Chapter 30

She had managed to act all friendly, to act as though seeing that innocent and smiling face wasn't at all fracturing the walls gathered around her heart. She could feel her gaze on him while they sat on the dining table to have dinner, and for the first time in her life, Nadia wished she didn't come out for dinner in Hajia's chamber. She had made the mistake, certainly, but a part of her heart knew that she did that to be able to see what she was currently seeing now.
"When your father called to tell me that you'd be paying us a visit, I didn't think he was serious." Hajia began, and they all knew it was to ease the tension going round the table. For Hussain had nearly bolted out of his composure when he learnt that she had come to stay, and not for a day or two, weeks until her school break was over.
"Yes, Hajia. I thought I should come, seeing that I wasn't present during Baby H's naming ceremony." They only conversed with Hajia, but Mufeeda's eyes were unwavering on Hussain's face that looked as though it were a storm. He was the first one to get out of the chamber, after he had picked on his food and she was about to follow him when Sohila held her hand and shook her head.
"Let's go to my room, I have something to tell you first." She whispered into her ear and they immediately left the table.
Nadia sighed when they were no longer in sight and she looked up at Hajia's motherly gaze. "I don't know precisely what's bothering you, Nadia. But don't worry, okay? So long as I'm alive, it doesn't matter she's a relative, for to me, you're the substitute of Hassan so I'd do all it takes to protect you from harm and pain." Nadia could only smile, for she didn't even know what to say or do.
Back in Sohila's room, she was thinking of what to say to Mufeeda to make her understand. She knew that she didn't know he was now married to Aunt Nadia judging from the way she still looked at him longingly. "What is it, Sohila? You're making me nervous! You've been going to and fro that I think maybe something bad happens!" She said with a voice that portrayed how worried she was. She had noticed the cold shoulders Nadia had given her and the way Hussain hadn't even glanced her way. She didn't care what he did or said to her, all she knew was, she wasn't going to leave this house this time without their wedding date being set. She was so determined that she could at least get them betrothed herself.
Sohila sat down beside her and gently took her hands, "I want you to understand what I'm about to tell you, Mufeeda. And also, please do not be hurt over this, okay?" Her eyes were already brimming with tears when she nodded her head.
"Just tell me what is it, Sohila. Does Second H suffer from a dying diseases or something?"
Sohila shook her head before she replied, "No, he got married. The day Baby H was born..." She wasn't even about to close her lips when Mufeeda stood up and her bulging eyes were evident as though someone had strangled her to her death.
"What did you just say? Wait..." She began to shake her head, because what Sohila said had in no way made sense to her. How could he get married without the entire family knowing? Why was it that no one spoke about his wedding in the family and no ne said something? "You can't be serious, Sohila. He can't get married without the entire family knowing, right? If you want me to give up on him, I'm sorry, but this isn't the right way."
Sohila tried to take a hold of her hand but she shrugged them off. "Just tell me the truth, that's the best comfort you could give me at this moment."
She sighed before she blurted out everything at once, she might as well not sugarcoat her words. "Hajia got him married to Aunt Nadia the day she gave birth to Baby H. We all want him to grow up with a mother and father in his life and Second H made it clear that he wouldn't let her leave with him if she was to get married to another man. We all didn't want that, so the best solution was to get them married to each other." Her tears had already made a mess of her cheeks. Her grief was evident on her face that Sohila felt bad for telling her this but then it was the right thing to do. She had seen how Nadia looked at the dining table and she wasn't going to stay still and have the two women she loved meddled into a love triangle.
"I can't believe this." Mufeeda trembled as she slumped on the floor and broke into an avalanche of tears. She felt the pain ripping at all the inner parts of her heart and she didn't want to hear anymore. If he was going to get married from the start, why hadn't he gotten married to her? If he was going to have another woman in his arms, why not her? And of all women in the world, he chose Nadia?
She knew that Hajia got her married to him, but since there was no objection from him, he might as well have chosen her himself. She abruptly stood up and cleared her tears, "I need to talk to them, Sohila." She was heading at the door when Sohila took a hold of her hand.
"Where do you think you're going to, Mufeeda? We all know how less tolerant he is of you."
"I know, but he isn't the only one I'm going to speak with, his wife included." She shrugged off Sohila's hand and walked out of Hajia's chamber with her tears intensifying and the pain in her heart becoming more excruciating with each breath she took. She didn't think she would be able to overcome until she did.
Mufeeda stood in front of the main door of their chamber and inhaled a deep breath. She didn't know what she was going to say but all she knew was, she was done being silent about what she loved. She would have to proclaim her love to him no matter what it took and she didn't care about the circumstances.
Her trembling hands knocked on the door as she waited to see if it would be opened for her. She had to knock twice before she saw the door knob being turned and it was opened. "Sohila, is he crying? I'm certain it has to be something about Baby H, right? You should've entered, why bother to stay by the door to knock?" Nadia's voice uttered as she walked into the living room and Mufeeda silently followed her until they both sat down and it was only when Nadia turned to see what was wrong with Baby H did she come across Mufeeda's crying face.
"Oh, it was you?" She tried to smile, but it came out as just lifting the ends of her lips. "Mufeeda, how are you?" She could feel something weighing her heart down. She had finally come to claim him, right? Then so be it, Nadia thought. This was among the reasons she had first objected to being married to him, for he had someone that was ready to fight and die for him. And in this young girl's eyes, Nadia saw a woman that wouldn't easily give up.
"I came here to speak with you, Aunt Nadia. Can you please call Second H?" She gulped down a lump in her throat. She would have to be respectful and all, she wasn't here to fight her or something, all she wanted and was going to keep on fighting for was for her love to be acknowledged by him.
Nadia wanted to say no, to tell her to get out of the chamber that he was now her husband and she was in no way going to call him for her, but instead, she smiled. "Yes, sure. Let me call him." She stood up and walked with her heart dangling on her feet as each step felt as though she was trampling on it herself.
She softly knocked on his door, he had been in the room since when he walked out of the dining table and she didn't bother to check to see if he was doing fine. She found him on the bed with a picture in his hand as he was engulfed in his thoughts. "Second H," she hardly called him that and whenever she did, Hussain knew she either wanted to fight or something was wrong.
He lifted his weighed eyes to her face and silently dropped their picture with Hassan back to its position. "Yes, is there a problem? Because I'm no mood to have a fight with you today, Nadia." She flashed him a pained smile and shook her head, it was as though his words had struck a place they shouldn't have, in her heart.
"Mufeeda is here to see you, she wants to talk to you." He was silent for a minute as he couldn't fully grasp what she was saying. "She's in the living room, you might as well come out unless you want to have her in your room." And she was out of the room in a minute, that he wondered if she had been there a few seconds ago.
He wanted to stay in his room, but the expression he had seen on Nadia's face made him think otherwise and he walked to the living room only to find them in a conversation that seemed amiable if not for the tears on Mufeeda's face and the solemn look on Nadia's face.
"I love him so much, Aunt Nadia. I know you might feel uncomfortable hearing this from me but I do. I do not resent you for having married him when I should have, but please, let me marry him as well. He could have four wives, remember?" Desperation dripped from each word Mufeeda had uttered as she cried uncontrollably that Hussain couldn't take the next step.
"Mufeeda," Nadia began as she sighed. "I'm in no position to stop you from getting married to him so long as he's willing, why not? I'm certain you know that we only got married for Baby H's sake, you're free to get married to him and I assure you I'm okay with it." She had a smile plastered on her lips but Hussain knew better to look past an organ being forced to do what it didn't want to.
She looked up at him, how he stood rooted to his spot from the door. "I think it's time to have a conversation with Mufeeda, Hussain." She stood up and walked until she stood by his side then she whispered, "Be kind with your words, she's someone that loves you, not otherwise." And she was out of the living room in the blink of an eye. She walked into her room with a determined mindset that this was for the best, she would only have to endure those three months and he would have even more reasons to let her go. She knew she had to treat Mufeeda well for she would in no time become the mother of Baby H.
But all these positive thoughts vanished from her mind the moment she sat down on the bed. An unimaginable kind of pain washing over her fragile heart that she didn't know when she broke into tears in an instant. If she was going to be honest with herself, the idea of him adding a second wife that loved him the way Mufeeda did hurt as hell, because she knew it would only be a matter of time before he began to reciprocate her feelings.
She didn't know how much time she had spent crying on her bed until she heard the door knob turned and she quickly turned away and tried to wipe at her tears. She didn't know how he managed to walk as fast as he did but all she knew was she saw seated in front of her and her hands that were rapidly trying to wipe at her tears were now encased by his as he flashed her a soft look.
"What's with the tears, Singleton?" She rolled her eyes at him and pulled her hands away from his hold, suddenly angry at him even though she knew none of this was his fault. She was even certain that he didn't like the idea of Mufeeda being in love with him.
"Can you please leave me alone?" She tried to stand up, maybe walked to the bathroom and have him wait until he was tired and left or something. She just had to go away from his sight.
He held her wrist and pulled her back onto the bed and this time, she was nearly resting on his chest.
"Why did you tell her that she could be my second wife? You've raised her hopes, Singleton, and she's even more determined than ever." She yanked herself away from him and looked askance at him.
"Don't tell me that's not what you want, Hussain. Yes, you might've treated me right all this time and might've even have the intention to take a very good care of us, but I can't deny you something so natural to men. You'd want a virgin bride, don't you?" She had fixed her heated gaze on him that Hussain had to breath for a moment to calm himself down.
"A virgin bride?" He repeated, "Can you elaborate more on that?" He said through gritted teeth, still not wanting to act up to the anger he felt.
"I was once married, and to your brother. I have a child and it hasn't even been two weeks since when I gave birth to him. Want it or not, my body is bound to have some natural changes that would never be rectified. So, you'd want a bride that's new to all these, a virgin in all aspects of marital affairs, someone that doesn't have all the things I've mentioned." She could sense anger boiling in him, but she didn't care. He would have to stop lying to himself about what she clearly knew he wanted. "So, I believe it's finally time to have that, stop denying yourself that. In fact, we've only had three months to live together and for those three months, we aren't allowed to be intimate with one another, you'd certainly be tempted, getting a wife like her would surely be to your advantage and a bonus, she loves you more than she loves herself..."
"Nadia!!!" He roared, his eyes turning to bloodshot due to the anger he felt and she looked frightened at how his voice sounded. "Is this all so easy for you? Or perhaps you're thinking of all this in the sexual perception?! To hell with her and all the things you've mentioned; I want you and would forever want you, Nadia!"
She threw her head back and laughed sarcastically, "You don't have to act all saint in my presence, Hussain. I know you want this, so please save that innocent girl the stress of going through heartbreak and get married to her, don't feel bad about this because of me. I know where to draw the line, and ours stop at three months." She could watch his Adam's apple bubbling up and down as though he was trying to stop himself from uttering something he would regret later.
He closed his eyes and calmed himself down a bit, "I do not love Mufeeda nor would I ever get married to her, and I dare you to mention a word again about her and wallah Nadia we would both regret this."
"What will you do if I do?" She tilted her head upward to show him how confident she felt, "What's the worst that you can do, Hussain? Divorce me?"
He shook his head and Nadia had to take her eyes off him at how unnerved she felt by his eyes. "I'd never divorce you even if my life would depend on that."
"Then what can you do?"
"I believe that islam has made no reservations between us, and so how would it be to break the three months agreement, all those lousy rules you've set and set to live with you like a normal husband will? If that's what you'd want, then I won't mind hearing you mention her name everyday."