She was sitting on the swing chair in the large garden of the house, her face showing no joy — only the weight of the worries that had lodged in her heart. She sank deep into her thoughts; her eyes were on the peacocks parading through the garden.

Alhaji Musa’s car pulled into the main gate at moderate speed and headed for the parking space. He was sitting upright in the backseat; when his eyes caught sight of her through the glass window he ordered his driver to stop near her.

The car horn startled her. She looked up in alarm; at that moment the car was parking. He stepped out of the car — as always his face was stern — and wore his suit jacket.

She was used to running to him to hug him whenever she saw him, but today was different: from the moment she looked at him she averted her eyes. That alone upset him.

He sat down beside her, placed his hand gently on her head, drew her close and rested her head on his chest. Only then did she let out what was in her heart — she burst into tears.

Confused, he began to stroke her back with his palm and asked her what was troubling her. Who had upset his baby? Was she unwell?

For a moment everything was confused because he did not like to see Zeenatu unhappy.

Through her sobs she said, “Daddy, Brother Shureim…”

“What’s he done to you?”

“Daddy, he’s stopped paying attention to me. I don’t like how he treats me like he pushes me aside. I don’t know what I did to him. He’s completely changed toward me.” As soon as she began to speak his face went hard, as if he had never smiled.

“Aunty Benazir has also lessened her care for me. Life in the house is not enjoyable for me at all, daddy. Mommy has no time for me; when she returns from the office she doesn’t look after me — she goes straight to her room and sleeps, and later when she wakes she doesn’t chat with me; she goes to talk to Mommy Layla instead. Even Shureim doesn’t speak to me; Aunty Benazir and he are always together. And when you go out you come back very late at night — by then I’ve already slept. I feel like you don’t love me, like you don’t care about me, you don’t give me the attention I need…” She finished speaking with a pitiful sob.

He did not like the state she was in; he understood that loneliness was troubling her, and it made him feel uneasy inside.

He gently stroked her face in a soothing way and said, “Stop thinking that way, my princess. I don’t want you to carry worry in your heart. You are more important to us than anything. Please stop saying that you’re not loved or that we don’t care about you. You are the one I love most; there is nothing I love more than you. Even if everyone else turns their back on you, remember I’m with you. Even when I’m not present you are in my heart…”

He kept saying words to comfort her until her crying eased a little.

She nestled into his chest, her face wet with tears; she sighed repeatedly as if trying to relieve her heart.

“Daddy, when will I continue my schooling? You said you would marry me off and then let me continue. Please, daddy, arrange the marriage for me, because I want to go back to school and meet friends to be close with. I understand there’s no peace in this house; that’s why no one sits and talks with me…”

A faint smile softened his features; he sensed there was something that had angered her, which explained why she spoke like that.

“Don’t worry. I promised you: by the end of this year I will marry you off, and you will be able to continue going to school.”

She smiled because she liked what he said; it greatly eased her longing. He gave her plenty of his time; they talked at length before they got down from the swing. Hand in hand they went toward the living room.

When they entered the living room, they saw the household gathered at the dining table eating lunch. Alhaji Musa was displeased by how cheerful they were being, which made him believe Zeenatu’s claim — that they didn’t care whether Zeenatu ate or not.

He took hold of her hand and pulled her toward the dining room. His purposeful stride caught their attention; they stared at him in confusion, mouths agape, seeing the scowl on his face.

As he approached he grabbed the tablecloth that had been laid with the lunch and yanked it — the whole spread of food was dragged and fell onto the floor. They all stood up in surprise and watched him bewildered.

Startled, Zeenatu shrank back, her whole body trembling.

Hajiya Layla, angry, glared at him and said, “What kind of humiliation is this? We are eating; how can you shame us like a small child?”

Before she could finish he snapped at her, pointing his finger, “Don’t you dare speak to me like that if you don’t want me to be angry with you…”

She opened her mouth and fell silent, staring at him. Hajiya Sarah was also greatly upset; she clasped her hands and implored him to be patient.

“Haba Musa, what a waste is this? What you did — was that necessary, for God’s sake? What crime have we committed against you? Why did you spill our food?” Alhaji Ubaid said angrily.

He shot them a fierce look and said, “If Zeenatu cannot be comfortable in her father’s house, then no one will stay peacefully here! You all are careless; you left a young girl outside in loneliness? You don’t care for her; you only care about yourselves!”

He finished his words as if he would strike them. Benazir and Shureim stood in stunned silence, unable to speak.

“Babe, by God it’s not like that. I don’t know what Zeenatu told you, but we didn’t forget her. Ask them — I actually sent Tani to her bedroom to call her to come and eat. When Tani returned she told me Zeenatu said she would not eat, that she wasn’t hungry. Lately I’ve been struggling with her; I can’t understand her. I even went to her room and urged her to come eat with us but she refused, so I let it be. I waited for you to return to tell you…” He glared at them, snorted, and turned away, stomping to his part of the house.

Hajiya Layla felt like following him; she sighed because of her anger at him.

“By God Musa has no respect; I’m tired of the humiliation he gives us, simply because we live in his house…?”

Before she finished, Hajiya Sarah followed after him. After they left, Shureim and Benazir started comforting their mother. Zeenatu watching them felt faint in her blood at what she had caused them.

She burst into tears and rushed toward her bedroom; before she could reach it Dr. Shureim quickly went after her, caught her, and brought her back to the dining room. He sat her down on a chair, held her, and asked what she had said to Uncle Musa. Through stifled sobs she told them everything, full of sorrow. Benazir, upset, said, “Zeenatu, why would you do this? If we have upset you, why didn’t you tell us? You know your father’s temperament. Now you’ve made him spill the food for us — are you calm now? You came between us and him…”

She burst into tears again. Alhaji Ubaid said, “That’s enough, please. I don’t see Zeenatu’s fault; truly you have not treated her kindly. You should have held her close since you are the only relatives nearby. She’s still a girl; you should be patient with her.”

Hajiya Layla said with a frown, “I did nothing to Zeenatu. If she has no full sense, then it’s her father’s fault — his mind is not right, is it? Why should I treat a child’s words as if they are of consequence?” She finished and sighed, turning to leave the dining room; Alhaji Ubaid quickly followed her to console her.

Through soft sobs she said, “I’m really sorry if I caused you pain. I did not tell him to scold you. Aunty Benazir, I’m sorry. Brother Shureim, please forgive me…”

Their pity touched her; they forgave and began to comfort her.

“Am I the one who upset you?” he asked, looking at her. She frowned and lowered her head.

He looked at Benazir and their eyes met — alarm! They all realized where Zeenatu’s feelings had reached. The fact was, Dr. Shureim did not feel love for her; since the day God joined him with Aisha, he realized that what he felt for Zeenatu was not marriageable love — his lack of Aisha had led him to care for Zeenatu in the name of affection, but in truth he felt he could never match Aisha with another woman in this world. He hadn’t even noticed Zeenatu’s feelings until the day his eyes showed contempt for his own Juliet.

Benazir smothered a laugh because she already knew what Shureim had on his mind. She stepped aside a little to avoid Zeenatu hearing what she might say; in Arabic she said, “What can I do, Benazir? By God, when I saw Ummi I felt as if Ikwas (a feeling) made me love Zeenatu. Now the love I have for her is of a sibling kind, not marital. Even though it’s not forbidden to fall in love with her, I know there is only one woman in my heart. You love Zeenatu because you lacked Aisha; now that Aisha has come forward, if you want to unite both of them, know that Zeenatu is jealous; between God and pride, do you want to match Aisha with Zeenatu who is beneath her?”

She said, laughing. All the talk they were having Zeenatu could not understand because they spoke softly and she kept her head lowered.

“Be careful, Shureim, don’t break her heart. Even if you won’t marry her, help calm her mind — by God she loves you. You see she’s beginning to fall into worry. If you want, later we’ll know what to do…”

He nodded and returned his attention to Zeenatu, moving closer to her. In a gentle voice he said, “I’m really sorry, my half of my heart. I realize my mistake. You don’t understand me, Zeenatu. How can I stop caring for you, my beloved?” A small smile began to form.

Benazir clasped her hand in hers, “Please Zeenatu, stop following your heart too blindly. By God nothing has changed about how much we love you. We care for you; you are half of our lives. From now on we will do everything together, God willing: we will eat together, talk together, watch together, go to the gym together; we will even recite the Qur’an together daily with Shureim.”

She released a happy smile from the relief she felt.

“Now we won’t leave you hungry…” she said, calling to Tani. After a moment Tani came near them; seeing the food that had been scattered on the floor she put her hands on it and asked what had happened.

“Please clear away the spilled food and put out another set for us, and send another maid to clean the floor. We are waiting for you.”

Benazir said this. Tani, carrying her tray, replied “okay” and hurried off to gather the food; after arranging it on a tray she headed to the kitchen.

______________UNCLE MUSA

After entering his bedroom and beginning to remove his clothes, his phone began to ring.

He took it from his pocket, answered, and put the phone to his ear.

“Sir, we still haven’t found him. From our search, he didn’t just escape from the estate alone; his sister in that area is also missing…”

He sighed with annoyance and said, “I despise your effort; how can such a thug escape detection from you?” he said angrily.

“Sorry sir, we’ll do our best to locate him…”

Before the man finished, he snapped, chewing his lip and said, “If you do not find where he is within one week, then you are on your own! And I don’t want him alive with his sister — just kill them all and bury them where no one can find their bodies!”

“Understood sir,” the other replied. He rejected the call and breathed out heavily, his face darkening.

Another line rang and he put it to his ear.

“Mark, how is his condition? Has he regained consciousness?”

On the other end Dr. Mark said, “He still hasn’t regained consciousness, but rest assured he’s receiving care from the doctors. He will recover soon; you know his friend doesn’t joke when it comes to his health.”

He bit his lip and sighed.

“Even if he dies, I would still blame Omar for his survival; he will never impress me. I do not like that relationship at all — it’s as if he was born to him; Omar has long annoyed me because of Owais — he separated me from him and took my son away. But I know his words must be confronted, by God…”

He didn’t finish speaking because he heard Hajiya Sarah’s voice call, “Babe…”

Immediately his expression changed; he quickly cut the call and flung the phone onto the mattress, turning to look at her standing at the door.

“Did I forbid you from bothering me while I’m on the phone?”

She pleaded with him, “I’m sorry, I’m not bothering you. I followed you to ask why you treated us like that, please?”

“Oh! You followed me to scold me for what I did, how sweet,” he said while raising his voice.