Rufaidah sat on the swing in the garden, relishing the sweet fragrance of the different flowers blooming there, she plays with her fingers, thoughts going haywire as her anger at the whole world intensifies.  She's looking for something or rather someone to vent it all out when her phone rang, cutting short her murderous thoughts.  With a hiss of annoyance,  she picked the call not bothering to check the ID.

"What??"she spats.

"Good afternoon to you too your royal highness" Faridah said cooly on the other end.

"Oh it's you" Rufaidah replied,  her mood improving a bit.

"Yes it's me. Learn to check the ID before you pick calls else,  you'll end up being rude to daddy or an elderly person"

Rolling her eyes as if she can see her,  Rufaidah mumbled that she doesn't care about anyone especially daddy.

"As expected, get ready though, I'll be there in five.  We have an outing to go for" Faridah said, ignoring Rufaidah's attitude.  She sense her every mood and now that she's acting aloof she sensed that the usual is bothering her friend and she know her too well to not ask any question.

After the call,  Rufaidah didn't make any attempt to leave the garden or call anyone to bring her after dress or decent clothes to go out with.  She was wearing a skinny jeans and top with a turban covering her hair.

Faridah wasn't surprised to see her friend dressed like that. "Why do you always want us to go over things every blessed day? How can you go into public dressed like this? You're a lady,  a muslimah from a respectable family, a gem who is supposed to be clad in her hijab, to hide her beauty away from non mahrams. Yet, you're very stubborn" she chided, eyeing her from head to toe with a disproving look on her face.

"Aye aye ma'am, I've heard you,  let's go" she got into the car totally disregarding what Faridah just said.

"Okayyyy" Faridah let out a defeated sigh and drove off. Ignoring the stubborn girl she's unfortunate to be best friends with.

They have a tradition of going out twice or thrice in a month to treat themselves to anything that suits them. Sometimes they invite a few friends to join them and other times it's just the two of them.

"If you're going to ignore me all day, I suggest you drop me here, I can find my way home" Rufaidah broke the silence.

Faridah ignored her and instead connected her phone to the aux bobbing her head to the music blasting from the speakers.  She can't handle Rufaidah in her grumpy mood and definitely can't give her the satisfaction of having a fight.  She can fight by herself but she will not be a party to that. She wanted to have quality time with her, to laugh at everything and nothing,  to eat lots of junk and a large tub of ice cream, to reminisce on the good old days because everyday she spend alive is an added bonus to her and she's trying as much as possible to spend it with the people she love.  She knows that Rufaidah will be devastated after her death but she never ask what is actually wrong with her, she only know that she's sick and nothing more,  hardly call or ask about her health even if she's MIA for days, she will only complain about her absence and if she tells her that she has been sick, she'll just say thank God you're okay now,  I missed you but will never apologise for not calling.

"You do know that this life is short huh? Nothing lasts forever, not even your problems" she spoke out, attention still on the road.

"We are going out, not having life lessons, just shut up Reedah! Why are you always criticizing every thing I do? You have no idea what I'm going through in that house,  no one cares about me! I have no one to talk to, no one to share any bond with" Rufaidah wailed,  getting agitated.

"Because I love you and I want nothing short of the best for you,  because what you consider as a problem is what you made it to be Rufaidah.  You push everyone who dares come close to you, you never give your parents the chance to get to know you,  to love you as you want to be loved, to create a bond with you. You're always angry at everything and nothing. So tell me, if not you then who is to be blamed huh?  You take everything for granted, you're too busy hating people and your life loosing yourself in the process.  You don't enjoy the simple pleasures of life, heck! You don't even have a favorite color, all you know is to spend money and to vent out your anger on the world"

"How can you say that about me Faridah?  You know me! You're the only person that knows what is going on and yet you blame me? Why?" Rufaidah cried out in visible anger.

"As I said earlier,  you need to let go of your anger, get to the bottom of your problems and be thankful that you have everything a person will need in this world at your disposal Rufaidah" she concluded in a lighter tone, parking her car outside an expensive eatery.

"I hate this place!!" Rufaidah complained,  stomping her foot on the ground.

"Right now, I don't care. Because you literally hate everything" Faridah stuck out her tongue,  knowing that they are cool for the mean time.

A guy sat on a table behind them tapping his foot loudly,  drawing attention to himself.  Rufaidah hissed loudly to send a message which sent the wrong message making the guy walk over to their table.
"Excuse me Miss, did you just hiss at me?" He asked, arms akimbo with an arrogant smirk.

They completely ignore him, eating their food while Faridah sends a message to Rufaidah telling her to keep her cool and not say anything to the guy.

"Are you deaf?" He asked again,  getting annoyed at their silence.

"Look here Malam! You don't get to come here and cause a nuisance expecting everyone to be cool with it just because you think you're somebody.  News flash,  you're a nobody and yes! I hissed, you can do your worst" Faridah face palmed, muttering some duas.

The guy was so angry you can see visible steam coming off from his ears. "You don't know who you just messed with young lady, you're going to regret not holding your tongue for the rest of your life because no one, I repeat no one gets to speak to me like this and not get it from me"

"Really? Do you know who you're speaking to? A low life like you don't get to threaten me either" she shouted,  getting up from her seat looking him dead in the eyes.

He smirked and shook his head, fishing out his phone to make a call the same time one of the eatery staff come over.

"Excuse me Sir, Miss, I have been ordered to ask you to please leave the premises. We don't entertain fights here and as you can see you're disturbing other customers" he politely stated. Faridah apologised on behalf of the duo, one holding his phone in hand while the other glaring at her opponent.

"Umm, I apologise on behalf of my friend please, she is having a bad day and you're also at fault for making loud distracting noise in a public place but she should have ignored you or politely talk to you.  I am sorry" Faridah said, steering Rufaidah towards the exit.

"Everyone has a bad day but that doesn't give her an excuse to be rude to people, I do that when I'm anxious and I'm sorry that I disturbed you too" He conceded giving Faridah a small smile. Turning to a now fuming Rufaidah he said "watch your tongue young lady, rudeness will get you killed one day. Learn to be polite like your friend here" with that he sauntered out, jiggling his keys.

"Did you just embarass me in public Faridah?" Rufaidah shouted the moment they stepped outside.

"I'd rather call that 'save you in public'" she made air quote with her hands.
The next thing that happened stunned Faridah because Rufaidah slapped her hard on the face, twice,on both side of her cheeks.

"Did you just slap me?" Faridah cried out in daze.

"Yes I just did,  I hate you Faridah.  Don't ever come near me again" with that being said, she stormed off, calling an uber to take her home. Her heart beat accelerates as she wait for her ride while Faridah was still standing there,  her hands clutched to her cheeks, trying to wrap her head around what just happened and the fact that Rufaidah had just insulted her in the most insulting way known to mankind.

"Be patient don't react,  just go home" she keeps chanting  to herself until she finally get the feel of her legs back.

"She's better off without that crazy girl, they are so not compatible with each other" she heard one of the staff whisper before she closes the door.

☆☆☆

"Where are you coming from dressed like that?" A stern voice stopped her short in her tracks.

"None of your business"she replied knowing it's her nosy brother,  who never miss the chance to dictate how she lead her life and right now she's too angry to consider the implication of what she just said.

The next thing she heard is a resounding slap on her cheeks that will probably leave a welt till her last breath.

"Who gave you the right to hit me? What have I done to you?" She gasp in pain.

"This is for being disrespectful and dressing like a wayward child. You should go straight to mommy's room and greet her, she is sick for days but you don't know because you're stupid and useless" He pointed his index finger at her,  implying that she either comply or get it from him.

She ascended the stairs to her mother's side of the house,  mumbling incoherently. She met her mother in her living room, lying on a couch,  watching a documentary on TV.

"Hey! Heard that you're ill. Hope you're getting better" She stated, making herself comfortable on a couch opposite Mommy's.

Hajiya Aisha rolled her eyes at her daughter "I'm perfectly fine thank you very much.  What kind of a person are you Rufaidah?  Where have we gone wrong in bringing you up?"

"Ahh, so you speak mom? I thought you've gone mute. You'll never find peace in this house until you give me the love I deserve" She's now heaving from the pent up emotions of the day and the fact that her dominating brother just hit her. How much she hate him is something that can't be expressed.

"Look what the love we gave you brought upon us. You treat me the exact same way you treat the maids here, you don't even greet me and if letting you live on your own abroad is what we need to do to get your approval of our love for you then you can as well get another parents because it's not happening Rufaidah. We are Nigerians from the northern part of the country and we don't have the same custom as the English people and we won't emulate such because you're too stubborn and naive to see the consequences of disrespecting us and acting like an erred child" Hajiya Aisha said,  glaring at her angry daughter whose tears have already stained her top.

"All these while,  I thought you know why I'm angry,  why I'm being this way mommy but I was mistaken, you don't know anything and I'm glad that we have this talk. Do  have a good night" she ran out to her room tears blurring her vision.

She yanked off her turban, hitting her head on the wall till blood started dripping from her forehead,  till she lost consciousness her limp body sliding down the floor with a thud. The maids heard the noise coming from Rufaidah's room and they know not to intrude.

"it's too quite, let's inform Hajiya,  maybe she's hurt" a young maid suggested.

After telling Hajiya Aisha she told them to let her be.

★★★

Hope you are getting the hang of the story?
Hajiya Rufaidah mi anka miki ne hala? ( in sokoto accent)
Cast away your votes fellaz.

Shukran jazeel.