When He Died Part 4

Ibrahim

His brother is too weak to fight it anyway. He put the pillow over his brother’s face.

I ran into the room and saw my brother in law standing over my husband. I pushed him off and touched my husband. His eyes fluttered open and he managed a weak smile as he saw me. I was confused, I thought they said he died. I saw the room fill with people as my mother in law and Uncle Rokeeb came to my husband and touched him. The room was filled with cries of “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.” 

My mother in law went on her knees and started to thank me. Uncle Rokeeb looked at me like I  was a ghost. His action mirrored that of most people in the room. He told everyone to get out of the room to give my husband air. He told me to go take a shower, I didn’t answer him, I am not going to leave my husband’s side. I saw Ibrahim standing on a corner looking foolish with a pillow in his hand. I pretended not to notice him, even as my mother-in-law pulled him out of the room by the hand. My husband’s mouth moved, I put my ears to his mouth and listened. The doctor came into the room with Uncle Rokeeb. I moved back a little to give the doctor space to work on him. Uncle Rokeeb asked me what my husband had been whispering, I said I did not understand, as he was incoherent.

Iya Haleem

She took Ibrahim’s hand and led him to another room. She saw what he was doing as her daughter-in-law rushed into the room and  prayed she didn’t notice in her grief. She closed the door behind them and slapped her son. How dare he try to kill his brother? She knew what happened at midnight because she was in the kitchen getting a glass of water when she heard door creaks and had seen Ibrahim enter his brothers room. Ibrahim was her son, and she had sensed the hatred he felt for his brother even as it grew. She had even stylishly planted the idea of the murder in her son’s head. She had tried to love Haleem but he wasn’t her son. He was the son that her husband had had from his first marriage. She had taken him as her own when she married his father but she could always tell that her husband preferred Haleem to his other children, because he was the first son and because he was the child of his first love who had died in childbirth. Her dislike for the child had grown when everybody kept comparing her son with him. So what if Ibrahim wasn’t so intelligent? He was still her son. She shocked Ibrahim with her next words.

“You fool, when you want to do something, you do it well. Why didn’t you just do it right last night. Do you know when another opportunity would come? Sometimes you are so stupid. When you saw his stupid wife run in, why didn’t you throw the pillow away? Rather you held on to it like a fool. Even the blood from his nostrils when you performed the act at midnight, you didn’t clean it up. I just did that this morning. As soon as the doctor leaves, I would lure the wife out of the room, make sure you do a clean job. Better do it right so that all his money will come to us. Have I made myself clear?

“Yes ma.”

“Ode.”

Opemipo

She rushed into her sister’s house and saw Halimat. She ran to her, Halimat explained the dramatic turn of events to her and they both cried. She thanked Halimat for informing her. She headed to her sister’s room but changed her mind. She had to use the toilet as fast as possible as she had bowels had been acting up since she got the call that her sister’s husband died. As she passed the guest room she heard a sharp ‘thwack”. She moved closer to the door and listened. She forgot her bowels and ran to her sister’s room. Her sister ran into her arms as soon as she saw her. Opemipo quickly explained what she had heard to her sister and her sister said she knew already. She asked her sister what she needed and she left room to go make some important calls.