Uncle Usman, he was still in fear until he left and saw Afeefar, his daughter, say hello.
She was calm, focused on worship, on studying both boko and arabic. Everyone in the house
was doing their own thing now.
No one else was left except Aunty who was doing everything while she was there. Also in
memorizing the Quran.
Then she would go to school because she had knowledge and there was also a scholarship. They
saw her as a daughter.
At age 14 she finished Junior WAEC and went to SSI. Now she is also
doing Islamiyya, she was trying hard. Almost everyone in the neighborhood knew her because of how
Aunty Zee was raising her like her own daughter.

Quickly she finished getting ready because she wanted to go to school. She came out carrying her school bag,
wearing a fez. Inside a blue hijab, the school reminded her of her true
Black beauty, skin like that.
Even when she was thinking about Natsuwa, her bright eyes were shining as she
went out.
Aunty Zee didn’t even greet her. In the parlor she was standing like she was going to come out of
Uncle Usman's room. She greeted her then she came out and because of fear she greeted him and he answered
calmly.

"Dama uncle are you saying goodbye to Aunty or are you going back to sleep?"
"Eh I’m just going and I’m coming back. Everything is fine, I’m coming back to
sleep again and sleep"
Afeefar smiled
"So be careful on your way to school"
"Okay"
She took 200 naira that he gave her
"Don’t forget to come back home with sense"
She answered "okay" with a smile but her face was like Afeefar didn’t
play with her and there was distance and coldness between them.

Even at school her calmness didn’t leave her. You would hardly see her playing or
making noise.
She would hold two books and start presenting things at assembly and
participating in some
school programs. She didn’t have friends until now because all her classmates were busy
with exams.
Today they had revision until 2pm, then they closed and went home calmly.

When she got home there was no one. She took the key from under the mat and entered. Then she
took off her uniform and wore some other clothes. A long gown that reached her
ankles. She went to the kitchen, put food for them and was wondering where Aunty
Zee was that she didn’t come out.
She told herself she was going out today and maybe something came up in the
neighborhood, she knew.

She had distant relatives on her mother’s side but they didn’t
care for her at all.
Even if she took care of important things, Aunty Zee herself didn’t take
anything for granted,
but she was stronger than her.