Chapter 35 Amani

Days gone...

I could remember the day I was told I would be marrying Ya Hamid, and also when the knot was tied.

I could also remember my first day at Ya Hamid's house, and how aloof and cold he was to me. It wasn't really easy but Alhamdulillah, those days were history now. And whenever I remembered them, I used smile because they used to make me feel embarrassed.

Some weeks ago I gave birth to our bouncing baby, it was through caesarean section though...to avoid complications. I actually couldn't give birth directly so we signed for the C-section.

And on the day of the baby's naming ceremony, I had no proper time for myself considering how a glutton the baby was.

It was supposed to be the best day of my life, and I was supposed to enjoy it to the fullest but reverse happened to be the case.

That day I was summoned every now and then to come and feed the baby, the baby really loved sucking breast and would cry in the hands of people when she starts feeling hungry.

Yes, it was a babygirl!

We named her after my mother, Manal. That was the deal I had with Ya Hamid, if it's a girl I would name her after my mother and if it's a boy he would name him after his father.

One funny thing was that the girl resembled my mother more than we – her parents. She took almost everything from my mother, or rather her grandmother. People said it was because she was given her name.

Anyways, were so happy to have her and very soon she would be having a baby brother. Of course NOT FROM ME, but from Safiya. Surprised right? Well, Safiya was presently heavily pregnant. Both she and Yazid had relocated to Abuja not long ago, but they used to visit from time to time especially during weekends.

God knows I used to miss them, if not for my little baby I used to feel lonely whenever Ya Hamid was at work. I mean, shop.

Safiya was the one keeping me company before but now it was my baby, I used to take her to school too. Not a good idea, right?

Well, that was the only choice I had. Taking her to my mother before going to school and getting her back after school would be so stressful, I wouldn't even try that.

I also wouldn't bring any house-help or nanny into our house because Ya Hamid didn't like it. Only I knew the hell I went through when I brought Safiya into our house that time, I could still remember vividly.

Hopefully I would be rounding my school soon, I was presently in my second level and as you already know it was a national diploma program. Ya Hamid wanted me to further after it but I told him I would rest first.

By the way, it wasn't as if money was a problem to me. But even though I used to get practically everything I wanted from him and my parents, I still wanted to earn my own money. I wanted to build a pharmacy after my school. I had already started making plans in my mind.

I knew the best place to have it erected, along Animal Farm. The area was densely populated but had no reliable pharmacy, making it hard for patients at Gidan Sauki Hospital to get the appropriate medication they needed. I hoped that my presence there would make a change soon.

While breastfeeding Manal in the sitting room, I almost fell into slumber when suddenly I began hearing horn. It was definitely Ya Hamid thus, I stood and walked out to the compound to welcome him.

"Oyoyo, baba... your baba is here" I said to the baby even though she was sleeping, with her mouth still on my breast.

I stayed in the middle of the compound and watched as Zakaria opened the gate for Ya Hamid, that was our new gateman.

Although we never really had a gateman before, it was Yazid who used to open the gate and he wasn't a gateman but a driver...to me.

I needed no driver now since I could simply call an Uber driver to come and take me to wherever I want to go. My fear for driving didn't allow me to learn how to drive, perhaps in the future I would force myself to learn it.

When Ya Hamid finally drove into the house and parked his car in the parking lot, I gently walked over to him while wearing a smile that can't be quenched by a dictator.

Just as he turned the car engine off and stepped out, I began hearing the sound of a crying baby. It was strange, Manal was asleep and in my arms so where was that sound coming from? I wondered, watching Ya Hamid as he opened the back passenger seat and brought out a baby from the car.

To say I was dumbfounded is an understatement. "Ya Hamid?" I puzzled, "Whose baby is that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"You won't believe what I am about to tell you, Amani. But please I want you to know that this baby isn't mine" he said, trying hard to control himself.

He was all sweats, and judging from his eyes I could say he was in pain. What could be wrong? Did someone left a baby on his car or what? I wondered.