Chapter 41 : B
"That seems perfect, Lieutenant. Thank you." He smiled at him, "Thank you for the phone as well." He chuckled at the expression that covered Hafiz s entire face and waited to hear all that he had to say.
"I've had this whole conversation planned on my mind but it seems like the words had run off. Captain, do you still intend to divorce her?" He asked and he could see the turmoil his question had stirred in Na im.
He shouldn't have been hesitant the way he was now, Na im thought as he still wasn't able to answer his question. But then he remembered everything and from the look Alan Gubro was flashing him, he knew that it wouldn t take long before he spoke to him about getting married again. And this time, Na im thought it wouldn t be as long as it used to take. It wouldn't give him enough time to forget about the would be bride.
"Yes, I guess I still have this decision and nothing would ever change it."
Hafiz nodded his head and sat upright, "Then, maybe you should stop making things hard on the both of you, it wouldn t be easy to deal with a heartbreak when you ve created it yourself, Captain."
"Who told you that I'm going to be heartbroken just because I've divorced her? This has been my decision since the day we got married, you knew it, come on." He groaned in annoyance even though without wanting to, Hafiz s words had found a place in his heart and he found himself wondering what he would do if that actually happened. Would he really be heartbroken like Hafiz had proclaimed?
"From your look, I'm certain you ve either spoken with Alan Gubro or have sensed that he will speak to you about getting married again. And Na im, every sensible person will know he isn t going to take it likely like he did all those time. Because time time, you re so going to pay for having a bunch of ex-fiancées by getting married, again, in a very shot notice. That's if you re even notified."
Na im hissed under his breath. It was good to have someone that knew you as well as Hafiz knew him, but it was awful sometimes. Because there were moments he would want to hide what he was feeling or thinking from him but one look at him, Hafiz was sharp enough to figure everything out and might probably even have a solution for him. "I suggest you get her a home tutor for at least a year, since she can t be taken to a school for it requires going and coming in and out of the palace everyday. And when it s time for their final exam, it could be arranged to have her write the exams so she can leave for the university."
"Why are you talking about this all of a sudden?" Na im couldn t help but ask. It wasn t like he had told Hafiz he was going to divorce her today or tomorrow, had he?
"I figured if you re going to get married soon and you re still planning on divorcing her, then it would only be fair if her future gets secured. And school is the only way that will happen, so why not hasten the process? She doesn t have forever living as your wife." Hafiz walked out of the room and Na im figured he was angry. But why would he be angry? Because he had said that the decision they both had concluded on was still on his mind or the fact that he was going to get married again, which was pretty obvious? Or, because he thought that how close they were getting along with each other wasn't healthy for the both of them?
He sighed and closed his eyes to think, but just one thing got to his brain and that was Maryam Bukar Ibrahim. He tried to empty his mind of her thoughts, the sound of her laughter and how beautifully she looked at him, for he needed to make a decision that would affect and change both their lives, but he couldn t. It was her smiles that affected him, her laughter and the rare times she was being a talkative. How it felt like to touch that tiny yet soft body of hers. Everything.
He didn t know how, but somewhere around the fact that he had to get married again, between Hafiz s words and the decision he had taken months ago, Na im was torn between doing the right thing or letting his heart lead. He knew it wasn t love, it couldn t be it. But he just had his harmonious feeling towards her and this was exactly why he didn't get close to her because he knew the kind of heart he had, it mightn't be easy to let her be. And right now, it was tormenting as hell to even think about it.
?
Maryam had been watching that door now continuously every morning without failing for a week. She didn t know what he meant by doing this when he had promised her that he would come everyday to give her a phone to speak with Na im. She just wanted to know how he was doing. Yes, she knew that just like Bilkisu had said, he was so important that if he died it would be news all over Maiduguri but that didn t mean when he was in pain everyone would know. Especially now that she had figured he wasn t the Captain Bolori she thought he was, Maryam felt a certain longing for him with the hope that he will help her find Intisar.
Bilkisu found her where she had left her before she went to the kitchen to clean it for the night and she sighed. It had been a week since when his soldier friend last came, yet, Maryam hardly took her eyes off the door in hopes that he would be there with his phone to connect her with Na im. Before, she only did that in the morning, she had been sleeping in the living room after she had prayed her subh salah since then, so she wouldn t miss him when he came. But he didn t.
And it had progressed, she waited all day now. She kept her eyes on the door or the whole hours of the day and Bilkisu had to beg her before she would go to her room to sleep. It hadn t been easy to watch, especially now that it had become so clear that they weren t coming to check up on her or even give her the phone to speak to him and Bilkisu really wished she had a way of lessening her agony.
"You have to go to your room and sleep, Mero. It s almost midnight and you haven t been getting enough sleep, okay?" She knew how stubborn Maryam was by now, but she had never give up. She tried everyday and some days, she won. While most days, Bilkisu blankly failed and she had to wait until Maryam fell asleep on the sofa before she carried her to her room.
"I have a feeling that he would come home today, Bilkisu. Can you please just let me be for today?" She was sincere and in her eyes, Bilkisu saw desperation yet there was hope. Bilkisu didn t want her to be heartbroken, even though she knew that s likely what was going to happen.
"You should go and sleep, Mero, unless you want to wake up tomorrow with an headache. I promise to wake you up when he s here, or someone. No one goes somewhere in midnight, even if they were coming, it has to be tomorrow in the morning, please."
Stubbornly, Maryam shook her head and even took her eyes off from Bilkisu so that those eyes couldn t convince her into doing what she didn t intend to do. She wanted to stay tonight, for she felt he would come and trust that he would. Bilkisu got tried of begging her to go and sleep and by the time she had to muffle the fifth yawn, she knew she had to let the stubborn girl be. Since Maryam got this new attitude of waking up early, she had suffered the most from it, because Maryam spent most of her evenings sleeping on the sofa as she made up her lost sleep. But she would be up for the whole day and that seemed a bit harsh for herself.
"Goodnight, then. You can call me if you want something, okay?" Maryam only nodded her head at her and watched Bilkisu left the living room for her room.
She had fixed her eyes on the tv as she tried to come off as strong and stubborn, she had to trust her instincts. He was coming home tonight and she would see him too. But when almost two hours had passed and it was almost thirty minutes past one in the morning, Maryam knew she couldn t keep up. She wanted to sleep so bad that her eyes were closing on their own accord and so she stood up and walked to the tv to turn it off. Maybe he wasn t coming today but tomorrow, and that was why she had felt it even before it happened.
She had already turned off the lights in the living room and through the only dim light that he had provided for them because she hated waking up to utter darkness, Maryam saw a looming figure and she couldn t remember opening the door to anyone. She tried to scream but strong hands surrounded her mouth and she was lifted from her feet before she even got the chance to take something that will alert Bilkisu. Instead of outside that she had imagined to be taken to, knowing that finally Captain Bolori had found out who she was and was going to take her with him, Maryam felt, with her entire body shaking as he walked to her room and locked the door behind them.
...
He placed her down and took a few steps behind him while he turned the dim light in the room, but she was so frightened to even take a look at his face and tears had already washed down to her cheeks. "It s me, Hoor." He said softly and Maryam knew that the only person that used the word was Na im and she bulged her eyes out to have a better look of his face. It was then that she figured he had turned on the light in the room and she could see him, clearly under it.
"You..." She began but her tears intensified and Maryam ran to him, falling on his body as she broke into tears and hugged him tightly as if she was dreaming and if she dared open her eyes, she would have to miss him forever. She felt as her heart squeezed with the pain she felt. How her body ached from the days she hadn't seen him.