ABOUT THIS BOOK
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He turned onto his back and lay down, completely at a loss as to why Nusaiba had confronted him with those nonsense words. Was she trying to create a rift between him and his parents, or what? If she was tired of the marriage, he hadn't chained her down. The bottom line was that Alhaji Basheer had told him to drop everything he owned, so what? That entire night, Nusaiba could not sleep; she knelt before her Lord, as she usually did, to pour out her grievances, praying that Allah would choose what was best for her. She also wept out of sheer heartbreak that today, she was trading bitter words with her own husband. Truly, life is planned by Allah, but never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined something like this happening in her life. Her heart had always envisioned a beautiful, comfortable life filled with satisfying love with whatever husband she married. The first call to prayer echoed in her ears, accompanied by a sudden, splitting headache—the kind she had never experienced before in her life. It was with great difficulty that she managed to perform her dawn prayer. She dragged a pillow, threw it onto the prayer mat, and lay down. No sooner had she rested her head than she heard Naseer rushing out as if he were running. She sat up, listening to the slamming of the living room door in Abba's section of the house. She stood up and came out, finding the door to their section wide open. She hurried outside toward Umma's section. She heard Naseer saying, "Zarah is not well, Inna just called and said I must come immediately." Before Abba and the others could even finish invoking blessings (salati), he stormed out. She rushed back to the room, grabbed her hijab, and snatched her handbag, because she was certain Naseer had left without a single cent on him. When she came out, she found Umma and the others standing outside; he had already left them behind. Opening her bag, she pulled out her car keys and said, "Umma, come on, let's follow him in this car." Umma replied, "I don't want you driving around like this, Nusaiba, your pregnancy is heavily advanced." Abba added, "Daylight hasn't fully broken yet, and you two women are heading out alone in a car? You had better wait until it is bright daylight." She said, "It's fine, Abba, Allah will protect us. Umma, let's go now, dawn is already breaking." Umma got in, and they set off. Malam Balarabe kept praying for them. In a frantic rush, they arrived to find Naseer and Inna, as they were told the baby girl had died in the womb. Consequently, the doctor was going to do her best to induce delivery, but if that failed, they would have to perform surgery on her. Nusaiba found a place to sit; her blood pressure flared up even more, and her head felt as if it would split open from the intense pain. After about 40 minutes, the doctor came out and told them to go and pay for the surgery immediately. She handed a slip to Naseer, who held it with trembling hands and looked at it. He was to pay 35,000 Naira. Umma asked, "Did you bring any money with you?" He shook his head. "I have to go back home, and I think the money at home is only 10,000 Naira. The banks aren't open yet either, so what are we going to do?" he asked, completely frantic. Before Umma could say a word, Nusaiba reached out and handed over a bundle of cash. "Here is some money, hurry up and go make the payment." He stared at her for a moment before reaching out to accept the money, then turned and ran off toward the payment counter.
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