When Stars Collide

Maheera

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"So you drove him home? You were not even afraid it could have been a trap?" Mardiyah asked in schoolmarm tone that rankled with Hibba. She sneered at her best friend and unknotted the wrapper she had tied around Ummi and her chest after leaving Salman's house, she brought Ummi down gently from her back and handed the nearly awakened child to Mardiyah.

She'd learned his name was Salman from his cousin, Amir who lamented and cussed at his cousin for trying to drive while asleep thereby endangering his life. She was profusely thanked and offered food, money, but she turned down all. She did not need any of those.

When she reached Mardiyah's house, she was nearly late for her obligatory weekly NYSC signing so she breezed through the back, thankful Mardiyah's mother was not home or she'd take Ummi from her and waste some of her time.

"Was it not you that bunked someone in your room for a whole semester in two hundred level? A total stranger?" Mardiyah laughed so hard at the allusion, she was the most trusting human in the world, while Hibba was the particularly cynical one. The girl she'd bunked was a good friend of theirs who moved abroad after that particularly hard year.

"I accept. I accept. But wait oo, Is he fine?" Hibba shook her head, didn't reply but took her NYSC uniform from beneath a space in the diaper bag and walked to Mardiyah's bathroom to change from the flowing gown she had worn.

When she stepped back into the room, Mardiyah was waiting for her at the door. When Hibba found her carrying Ummi waiting at the door of the bathroom, she hissed and pulled her friend further into the room and pushed her unto the bed.

"Imagine leaving my child in front of the bathroom just because you want to hear gist? You dey craze small small?" She asked, although her anger had dissipated, she was still a little mad at Mardiyah's childishness.

"Na you know, Sha tell me, is he fine?" Hibba shook her head. Mardiyah would never change. So she sat down, encased the federal government allocated orange and black boots into her feet slowly before saying, "He is Ma Sha Allah." His warm brown eyes that twinkled even in their sleepy and out of focus state flashed through behind eyes.

"What kind of gist is that one. Everybody in this world is Ma Sha Allah. Was he temptingly handsome or just there?" She mumbled something else Hibba could not catch.

"Well, I think he is of mixed race. Because those curls and brown eyes are certainly not fully Nigerian or Hausa." Mardiyah put Ummi down on the wide bed and turned to her friend who had finally finished dressing up.

"You say? He has curly hair? And you didn't collect food or money or even his phone number?" Mardiyah exaggeratedly slapped her forehead with red hennaed fingers. She slapped her forehead over and over in shame and exasperation for her best friend.

"What should I have done?" Hibba asked Mardiyah with her eyes widened. Mardiyah hissed and carefully picked Ummi up from the bed and opened the door for Hibba.

"Leave before I strangle you." Hibba stared foolishly and walked out, holding her small handbag. She didn't know what she had done wrong, so she left the room and began the many stairs to leave the house.

At the bottom of the stairs, she met Mardiyah's father, with his thick bottle glasses and newspaper. He was a judge so she had no idea what he was doing at home at this time of the day.

"Maman Ummi," He greeted and she squatted, holding the stair railing to steady herself. She was very grateful to this man for how open minded he was being.

"Alhaji, good morning sir." He nodded at her greeting, asking how Ummi was and how work was. He was the one who sent her to the PR company she started work at. Hibba knew without doubt that she needed connections to get such a good company as that and Mardiyah's father was the best connection.