*

There are  certain things people  endure in life depending on one's personality, some people are Intolerant ,on edge and over sensitive ,others are very patient , considerate and hardly react to sensitive things .

Some are the type that want every single thing to go according to plan , they don't want a single thing to change hence the reason why most people go into depression, self loathe and blame themselves for every little thing that might have gone wrong in their lives. Others believe in destiny and fate and they embrace whatever life throws at them with open arms. With  hope of a better future ahead, they always tell themselves that it will get better, not that day not the next but eventually .

The early morning of the next day, zee had already devised a plan, she didn't sleep a wink the other night because of three good reasons, One , she has test the next day by noon,  Two ,she is watching over D and the kids in case Ahmad comes back and three she is packing D and the twins clothes in all the boxes owned by D .

D didn't wake up till fajr and she was surprised to find zee in sujood and an array of boxes and bags already arranged by the door .mumbling some du'as she got up and made a beeline to the bathroom where she took a cold bath and made ablution.

" Good morning D ,how are you feeling now ?" Zee asked the moment D came out .

" Morning dear, Alhamdulillah am feeling better and all good thanks to you and the love of your life " D teased her friend which succeeded in easing the tension in the room.

" How many times have I warned you to stop calling Dr the love of my life ? Abba is the love of my life and Dr has to prove his love after a lifetime before I call him the love of my life "  zee retorted with an eye roll.

" Ahh annn how will you know that after a lifetime ?"

" You'll know when the time comes and FYI I don't mean after a lifetime in the literal sense."

D chuckled and wore an abayah before facing the qiblah to pray.After saying her morning azkhars she asked Zee what she wants to have for breakfast .

" Seriously D ? You're thinking of making breakfast ? Aren't you worried that the psychopath who happened to be your husband by bad luck will come back any moment ? You need to get out of this house for good there's nothing good out of this marriage, Ahmad is doomed he will never change.  It won't get better my friend it will only get worse.You can't cling to someone who doesn't want you, he doesn't want the kids too, you need to act fast and act now "  That was how Zee kept cajoling D to leave till she gave in and they left around 10am .

Ummie was happy to see them thinking that the marriage is dissolved .After giving her a brief of what happened the other day and D's swollen forehead as evidence Zee left for school promising to come back immediately after her test .

Ummie got scared at Khadija's demeanour, she didn't cry, her voice didn't tremble , her hands weren't shaking and her face is totally blank not giving her mother anything to show how much she's hurting inside .

" My dear are you alright ?" Ummie asked Khadijah who was humming to herself with Ihsan on her shoulders .

" Yeah I am okay Ummie, don't worry about me , how is everything around here? "

" You can't be okay after everything that happened Deejan , am your mother please open up to me don't keep it inside " Ummie pleaded .

" By Allah  I am not feeling anything Ummie, maybe it's the effect of prayer, Allah has shielded my heart from feeling any pain, but I will let you know when am ready to talk " she waved her mom off coolly and waited for the boys zee sent to bring the rest of her things ,her refrigerator included .

The boys came back later with all the things they've hastily packed in the morning and those Zee packed overnight and D went to work arranging them in the small space in her room, taking others to Baba's room and Ummie's while she positioned the refrigerator in the living room which is devoid of any homey feeling to it apart from the worn out couches.

*
Unknown to D ,Zee had left a message before they leave , that if anyone spotted Ahmad they should please call the attention of the thugs and beat the hell out of him telling them that he's a drunkard and wants to kill the mother of his children for no reason .

Oblivious of the plan in action, Ahmad sat in the verandah of the now almost empty house thinking of what to do and how to bring Cat back, seeing the house that way is the clear indication that she did not plan on coming back .He should be happy right ? But he's not, he's feeling an empty void in his heart one which cannot be filled by anybody but Cat .

He heard a creaking sound on the door and before he knows what was going on youngsters came into the house with different kinds of deadly objects and pounced on him, they didn't stop until he could no longer cry out in pain and lost consciousness. Pay back issa bitch baby !

His phone started ringing and one of the boys picked telling Hauwa to come and pick up the remains of whoever the hell the owner of the phone is to her. She asked of the address nonchalantly and dropped the call .

Taking her oh so sweet time to shower and get ready, she didn't get to the house till after 10pm with some of her guys who carried Ahmad who is still blacked out into the car and she drove to the hospital where he was admitted because of the severity of his wounds.

**

D examined the swell on her forehead when she finally retired to bed which she wished she didn't because it brought back a memory that she kept at the recess of her mind .

She was in SS1 and as they were coming back from school with Zee and Ahmad, she missed a step and hit her head with a stone which caused her forehead to bleed coupled with some bruises on her wrists . She was the one in pain but Ahmad reacted as if he's the one , he kept saying sorry from that moment till her wound was dressed up to the following weeks until the scar  vanished and there is no trace of any  wound .

But now he's the cause of the wound, all the bad memories she tried and succeeded in hiding surfaced and her chest constricted, she wished she had never met Ahmad, she wished with all her heart that her fate wasn't entwined with his own .She bawled her eyes out till she became weak .

She prayed for the pain to stop, for everything to stop and for all the memories that are more of a torture to her  to go away .The next morning she woke up with a fever.

Her condition broke the last straw , Baba stormed out of the house and asked for directions to Hauwa's house  where he met her lounging with her gang members, saying the istigfar in his mind and condemning them and the things they do, asking for Allah to guide them aright, he called for Hauwa's attention, looking him over with a haughty look she asked what brought him to her place .

" You are not too old to enjoy ,tho I can fix you up with one of my girls" she finished with a wink .

" I came to talk to you about Ahmad and my daughter, can you please tell him we have had enough and I want him to severe all ties with her ? " Baba said fuming with rage only a father whose daughter is in the same condition as Khadijah will understand.

" Ahh you're mistaken Malam. My Ahmad divorced his wife a few months back. This is the wrong house" she waved Baba off with a note of finality in her voice.

But she knows fully well that Ahmad is the same person Baba is talking about. She just don't want to loose it in his presence, she hasn't gone to see Ahmad in the hospital and wasn't planning on doing that till the next day .

Storming into the hospital room without saying the salaam which is a normal thing to her, she doesn't know anything about Islam, the little she was thought back then was forgotten a long time ago. She cannot remember the last time she prayed neither do anything that will portray any sign that she's a born muslimah but not a practicing one .There is no light or sign in her that will show she's a muslimah waiyazubillah!

Not caring whether he is fit enough to walk or not Hauwa dragged Ahmad out of the hospital and into the car, then drove directly towards Ahmad and Khadijah's neighborhood, since she knew the house there was no need for her to ask for directions .

She dragged him like a piece of rag into the house and met Ummie giving Khadijah her afternoon dosage of medicine , when they came into the house , ummie adjusted her headtie while D lay there looking anywhere but the two unexpected and unannounced intruders, the last people she want to see at the moment .

" You lied to me Ahmad, you're a liar ,a cheat and a dumb piece of trash, you can never outsmart me so do what I asked you to do right now and in my presence " she bellowed holding a weak looking Ahmad by his ears.

Just then Zee, Taheer and Baba came into the house as if on cue .Zee with a murderous look on her face .

" May I ask what the hell you guys are doing here ?"
Turning to Ahmad she said

" Hellur there Ahmadidi ,how are you feeling now ?I hope a million times worse than D felt huh? " with a sly smile she turned to Hauwa .

" Now that you're here your royal highness, you saved me the energy and transport  fare to go to your house, will you kindly tell your puppet or whatever this  piece of trash is to you to kindly ,quietly and unargumentatively divorce my Best friend ?" She mocked a bow and went to sit near D who is  still lying down not looking up at any of them.

" I  am not going to divorce Cat and that's final " Ahmad squeaked out.

" That is not your choice to make " Hauwa retorted with a loud hiss.

" I  am not going to divorce Cat and that's final, close that your dirty mouth which is full of shit! You either divorce her or we are taking this case to court " Zee mimicked Ahmad's voice .

Taheer, Baba, Ummie and D watched on as the drama between the three fellas ensued and no one is going to back down soon .

" You either divorce her right now ,or you return every single dime that belongs to me , this moment will be goodbye between us and then I will wish you the best of luck in a case you're not going to win"

Seeing his world crumbling before him Ahmad decided to let Cat go,he cannot live like he had lived before he met Hauwa, he is already used to all the luxuries she offers and everything , now that he has no job, no parent, the best rationale decision is to be with Hauwa and let go of Cat with the hope that they will have a future together.

" Alright naji Hauwa don't do this to me, I was kidding earlier when I said I am not going to divorce her ,Khadijah I divorce you two times and if you get a rightful person to marry you are free to do that, take care of the kids because I've renounced my rights over them and their rights over me .Do have a good life " With that he limped behind his baby Aunty leaving the rest of breathing souls in the compound with mouth agape .

The moment Ahmad pronounced the divorce Khadijah felt like a heavy weight has been lifted off of her and she got up after a while hugging Zee tightly to her chest sobbing quietly, they were tears of joy, tears of freedom from the shackles of marriage and tears of gratitude to her wonderful  friend who stood up for her when she cannot stand up for herself .

" Thank you Aminiyata , may Allah grant you with a home in jannah, make you successful in this life and the next and elongate our lives to witness your wedding day with a man who will treat you kindly and lead you to jannah "

" Ameen " they all chorused and Taheer was given a place to sit .Baba went to meet him after he left Hauwa's house and he followed Baba home saying that the matter is too private to be discussed in the  office and they met Zee by door that  is why the trio came in at the same time.

Baba cleared his voice to talk when they heard a commotion outside. The men stood up to check out what was going on and to their surprise it was Hauwa and Ahmad fighting by the car, exchanging cuss words at each other.

" Baba stay here, let me go and talk to them " Said Taheer sauntering towards where Hauwa's car was parked .

" what's going on ?" He asked and none of them was ready to give him an answer, both were fuming with anger .

" look if you two can't tell me what is going on here, you should kindly please take this fight somewhere else, as you can see this area is not meant for dogs like you two"

" How dare you call me a dog ?" Hauwa asked .

"Because you're behaving like one Miss, you should thank your stars I don't lay hands on women,I would've beaten you to  a pulp but I won't.  leave this area and sort whatever it is out wherever you  deem fit just not here " he stated calmly and turned to leave after giving Ahmad a hard look which held a lot of promises in them before finally heading back to where Baba stood watching the exchange between the man that betrayed them, one that is helping them and the woman who is in the middle of it all.

Being a close knit family ,Taheer is now considered as one of them, and after extensively discussing the issue at hand, Taheer encouraging Baba that the divorce is the best thing to do, they talked about business and politics and all the things men have interest in .

Khadijah was still feeling feverish so she didn't participate in the discussion neither the cooking .

Ummie and Zee were working together trying to make dinner when Ummie looked at Zee with an endearing smile.

" Taheer is a keeper dear, don't ever let him slip off your fingers ,not all men are like Ahmad but you should still be careful " Zee nodded suddenly feeling shy of Ummie .

" And words are too small to explain how much grateful we are to you, you're indeed a very good friend and I am thankful that Deejan has a friend like you, may Allah reward you and I'm very proud of you " Ummie said after a while patting Zee's head who muttered an Amin under her breath.

Dinner was a fun affair and no one was brooding over what happened earlier that day , even Khadijah was feeling better .After the men went for isha salah and Ta'alim the two friends went back to D's room.

Khadijah was feeding the babies when a lone tear cascaded down her cheeks , she was thinking of what to tell them when they ask of their father who has severed all ties with them.

Zee was typing rapidly on her phone, how the girl types fast like a pro was beyond D and for the life of her she can never stop getting amazed whenever she see her .

" Madam chatting who are you chatting with kuma ?" D asked

" Haha it's Dr Nabeeha ,I'm just filling her in and you know her now she's just being her typical self asking for more of the gist as if I haven't told her everything "

" Good for you, say hi to her,tell her to leave gulma aside and read all those huge brain ache giving textbooks "

" By the way, I almost forgot to tell you the good news .Abba travelled and he promised to bring me a brand new phone as a present, so  consider this phone am holding right now yours in the next few days in shaa Allah" Zee said with excitement dripping from her voice .

" That's too much Zee, you don't have to give me your phone you know, I can manage this Nokia torchlight besides  I don't know how to operate an android phone "

" It's simple and I will show you how, you just can't say no to this D, why are you doing this ?"

" Doing what exactly ?"

" Hurting me D, because whenever you reject something from me I feel like you don't trust me enough to do that, I will never ever hurt you D, I love you like the sister I never had and you know that we are more than friends to each other,we are family in every sense of the word except for the blood .Please accept the phone umm Ihsan wa Ilham please " She gave D her best puppy face and she has no choice than to oblige knowing that all the things Zee said are true .

" Okay now stop chatting with that yeye pikin, I want to tell you a secret " Hearing that , Zee leapt out from the floor and joined D on the bed folding her legs and giving D a wink .

" Ammm Zee I am afraid " D said

" Of what ?"

" For the future of the kids "

" I know you are sweetheart and I am too but that's no secret, I know you for a long time to be fooled by your antic , now out with the truth " Zee pinched D and she pinched her back .

" Shh stop it ! My princesses are sleeping " D shushed the laughing Zee .

" Oya spill before I take some drastic measures in forcing the truth out of you young lady " Zee threatened with eyes glistened with mischief .Knowing that her friend will stay true to her words D cleared her voice .

°•°

Hope you  enjoyed the chapter .

Thank you guys and please bear with me for the now change of update schedules ,I'm sorting some things out and in shaa Allah you'll get your daily updates before lectures start in full swing for now just expect an update any other day but not in the next two days , but who knows ? I might surprise you .Just sit tight and wait patiently.