Grace: (screaming) Yeee! Blessing! (She pushes Fatimah away and quickly lifts Blessing up) Abdulrahman! Gbami o! Help me! Blessing! (She slaps Blessing gently on the cheek, panicking) Get me water, hurry up!
Fatimah: (shocked to see Blessing unconscious, she quickly jumps up and runs to fetch a bowl of water, not minding her half-naked body).
Abdulrahman: (follows her into the kitchen but avoids looking her in the eye, guilt written all over his face).
Grace: (crying) Hurry up, please! Blessing, okomi! Please wake up. Have mercy on me.
Fatimah: (rushes back with the water and hands it over).
Grace: (snatches the bowl, shocked to see Fatimah but still sprinkles the water on Blessing’s face. Luckily, Blessing coughs and slowly regains consciousness). Ahhh Blessing! Okomi! Sorry, my dear. I’m so sorry. Abdulrahman, help her to her room!
Abdulrahman: Okay, mom. Blessing, oya let’s go. (He helps her up and they stagger into her room).
Grace: (watches them disappear into the room. She then turns to Fatimah, her eyes burning with fury). You! Today I confirm it — you are truly a witch! And before you destroy this family, I will destroy you first. Out of my house!
Fatimah: Ma? (Shocked, trembling).
Grace: (furious, her voice shaking with rage) I… SAID… GET… OUT… of my house! And don’t you ever come back. Because if you dare return, I will cut you into pieces. Out!
Fatimah: (falls to her knees, crying) Please, mom. Please, I promise to change. I have nowhere to go. Please, you are the only family I have. Please don’t send me away.
Grace: (pointing to the kitchen) By the time I go in there and come back… if you are still here? Trust me, Fatimah, I will kill you with my own hands.
Fatimah: (screaming in fear) Ahhh! Moku o! Please, this is 3 a.m. Have mercy on me, please, mom!
Grace: (storms off toward the kitchen) Wait here. I’m coming.
Fatimah: (rolling on the floor, crying loudly) Yeeeehhhhh! Ahhhhhh! Please, ma, I will do whatever you ask, please! Ayemi ooo! What am I going to do? Where will I go?
(She looks up and suddenly sees Grace charging back towards her with a kitchen knife in her hand).
Fatimah: (screaming in terror, she quickly jumps to her feet and bolts out of the house).
Grace: (locks the gate from inside, screaming curses) Bastard! Let me never see your face in this life again! Witch! Murderer! (She storms back inside, seething with anger).
Fatimah: (outside, shivering and crying) Where will I go at this time of the night? I have no one. And what if… what happened to me ten years ago happens again? I will die. Oh God, where are you? Why did you bring me to this world? Why?!
(Suddenly, she hears dogs barking. The barking grows louder and closer. Her eyes widen in fear. As the dogs appear, she shrieks and takes off running. The dogs chase after her).
Fatimah: Ehhhhhhh!!! (She runs desperately for almost five minutes. Finally, she loses the dogs, but exhaustion overwhelms her. Panting heavily, dizzy from stress and fear, she collapses and passes out on the roadside).
(About an hour later, a car drives along the lonely street. Its headlights sweep across Fatimah’s unconscious body).
Hajia Habibah: (pointing) Dear! Is that not a lady lying on the road?
Alhaji Ismail: (slows down the car, shocked) Yehhh! I think she’s dead.
Hajia Habibah: Stop the car! Let’s check if she’s still breathing.
Alhaji Ismail: But honey… she is dead.
Hajia Habibah: Please, stop the car!
Alhaji Ismail: Okay, okay. (He pulls over,
sighing) Now what?
Hajia Habibah: Get down, now. Aren’t you a man?
Alhaji Ismail: (grumbling) You insisted I stop, and I did. Now you want me to check if she’s alive too?
Hajia Habibah: (stares at him silently, eyes firm).
Alhaji Ismail: Fine, fine. I’ll go. (He steps out of the car, walks closer, then quickly turns his face in shock and shouts) She’s half-naked! Bring something to cover her!
Hajia Habibah: (rushes out, removes her khimar, and gently covers Fatimah’s body. She bends down, checking her pulse carefully). Honey! She’s alive!
Alhaji Ismail: Really?
Hajia Habibah: Yes. Please, help me so we can carry her to the car.
Alhaji Ismail: That’s very risky. She’s a stranger… and what if—?
Hajia Habibah: (cuts in sharply) A stranger? You and I were once strangers before we got married. And what does Allah say about helping a fellow human being?
Alhaji Ismail: (pauses, then nods reluctantly) Fine.
(They carefully lift Fatimah into the car and drive off. When they arrive home, they carry her into the guest room. Luckily, Hajia Habibah, being a gynecologist, quickly changes her clothes and begins a medical checkup).
Alhaji Ismail: Honey, how is she?
Hajia Habibah: Uhhmmm… she is very sick. She’s also running a fever. Please bring me three sachets of drip from the store, along with the necessary supplies.
Alhaji Ismail: Okay, dear. Do you need anything else apart from that?
Hajia Habibah: Not for now. She just needs the drip first, so she can regain some strength. After that, we’ll know the next step.
Alhaji Ismail: Alright. (He heads to the store).
Hajia Habibah: (sighs, talking softly to herself while checking Fatimah’s temperature) What kind of parents would do this to their daughter?
---
The Next Morning…
Fatimah: (slowly opens her eyes, struggling to sit up. She looks around, confused) Where… am I? Am I dead? (She turns her head to the left) Am I in a hospital? Ahhh… my head.
Alhaji Ismail: (rushing in with excitement) You’re awake! Honey! She’s awake!
Hajia Habibah: (hurries in, relieved) Alhamdulillah! Good morning, my dear. (She sits gently beside Fatimah’s bed). How are you feeling now?
Fatimah: My head hurts…
Hajia Habibah: Sorry, my dear. Let me get you something to eat. (She starts to stand up, but Fatimah’s weak voice stops her).
Fatimah: Uhmm… I’m sorry… but am I supposed to know you?
Hajia Habibah: (smiling warmly) Oh, forgive my manners. My name is Habibah, and this is my husband, Ismail. We don’t know you, but… we are hoping you’ll fill in that part.
Fatimah: (tears well up in her eyes) My… my name is Fatimah.
Hajia Habibah: (smiles softly) Ohh, you’re a Muslim. Masha Allah.
Alhaji Ismail: (places a hand on his wife’s shoulder, equally relieved) Masha Allah. We would love to hear your story.
Fatimah: (bursts into tears, struggling to speak) I… I…
Hajia Habibah: (gently) Don’t be scared. We won’t hurt you. You can trust us. But first, you need strength. Let me get you something to eat. (She rises and walks toward the kitchen. Alhaji Ismail quietly follows her, not wanting to make Fatimah uncomfortable).
Fatimah: (whispering to herself as she wipes her tears) Why… why am I here?.
Comments
Post a Comment