Labiba

Chapter 20

Chapter 20
Labiba's PoV

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This chapter is to show a little of what Labiba went through and why she has always been insecure and tough, she has her reasons.

Flashback
"Labiba." Mummy had  called me on that day I would never forget. Ever since the day she picked me up from school, away from Salma and Falila, I had been counting days and weeks, then it turned into months and now 7 years but I never gave up hope that I'd leave the hell hole that she'd made us live in.

I came out of the tiny room we shared in one of the most remote areas in Kano town sneezing. I couldn't remember the last time I was healthy for two weeks straight. Each and every day came with a different challenge and I couldn't find joy in anything. Nothing made me happy anymore. Mummy didn't even try anymore.

"Na'am." I said as I came to her.

"Zan fita, Ina fita ki rufe kofar kin ji ni ko." I nodded at her. All her rules were for her own selfish reasons, I wasn't her priority anymore and she didn't seem to mind that I never sought comfort in her again. Anytime she brought up Abba, her only words would be how he must be hurting that I wasn't with him anymore.

Then one day when I asked her when would I be going back to Abba and my sisters, she told me that if Abba cared about me, he would've found a way to me. I was around eight years when she had told me that and it had stayed with me to a point where I started believing her.

I kept asking myself if Abba really hated me. Maybe I was so stubborn that he preferred to keep Falila and let mummy take me away. My mother who was supposed to be everything to me did nothing but hurt me instead, she didn't take care of me when I was a child and she certainly didn't pay attention to me when I hit puberty and needed her to guide me through some things. I only got help from my friends in school. Whenever I asked her about something, she ignored me or told me she was busy trying to make ends meet for us.

Eventually, she had started to get tired and I started to annoy her and she stopped going out with me whenever she went out for work or any of the places she used to go. She had once beaten me up for asking her to take me back to Abuja, she told me that I was ungrateful and everything she was doing was for me.

What she didn't know is the kind of hell I went through too. Till date, no one knew how far I went to keep child predators and stoners away from me. No one knew how hard it was to ignore the whispers of friends that were older than me and tried to influence me into doing things they used to do and I was only thirteen while most of them were sixteen or more.

I was about to tell her to come back early because of our neighbour's son that always came in throwing lewd stares at me when the aluminium door to the house was pushed open with force. I jumped out of fear because it was barely seven in the morning and someone was coming in with trouble.

My heart stopped beating when I saw a familiar face, it was Abba! He looked terrible but I was sure he was a sight better than me even at his worst, I hoped I wasn't imagining things but when mummy got up and caught me by the arm trying to run away with me, I knew I was not dreaming.

"Abba!!" I had shouted and he rushed towards us, taking me away from her instantly. They had come seven years too late but it was better late than never.