Unedited.

"I think we are lost!" Maryam shrieked exasperatedly. For the umpteenth time, she drew in a ragged breath - this was the one of the reasons she didn't want them to come, but Sa'eed, being the persistent person he was, had to practically force her - she rolled her eyes at the thought.

"I don't think so." Sa'eed replied, his gaze fixed on the road. "Hopefully we will get the house soon. The man we asked for direction specifically told us to keep going straight, then turn right and then we will see a mosque, we're to turn left, head straight and lastly right again."

Maryam couldn't suppress the urge to narrow her eyes at him and that was exactly what she did. "But we've been going around in circles. I think that man purposely gave us wrong directions. I'm sure it's is aim to get us lost." She insinuated, earnestly.

Sa'eed shook his head at her insinuation. "Of what benefit would it be to him?" He questioned, taking a quick glance at baby Imran who was in his car seat at the back of the car. He wanted to make sure he was alright and not uncomfortable.

Maryam shrugged. "Probably because it's a hobby." She replied. "Don't tell me you don't know people do such things for fun."

Ignoring her statement, Sa'eed averted his gaze from the road to Maryam. "I think Imran is hungry. You should check on him."

Maryam sprinted her gaze to him in disbelief. "I just fed him like ten minutes ago." She whined.

"He's a baby." Sa'eed pointed out. "And babies get hungry easily. I don't want my baby to starve, so to the back!" He commanded, pulling over by the side of the road.

"Habibi!" She grumbled, gutturally. "Is this your way of telling me I've been rambling and you want to have some peace?"

Sa'eed chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Dishearteningly, Maryam alighted the car and got into the backseat. She carried him out of his seat and attempted to feed him some more, but he ended up throwing up due to overfeeding. "This was exactly what I was afraid of." She rumbled.

"What's wrong?" Sa'eed inquired, turning towards them. His eyes widened a little at the realisation of what happened.

"I told you, habibi! But you kept on insisting I feed him again. Now, see the result." With a scrunched up demeanor, she took off his bib and wiped his mouth with a towel.

"Is he alright?" He inquired, his gaze fixed solely on the baby.

Maryam mentally rolled her eyes at his excessively protective nature. She could recall he was exactly like that with Manal as well. A huge part of her loved and admire that about him, while the other little part of her sometimes found it annoying. It was as if he felt she wasn't taking care of the baby enough and that didn't sit well with her. "He's fine." She replied. "It happened as a result of overfeeding. It's normal. You should know, it happened a lot with Manal."

"Oh! Okay." He flashed a smile at her. "His temperature, have you felt it?" He questioned.

"He's fine." She groaned exasperatedly. "Confirm it yourself." She remarked, handling him over to him.

A duchenne smile crept up Maryam's lips as she gazed at the father-son moment. She just couldn't help admiring the way her husband stared at their son like he was the most beautiful creature in the world and how he wiped imaginary dust from his forehead. Without mincing words, she knew their children were lucky to have him.

~~~~~

Manal was in the twins' study with Faisal reading her books, when she heard her aunt calling for her. "Na'am!" She yelled back. "I'm coming." She averted her gaze to Faisal. "Let's go. I think your ummi is calling us."

Faisal furrowed his brows in confusion. "But I only heard your name." He countered.

"That may be true, but do you want to remain here all alone? Hussaina and Hassana are away on a school trip, your abi is not around as well. Aren't you afraid of the scary joker we saw on TV yesterday? I'm sure he's going to come here and eat you up." She said in a frightening voice and scurried away.

"Wait for me." Faisal yelled as he ran after her - his voice laced with extreme fear.

~~~~~~

"Your Ummi just called and guess what; they are coming to take you back home tomorrow!" Rahamah squealed, expecting her to be happy or at least give a little smile, but on the contrary, she got the complete opposite of that.

"Hmm." She simply hummed, her gaze fixed on her shoes like it was suddenly the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

"Hey." Rahamah cooed, raising her head by placing a hand underneath her chin. "Aren't you happy? Don't you want to go back home anymore?"

She surprised her nodding her head. "Yes."

Rahamah's face scrunched up in confusion. "But why? You were always so eager to go back home. What suddenly changed?"

"I will miss Hassana, Hussaina and even Faisal." She replied gloomily. She also thought she would be happy by the news, but her emotions couldn't be controlled. Even by her.

Rahamah smiled. "I'm sure they will miss you more, but you don't have to worry about that, okay? I will bring them to visit often."

"Ummi is Manal leaving soon?" Faisal asked, tears already brimming up in his eyes.

"Yes, dear. She has to leave someday and that day is tomorrow." She replied apologetically.

"But I don't want her to go." The five year old cried, wrapping his tiny arms around her. "Please don't go, Manal. I won't be stubborn anymore."

"I also don't want to leave." She replied at the verge of tears.

Rahamah was taken aback by Manal's reaction. She, for one, knew that wasn't the only reason she was acting that way, for she was a very smart and sensitive girl - her sense of observance not left out. "Is this the only reason you don't want to go back home?" She voiced.

Manal shook her head truthfully. "No."

"Come here." She motioned for her to come closer to her and when she did, she made her sit beside her on the bed. "What's the other reason?" Sensing her reluctance to speak up, she spoke in an enticing voice. "You can tell me. Go on, I'm listening."

"They don't care about me anymore." She sulked.

"Who?"

"Abii and Ummi." She replied solemnly.

"Why would you even say such a thing?" She reprimanded, softly. "Of course they do."

"They only love the new baby now. Since he was born, they've stopped calling frequently. Even abi." She remarked sadly. She wasn't really bothered about her mother, because her mind was already made up about her not caring about her. It was her father's that hurt her the most. It was like he had forgotten about his baby, because he already had another baby.

"That isn't true, darling." Rahamah cooed. "Your Ummi and abi love you so much, not even baby Imran can take your place in their hearts."

"Can I go with her, Ummi?" Faisal inquired. Over the months, he had grown so attached to Manal that he was willing to go with her to Nigeria.

"No, sweetie, you can't." She replied apologetically, then averted her gaze to Manal. "You should go get your things ready. They are going to be here tomorrow."

Sluggishly and hesitantly, she ambled out of the room, with Faisal trailing behind her.

~~~~~~

After about an hour or so of roaming the town, they finally arrived at their destination.

Maryam sighed laboriously. "Finally!"

Sa'eed pulled over just in front of the molded building and alighted to car. He walked to the other side of the car and held open the door for her. "Give him to me." He held the baby in one arm and helped her out of the car.

Maryam's gaze trailed around the surroundings oddly. "It's as if I have never visited this village before. The village of mom. The last time I came here was when I was about 15."

"That was a long time ago." He commented.

"Yeah." She concurred. "Let's go and have this over and done with." She puffed out air from her mouth and ambled towards the main door of the house.

Sa'eed stayed beside the car with Imran in his arms and waited for someone to emerge from the house before proceeding towards them.

"Assalamu'alaykum." Maryam said and knocked on the door, but got no response. She knocked harder and this time, a middle aged woman who was looking way older than her age emerged from the house with a scrunched up expression.

She eyed Maryam warily and in an extremely bizarre and creepy manner. "Zhî wó yô?." She asked in her native language - Nupe. "Zhì wè wà zaò?"

"Emi Nafisa." She replied in the same language. "Do you understand English?" She inquired since she wasn't very fluent in the language. She could understand everything she said, but she couldn't speak fluently. " Is this Nafisa's house please?"

The moment the question emerged from between her lips, the woman's demeanor contorted in fury. Her brows twitched and she gnashed her teeth. "Why are you looking for her? I don't care, don't even answer that. She is not here. You can leave. Get away from my house."

"Just listen to what I have to say. I came to inform you a-"

"I don't care." She interjected. "Please leave before I throw you out."

"It hasn't gotten to that please." Maryam remarked, offended. "If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have come here." She muttered.

"You're more than welcome to leave. Get -"

"Assalamu'alaykum." Sa'eed muttered, ambling towards them. "We're so sorry for disturbing you right now. We just have something really important we think you should know."

"Why are you apologizing to her?" Maryam questioned in disbelief. "She should be grateful we wasted our time coming here."

"Calm down." Sa'eed spoke in a hushed tone. "Take Imran and go stand over there while I convince her to let us talk." He pointed to the car and handed the baby to her.

Maryam took Imran from him and did as he said, but not before throwing an irritated glare at the woman.

"Can we talk? Please?" He inquired. "It would be worth your time, I promise."

The woman sighed in defeat. "I rather speak with you, than with that crazy woman. Fine, let's talk." She finally obliged. "Come in."

"Thank you, but please watch your words." He gave a closed lip smile. " That's my wife you're speaking about."

"Does it look like I care?" She muttered underneath her breath and disappeared into the house.

Sa'eed rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. What type of a woman was this?

"Habibty." He called, making gestures for her to come over.

"I heard what that woman said about me." She remarked immediately she walked over to him. "Didn't I tell you this was a bad idea? Do you blame me now for not wanting to come?"

"I never did." He sighed tiredly. "I understand why you didn't want to come, but this has to be done. For closure. Don't worry, we will leave soon." He wiped the beads of sweats that formed on her forehead. "And lastly, please don't mind anything she says. She's obviously hot tempered."

"Just for you." She remarked.

"Thanks." He smiled. "Do you need help with Imran?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Alright. Let's go in."

Opening the wooden door, they went into the house and met the woman whose name was still unknown sitting on a mat in the middle of the parlour. Maryam gazed trailed about the unorganized room. There was no couch in there. Clothes were scattered all over the place and the air in the atmosphere reeked of urine. Undoubtedly, the woman wasn't only hot tempered, but dirty as well - Maryam thought.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" She suddenly asked, breaking Maryam out of her trance. She didn't even realise she had been ogling impertinently at her. "You can sit down if you want, otherwise, stand."

"We will sit." Sa'eed replied and sat down on the mat.

Immediately Maryam sat down, baby Imran began to wail. She had to stand up and rock him back and forth in an attempt to shush him.

"What's wrong with him?" Sa'eed asked, gazing intently at them.

"I think he's feeling sleepy." She replied, rocking and hugging him to her chest. "I will just make him sleep and return." Maryam remarked and swiftly sauntered out of the room, before Sa'eed had the chance to say anything. Besides she couldn't stand staying in the environment for a second longer.

"What do you have to say? Please do that quickly and leave. I have better things to do than accommodate strangers in my house." She grumbled.

"What I'm about to say, is no doubt, going to be hard for you to take." He started. "As a parent, I can only imagine how you must feel about this tragedy, but it can't be reversed. It's what Allah has destined for her and no matter what happens in this world, we should learn to put our fate in Allah. To trust and believe everything He does is for a reason - to test our fate in Him."

"Just go straight to the point." She remarked, rather too rudely.

"Is your husband around?" He inquired.

"He's been dead for a while now." She replied. "What's this about please?"

"You're Nafisa's mother, right?" He questioned.

"She lived here." She rephrased.

"Oh!" Sa'eed exclaimed. "Few years ago, she came to work in our house in Abuja as a maid."

"And?" She raised her brow questionably.

"My wife treated her like a sister, but for some reasons, she began to maltreat our daughter in our absence. We found out and fired her, but it didn't end there. She had her abducted and tortured." He summarized and waited for a reaction from her, but she remained emotionless. He was taken aback by her reaction, but continued nonetheless. "We managed to get our daughter back and Nafisa ended up in the police custody. Few months later, she escaped and attempted to kill our son, but..." He trailed off, not knowing how to break the devastating news to her.

Right on cue, Maryam walked back in with a sleeping baby in her arms. She took a seat beside Sa'eed and lay Imran on her folded legs.

"Go on." She deadpanned.

"She attempted to kill our child and flee, but..." He trailed off again.

"She was shot dead in the spot." Maryam intervened. "As we speak, your daughter is already dead." Maryam broke the news to her bluntly and averted her gaze to Sa'eed who couldn't bring himself to break the saddening news to her. She hoped he wouldn't get mad at her for the way she announced her death.

Due to how long chapter 77 is (almost 4000 words), I decided to split it into two. Chapter 77 part 2 will be updated in ten minutes.

Manal doesn't want to return anymore 😭

Zhî wó yô? - who are you.
Zhì wè wà zaò?" - who are you looking for?
Emi Nafisa - Nafisa's house.

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