All For What! - Episode 8

 

Unedited.

"Manal?" Saeed called.

Manal heard her father's voice and dropped the broom instantly. She ran up to him and he picked her up, kissing her head, before walking into the house with her in his arms, towards Nafisa.

Nafisa was too afraid to even speak as Saeed approached her. Did he hear what she told Manal to do? She knew Saeed didn't like her from the first day he saw her and would find reasons to fire her from her job.

"What is going on here?" He asked, his eyes scanning the dinning section.

"Welcome sir," Nafisa greeted, nervously . She prayed inaudibly to God to save her.

"Thank you. I asked a question." he said.

"It's nothing at all..." Nafisa answered. She was thankful he didn't see what was going on when he stepped in. She was saved.

"She asked me to sweep the floor." Manal interrupted.

Nafisa's eyes widened.

Saeed looked at her questionably.

"I wanted to do it myself, but Manal kept on insisting I give her the broom, because she created the mess and I did," Nafisa lied.

Manal was about to counter what Nafisa said, but was quickly stopped by Nafisa.

"Manal's mom is not back from work," she said the first thing that came to her mind. All she wanted was to divert Manal's mind from what she was about to say

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

. She was glad it worked.

Saeed looked at her. He already knew she wouldn't be back till evening. "I know," he replied and made his way to his room with Manal still in his arms.

He unlocked the door to his room and went in, dropping Manal in their bed.

"How was school, baby?" He asked, sitting down also.

"It was fine," Manal replied, searching for his cell phone in his briefcase.

"Really? What did you do in school today?" He asked.

"Hand writing and drawing," she answered.

"Only?" He asked.

Manal nodded. She finally found his phone and started playing subway surfers.

"Have you prayed Zuhr?" He inquired.

"No," she answered and he frowned at that.

"Why haven't you prayed?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"I forgot," she said, not looking up from the phone. All her concentration was on the game.

Saeed collected the phone from her.

"Do you want the shaytaan to be happy with you or to mislead you?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I don't want that," she answered.

"Then you should always pray on time. Shaytaan doesn't like or come near children who pray. Go and perform your ablution now," he ordered. He wanted her to get used to praying on time from an early age. It would be easier and better for her.

"Okay," she said and ran to the bathroom to perform ablution.

Saeed smiled.

~~~

Maryam was seated in her office, going through patients' files when her phone started ringing. It was her husband calling. She smiled and received the call.

"AssalamuAlaykum habibty," he said, immediately she received.

"Waalaykum salam habibi," she greeted back.

"I came back early today, when are you coming home?" He asked. If it wasn't for Manal, he would have been bored staying at home alone.

"I'm very sorry habibi, I won't be able to come back very early today, I still have so much work to do here, but I will be back around 7:00pm, because I'm not on night shift today," she explained.

He sighed and said, "alright then." He sounded disappointed, but what could he do? That was the nature of her job. He only wished she would quit working as he had been requesting of her for some time and be an housewife instead, taking care of Manal.

"I promise to wrap things up early and be home soon, okay?" She asked.

"Okay," he answered.

"Till then," she said and ended the call.

"That was your husband right?" Aisha, her colleague and friend asked.

"Yeah," Maryam answered, closing a file.

"I guess he is missing you and wants you to return back home," Aisha said.

Maryam blushed, "I don't think that's the case," she said.

Aisha laughed at how Mary tried to deny it.

"How is khadijah doing? It's been weeks I last saw her," Maryam asked about her daughter. She was a year older than Manal.

"Yeah that's right. She was begging me to take her to Manal's house yesterday," Aisha said.

Manal and Khadijah met each other just twice and were already very fond of each others' company.

"Manal has been asking of Khadijah too," Maryam said.

Aisha suddenly remembered Maryam looking for someone to babysit Manal and do house chores for her.

"About you looking for a house help, I have found someone who is willing to work for you, she's in her late forties," she said.

"Oh really? I'm very sorry but I won't be needing her services, I have a house help now. She's very young and well mannered," Maryam said. "Sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier."

"It's okay, but from where is she? How old is she?" Aisha inquired.

"We are from the same village and she's just seventeen," Maryam said.

"Seventeen...shouldn't she be in school instead of working, given her age?" Aisha asked.

Maryam had thought of that before and had decided to talk to Saeed when she got home about Nafisa's studies.

"I have also thought about that and I've decided to help her further her education for as long as she stays in my house," Maryam said.

"Wow! That's good, but I still think you should have hired someone---"

"I know...I know, but she isn't complaining at all because she desperately needs the money for her brother," Maryam said.

"But---"

"You have absolutely nothing to be worried about, Aisha. Nafisa is a very nice girl, you should stop by someday and judge for yourself and when you decide to do, don't forget to bring Khadijah along," Maryam said.

"I won't," Aisha smiled and they went back to going through patients' folders.

~~~~

Nafisa angrily finished cleaning up the dining room and was going to her room to take a rest. She passed by Saeed's room and decided to ask him if he wanted her to prepare a meal for him. Maryam has specifically warned her not to cook for Saeed, Nafisa recalled, but what did she expect him to eat when she was not back from work? She didn't hesitate anymore and softly knocked at the door.

Saeed opened the door and was surprised to see her.

"Do you need something?" He asked.

"I...I wanted to know if you'd like me to prepare a meal for you. You haven't eaten anything since you came back from work," Nafisa said, nervously. She also didn't know why she was being nervous around him.

"No, it's fine, i have already eaten. I believe my wife told you your chores and cooking for me is definitely not one of them." he replied.

"Yes she did," Nafisa replied.

"Good. Is that all?" He asked. She was disturbing him for no valid reason at all.

"Yes sir," she replied.

He slammed the door at her face. 

"How rude!" Nafisa muttered under her breath. "I was just trying to be nice."

She went back to her room and lay in her bed.

"I believe my wife told you what your chores are, and cooking for me is definitely not one of it," she mimicked. "Doesn't she have a name," Nafisa wondered. Ever since she came into the house, she had never for once heard any of them call each other by their names, except for habibi and habibty. She rolled her eyes and brought out her small Nokia phone from her bag. Just when she was about to dial her mother's number, her call came in.

She smiled and received. "Hello ya Nafisa, is that you?" She heard her younger sibling, Hafsa ask. Hafsa was the one after Nafisa, she was thirteen years old.

"Yes Hafsa, why are you with mama's phone? Where is she?" Nafisa asked.

"We are at the hospital," Hafsa replied.

"Hospital? How is Khalifa doing?" She asked with shaky voice. She prayed his health was not deteriorating.

"That's the reason I called ya Nafisa, Khalifa--"

"Don't worry about anything, tell mom not to worry about the money for his hospital bills, I have gotten a job and the woman has promised to pay me in advance. I will be coming back to the village first thing tomorrow with the money," Nafisa breathed. She was having a bad feeling.

"It's too late now, too late," Hafsa cried.

"What do you mean by that Hafsa?" Nafisa asked with shaky voice. It couldn't be what she was thinking. No, it wasn't.

"When we got to the hospital, the doctors refused to attend to him, unless we pay the bills first and--"

"And what Hafsa? Don't you even dare lie to me, you know how I get when I am being provoked. What happened?" She yelled on the top of her lungs.

"He passed away. Khalifa died," Hafsa cried out.

Nafisa couldn't believe what she heard, it felt as though her ears were deceiving her. She allowed the phone slip out of her hold. All her effort to save him by coming to the city was now in vain.

"This is all her fault," she blamed Maryam. "If she had given me the money the day I stepped into this house, this wouldn't have happened. I will never forgive her for what she's done. I will make her pay," Nafisa swore through gritted teeth.

Instead of praying for her deceased brother, she was busy blaming someone else for his death.

~~~~
AssalamuAlaykum (peace be upon you)

How are you doing?