Chapter 8: Chapter 8

(Edited)

"Assalamualaikum"we said in unison.

"Walaikumusalam"ya Maimuna said while opening the door"kai I missed you two wallahi,is today your coming ko?i could here the excitement in her voice.

"Come in"she ushered us in"where's Daddy,Habiba and ya Abakar?

"Dad and Habiba went out together,he dropped her at school and headed to work and abakar went to the office too a while ago.

"And Hajia mum?

"Let me get her"

"Mummy Zulaiha And Amaani are here"I will be there in a second. Mummy said.

"Welcome home my daughters,how have you been?

"Fine alhamdulillah"we said in unison.

"To my surprise why is she acting as if nothing happened,came my inner conscious.

"You girls didn't even call me,even you Amaani,you can't even call me,it's been ages"

"Tooh mummy I didn't call you,you could have called me at least,and hear if maybe something happened ko?"I said each word with respect as I remembered all the things Mama told me.

"Tooh ai is okay,zuzu how's my grand kids"they are fine oo,they went to visit Hajia Asma'u"

"Okay mashallah"

"I'm still mad at you Amaani wllhi,I never knew you could disrespect me,you want to step on your sisters shoes abhi?"

"Haba I didn't say anything wrong,I tried my best so you could get my point amma you didn't even listen to a word,if at least we did something wrong or said something that hurt you,you could have at least called for us,so we could talk and understand things better but no,you just kept quiet,we are now adults Mum ,we know what is right and wrong,we can differentiate between the two,With the strength of a self-assured adult, we now have the power to change the way we react to and interact with our parents.

If we continue to interact with our family members with the psyche of a wounded child, we inadvertently engineer the situation so that we are treated like one. In contrast, we can be grounded in our reality as a self- sustained adult, break away from the negative communication cycle and start an adult-to-adult conversation.

Mummy as a child, we could not escape the family home, but as an adult we have the ability to speak up, walk away, minimise contact.

At first, doing so feels uncomfortable. Our parents are likely to resist the change by criticizing or guilt-tripping us . But we can find a way to tell them we need to be treated with respect, and they can no longer influence important decisions in our life. More importantly, we need to believe in our ability to stand on our own two feet.

Sometimes, when we interrupt the longstanding and dysfunctional cycle of communication, change inevitably happens within the family system. Like when we start being assertive about what we can and cannot give, Mum at least you could have find a way to renegotiate boundaries with us, and to respect our basic rights.

Whilst our family members may or may not react in the way we have wished for just like your doing right now,we know that we have done our part. And that is all we can do.

"But no,you think calling Hajia Asabe will change everything,you think calling her will make everything perfect...you want to report us to our aunts,if you still consider a 20 year old adult to be a child at least a 25 year old adult with 2 kids is not a child"

Have you seen or hear Aunty Balaraba ever fought or argue with her children,no because they never let it out they solve it right at that instance,but they can't tell you the truth,they can't talk to you because they all are afraid you would stop giving them money,ya rabbi money and shelter....that's why they all kept mute,and let you feel like the bigger boss all the time,at times we feel like We can't do anything right in your eyes but We value your approval and we want to have a better relationship mum but We don't know how to do that,every time we try we fall.

"Amaani Enough,I said enough"ya zuzu said shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Let me tell her how I feel,let me tell her about how she's making us feel,let me tell her we have rights too,we are adults now"I said breaking down and crying my heart out,mum just sat down looking at me in ewwwww,Cx I've never said that in my life,yh nothing close to that but today the daughter she thought she loved much more and even show difference to my sister's is the one spatting all this words right at her face.

"Just remember no matter what I am your mother"she shouted making me flinched,ya zuzu was wiping my tears but no they kept falling like a river flow.

"Mummy we are sorry pls,she also didn't mean everything she said"ya zuzu said in a respectful voice.

"Shout up joor,Zulaiha so just Cx you think you are adults now,you have the right to tell me what to do and who I should talk to and not talk to ko?to the extent Amaani is telling me all these hurtful words"

"Mummy but we tried to explain to you,that Aseeya of a girl is not a good person,she's driving you into the wrong part"

"Tooh let me tell you Aseeya is my daughter just like you two and she consider you both as her siblings but here you are spatting rubbish and false news about her,just Cx you had a terror investigation about her that doesn't mean you should believe the result,the officer might be lying to you,no one can tell me what to do or what not to do,and never in your life say a bad thing about aseeya,I can tolerate you saying all those things to my face but not about Aseeya else wllhi zan bata maku rai,I can see you girls have also grown wings"

"Hajia Fatima is the one that made that speech for you abhi?how many days did you spend rehearsing it before saying all those hurtful words to me Amaani"

"I'm so..so...rry...it....j...u....st....er...upted...out of me...like ...a la..va...out ....of...a volcano"I said in between sobs.

"I'm your mother and I can't get mad at you for a long time,and all what you said is part of childishness,pure childishness"she said almost shouting.

"Get out of my house now,since your here to lecture me"

"Mummy pls sorry,we came to resolve issues not to fight with you"came ya zuzu's voice.

"I can see this is how to apologize abhi"she said

"Inshallah we will never raise this matter again,we are sorry"I cleaned my tears remembering All the things mama told me and with the little courage left in me I said all in one breath,It won't be funny if I go back home without resolving issues with mum.

"Now your talking,I hope so"

"Inshallah Mummy"we said in unison.

"When are you leaving for school Amaani?"on Saturday inshallah.

"So soon?"mummy asked.

"We've resumed two weeks ago"

"Okay,lemme bring your things before I forget"she stood up and left.I looked at ya zuzu and she hugged me making small circles at my back.

"Zuzu this is for my grandkids and Amaani here,she gave me a bag and some chocolates for Affan and Aisha"thank you we said in unison,we are leaving now.

"Tohm let me walk you to the door"mum said and ya Maimuna came out from nowhere.

"You guys are going without even eating any thing,she said with a pout,next time anty maimu ya zuzu said"

"Amaanini when are you resuming school?"Saturday inshallah.

"All the best sisi,go make us proud"she said while hugging me.

"Inshallah"I said with a sad smile.

"Tohmm Allah bada saa Amma(all the best Amma)"

"Thank you mummy"I said with a sad smile.

"Zuzu my regards to my son okay?"Inshallah.

"With that she went back inside and Anty maimu walked us to the gate,stop crying Amaanin mamanta"she said making us laugh.

"Inshallah we will find a. Solution to this problem of Aseeya,I hate that bitch wollah"

"We also hate her ya maimu"we said in unison,with that we said our goodbyes and drove out.