Scarred For Life

Chapter 28

*
"How was the flight?"

"Too high up for my taste," Adnan replied with a grimace.

"I can't believe you're still afraid of heights at this point in your life," Nafisa laughed at her older brother with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "You should have driven then."

"I had some work I needed to do," he said. Faintly, his previous conversation with Afrah came back to him.

"How long are you going to stay here?" She asked.

"I'll be here for a while," he replied. "I have to look for a house here, remember?"

"Didn't you just buy a house in Kano?"

"And I plan on buying one here," he said. "That was always the plan."

"You're wasting money," she said. "Real estate in Abuja is extremely expensive."

"And how would you know that?" He asked, turning to stare at her. For a moment, Nafisa flushed as she ignored the question. Adnan could smell a rat somewhere, but he pushed no further. He was extremely tired after all, and not just from the flight.

"Either way, you're looking at a figure north of seventy five million naira," she said. "And that depends on where you want to stay."

"I'll know what I want when I see it," he said.

"Umma says she can't wait to come and see the house in Kano," she said. "Knowing her, she's going to try and change a lot of things there. You'd better be prepared."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Nafisa," he said. "And by the way, how is she?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something about the way she speaks to me over the phone sounds off," he said. "Is it Abba again?"

"Somewhere along that line," she sighed, frowning as she remembered the conversation from that morning. "You're going to have to be careful around her. Talking to her these last few days requires a fair bit of patience. I swear it's like walking on eggshells."

"Aren't we all walking on eggshells in that house?" He sighed.

"And Adnan,"

"What?"

"Try and keep your temper in check," she said.

Now, his interest was piqued. As far as he could tell, there was something seriously wrong at home, and they were all reluctant to tell him what it was exactly. He would soon find out however, and he couldn't hazard a guess as to what exactly could be waiting for him there.

"So, Umma tells me you had dinner with Afrah," Nafisa said in a much more cheerful tone. "Are you guys dating now?"

Adnan glared at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry I asked," she raised her hands. "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Why?"

"Well, she's pretty much severed all ties with our family for the last eleven years or so," she said. "When you were still in Cyprus, she and I were as close as sisters. But something changed in her one day when she came to stay over, and she stopped coming to our house or talking to me. And Umma claims it's not just us; she hardly ever talks to anyone. I used to think perhaps we had done something to offend her, but it seems highly unlikely."

"She just doesn't like people," Adnan said defensively.

"Why the sudden change though?" Nafisa said. "I tried reaching out several times, but she never reciprocated. Abba says Umma did something to her when she came to stay over, but for the life of me I don't know what it is."