Chapter 22 Home

They immediately stood up as Na im felt himself feeling terrified of the what if. "This only meant that Sadeeq was the one that got her released and knowing him so well, he might ve asked her a few questions especially when he heard I was the one that ordered for her lock up." He wasn t guessing, Na im only knew this was what had happened.
"And what explains this is that, he promised to help her to buy some information from her." Hafiz said as he lifted the phone in his hand, not even bothering to check it any longer, "He tries to get her a job in the orphanage they think you ve taken her. Probably curious enough to know who the girl you ve done that for. And..." He let his words trialed off as he involuntarily swiped through the next picture and when an image of Maryam appeared as she stared-confused-at the camera made him speechless. It was obviously night, even though the lighting was making it hard for him to tell.
"Speaking of the devil, I think your baby bride might not be safe for long in that house, Captain Bolori." He turned the screen to Na im that instantly yanked his phone away from him and Hafiz chuckled, "We ll find a way out of this, but for now, let me swoon over this!" He exclaimed dramatically as he pointed at the phone Na im had placed back in his pocket.
He walked towards the door before he uttered, "If you find the solution about this, let me know. But we all know that she has to be in that house, unless I'm taking her out of Maiduguri, which isn t possible but might as well make things a lot easier for me." He walked out of the office and Hafiz smiled at his retreating back. That picture, that look on his face while he momentarily took a glimpse of it before he turned the phone, meant something. And he would be damned if he didn t force Na im into going to that house today.
....
Maryam didn't know how she was able to live in that house, alone, with that girl that seemed to be too friendly for her liking. Before, she was terrified of her, but now...well, she didn t even know what she felt about her. But yesterday, they had watched a movie together and Maryam didn't seem to be terrified for a bit. Rather, it felt nice to be in a company of someone else apart from herself.
No matter how she didn t want to, she kept thinking that it was Intisar. Because Bilkisu did things to her that Intisar did. She cooked for her, she made her bed, she made sure she wasn't bored or sad. She spoke to her even though she knew that she might hardly get even a nod as a reply, but she had never been angry. She asked her to pray whenever it was time, just like Intisar did. And she scowled her face whenever Maryam did something wrong like throw the pillow away before she placed it back to its place. It was too much that Maryam couldn t help but ask her of her age and when she said she was 19 years old, same as Intisar, she felt a part of her opening up for Bilkisu.
She was seated on the kitchen island as Bilkisu moved around the kitchen while she made dinner for them. Today was the first day that Maryam come to the kitchen when she was in here and from the look in her eyes, she was so thrilled and happy that she was getting closer to her. She was cutting the onion for her just like she did to Intisar, as she tried not to cry again like she did last night.
So, he was really not coming back again? It had been two weeks already, she counted the days until she added up to fourteen and she didn't know if he meant this to go forever. She was furious at him, but then a part of her still wanted him to come. She wasn't going to speak to him even if he did, she just wanted to see him in the house and that would cajole her mind that she wasn t abandoned by him.
The onion was hard for her eyes that they began to water, and when Bilkisu turned and saw that she was crying, she panicked. "Your Highness!" She exclaimed and went up to her. Even though she knew her name now, she just couldn t bring herself to call her name despite the age difference between them. "Please let me do it, you can go back to your room or watch the tv." Maryam collected back the knife from her as she tried to shift, and when Bilkisu saw that movement, she knew she had come closer than she should, so she took a step back.
"I'll bring a tissue for you then. But please, oh my god!" She sadly shook her head as she went out of the kitchen. She had taken the tissue from the dining table and was about to go back to the kitchen when she saw them walking into the living room. Na im along with his soldier friend like they called him in the palace, herself and the other maids.
She immediately bowed her head and spoke, "Good evening, Your Highness." She greeted and he only nodded his head, angry at Hafiz for forcing him to come here out of his will.
"Evening, what's your name?" It was Hafiz that answered her and Na im found himself a spot on the sofas and sat down. When she told him, Hafiz sat down too before he spoke, "Well, Bilkisu where s Maryam?" Na im turned to him with a look that was curious about how he knew her name and he laughed, "You don't expect me not to know her name just because I don t call her with it, right?" He joked and whispered, "Or would you have preferred it if I call her your Baby Bride in the maid s presence?"
Na im only shot him a glare and he laughed it off. "She s in the kitchen," Bilkisu answered.
"Ohh, I think she s getting along fine here that it would be so sad to have her leave. What are you doing with the tissue then?" He wanted to find an excuse to send her to her room and when she told him what she was going to use it for, Hafiz gladly told her to give him the tissue and she should just go to her room, she can come out when they left to continue cooking. Bilkisu did as ordered and he placed the tissue on Na im s laps.
"What s the meaning of this?" Na im asked as he pushed the tissue away. "You told me that unless we come to this house, you aren't going to speak about the solution you ve thought for me. I'm not here so you can play matchmaker, Hafiz."
"But you just heard what she said, that she s crying because she s cutting some onions. Just take the tissue to her and ask her to stop cutting the damn onions, turn the gas off because we don't know how long we will stay, lest their food gets burnt."
Na im just stared at him with a hard look that would ve made Hafiz went to the punishment cell himself without being ordered if they were in the barrack. But here, he smiled cockily, "I'm here as your friend, stop giving me those army glares, Yarima Na im." When he heard him referred to him as prince Na im, he knew it was over for him. And Hafiz stood up after a moment of silence, "But it seems like I'm not needed here, so I'll gladly take my leave." Na im was on his feet even before he closed his lips and he begrudgingly walked to the kitchen, leaving Hafiz in a pool of smiles.
As he approached the kitchen, he heard the sound of her cries. And he knew there was no way an onion would make someone cry no matter how harsh it was on one s eyes. He walked into the kitchen and her back was at him, she had the knife placed on the table as her body shook that he wondered what she had thought about to make her cry this badly while she was working. If it was him she used to cry for and he was the one she had said she hated and wanted out of her sight, didn t he give her that space to breathe she so badly wanted?
He walked deeper into the kitchen and she didn t notice he was there until he sat down on the chair facing her. The way she looked up with, "I wasn t crying, it s just that the onion is too harsh," on her lips as she tried to stand up made him believe that she thought it was Bilkisu. "I'll go back to my room." She turned to leave when Na im abruptly held her wrist and the gasp that escaped her lips while she yanked her hand away prompted him to release her almost as abruptly as he had held her.
Maryam just stayed there, still, as she watched him. She didn t believe what she was seeing. Once, that doctor had told her that there were things she was imagining when she told her that she heard the sounds of gunshots in the house at night and sometimes when she walked to the bathroom, it felt like she was walking in a pool of the blood that had drenched Magumeri that day; but she told her that she was hallucinating. And right now, after she had explained over and over again until Maryam understood the meaning of hallucination, Maryam thought she was doing that again.
She blinked her eyes twice at him, hating herself for crying over him just because he had himself out of her sight and life, like she had always dreamt of. And even though she had told herself that she won t ever cry again because she wanted to see him, she found herself crying again today when his thought crossed her mind and she wondered if the husband Baaba said she had had run away from her because he too, thought she was a witch.
Na im just sat there, staring at her as she cried, her lips trembling as if she wanted to say something while she kept blinking her eyes to see if what she was seeing was real. He knew she would think this way, that he was never going to come back to her life and that was exactly what he planned on doing until Hafiz decided that he might as well change his profession into a matchmaker. He stared at the way she shook her head before she turned and walked out of the kitchen.