet me from there, come give me a hug, you've grown so much Bibi, and call me mummy, you make me feel older than my age when you address me with my name." Auntie Maimuna says. I stand up and hug both her and Uncle Faiz.

"Go up with Fayha so we don't bore you with our elderly people's stories." He says, and I agree, following her up to her room, which looks similar to mine. I realise we have more in common than I imagined, unlike someone she's connected to. I guess I found a new best friend here. We spend the rest of the evening getting to know each other until it's time for Magrib.

"Let us pray and then go downstairs for dinner. Yaya Ayman and Yaya Yusuf should be back by now." She says, "You've met Yaya Ayman ai, yes?" She asks, and I nod, hoping not to reveal how much I already despise her brother. But well, I'm not sure how, but she notices something is wrong.

"Did he already do something? She groans and sits down on her bed again, "no not really." I lie "come on I thought were sisters?" She says, and I sigh, sitting opposite her. "He almost ran me over with a car yesterday and instead of apologising he was very rude and mind you, this was before he even came home and he also wasn't able to pick us up from the airport." I rant.

"Wallahi Just when you think you've seen it all from Yaya Ayman, he proves you wrong. Just ignore him, Kinji you hear; he can be extremely bothersome at times, muyi salah let's pray." She speaks to me while putting on her hijab. We pray and move downstairs, and happily, Ayman isn't home until halfway through dinner, when he decides to show up with another person who looks exactly like Uncle Faiz, which I'm guessing is Yaya Yusuf, as Mama said.

"Ina wuninku, good evening everyone apologise for being late; Ayman here was the one wasting our time." Yaya Yusuf explains, hugging Mama, "haba bakomai, it's not an issue sit let's eat." She assures. Me and Ayman ignore each other, "ina wuni, good evening." "Yaya Yusuf." I greet. "Lafiya lau, I'm good Bibi. Look how much she's grown Ayman." He repeats this to Ayman, who simply nods and continues to stuff his nasty mouth with food. I flush at Yaya Yusuf's comment, and the table falls silent except for the clatter of silverware and the irregular conversation from our parents.

Mama announces that it is time to leave after dinner since she dislikes driving late at night. I'm delighted I don't have to spend another minute around Ayman. They accompany us outside and wait until we leave the driveway before returning inside. I enjoy the fact that I am meeting more of my family members. Jawahir would be excited to learn more about them. She is Uncle Bashir's daughter and hence our cousin as well.

He has four children: Jawahir, the oldest, is twenty-four years old and a little older than me, but we're still close friends; Abdullah, my agemate and the only boy; and the twins Asma and Asma'u, who are seventeen. She stated that they only met briefly on the few occasions they had been to the United Kingdom, thus no meaningful was bond established.
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السلام عليكم
She's meeting more family members how sweet😭 I've been over working myself with these updates trying to update on a daily basis😭 I want to see if I can finish before Ramadan because I won't be updating at all during Ramadan but I just know I'm lying to myself by thinking I can finish before then.
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Edited.