Beyond The Scars

Chapter Two

Farah's POV

“Farah.”

I heard my name and felt a hand on my shoulder. I was surprised and wondered who would know me in my sister's university. So I turned around to see who it was.

“Aunty Hameedah, ina wuni?” I said as I hugged her. To say I was surprised to see her was an understatement.

“Farah, how have you been? I have missed you so much. And what are you doing here?” Aunty Hameedah asked as she released herself from the hug.

Before I could reply, Mom came out of the toilet.

“Subhanallah, is that Hameedah?” Mom exclaimed in shock.

“Yes, Rukayah, it's me,” she replied with a huge smile on her face.

Before she could say anything else, Mom engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug.

After releasing her from the hug, Mom invited her to sit under our canopy so they could talk better.

After introducing Hameedah to Aunty Memunah, Mom explained that Ya Nadia's convocation was today, which was why we were there. Aunty Hameedah said her nephew Zayd's convocation was also today, which was why she was there.

She also told us that they had moved to Abuja a year ago and no longer lived in Kano.

“So, Hameedah, ya kike?” Mom asked.

“Lafiya kalau,” she replied.

“Alhamdulillah. Ehn, Hameedah, how is my little Superman, Abdulrahim? I miss him so much. Is he here in Abuja?” Mom asked.

My eyes widened.

“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. Let me call him. He must be with his cousin, Zayd,” Aunty Hameedah said as she picked up her phone to call Abdulrahim.

“Uhm, Mom, I'll be back. I want to use the restroom,” I said as I immediately left the canopy without waiting for Mom's reply.

I walked away, my mind already filled with everything that had happened between Abdulrahim and me when we were in school.

I don't think I can face him after everything that happened between us.

But it wasn't my fault.

So why should I be nervous?

---

Years Earlier…

“Mom, I don't want to go to a boarding school! Why me? Ya Nadia isn't in a boarding school. Mom, why me?” I cried after Mom told me I would be going to a boarding school throughout my secondary school years, and that too in Kano.

“Baby, I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. Your sister has already started secondary school, so she will continue, but you have to go to a boarding school,” Mom said while hugging me.

I left Mom's room and ran to mine, crying.

After a few minutes, I called my best friend, Asma, and told her all about it. She was also very sad because we had already planned that we would go to the same school so we wouldn't be far apart.

Two days later, Mom and I went to the market to get some things for my school because I would be leaving for Kano in two weeks.

I bought a set of travelling bags—the biggest size, medium size, and a small bag—which were pink and purple.

After that, we went to a supermarket to get some provisions. Then we went to the market to get some underwear, pajamas, body spray, roll-on, slippers, shoes, and other essentials.

Mom said we didn't have to buy clothes because I would be given the clothes I needed in school.

Two weeks later, Mom and I left for Kano without even telling Dad goodbye.

I was sad because I couldn't see him before I left, but Mom told me that he would come to visit me when I settled down in school.

We were going to lodge in a hotel because school wouldn't resume until the following Monday, so Mom decided to come with me to collect my uniform and other things.

When we got to the hotel, Mom was speaking to the receptionist while I was busy admiring the place. I unknowingly bumped into someone.

It was a boy who looked around my age.

I quickly apologized, and Mom came and told me that she had collected the room key and that we should head to our room.

The room had a king-sized bed, a flat-screen TV, two couches, and a veranda.

Mom told me to go and have my bath, then we would go downstairs to eat.

After taking a shower, Mom also went into the bathroom to take a shower.

I was sitting on the bed when I heard someone crying in the corridor.

I opened the door to see who it was.

A boy was sitting on the floor crying while a woman was petting him and telling him to come inside. He looked like the boy I had bumped into earlier.

So I went outside to meet him and sat beside him.

“Hi, why are you crying? My mom told me that crying isn't good, that good children don't cry,” I said while wiping his tears away.

“I-I don't wan-t to gooooo,” the boy said, still crying.

“To go where?” I asked.

He was about to talk when the woman who was petting him spoke.

“My dear, your mom is right. Good children don't cry. That's what I've been trying to explain to him, but he refuses to listen. He is crying just because he doesn't want to go to a boarding school.”

I wanted to say something when Mom came out of the room, shouting my name.

“Farah! Astaghfirullah, Farah! I told you to stay in the room. Why did you come outside? I'm so sorry, madam. I hope she didn't do anything,” Mom said while helping me stand up.

“No, no. She was just helping me comfort my son. He has been crying ever since I told him that he would be going to a boarding school,” the woman said.

“Oh, really? Even my Farah here is also going to a boarding school. She has been crying ever since she realized that it wouldn't change my mind, so she stopped,” Mom said as the woman laughed.

After speaking to the woman, we realized that her son and I were going to the same school.

I found out his name was Abdulrahim, and his mom's name was Hameedah.

Aunty Hameedah.

They lived in Kano but had decided to lodge in a hotel because the school was very far from their house.

From that day, before we resumed, Mom, Aunty Hameedah, Abdulrahim, and I would go to school together for our registration.

On the day of our resumption, Abdulrahim and I cried a lot.

Mom and Aunty Hameedah told us that we shouldn't cry, that even if they weren't there, we had each other.

The girls' hostel and boys' hostel were different, so Abdulrahim and I had to go separate ways until classes started.

When I got to my hostel, I made a lot of friends, but my closest friend was Zinat. She showed me how everything was done because she had arrived a day before me.

On our first day of school, I met Abdulrahim in my class, which made me very happy.

I made him my seat partner, while Zinat was also in our class but sat in front of Abdulrahim and me.

It didn't take long for Abdulrahim and me to become inseparable.

During visiting days, if Mom couldn't make it, I would stay with Abdulrahim. I was always happy whenever I was with him, even when my mom or dad couldn't come.

I would video call Mom with Aunty Hameedah's phone and tell her to greet Dad because every time I called, she would say Dad wasn't at home.

During holidays, I would stay at Aunty Hameedah's house because Mom insisted that I did.

Back then, I didn't think there was anything strange about it.

Abdulrahim was simply Abdulrahim.

My best friend.

My person.

Years passed.

Before we knew it, Abdulrahim and I were in SS3.

We weren't as close as we used to be because we weren't in the same class anymore, and we rarely saw each other.

One day, Zinat and I were going for our break when she told me she was pressed, so she went to use the toilet while I waited for her.

I was standing outside when Khalid, one of Abdulrahim's friends who had been bugging me and asking me out for a while, suddenly dragged me into the toilet.

I tried to push him away, but he was too strong.

He was getting too close when someone suddenly dragged him away and landed a hard slap on his left cheek.

It was Abdulrahim.

I was really thankful that he came before that disgusting boy could try anything stupid.

I walked towards Khalid and slapped him on the same side Abdulrahim had slapped him.

“I told you not to do that, Khalid. I warned you that she would be pissed, but you didn't listen,” Abdulrahim said.

Zinat came from nowhere and held me. She was shocked by what she had walked into and immediately asked me what happened.

I told her.

Then I realized something.

Abdulrahim knew this was going to happen.

I knew Khalid was a playboy and had started acting annoying since we entered senior school, but I didn't know he would do something like that to me.

“Abdulrahim, so you knew and you couldn't warn me against this? Then you decided to come as a hero as if you coincidentally saw what was going on?” I said.

Abdulrahim was about to talk when Khalid cut in.

“How could he tell you when he and our other friends were the ones who dared me to do so?” Khalid said with a smirk on his face.

I didn't even realize when tears started dropping from my eyes.

“Abdulrahim, I can't believe you can do something like this. I trusted you more than anyone, even Zinat, and you were there using me for dares behind my back,” I said as I cried hard while Zinat held me tightly.

“No, Farah. It's not like that. I wasn't—” Abdulrahim tried to defend himself, but I cut him off.

“So you're saying he is lying? You mean you and your friends didn't use me for a dare?” I shouted angrily.

“We did, bu—”

“Wow. So you even agree that you used me for a dare.”

I shook my head, tears still falling.

“Please, Abdulrahim. I beg you, don't try to talk to me again because I won't listen to what you have to say.”

I dragged Zinat behind me without waiting for what Abdulrahim had to say.

A week passed with me trying my best to ignore Abdulrahim.

Zinat was there, supporting him and telling me that he had spoken to her. She said he wasn't part of the dare, that his friends had made it, but he had told them not to go through with it and they didn't listen.

I didn't listen to Zinat or Abdulrahim.

I had already made up my mind.

We graduated from secondary school, and I still hadn't made up with Abdulrahim.

Anytime Aunty Hameedah came, I would just act cool like everything was okay.

After secondary school, I moved back to Abuja, but I found out that we were no longer living in our old house. We were now staying in a new house.

And Mom and Dad were divorced.

Since I left secondary school, we lost contact with Aunty Hameedah and Abdulrahim.

Mom tried to call Aunty Hameedah several times, but her number wasn't reachable.

---

Farah's POV (Continuation Of Flashback)

I decided to go back to the canopy.

When I got there, I saw a tall, dark guy wearing a black kaftan and another guy wearing a blue kaftan and a black cap, with a graduation gown in his right hand. They were sitting on two chairs.

I recognized the one in the black kaftan immediately.

It was Abdulrahim.

And I guessed the other guy was his cousin, the one his mom had been talking about.

I ignored their presence and went to take my seat.

Mom tapped me and called my name.

“Farah.”

I looked up at her.

“Don't you remember Abdulrahim?” she asked again, pointing at him.

He was sitting opposite me, across the other side of the table.

I slowly looked at him.

And for the first time in years, our eyes met.