~°°~Spend a lot of time with yourself, it's called self love~°°~

Abuja, Nigeria.

19th January, 2022. 8:47 am.

Beep, beep, beep........... "Hasbunallah"

A startled Sayf woke up from his sleep muttering the tasbih, he had a nightmare about someone close to him dying but he couldn't see the face of the person.

He turned his face taking in a deep breath and looked at the clock by the side of his mattress, it was 4:14 in the morning so he didn't bother trying to fall asleep again since it will soon be time for prayer. Just as he expected it, he didn't even realise when time flew and it was time for him to pray.

He stepped out of his tent and fetched some water, performed the ablution and waited for the rest so that they'll pray together.

"I am going to the mountains today, I need to get network to call home, it has been a while" Jabir said to them after they've paused their prayers.

There was a mountain few minutes walk away from there and behind it is where they get a network to make a call because there was no network in their camp. "Yes, let's go together after breakfast before we start the patrol" Zanna said making Jabir to nod at him.

"I guess Ray must be done with the food, we should check" Jalal said getting up on his feet, he wore his shoes and headed to the open space where they prepare their simple food everyday.

After the breakfast, Lieutenant Jabir and Zanna left for the mountains as discussed. Each one of them called home and chatted for a while with their families before Jabir went on to check the internet. The first news he saw there shocked him and he had to recheck if he misread the headline.

As if not believing what he saw, he passed the phone to Zanna so he will confirm. And truly, it was the death of Alhaji Hakeem Elnafaty because even when they googled it, it appeared to be true. The two immediately set back to the camp with only one thought in their minds how they will break the news to Sayf.

Throughout their journey back to the camp, none of them said a word because they were grieving and thinking about how to break the news to the others.

Even before they reached their destination, they knew that they could not tell Sayf themselves so they decided to allow Imran to do that since he was the only one among them who knows how to start a conversation with Sayf.

Sayf mostly shuts them out whenever they try to get into a conversation with him but with Imran, it was different.

Everyone at camp sensed problem by mere looking at the faces of the two and when those two told them about everything, they also joined them in grieving.

All of them except Hameed knew it will be awkward when Sayf receives the news because they knew he had not been home in years and never discuss about his family to any of them. Imran on the other hand understood his loneliness, he understood how badly he missed his family and also understood his love for them so he could imagine how he would react to the news.

"You will have to be the one to tell him" Zanna said to Imran and even without being told, Imran knew he had to be the one to tell him. But how he was supposed to tell him was what he kept thinking about.

No matter how Imran came to think of it, he cannot hide anything from Sayf and of course, the reaction he will get from him will be the same despite which method or way he uses to tell him so he just decided to keep it simple.

Imran moved forward to Sayf's tent with a grieved racing heart and said the taslim at the entrance. "May I come in?" Imran asked and from his tone, Sayf could detect tension in his voice. "Yes" Sayf replied him before Imran made his way into the tent.

His face expression made Sayf more curious about what was going on in his mind because Sayf could not remember ever seeing Imran with that kind of expression. But he was not going to ask until Imran decides to tell him himself so he just kept mute and allowed silence to reign.

After much contemplation, Imran decided to talk. "All we can say is Inna Lillahi wa'inna ilaihi raji'un (from Allah we are and to him we shall finally return), Allah yayi wa mahaifinka Alhaji Hakeem Elnafaty rasuwa yau da safe (Your father Alhaji Hakeem Elnafaty died this morning)"

As if not believing what he heard, Sayf looked directly at Imran who was avoiding any eye contact with him. "Pranks are not funny" Sayf said taking his gaze off Imran and just at the moment, Imran raised his head to look at Sayf. Sayf's expression showed that he didn't believe anything he said.

When Sayf didn't hear any reply from Imran regarding what he said, he returned back his gaze to Imran who was still looking at him and from the looks he was getting from Imran, he understood that he wasn't joking and it wasn't a prank.

Sayf's heart immediately twisted and his saliva hitched at his throat. He felt soar and numb, completely clueless as he tried to register everything into his brain.

Minutes of silence, Sayf stood up on his feets and raced out of the tent, he entered the car and sped out of the camp in full speed. Imran also stepped out calling unto him to stop but he was not heeding.

"You should have expected this, I expected worse" Jabir said to Imran. "I thought I was going to see him cry today but it looks like I will never get to see him cry. Just wait for his return" Zanna also said to Imran as everyone dispersed into their individual tents and that was how the patrol for the day was cancelled.

Sayf felt tears in his eyes but refused to let them fall as he increased his speed with every kilometre towards the city of Abuja. He didn't stop anywhere until he was at Gwarinpa, close to Alhaji Hakeem Elnafaty's residence.

The large number of people he saw near his house confirmed everything again. He could not believe that after staying away from home for two years, he had to return on that day and in that type of situation, when he lost an important person in his life.

The security was tight so anyone who wished to enter the residence must go through an identity check and if otherwise, one of the family members have to call the gate before the person is allowed in the house. Sayf on the other hand just went ahead and drove past the security post making three different security men to stop him by the gate.

"Where do you think you're going young man, go back now" the eldest security said making Sayf to turn and look at him. The man was surprised because he never thought Sayf will come back to the house ever again even if the whole family members were to die but there he was, looking devastated.

"Open the damn gate now" Sayf shouted at them. He had no idea why he was furious but he was anyways, he probably was angry at himself because he wasn't there at his father's last moments even though it's not his fault.

Without a second thought, the security ordered the gate man as he was told. "Contact all the gates and clear the paths now, a car is coming in" he said through the talky. The phrase "all the gates" which he used referred to the four gates Sayf had to drive through before reaching the main house.

Sayf sped into the house immediately the gates were opened and he parked recklessly in front of the main building. He got out of the car almost immediately after the car halted without turning off the ignition and entered the house. A servant noticed the key there and helped him park it properly in the parking lot.

Sayf halted immediately he entered the parlour when he saw all the family members sitting round the corpse with other people who were mostly his aunts and cousins.

Ruha looked at the direction of the door when she sensed an additional presence and she immediately felt mixed emotions burning within her. Among those emotion, surprise was excluded because she knew he would come no matter what, same reason why she didn't allow the Janaza to take place and insisted they wait for Sayf.

After some minutes of gaze exchange with his mother, Sayf moved closer to his father's corpse and knelt beside it. He bowed his head and kept muttering silent du'as to the deceased.

Yes, he was internally completely broken but he couldn't bring himself to tears because if someone asked, he wouldn't know the last time he sobbed, even if it was a one of joy.

He didn't say anything to anyone else in the parlour until his uncle came in and said "we have to go pray for him now" Sayf only nodded without a word yet again and got on his feets as the carrier was brought in.

They placed the corpse in the carrier and took it to the car before they drove off to go pray for him and bury him.

And just like that, Alhaji Hakeem Elnafaty died leaving behind a whole series of drama. But even if he was alive, he wouldn't be surprised about all that will happen because he knew how greedy some of his family were. So much for giving birth to children that want you dead and gone.

~°°~spend a lot of time with yourself, it's called self love~°°~

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~ This chapter was very hard to type wallahi because there were just actions and few words and there were not deep conversation. But sha, I didn't enjoy it one bit because I don't like it when people die.

I know, I don't have mutunci. Keep being patient with me Koh, thank you for the one you have been doing. Please share my book to friends and family. Lots of love

Deedi--❤️