All For What! - Episode 5

 

Saeed and Maryam got up very early and got ready for work. They got Manal ready for school as well.

"I will drop Manal off at school today," he told Maryam and she nodded, muttering 'alright.'

Together, they left the house. Maryam forgot all about the maid and was about to lock the main door, when Manal screamed.

"I forgot my drawing book in my room, ummi." she whined.

"Go quickly to your room and get it, we are both waiting for you here," Maryam said.

Manal nodded twice and began to run upstairs to her room when she collided with someone and fell to the ground. She began to cry, drawing her parents attention to her . She had hit her right arm hard when she fell down.

"Manal," Maryam panicked and ran to her. Saeed followed and picked her up. His gaze immediately met with that of someone he had never seen.

"Who are you? Why are you in my living room? How did you even get in?" He asked, angrily.

"I...I am..." Nafisa trailed off not knowing what to say.

"You what?" He yelled.

Naryam's eyes grew wide, how could she forget to inform her husband about Nafisa earlier. It was entirely her fault and not the innocent girl's.

"Habibi, please stop yelling, can't you see she's frightened by your tone? It was clearly an accident, it wasn't her fault Manal fell," she said

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/all-for-what

. She knew he was angry because of what just happened.

"I wasn't asking about that, the question was 'who are you and what are you doing in my house' that's what I'm interested in knowing," he repeated. For some inexplicable reason, he didn't like her at first sight.

"I...I hired her as the new maid," Maryam stuttered. She knew she made two mistakes at the same time; the first one was not telling her husband before hiring the maid and the second one was not telling him earlier after she had hired her.

Saeed looked at her in disbelief.

Manal had stopped crying and was now lying her head on her father's shoulder.

"What do you mean by that? You hired her without informing me beforehand?" He asked.

"I didn't mean to, I wanted to tell you yesterday when you came back from work, but I completely forgot," Maryam tried to explain.

"You forgot? That's okay, but you will have to rectify the mistake now," he stated.

"What do you mean habibi?" She asked. She knew what he was implying, but she wanted him to say it straight from his mouth for confirmation.

"Send her back to where she came from," he replied.

"Habibi?" She called.

"I mean what I said, do it before I come back from work today," he said in authoritative voice.

Nafisa who had been standing there all along, listening to their conversation, ran to the room allocated to her, crying.

"You know we have been looking for a house help and now that we've found one, you want me to send her away? What has the poor girl done to you?" She asked and began to wonder.

"Send her away," he repeated, before walking out with Manal in his arms.

"Are you alright, baby?" He asked, while he was driving her to school.

"Yes," she answered, but he knew her arm was bruised a little. He stopped by a pharmacy and had her cleaned and treated. She didn't stop crying.

Saeed contemplated on Manal going to school or not, but he later settled on taking her to school and keep her under her teacher's care. It would be better than leaving her at home with a stranger.

"Remember big girls don't cry," Saeed used his trick to make her stop crying and it worked. She wiped her tears immediately and stopped crying.

"I'm a big girl abee, right?" She asked.

"Yes you are," he laughed and Manal laughed too.

By the time they got to her school, Manal was already late. Saeed explained the reason to her teacher and kept Manal under her care. He thanked her for obliging, then went straight to work afterwards.

He had an argument with his wife for the first time in a while and blamed it all on the stranger in his house. It was not even up to a day and she was already causing trouble.

• • •

Maryam went to Nafisa's room and apologized for the way her husband spoke to her.

"Are you sending me away right now, ma?" She asked, with shaky voice.

"No! I won't do that, I will talk to my husband when he comes home and convince him to allow you stay for the sake of Manal," Maryam assured.

"Thank you so much ma, may Allah reward you," Nafisa prayed.

"Ameen," Maryam replied, smiling.

"Are you going to work now?" Nafisa asked.

"Yeah. Do you mind staying here alone?" Maryam asked.

"Not at all, ma," Nafisa replied.

"Alright then, Manal will be back before the both of us. Prepare a meal for her before she returns," Maryam instructed. She smiled before walking out of the room.

"This is all that little brat's fault," Nafisa stated, clenching her teeth.