PART ONE Chapter One

1

The day was a beautiful one. Rain had fallen the previous night making the air fresh and full of petrichor.

I was in the room with my older sister who laid on the bed complaining of everything and nothing.

"I can't believe it's time already", she whined from her position on the bed.

I removed my head from inside of the wardrobe it had been for a good ten minutes or so and said,"we vacated over a month ago".

"My point exactly. It's too short!"

I heaved a sigh and turned my attention back to what I was doing- looking for my school uniform. We were finally resuming after a long while and I had no idea where it was.

"I don't even know why you are complaining", I told her after searching futilely for the uniform.

"After all you like school".

Iman rolled her eyes and got up from the bed, making it creak for mercy as she did so.

"Who told you that I like school? I just study hard so that I can pass and leave quickly".

I nodded absent-mindedly as I began looking for the uniform under the bed.

Iman was like that; always claiming she did not like school even though the library was her favourite place in the whole school followed by the laboratories and classrooms.

Ugh.

She was a straight A student, quite shy (although she preferred to be called reserved, thank you very much) and just plain weird.

Also, she was the type of person I wanted to be like. I wasn't dull but hello, I wasn't the one spending my free periods studying Newton's equation on motion or asking Mr Mathew to put me through a topic I didn't understand.

(Mr Mathew was the mathematics teacher).

My sister got down on her knees beside me and started looking under the bed.

"What happened? You also can't find your uniform? I told you rats are evil"I joked. Although in all honesty they are.

"Me? Noo, I am only trying to help you. You of all people should know how organised I am".

It was true; Iman was the poster child of neatness. She had a place for everything- from something as negligible as a pencil to more important stuff like her favourite books (blah!)

I, on the other hand, was like my older brother;messy and disorganized.

"I don't know why you are like this Layla. For God's sake, how is it possible to misplace your uniform. Two pairs for crying out loud. And see tomorrow is Monday".

I got up and shook out my gown for any dust.

"Let me go and check Lawal's room. Do you know where the key to the room is?"

Iman took the laptop from the table close to the window and replied,"Go and ask mummy".

2

My mother was on the phone when I entered into her room. She was a big time business woman who spent more time on the phone than with the people around her.

But on this day, I got the feeling that it wasn't her usual business call. It was something else and the thing was bothering her.

She nodded and closed her eyes as though she was trying to suppress her tears. That got me interested and so,I sat on the bed, waiting for her to round up her phone call.

I did not get to wait for long because seconds later, she dropped her phone unto the cushion beside her and buried her face in her palms.

"Mummy, what's wrong?"

She sighed sadly and slowly raised her head, her sad face making her look even older than she already was.

I felt my heart drop as she said,"It's Naja'atu ".

I got up from the bed and went to sit by her,all the while praying it wasn't what I was fearing it was.

"What happened?", I asked apprehensively.

"Isa was just on the line. They are in the hospital".

My heart sank. Even without my mother saying anything else, I already knew what had happened to my older sister.

"She lost the baby", announced my mother.

Again.

I closed my eyes and fought back the wave of tears that was threatening to spill out.

"I am so tired of the whole thing".

"Tired of what?"

I opened my eyes and turned to the doorway. There stood Iman looking as apprehensive as I had felt earlier.

"It's sister Naja", I replied.

Iman's face crumpled and she crossed into the room.

"They are in the hospital", I added as she came to sit by me.

"She lost the baby, didn't she?"

Iman made it sound like an accusation.

My mother picked up her phone and got up, mumbling something about having to call Lawal.

"We need to go and see her", she left the room after that.

I took off my glasses- back then I couldn't see without them. Mummy once told me that it was due complications during my birth. I don't use glasses anymore- and said to Iman,

"Try not to be angry, okay? I'm sure it's for the best".

She snorted,got up and started pacing the length of the room.

"I don't know why this keeps happening. Why does God insists on doing this to her? Why?"

"I am sure there's a good reason" I said even though I didn't know what reason there might be for a woman to conceive thrice in four years only to lose all pregnancies.

It was like someone had placed a curse on my older sister.

My mother came back inside and told us to get ready; Lawal was on his way.

3

The hospital room was deathly quiet even though a number of people occupied it. Iman, Lawal, my mother and I stood close to the window.

Isa (Naja'atu's husband) sat by the bed with his mother. Naja'atu was sitting on the hospital bed staring ahead blankly.

She was clothed in a blue hospital gown and even in her current state, she still managed to look stunning. Her eyes were beautifully shaped, her nose pointed to the point of being sharp and her hair fell back in luxuriant waves.

You could say that she was generously endowed. From her hair to her figure, she had what a lot of women desired -except children.

I thought it was all unfair, considering how much she loved them. There were some of my childhood pictures which showed her taking me places; amusement parks;zoos; restaurants, you name it.

If there had been a way for me to get her a child,I would have done it.

The doctor entered and Isa got up.

"I would rather she stay behind for some days",he said,"so that we can monitor her for some time and ensure that- "

Naja'atu shook her head vehemently and said- for the first time since we got there- "No doctor. I want to go home. Please, I'm fine".

"Naja- ",Isa began.

"No,no, no, no!! I want to go home. I don't want to stay here. I keep hearing cries of newborns. It's devastating... like they are all mocking me".

"Sister,if you- "

But Naja'atu stopped Lawal from talking.

"No. Don't say a word. I want to go. Mummy", she was referring to her mother-in-law,"please tell them to let me go. I can't stay here again".

Her mother-in-law held her and said gently,

"My dear, it's all for your good. We don't want to take any chances, okay? Please try to understand".

Anytime I think of that woman,I wonder how she was so patient. Any other mother-in-law in her situation would have pressurized her son to marry another wife.

Naja'atu broke down in tears and everyone fell into an akward silence, letting her cry. It was better than keeping it bottled up.

I felt Iman shift uncomfortably by my side and she whispered to know one in particular:

"It's not fair. It's not fair at all".