Chapter 5 4: B

"I told them I hate it when they have an extra key of my room, who do they think they are? They re going to have it from me, a bunch of idiots." She hissed loudly and laid back on her bed. She knew she wouldn t be able to sleep now but that was the only thing available for her to do. "Are you going back to sleep, Ya Fareeda?" Nana asked, looking at the way Fareeda meticulously took off her glasses and placed it beside her where she can always reach for it when she woke up. "Yes, Nana. Ask that man to get out of the room when you re done taking that ritual liquid you have there." Nana threw her head back and laughed, "It s not a ritual liquid, Ya Fareeda, it s a tea. And his name is Ya Mujaheed, not that man." "Nana…" there was a warning laced on her voice and Nana knew better than to say one more thing. "Goodnight, Ya Fareeda." Better, she mused to herself and welcomed the splash of her thoughts through her mind. They were chaotic, full of darkness that she wondered as everyone said if, in her life, there would be light at the end of the tunnel because she had been walking in this pitch darkness for so long that she gave up on seeing that light. ? "I don t think it s safe for us to discharge you, Ma am. Won t you wait for a few more days so we can see if you re fine?" They had been arguing with the doctor for more than five minutes now and Fareeda wasn t getting a word out of it. "I ve been in this hospital for three days now, will you please let me go already? I m tired, and what s more important is my health, I m fine, I told you. And I promise that if there s something, a slight pain I ll run back to you. Please, I m begging you this time, let me go." Even though her facial expression was saying a different thing from what her lips were saying, the doctor sighed in defeat. "Please you have to take care and rest so well, okay? The nurse will bring the discharge letter and for the hospital fees, your father s PA has paid everything." She nodded and watched as he left the room, thanking Allah that Mujaheed and Nana weren t back until they were done with the doctor. She had told them that she had been discharged and they were taking their things to the car, what if the doctor said otherwise? And she was sure if he heard that she shouldn t be discharged this early, there was no way she was going home today. No, the word home wasn t a word in her life. She had a mansion to live in, but never a home. "Are you all set, Ya Fareeda?" Nana asked as she came to help her and they walked out of the room, meeting the nurse on their way to the parking lot. Nothing had changed in the house, she had secretly wished that even a pint of her darkness could be splashed upon this house and she would love to see how they will all survive, but it was still the same she had left it four days ago. Beautiful, exquisite and magnificent mansion of Kamal Sardauna. Nana helped her into her room and she immediately rushed to the bathroom to take her shower and take off those clothes, it had always felt nice to smell rid of all those antibacterials. She came out of the bathroom and met her food on the bedside drawer, had she ever mentioned that Nana was a sweetheart? She got ready into a comfortable cotton gown and left her hair to dry itself. She was halfway into her food when she remembered she had to charge her phone and call Adam when she stood up with the spoon in her hand and directly walked to Asma u s room. She banged the door open without knocking and met her chatting with the phone while it charged. She walked to where she was and carelessly flung the charger out of the socket, aware of the fact that the phone had fallen and might ve possibly cracked. "What have I told you about my charger, Asma u? Wallah this should be the last time I m warning you about it unless you want your mother to take you to the hospital today." "What do you mean? You weren t home, away in the hospital and just because I m afraid of you I shouldn t use it?!" "Will you keep that annoying mouth shut?! As it should always be? Don t think I m weak because I m just back from the hospital, teaching you a very good lesson would have been a pleasure of mine. Idiot!" And the next thing Asma u felt was the spoon Fareeda was holding mercilessly spanked on the crown of her head and she walked out of the room. She had already put her phone to charge and was back at eating her food when her door got banged open and she inhaled softly, that s what she had been waiting for. "What do you think you ve done, Fareeda?!" Ummah asked angrily as she threw the now screen-smashed phone on her bed. "You ve smashed her phone for a charger that wouldn t have to exceed five thousand Naira." She turned calmly from where she sat and sipped her drink, "Have you heard yourself, Ummah? For someone out there this five thousand would make his or her entire month, that s a huge amount of money, you know? And I was also coming to you had it been you aren't too impatient to wait for me, who gave you the right to have an extra key of my room?" "Because I m the woman of the house and I can do whatever I want to do. If you like, you can change your lock every day and I ll still have an extra key of it. And for her phone, get it repaired before today ends." She threw her head back and laughed, "You of all people should know that I don t take orders, Mrs Kamal Sardauna. And about my room s extra key, before I do something you ll certainly regret, give the one you have back and stay out of my business. Her phone?" She chuckled and looked at Asma u that was fuming beside her mother, "Girl, if you still like your phone, take it out of my room or there are thousands of people who would kill to have its kind. Not even to take it far, I can give it to Nana and let s see who can collect it from her." "Asma u, take your phone and ignore this girl, I ll tell Alhaji to put some senses into her," Ummah grumbled and Asma u took her phone before they turned to leave. "Shut the door on your way out and please I need to rest, no one should disturb me. Ummah, don t forget about the extra key." They left the door open and she softly smiled before she stood up and closed it herself. Walking back to her bed, she slumped on it and wondered what she was going to say to Adam and what would be of their conversation with Mujaheed, did he mean what he had said? But she d rather die than apologise to her father. Her whole body shook as she dialled Adam s number. She waited and he didn t pick the call until it was done ringing and he didn t pick the call, she knew for sure that Adam would never pick this call and she sent him a text before she dialled his number again. 'Please pick the call, Adam. She said in a slow tune as she felt the way her heart squeezed with so much pain. And after three attempts of calling him, he finally picked with a grump. "What is it?" He asked, and she quickly sat upright. Thankfully, he had picked up and even though she knew it would be so hard before Adam forgave her, she was certain he would forgive her for some time. "Please, Adam, for the sake of Allah, will you listen to me? I m so sorry about what happened in the hospital but you know I have no control over it, will you please hear me out?" She asked with a breaking voice and she could imagine the look on Adam s face. He was probably so angry right now that she knew if he was standing right next to him he wouldn t even spare her a glance. "What do you think you re doing, Fareeda? I don t even know what you called me for, I just want to know who you re getting married to, I want to know." He asked in a sharp tone and her breathed out in exasperation. She wished Adam didn t come that day, if not he wouldn t have heard what was going to happen to him. Palming her face, Fareeda stared at her reflection on her mirror, she looked so pale and distraught. "That s not what s important, Adam. Can you please come over? I need to tell you something." He didn t know, she was certain. And she guessed if he knew, he might take a step forward and that would stop her from getting married to that gateman. "How can you tell me it s not important? I heard you talking about getting married to someone, Fareeda! How can you say that I shouldn t bother?!" He yelled at her and she immediately flinched, why wouldn t Adam understand her for now? "Will you please just come over? We will talk about that when you come, Adam. I promise to tell you everything, please come over, will you?" She asked with a low tune that was at the verge of breaking into tears and she heard him sighed, that worked. It always worked. "I will be there in five minutes, don t make me wait, okay?" He said in a straight tone and ended the call before waiting for her to respond. She softly smiled at herself through the mirror and went to sit on the vanity stool. She placed her warm fingers on her face but failed to smile this time. And when her eyes fell on the crack of her eyeglass, she hissed softly. Recalling all that happened the night she was taken to the hospital, Fareeda felt something sunk deeper into her heart. She was the one that was supposed to be angry at Adam, she was the one in the right position to be yelling at him while he would be the one to keep on apologizing to her. But with Adam, everything was different. She always lost her self esteem and self-respect because of him and the irony was that she didn t mind at all. Staring at the clock in her phone, she immediately stood up and kept her phone at the charging port. Staring at her pale face, Fareeda knew she didn t have the energy to put anything that would beautify her face. She walked out of her room and locked the door behind her, reminding herself to go to Ummah s room and collect the extra key she had with her unless they all wanted her to turn the house upside down.