Chapter thirty-one

No sooner had Ma'Fatou finished reading the letter left behind by Zeyna than Ma'Khady threw the phone against the wall nearest to her before bringing her legs up against her chest, bursting into tears. Fearing that they might have a crisis on Ma'Khady's part, Fa'Bintou ended the Facetime with Mountakha, despite his protests. But surprisingly, after a while, she calmed down and silently got up to go to her room. To prevent her from doing something wrong or stupid, Fa'Bintou wanted to follow her but Ndeye and Ibra held her back. They made her understand through gestures that Ma'Khady needed to be left alone and that this should be respected. She was not in danger of harming herself. Fa'Bintou reluctantly agreed, making them understand that at the slightest suspicious noise, she would go and see what was going on with Ma'Khady, whatever they thought, and eventually intervene.