Chapter 2

Noor quickly entered inside the house not caring to greet Ibro at the gate like she always does .

    She knows she startled the old man when she banged the gate's door very loudly .

          Noor made her way to the living room and she saw her mother there pacing across the living room from left to right . Zainab breath a sigh of relief when she saw her daughter safely entering the living room .

       Noor sat down on the couch in heavy breath , she didn't realize that she could actually run this fast .

     'Nooriya ! Are you fine ? ' Zainab asked, worry written all over her dark skinned face which all her children inherited .

     Noor smiled and nodded her head

'Mama , where's Ya Munir ? ' Noor couldn't help but ask about her elder brother's safety , they left at the same time but to different places .

         ' He came back just some few minutes ago , he is in his room now ' Zainab said as she pour some water into  a cup for Noor .

   Noor collected the water and finished it all in one gulp .

     'Thank you ' Noor said and dropped the sup on the table .

  Munir entered the living room in a new black jallabiya long gown just the same color as his eyes .  He sat down on the opposite couch that's facing the one Zainab and Noor are sitting on .

     Munir noticed everyone's dim mood so he though of starting up a funny conversation.

    'Noor where's our salt ? ' Munir asked as he folded his arms across his chest questionably.

    Noor gasped and mimicked what he said 'Noor where's our salt' she mimicked in the same tone and at the same time trying to make her voice deep like Munir's own .

       'I can't believe you Ya Munir , Just look at my condition right now , no veil , no shoe but it's salt you're asking me about ' Noor said and also folded her arms across her chest just like he did .

        Noor thought about his question for a moment , she was sent to buy salt which they were going to use in cooking dinner and now that she's not back with the salt , how will they cook ?

    Noor broke out of her though when she heard her mother's hilarious laugh filing the whole living room .

     ' I actually didn't realize that you're barefooted with no veil too ! ' Zainab erupted into a louder laugh as she spoke .

     Noor released a dry chuckle so as not to disappoint her laughing mother , Noor stooped chuckling and asked 'Mama ... Will Baba be fine ? '

  Zainab dropped her hand on Noor's shoulder assuringly before saying 'Don't worry In Sha Allah he will be fine '

    Noor nodded her head inwardly convincing herself that her father will return safely , the three of them continue to talk about the current situation when Aminu stepped into the house holding his beret in his right hand , sweats all over his fore head and some sliding down his fair skinned cheeks .

He walked in and sat down beside Munir .

    'Thank god that you're fine Baba ' Noor was the first to speak with a sigh of relief following short after .

'This is getting worse ' Munir said as he intertwined his fingers together .

'Todays fight is worse than the other days , they even killed one of my colleagues' Aminu said in his usual intimidating deep voice which even Munir has .

'We thank god that you're fine ' Zainab said with a wide smile on her face .

'You should go and freshen up , I'll try to cook something without the salt ' Zainab said and Noor suddenly feel guilty for not picking up the salt that dropped while she was running for her dear life .

   She got up and walked out of the living room to freshen up like instructed by her mother

       Noor went inside to freshen up and change her sweaty brown gown into a cleaner one . She went upstairs and entered the room that's directly facing the stairs which is her room , Noor walked to her black wardrobe and opened it deciding what to wear .

     She finally picked a violet gown and dropped it on her medium sized bed .

     She quickly freshened up and wore her clothes after rubbing a cream . She got out and went downstairs to eat dinner and that's when she noticed someone talking to Munir by the door .

       Munir didn't fully open the door for the person and Noor just hoped it's not one of his friends that always come over and make the house so noisy .

     Munir turned his head and said 'Baba...He said he's here to help '

   Aminu slightly frowned and removed his gun from his pocket ready to target in case of the need for it , Noor slowly walked down the stairs and saw one of the thugs that stopped her earlier by the door , he was holding her veil , shoe and the salt she dropped .

       Noor came to stand beside her brother and pleaded 'please let me just speak to him '

    She doesn't want her family to know that some thugs stopped her , she doesn't want any bloodshed to occur again apart from the one she has already witnessed on her way .

     Munir turned to look at Aminu as if asking for permission to let Noor speak to the guy , Aminu nodded and out his gun aside .

     Noor mumbled a 'Thank you ' and went outside with the guy .

She immediately closed the door behind her , folded her arms across her chest and raised her right eyebrow inquiringly.

    'What are you doing here ? ' Noor asked even though she knows the reason but she just doesn't understand why he had to follow her here and how he even know her home .

      Zayyad raised his hands to show her shoe and veil with the salt she dropped . Noor quickly snatched it and said 'don't come here again '

     Zayyad frowned and said 'Why not ?'

            Noor chuckled dryly for no reason specifically. 'My father is a police man ' She said proudly .

      'And ? 'Zayyad asked dryly as if she just said 1+1=Two .

      Noor deepened her frown and replied 'He can kill you with his gun in an instant . '

      Zayyad sighed and replied 'Tour father kills with gun which has buckets that can finish , I injure people with daggers ' Zayyad said as he removes his dagger from his pocket .

       Noor laughed and said 'that thing that barely looks sharp ! I personally think it's fake ' She said as she pints at the short dagger Zayyad is holding .

    Zayyad raised the dagger and said 'fake ? Let me show you '  He raised the dagger and sharply cut his left palm with it , blood starts to form there and Noor gasped in shock .

      'Hey ! I didn't ask you to show me ! ' Noor said as her eyes are widen with the sight of blood .

   She furrowed her eyebrows and start to tremble her lips slightly.

      Zayyad tore a cloth from his tattered black top and tied it around his wound while Noor still stayed there trembling.

     'Stop that ' Zayyad said when he finished tying his wound .

        'Stop what ? ' Noor asked with her body still shaking slightly.

          She was internally praying that he didn't realize that she was staring at his defined facial features which is considered inappropriate to do in New city area and also culturally.

             'Stop overreacting' He replied normally as if nothing has happened.

   Noor managed to stop trembling when she heard her brother's voice shouting her name from inside the house so she quickly pushed Zayyad out of the house with her words and went back inside .

        Aminu stopped taking sips of his water and asked 'who was that Nooriya ? '

     Noor nervously smiled and replied ' oh ...that we usually attend mathematics lectures together '

     Aminu frowned not satisfied with the answer so he asked gain in a more firm voice 'WHO IS HE ? '

      Noor smiled once again and replied 'A university mate , he saw me when I dropped my stuffs so he came to give them to me '

    Aminu leaned back on his seat and said 'Hmn..'

      'May god bless that boy , now I can cook with the salt' Zainab said as she collects the salt  from Noor . Noor smiled at her mother for indirectly saving her from her father's river .

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