Scarred For Life

Chapter 78

*
Adnan couldn't bring himself to do it.

All through the flight to Kano, he kept staring at his mother in-law's phone number, debating whether he should do it or not.

He couldn't.

What exactly would he say?

'Hello, yes I was just wondering if you have a hand in kidnapping my daughter and I was just wondering if you knew where she was so I can get her back?'

Stupid.

He couldn't tell Afrah either. Not when it involved her mother. She would be heart broken if she found out.

But then Zainab might be lying. She was a pathological liar after all. Why wouldn't she lie to him? It didn't make any sense. Surely she must have just said that to throw him off their scent. And stupid as he was, he'd left the state knowing that she'd been pardoned by the governor. Now she was free; free to wreak her havoc over them once again.

He was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

When they landed in Kano, Adnan's first stop was the police station. The sergeant was eager to help, and very soon all the units had been informed of a missing girl who'd been kidnapped by an older man. Yusuf's photo was sent to every officer on duty, and plain-clothed officers began to ask around their neighborhoods if anyone had seen him. Sadly, no one heard anything.

Adnan found Afrah with her aunt and uncle in the living room when he went back home late at night. The pain in her eyes felt like a knife wound through him, and the tears on her face were enough to drive him insane.

"Have you heard anything?" she asked desperately, leaping off her feet.

Solemnly, he shook his head, and she collapsed back onto the chair. Her grief was plain for all to see, and none felt it more than Adnan.

"Don't worry," Uncle Mahmud said. "We'll find her. Nothing will happen to her, Insha Allah. The police are on the case. Just have faith, and pray for a positive outcome."

"They couldn't find him for five whole years," Afrah said bitterly. "How are they supposed to find her? My... my...,"

"Afrah, calm down," her aunt said. "Have faith and pray for her. That's all she needs now."

"Why does this keep happening to me?" she sobbed, collapsing onto her aunt's shoulder. "Why does everything bad always happen to me?"

"We can't outrun our destinies, Afrah," her uncle said. "There's a lesson to be learnt in everything. Trust that Allah will present a solution to your problem very soon. Everything happens according to his will. If you have faith in Him, then all your problems shall come to pass."

Adnan simply stood by the door, a stranger in his own home. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her that everything would be alright. He wanted to go out and find his father by himself, and hurt him in the most unimaginable way for making his wife hurt the way she was right now. He wanted to burn it all to the ground and start afresh. But he simply stood and watched her tears, the gnawing hopelessness expanding in his chest. The feeling of helplessness enveloped him, and for once in his life he could do nothing but sit back and watch.

Or he could call his mother in-law.

Surely Afrah must have called her already. Knowing her, she'd be on the next available flight to Kano. Halima would never let her daughter suffer alone. She would be here for her. But if indeed she knew where Yusuf was, then she would have told him. She loved Hafsah almost as much as they did. She wouldn't want to let her get hurt, would she?