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51.
AbdulRasheed stared blankly at the text before him. He’d read it nearly a thousand times over the course of the last three days, so much so that it was nearly engraved in his mind. The words swirled around his thoughts, making his head pound from sheer exhaustion.
For the life of him, he couldn’t stop thinking about his past. Funny how we never seem to evaluate our lives in the present, rather preferring to look back at actions past. He thought about his life with Aliya, that bleak year that was supposed to be dispelled from his mind now. But seeing her text message has brought all the emotions back, in a massive wave that threatened to swallow him whole.
The most frustrating part, however, was the fact that he couldn’t share his problems with his ever-loving, cold as ice new bride. Bitterness rose to his mouth at the thought of even try
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Broken Within 52.
The sound of birds chirping woke Zeenah up. She stirred slowly, involuntarily snuggling into the warmth wrapped around her. Sighing in content, she inhaled the deep scent around her and felt herself smiling. She was happy, and nothing was going to ruin the day for her.For some reason, the bed felt lumpy. Zeenah didn’t remember her bed feeling this way. She groaned as consciousness slowly returned to her, and she suddenly became aware of a hard body engulfing her.She heard a soft chuckle above her and stiffened. A chuckle? She felt herself being tightened in an embrace, and she widened her eyes in shock.Zeenah sat upright quickly, shoving the man aside. Sitting up, she looked around the room slowly, blinking at the unfamiliar walls before her eyes finally settled on the man lying beside her, his eyes glittering with amusement."Oh my God!" She exclaimed, as she quickly covered herself with the quil
Broken Within 53.
Days rolled into weeks and weeks turned into an entire month. Zeenah and AbdulRasheed had been married for a month, and yet nothing had changed in the way they were living. They were two strangers pretending to be a couple. It was almost as though they never shared an intimate moment. As the days rolled by, AbdulRasheed had totally ignored Zeenah as though she had never existed.Saying he was hurt at their last encounter was definitely an understatement. He had been stung by her reaction towards him. Had she assumed he was like those men who batter and abuse their wives? What had made her think that way about him? He hadn't given much thought about it, but now that he did, something must have triggered that reaction from her.She had resumed school, and on most days before he even left for work, she would be out of the house already, leaving his breakfast on the table and a note like she always does. The note was always short, simply w
Broken Within 54.
It was exactly one week since Samirah put to bed, and as Hausa tradition demanded, the baby was to be named on the seventh day. There was to be a small celebration, where a ram would be slaughtered in the name of the child (although the slaughtering was not a prerequisite for the naming). It was always a festive occasion, and a naming ceremony was just always a cause for joy and celebration, especially if it happened to be the first child.Zeenah woke up that morning feeling giddy and excited. For some reason, the sun seemed brighter, the air smelled sweeter and even her breakfast tasted splendid. She hummed to herself as she set about cleaning, and even while she showered.It wasn't just the ceremony she was looking forward to, although it was always a joy to celebrate and socialize. Zeenah was looking forward to seeing Khadija as well, having been unable to contain her giddiness upon hearing that she would be attending the ceremony. Th
Broken Within 55.
The day went horribly.He'd spilled his coffee twice, and all his pens seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. To top it all off, he was barraged by a constant flow of patients so that he missed lunch.All in all, it was a horrible day.AbdulRasheed read through the file before him for the umpteenth time, dreading the way he was going to start explaining to Mrs Yusuf what her real problem was. She might get angry, he thought. She might even become hysterical or even claim he was wrong. But it was his duty to make her understand that. Part of being a doctor was learning how to break the news to patients, either good or bad.He pressed the buzzer and asked for Mrs Yusuf to be sent in."Spit it out, doctor. I'm ready for anything coming," Mrs Yusuf said, as soon as she settled into the chair before him."Good afternoon to you too," Abdul
Broken Within 56.
Zeenah debated getting up or trying to sleep for another hour. A gusty morning wind was rattling the windowpanes, threatening to smash them against the side of the building.The early morning light filtered through the drawn draperies. She loved a cold room and the tranquillity that came with it. Weird as it may be, Zeenah had always preferred the cold season to the hot season. She had been dreaming about Maama, holding a baby and smiling up at her. Who was she kidding? Ever since Samirah had given birth, she had been wondering how it would feel for her to also have a child to call hers.Groaning loudly, Zeenah tossed to the other side of her bed and stretched. She was still tired, despite the fact that she had actually slept early. Grabbing her phone, she checked the time and quickly sat up, almost hitting her leg on the edge of the bed. "Dear God! I must really have been so tired!" She picked up a wrapper from her closet and tied it over the
Broken Within 57.
Zeenah laughed loudly through the phone while applying a fruity scented lip balm to her lips. "You can't be serious, Samirah," she said. "How can you do that to my baby?""Why can't I?" Samirah's voice drawled through the phone. "He was proving to be stubborn, and I wanted to show him how stubborn I can also be.""He's just a baby," Zeenah said in amusement."I am aware of that unfortunate circumstances," Samirah said hysterically. "And yet he knows how to keep me awake for a whole night. Make that make sense woman. I'll wait until you have yours, then we can have this discussion again."Zeenah grew stiff at Samirah's words, but she brushed it off quickly, refusing to allow it disturb her any more than the issue already had. "How are you after yesterday's stress?""Oh, I should be asking you that. How are you? I'm glad you found your phone. I've been wondering who the woman you described w
Broken Within 58.
'How's work?'Zeenah typed away as she swallowed a spoonful of rice. It was a beautiful afternoon, and she had just come back from school. It's been five days already since she and AbdulRasheed had agreed to be friends, however, it was a gradual process for her. She still wasn't comfortable with the idea, but she was trying to.AbdulRasheed, on the other hand, Zeenah noticed, was as open as an open book. Even though he was yet to tell her anything about his life, he still tries as much as he could to make her feel as though she had been part of his life for a long time.She swallowed another spoonful the very moment her phone had beeped with an incoming message.'Hectic. I have lots of patients today, though, I'll be done in let's say two hours time. How was school?'She smiled before quickly typing away.'School was fine. Guess I won't be the only on
Broken Within 59.
They slept together, despite Zeenah wanting to stop that from happening, she couldn't. Not when he was an emotional mess that night, and definitely not when he had just finished pouring his heart out to her. So, instead of leaving the room like she had planned to when he fell asleep before her, she snuggled more into his embrace and drifted into a deep slumber.Morning came earlier than Zeenah wanted. She had enjoyed the night before and was looking forward to many more. As she made breakfast that morning, she scolded herself for even thinking about having another night like the night before.She was beginning to act weird, and it scared her that she was entirely changing because of him.Which was why, as soon as he had left for work that morning, Zeenah had called her therapist; Karimah."Isn't it weird that I'm acting that way? I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself. What if he is worse than Abubakar?"
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