She was clearing the room while she cried so hard. At some point, she felt suffocated while she worked and cried so hard, clearing the things that were in her room. The room that had basically been turned into a dump yard by Minal. She knew she had to act so fast if she wanted to beat time on making the dinner Hajia asked her to.

She hadn't been in this house since the day she got married to Dahiru five years ago, and she had no idea how she'd be able to get herself through things now. Yes, nothing had changed in the building but it all felt alien.

Not even that, what bothered her was that Waleed wouldn't be able to stay with her. He was going to stay with the gateman and she didn't even know how she'd be able to take that information. Deciding that she'd take care of the room later on, Sabeeha quickly wiped at her tears and walked to the kitchen.

She saw that the cook had already started making preparations for the dinner and even though she felt like fainting due to the hunger she felt and the emotional distress threatening to take her life at any given chance, she knew she had to do this. More was to come.

"Ummm, Hi." She greeted with a wary smile. "My name is Sabeeha and Hajia said that you shouldn't bother making dinner tonight, I'd do it. And if you can please tell all the other workers that she needs to have a word with y'all." She spoke tiredly, constantly wiping at her tears so she'd be able to see what was in front of her.

The cook turned with a calm smile on her face. "But you look tired...Sabeeha, you said? I can take care of it, please go and rest. About that, I'll tell them all."

Sabeeha began to shake her head and before she uttered another word, Anas walked into the kitchen with a solemn look on his face. She had left him with his mother in her living room and was sure he might've tried to persuade her about what they both knew was going to be happening to her from now on.

"Mercy, please cook the dinner. Beeha, can I have a word with you please?" He asked, and from the look in his eyes she knew not to argue with him. Like, she didn't even have the emotional strength to do that.

She simply nodded her head and walked out of the kitchen together with him. They walked to one of the huts in the mansion and she sat down almost immediately, she was feeling dizzy. He sat down beside her, keeping a very reasonable distance between them.

"I've managed to convince Mommy and she'd let Waleed stay in my chamber." Sabeeha didn't know when she heaved a sigh out of relief and she wiped at the lone tear that rolled down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Anas. That was so helpful of you." She whimpered and wiped at her tears, but more kept rolling down painfully.

Anas heaved a sigh and palmed his face for some minutes before he opened them and placed his eyes into hers. "I know this is going to be a hard time for you, Beeha. But there's nothing I can do about you being in this situation. And I still don't regret the fact that I've broken the shackles that man has on you."

"You'd never understand, Anas," she lamented and he nodded his head at her.

"I know that you've had it pretty bad. I mean, I grew up seeing you living in so much pain caused by my family and trust me, that's paining me too. I mean, I love these people and I love you too, and I hate to see them treating you this way, I swear. But I promise you that things will change this time."

She scoffed softly and chuckled humorlessly. She had managed to stop her tears from cascading but one look into her eyes would be enough for one to know what she was painfully going through. "And how will they change? Can't you see the how our first encounter went with Hajia? It's going to be so hard and the worse thing is that Waleed is now old enough to know when things aren't right, he's the one I'm most worried about , not even myself."

"I know, but I promised to sacrifice my life for you, didn't I? I mean it, Beeha. I would do all I can to make sure you wouldn't go through what you've went through before. Please trust me on this and can you please stop crying this much? Aren't you afraid that something might happen to your health?"

She wiped at her tears and nodded her head. "Thank you." She had only said that because she was tired of having this conversation with him, not because she had believed what he had said. She believed that no one could save her from the clutches of these people but Allah and right now, she sincerely prayed that her bad luck wouldn't affect Waleed.

"I need to go back and clean my room. Thank you for everything, Anas." She didn't mean it, not even a bit. Because the best help he'd have given her was for him to let her stay married to Dahiru but he joined forces with his friend and they brought all this upon her.

She got to her feet and slightly swayed before she held the railing and stood straight. She was aware of his eyes that were fixed on her retreating back as she left the premises. She didn't even know how she was going to deal with what Hajia would do to her when she found out that she wasn't the one that cooked dinner, but she'd manage.

And when she got to her room, she slumped on the dirty floor and simply breathed. It had been so hard breathing, blinking her eyes, everything that was natural felt like the most painful task she had to overcome. Simply living was too much for her to do.

∞

Zaid watched as Anas walked into the room with his shoulders slumped in defeat and he sat on the edge of the bed. "Where's Waleed?" He asked, because he had brought him there before he went to see Sabeeha.

"He ate the food and I asked him to go to that room so he could sleep. I'm sure he's asleep by now." Zaid replied him. There was too much for him to say, to ask and to correct, but he didn't know where to start from. This was about Anas's family and he knew he had to be careful with his words.

"I'll bathe and eat, then. I need to take some nap." Anas whispered softly and before Zaid could answer him, he watched as he walked to the bathroom and left him alone to his thoughts.

Ever since he walked into this room, he had been wondering how she was doing. How she was holding up. It didn't look easy from what he had witnessed and he was almost certain that it'd only be getting more worse from now and he wished he could do something about it. He was the one that pushed Anas into objecting over the fact that Waleed should stay with the gateman and thankfully, it had worked.

His phone rang and when he saw that it was his mother calling, his heart lost a beat. He stared at it until it nearly ended before he picked the call and placed it tentatively on his left ear. He wasn't in the right state of mind to take whatever it was she was going to talk about, but he knew he was obliged to listen to her anyways.

"Good evening, Umma." He greeted with a closed off voice, sincerely hoping that this would make her understand the mood he was in. If only his mother was that kind of woman, he would've been so thankful.

"Where are you, Zaid?" Those were the first words she asked him and he had to close his eyes. He could already see whatever it was that was coming at him.

"I'm at Adamawa. I just left Damaturu yesterday." There was no point in lying to her. He had no idea how this woman knew so much about him, but she did. And if he lied, it would only add more salt to the wound.

"And what did I tell you about being in Kano? Do you take all that I've been telling you as a joke, Zaid?" He didn't know how she had the ability of piercing directly into his heart with words as simple as the ones she had uttered, but she did.

"Umma, something urgent happened and I couldn't come back. I'll take the next available flight to Kano in the morning."

"Zaid, whether or not there's an available flight to Kano in the morning isn't something I care about. What I care about is that you attend the company meeting by 12pm and I don't care whether you're going to drive throughout the night. Tomorrow, 12pm, make sure you're at the meeting room of Shitu Group." And she ended the call.

He had seen the entire nation awing about him being a Shitu. Not just him, because he managed to live a low-key life as much as he could. But his other relatives were treated with so much love and respect as though they were some sort of unique creatures just because they were Shitus. But if only the world had an idea of what being a Shitu was for him. How hard it had been that times without number, he wished he was born into a family that had to fend for the daily meal they'd eat.

He didn't know Anas was out until he felt his hand on his shoulder. "What's going on, Zaid? I've been speaking but you seem so carried away."

"I just spoke with Umma, she wants me at Shitu by 12pm. I wonder if there's an available flight back home." That was all he said. Because he had long figured out that speaking about his problems only lead him to even greater ones. And this was this mother, no matter how terrible she was, he didn't want to paint her black in other people's eyes.

"I can help you check, let's see. Or maybe if there's no available flight, I can ask Daddy and see if you can use the PJ." Anas said as he pulled his laptop from his reading table and all Zaid did was stare at him.

"If she wanted, she would've sent ours to take me back. I'd be more comfortable using the domestic flight, Anas, let's hope there's an available one." He spoke softly as he thought. Anas knew only the bits and pieces of the kind of relationship he had with his mother, even though he had never told him everything about it.

"Thank god! There is, but it's at 7am tomorrow. I've already booked it for you. What about your car, then?" He turned to him and Zaid thought for a moment.

"I'll come back and get it later. Hope it can stay as long as possible, no problem?"

"Come on, you can leave it here until you get married and have your first child, no one will even notice it's here." Anas tried to uplift the atmosphere by smiling but there was no way such mirth could get to Zaid's heart when he was feeling this much grief over a woman he had no relation to.

He watched as Anas silently ate his food before he decided that the silence was killing him. "How's she feeling?" He asked, and slowly, Anas put his eyes into his.

"Terrible. I don't know what to do to make her feel better, Zaid. She has gone through so much and I can't imagine what she's going to go through now..."

"You have to protect her, Anas," Zaid interceded and he watched as the face of his friend lit up with a smile.

"I can sacrifice my life for her, Zaid. And believe me, if I could, I'd get married to her and get her out of all this trouble. But she thinks I'm a boy and doesn't even consider me as a man, not even once." Zaid stared at him for a moment and when a thought crossed his mind, he chuckled lightly.

"Talk about not being in love with her. We've had this conversation, Anas and you promised me that your feelings towards your Beeha are purely familial feelings. And who's talking about marriage now?" They both laugh when Anas threw him a look and took his eyes away from his.

"And from the looks of it, she must've had terrible memories of your childhood. Man, she thinks just because she's ten years older than us that she might as well give birth to us!" Zaid didn't know when he whined about that. Because he didn't miss the kind of looks she was flashing at him as though she were reprimanding her child. The way she was speaking, like she was speaking to a small boy and had to lower her way of thoughts because he wouldn't be able to understand her.

"That's Beeha for you. Wait until she speaks about how she washes your bum and how she changes your diaper, then you'd know what I'm feeling for her is purely familial, I can't love the woman that knows every inch of me."

Zaid was sure the sound of his laughter had reached the main mansion because, what the hell?! What was that heartbroken expression he was seeing on Anas's face? "Guy, are you sure you aren't in love with her? Forget about the cousin thing and the age difference. You love this woman, don't you?"

He stared at the way Anas's expression had changed from the funny look he had on his face to a serious one and then he tried all he could to mask his emotions. "I'm so tired," he feigned a yawn and stood, stretching his body. "We both need to sleep early, and you? You have a 7am flight to catch tomorrow, let's not miss it."

"Here you are, avoiding the question like you always did."

"Please call your beloved and allow me to sleep in peace. I'm not like you, I don't have a woman to keep me company and I seriously wouldn't appreciate your company at the moment."

That reminded him of Jawahir. And he wondered...what was happening to him? Before, he had never gone a day without Jawahir's thought crossing his mind and he had always had this insatiable urge to speak to her whenever he got the chance to. But for the whole of today, he had honestly forgotten about her existence until Anas spoke about her.

He watched the innocent look on his face and the soft smile he had on his lips. Trust Anas to always have this calm and soft expression on his face no matter what was happening.

"I think I should sleep. And I'd do that in peace. Because for me, at least, the woman I love knows that I'm in love with her and she loves me back too. And the most comforting thing? She doesn't know every inch of me nor has she ever changed my diaper and thinks of me as a toddler still waddling around her like a..."

Zaid wasn't able to finish what he was saying when Anas strangled his throat with both hands and that was how they turned it into a pillow fight and muscles strangling each other at any given chance. They laughed until their chest burnt and their eyes watered.

This was what he cherished the most about Anas. No one got him like Anas did and no matter what he was going through, he had this unique way of making sure he had made him feel better. Anas wasn't the first friend he had made, but he was the realest.

And just like Anas claimed he can sacrifice his life for his Beeha. He too, can sacrifice his for their friendship, whatever it was.

∞

He watched as Anas groggily walked towards the door as he rubbed on his eyes. Zaid chuckled softly while pointing at the way he had worn his t-shirt. "Your shirt, you've worn it the wrong way."

"I'm just so sleepy, Zaid." He mumbled and took the shirt off while he put it back on.

They walked together to the parking lot and got into one of Anas's car. Their drive to the airport was a silent one, as everyone of them was lost in his thought and when they arrived, Zaid could hear their flight number being called to board on the plane.

He turned to look at Anas that was now smiling at him. "I may come to Kano soon. Or you can visit me under the excuse of taking your car, what do you say?"

He chuckled and nodded his head. "I think that would work best. See you, man." They walked out of the car together and gave each other the bro hug.

Anas stood by the car as Zaid walked toward the departure and just like that, he turned and saw the smiling yet extremely sleepy face of his friend, waving at him. "Good bye, Anasi! And please, take care of her, okay?" He didn't even know why he kept thinking about her.

"I will, even if it's going to cost my precious life. Have a safe flight, Zaidu." He grinned at the way he referred to him as Zaidu. They did that sometimes, calling each other Anasi and Zaidu.

He had turned away when Anas called his name again and when he turned, he had this smirk on his lips. "I love you, bro!" They both chuckled at that, because Anas clearly knew that Zaid hated it when he said that he loved him. It made him cringe, ranting about how straight he was.

But today, he didn't complain about it. Instead, he chop knuckled him in the air and mouthed an 'I love you, too!' because he did love him. His warm hearted friend. The friend he would forever be thankful to Allah for having in his life. If he could be honest, Anas was one of the best things to have ever happen to him in life.