Our Stormy Ride

*17 °Steady Friendships

Nadia

I push past random people in the busy market, as my eyes wander about trying to catch a glimpse of Shukra. 
ya Allah please keep her safe, I mumble again,  feeling my heart in a frightful mess. I've lost track of how long I've been searching for her, from where I'd left her to the heart of the market. I just can't believe she'd gone off on her own.
She's going to have an earful when I see her! How could she go off on her own?! And to where?  When she barely knows her way around. 

Calm down, Nadia. She'll be fine, In sha Allah.

I try to think clearly through my worried haze, as I increase my stride, not minding the angry expressions on people's faces as I bump into them. My leather sandals constantly rouses up a cloud of dust on the sandy earth, as I make my way again to mama Ada's little stall. 
I round up the corner, holding on to the poly bags of foodstuffs I'd bought. The sight in front of me has me muttering Alhamdulilah.  The breath I release could probably knock someone out with its force.  There, sitting on the bench is Shukra, laughing at something mama Ada just told her.

I march over to where she's sitting, and their laughter dies immediately. I drop the bags on the floor and place both fists on my hips,  fixing her with a steely gaze. God! I hope I look like aunty Sima when she's angry, because that's exactly how I feel.

"Shukra, where have you been? Do you know how worried I was about you? How could you just do that?, imagine how furious aunty Sima will be when she finds out about this!" I place a hand over my beating heart, trying to calm my anger. 

Shukra drops her gaze guiltily to the ground, shuffling her feet noiselessly.

"No need to shout eh, my daughter", Mama Ada says slowly. "Na one kind young man bring am, and she's fine. She has learnt a lesson abi now? Please just forget eh", she finishes, moving to attend to a customer. 

"it still doesn't justify what she did. You don't know what was running through my mind then, I'd thought that I'd lost her, God forbid". I sit on the other bench away from her, kneading my forehead and trying to get rid of the leftover nerves.

I take a peek at Shukra through my fingers, and darn it! That sad face and innocent eyes pull at my heartstrings. You just can't stay mad for long at these kids, I wonder how aunty Sima manages with them. Releasing a sigh,  I tap the vacant space beside me, "Come, sit and tell me everything that happened, and why you decided to take a tour of Zuba market on your own", I say calmly.

She nods, and takes her writing material out of her schoolbag. Taking timid steps, she plops down beside me, her little frame as fragile as a baby bird.
She starts scribbling immediately, and I lean closer to read whatever she puts down.

"I'm glad you're okay and safe, that's what matters." I wrap my arms around her, after learning everything that happened, and with some little input  from mama Ada.
I jerk up suddenly, removing my arms from her slender shoulders. "Hey, where's the man who brought you. I hope he hasn't left"

She cranes her neck and points at someone faraway. I only catch a faint glimpse of a man with broad but slim shoulders, moving in and out of the crowd. A weird feeling of Deja Vu hits, and I feel nostalgic all of a sudden. I blink my eyes to clear the sensation, surprised and shocked about how hard I'd felt it. 

What the heck just happened? Ya Allah, what was that?  That was weird, it kind of felt like I'd lost something. Shaking my head, I look down at Shukra.

"He's far gone, only Allah can reward him for us, right?", I say with a smile, bumping my shoulders into hers. 
"Oh wait! Hope you did not take anything from him? ", I ask firmly.
You just can't trust anyone these days, now that people seem to have lost their morality and engage in evil vices.