Tears Of Summayah - Episode 39

 

A week after Jamiu left Sumayyah still wasn’t getting any better instead, she felt worse by the day. Mrs. Aminat was really worried about Sumayyah’s illness. She prepared lunch and proceeded to her room to feed her before talking to Jennifer about the issue.

“Sumayyah, get up and eat something.”

“Ma, As-Salam Alaikum. I have no appetite.”

“I have always told you never to refuse me, why won’t you eat? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?” She felt her forehead . “You have a very high fever and you’ve refused to eat. Do you want to kill yourself? You had better eat for the sake of the child in your womb.”

Mrs. Aminat’s actions and words reminded Sumayyah of her own mother and how she took care of her whenever she was ill. She hugged her mother-in-law. “A part of you still cares for me. I miss seeing this side of you mum.”

Mrs. Aminat pushed her away. “I am only here to feed you. I don't want you to die in my house so that those that are unaware of how everything started will not blame me for your death.”

“Nevertheless, I am grateful that you think about my health even if only because you fear I will die suddenly.”

Mrs. Aminat was having none of Sumayyah’s lecture

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. “Just eat your food.”

“Mum, if I die today, will you miss me? Will you ever pray to Allah to forgive me for my sins? Will you say anything good about me?”

“It’d be best if you just shut up and eat”.

Sumayyah wiped her tears and continued: “I just want to know if you still have any affection for me. Tell me the truth, will you miss me? What if I die during child birth, will you hold my baby and take care of it?”

Mrs Aminat frowned. “I will never hold that bastard not to talk of taking care of it. I don't care if you die, just make sure you are out of this house, so you do not implicate anyone. You are still here because of my son, if not I would have kicked you out of my house and life.”

“Mother...”

“I told you I am not your mum. Just get out of my house and look for your uncultured mother who have given birth to you and abandoned you. I hope you won't do the same to your child.”

“I...will...be...leaving...very..soon. Just give me a little time, to get a job”

“You think you can get a job in your condition? Nobody will hire a pregnant woman”

“Nothing is impossible, there are still good people out there. Allah is the best of planners and I know He has willed what is best for me. Everything has all happened for good mum. Better times are still coming my way, very soon In sha Allah.”

“Please eat your food and make sure you finish it. The nurse will be here very soon, I want to talk to her about why you aren’t getting any better.”

“I will eat it”.

Mrs Aminat left her to speak with Jennifer while Sumayyah reminded herself of the verses in the Qu'ran.

Surah Al-Mumtahina, Verse 4:

Indeed, there is for you a good example in Ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people: Surely we are clear of you and of what you serve besides Allah; we declare ourselves to be clear of you, and enmity and hatred have appeared between us and you forever until you believe in Allah alone-- but not in what Ibrahim said to his father: I would certainly ask forgiveness for you, and I do not control for you aught from Allah-- Our Lord! on Thee do we rely, and to Thee do we turn, and to Thee is the eventual coming:
(English - Shakir)

Surah Al-Mumtahina, Verse 5:

Our Lord! do not make us a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our Lord! surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.
(English - Shakir)

Another verse says:

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 150:

Nay! Allah is your Patron and He is the best of the helpers.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 151:

We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they set up with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority, and their abode is the fire, and evil is the abode of the unjust.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 152:

And certainly Allah made good to you His promise when you slew them by His permission, until when you became weak-hearted and disputed about the affair and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you loved; of you were some who desired this world and of you were some who desired the hereafter; then He turned you away from them that He might try you; and He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 153:

When you ran off precipitately and did not wait for any one, and the Apostle was calling you from your rear, so He gave you another sorrow instead of (your) sorrow, so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you; and Allah is aware of what you do.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 154:

Then after sorrow He sent down security upon you, a calm coming upon a party of you, and (there was) another party whom their own souls had rendered anxious; they entertained about Allah thoughts of ignorance quite unjustly, saying: We have no hand in the affair. Say: Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah. They conceal within their souls what they would not reveal to you. They say: Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here. Say: Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they would be slain, and that Allah might test what was in your breasts and that He might purge what was in your hearts; and Allah knows what is in the breasts.
(English - Shakir)

Verse 160
Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 160:

If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? And on Allah should the believers rely.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 161:

And it is not attributable to a prophet that he should act unfaithfully; and he who acts unfaithfully shall bring that in respect of which he has acted unfaithfully on the day of resurrection; then shall every soul be paid back fully what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 162:

Is then he who follows the pleasure of Allah like him who has made himself deserving of displeasure from Allah, and his abode is hell; and it is an evil destination.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 163:

There are (varying) grades with Allah, and Allah sees what they do.
(English - Shakir)

Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 164:

Certainly Allah conferred a benefit upon the believers when He raised among them an Apostle from among themselves, reciting to them His communications and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error.
(English - Shakir)


Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 165:

What! when a misfortune befell you, and you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much, you began to say: Whence is this? Say: It is from yourselves; surely Allah has power over all things.
(English - Shakir)


***********

Mrs. Aminat went straight to Jennifer since she was so confused about Summayyah’s illness.

“Jennifer, Sumayyah isn't improving at all. It is just like her health is deteriorating and I am very worried”.

“The nurse is competent, do not be scared. I am sure Sumayyah is only pretending to be sick so that we can all be slaves to her. You know you feed and clean up after her every day.”

“She wouldn't dare to pretend to me about being sick. I was just worried about her health, I don't want any complications. If there is no improvement, I will take her to the hospital.”

“Sumayyah must be planning on how to flee with your jewelry or money.

“We’ll both decide on what will be done tonight when I get back. I have to go to the shop, there are a lot of customers waiting for me.”

Mrs Aminat left the house, and Jennifer called the nurse to come do her job. Jennifer knew that if Sumayyah was taken to a hospital, her entire plan would be exposed.
******
The nurse arrived at about 5 pm. Jennifer was very upset with the nurse for coming late.

“How could you come here at this time? I am not paying you to come late.”

“I am so sorry, I had a lot of work to do at the hospital. Even now, I can only spare 30mins. I am so sorry.”

“Let's go in. I hope this is more effective than the previous ones”

“Yes, it is. Within the next 20 mins, you will see she is going to be weaker than before but what I don't understand is how she is still pregnant. Being a pregnant sickle cell, she should have miscarried the child or even bled to death.”

“The girl is still a mystery to me as well. Just give her the injection first. I have my plans to kill her myself tonight.”

The nurse entered her room with Jennifer and Sumayyah welcomed her.

Sumayyah wondered why Jennifer was still standing in the room instead of leaving as usual.
“Nurse I have a question. You have you been injecting me for a week now and there is no improvement. Whenever I get treated by our family doctor, I feel better almost immediately. What kind of injection are you giving me that makes me weak every day? Is there anything behind it or are you trying to kill me? I need an answer.

The nurse looked at Jennifer and saw the same expression of shock on her face too. “Hmm, the injection isn't going to kill you. I am a qualified nurse how dare you accuse me of harming you, what sort of insult is this?”

“I am not insulting you. By the way who invited you here in the first instance.?”

“Hmm...I”

Jennifer regained her composure and spoke up. “Jamiu's mother called her here.”

“I didn't ask you anything. My question was directed at the nurse.”

“You are beginning to cross the line.” Jamiu’s voice held a warning.

“What line? Tell me.”

The nurse seeing that things were heating between the two girls said. “Sumayyah, this is your last injection, so please don’t create a scene. I have so much to do at the hospital.”

“You call this a scene? I am merely concerned about my health and life. Only Allah knows what you are trying to do to me. I know mother doesn't want me to die so she isn't the one that hired you. All she wants from me is to leave.”

“Sumayyah, just obey her…” Her phone beeped indicating she had a call, her face lit up when she saw it was Jamiu. “Hi, Jamiu.”

Sumayyah got even more upset when she heard Jamiu’s name. It was obvious that he didn’t care whether she was still alive or dead. If not, he wouldn’t have called Jennifer.

“Sumayyah, Jamiu wants to talk to you.”

Jennifer’s voice snapped Sumayyah out of her thoughts.

“Okay” She collected the phone and summoned enough courage to speak. “Salaam Alaikum.”

“Walaykum salaam. Hmm, how are you.?”

“I am alive, Alhamdulillah.”

“I am fine too.”

“I didn't ask if you are fine or not.”

“I told my friends about your infidelity. They want to talk to you to know more about my so-called wife.” Jamiu’s tone was sarcastic

“How could you?”

“Oops, are you angry? Since I praise you before, they asked why I stopped talking about you and I had to tell them the reason.”

“You are so shameless and childish. How could you tell them about our private life? Why do you have to ruin my reputation? I deserve some respect.”

“For you, the word "respect" died a long time ago. Don't waste my time.” He passed the phone to his friends and Sumayyah had to listen to their rants.

“Hi! You see all I have to say to you is that you have really betrayed our friend. Whenever we try to introduce a girl to him, he declines telling us he had a wife. I warned him then that girls are not to be trusted but my warnings fell on deaf ears. We encouraged him to live a free life but all he chants is your name. Alhamdulillah that he witnessed what girls truly are.”

Sumayyah felt disgusted and useless. “Give the phone back to Jamiu”.

“I still have a lot of things to say even two of his friends are waiting to talk to you”.

Sumayyah ended the call and gave the phone back to Jennifer.  She was ready to be injected thinking that would take some of her pain away, not knowing the medications were killing her slowly. When the nurse finished Sumayyah noticed the secret acknowledgement the nurse gave to Jennifer and her suspicions were confirmed.
She decided to eaves drop on their conversation when they left the room. After a few trials, she got up and walked out into the living room where she hid and listened to their conversation:

"This is the last, right?"
The nurse nodded. Jennifer smirked and asked again. "It should do it, right?" Again, the nurse nodded, and stretched out her right palm. Jennifer dropped some money and the nurse left.

Then Sumayyah heard Jennifer say to herself, "Poor Sumayyah....you thought those injections would make you better, but what better way to put you to sleep forever than this? The best part is that no one would know what killed you...it will be dismissed as an illness."

Jennifer called her goons, to come around in an hour.

“It will be dark by the time you get here. I don't want mother to meet her at home. I hope your house is ready.” After a long pause, she continued. “Good, get your guys ready. Rape her, if she dies during the process then it is good but if she doesn't, you have to strangle her to death and dispose her body. You get to please yourself as a man and you get rewarded for working for me. Be here by 7pm.”

Sumayyah was shocked to hear that Jennifer planned on killing her. She managed to walk to her bed before she was discovered. She knew there wasno way she could get out of the house without her knowing. Jennifer entered her room and she pretended to be asleep even though the injection has started showing the effects on her. Immediately, Jennifer stepped out, she tried to see if she could escape.

Sumayyah touched her stomach and knew she had to be brave for her unborn child. “Don't worry, mother is here for you. I will not let anyone touch you, trust me you will be safe, In Sha Allah. They will have to hurt me before I let them do anything to you.”

She slapped herself since she was starting to feel drowsy and picked up the chain and ring Jamiu gave her on their wedding day. As soon as Jennifer entered her own room, she sneaked out of the room after giving it one last glance. She was lucky the front door was open, so it wouldn't be obvious that she left. “The house I was brought to with so much happiness, is the same house I am running away from.”

The injection was taking its toll on her, so when she was on the street her head kept spinning and she was weak. She tried to get far away from their house, but she couldn't go any further and fell to the floor unconscious. The last thing she heard was:

“She is dead, let's go.”