Chapter 10 — 13th Birthday

"Happy birthday, Umaimah!" Said my mum as soon as I was in the dining area for breakfast. It was a Monday morning and I had already prepared for school.

"Thank you, mum" I beamed.

"Happy birthday, big sis!" Najib winked.

"Thank you, my lil bro" I lightly brushed through his hair with my fingers. He was now 10years old.

"Happy birthday, cute sis" Amirah said.

"Huh?" I wrinkled one of my brows. I had begged her to stop calling me that name because I wasn't actually cute?

"Happy birthday to you, my daughter" Aunty Zubaidah said with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Aunty Zubaidah" I said while wearing a delightful smile.

"Daughter, may Allah's noor always be with you!" Ramadan finally spoke up.

"Ameen" I beamed. "Thank you, dad!"

It was my 13th birthday and I was so happy because I was finally a teen!

"Where is Ameer?" I puzzled as soon as I noticed one of our family member was missing in the dining. It was Aunty Zubaidah's little boy, she gave birth to him five years ago. He was the light of our family and the solace of our hearts.

"Yana bacci" Aunty Zubaidah said.

"Sleeping har yanzu?" I blurted out. "Isn't he going to school today ne?" 

"Barshi dai" Najib chimed in.

"Toh kai kuma, who put your mouth?" Amirah playfully punched him on his shoulder. She loved doing that to him.

"Och!" Najib squealed. "Muguwa kawai"

"Eh din!" Amirah pouted.

"Hmm" I huffed. "Najib, wake him up!"

"Umaimah, don't worry about Ameer. He doesn't want to go to school today and I understand. I will talk to his class teacher about it" Aunty Zubaidah said.

"Alright" I beamed.

We ate our breakfast and thus our driver drove us to school. Amirah and I were in Jss 1, while Najib and Ameer where in primary 4 and nursery 3 respectively. Since Ameer wasn't going to school today, it was only the three of us. Our school was Trinity College and it was one of the influential private schools in Kaduna. I was very happy to be a bonafide student of the school.

The assembly was over immediately we arrived at school. We were a little bit late due to the morning traffic we encountered. Najib went to his class while Amirah and I went to ours.

"Maimah the late comer!" Said Bintah with a teasing tone. She was the queen of all the troublemakers in our class.

"Don't mind her, cute sis" Amirah said as she sat close to her seat partner.

"Alright, Adda Amirah" I said as I walked to my own seat partner.

It was two per seat, a girl and a boy. Most people weren't lucky to sit with the people they preferred to, but I was an exception. Hmm, I was with Ayman, my nursery school class mate. Just like I told you before that I was told he moved to Kaduna with his parents after our nursery school, I happened to meet him here in Trinity College. He was still the cold and aloof guy I knew. He didn't like talking much and he was still intelligent. He was among the top students here too and lest I forget, he had become even more handsome than he was in the past and most of the girls in the class were dying to sit with him.

"Good morning, sir!" The class stood to greet Uncle Kayode, the Social Studies teacher. He was one of the best teachers in the school. Could you believe he hardly went to class with teaching materials? Everything was in his head.

"Morning, how are you?" He said.

"Fine, thank you sir!" We chorused.

Thus, he asked us to sit down while he write his subject, topic and date on the plastic board with his temporal marker.

"Today, we are going to talk about intermarriage. But before then, I hope you all have informed your parents about our upcoming field trip?" He said.

Some of us replied him with "YES", while some replied with "NO". Amirah and I belonged to the group of the YES because we had already paid for the field trip but Ayman was neutral. Something told me he had paid too.

"Okey" Uncle Kayode cleared his throat and continued. "If you haven't, please make sure you do that soon because our field trip is next week Monday. Try and pay the fee, it is only N3000" He added.

"Okey sir!" We chorused.

Thus, our lessons for the day began. My birthday month was only known by Amirah and my best friend, Sadiyah. But somehow, Bintah knew today was my birthday and had prepared a surprise for me. As soon as it was time for break and I was about going to the cafeteria with Amirah, Bintah and her crew walked to me and poured me tea.

"Happy birthday, Maimah!" They all chorused as they ran out of the class.

"What the...?" I couldn't even complete my words because I was bewildered.

"Gosh, this isn't good" Amirah muttered.

"Yeah, and I will revenge!" I furiously squealed about running after them when she quickly held my arm...

"Don't mind them, lets get you cleaned up" She said with a smile on her face.

That was Amirah, my sister. She had grown up to be a peacemaker. We went to the wash area and got myself cleaned up. Thus, we headed to the cafeteria and got our bellies filled up. Najib used to be in the field playing football with his seniors. He was a goalkeeper they wouldn't like to play football without.

Immediately it was time for home, our driver came and picked us up. We went home and prayed asr before going to Islamiyyah. We normally closed from school around 3:30pm every Monday to Thursday due to intramural lessons, while 12pm every blessed Friday.

"Birthday is Haraam in Islam..." Our mallam started his preaching as soon as Ramlah wished me happy birthday in his presence. Why was everything enjoyable Haraam in Islam please? Even to wish someone happy birthday?

"Mallam, she's only wishing me..."

"Keep quiet, Umaimah!" He almost flogged me. "Celebrating birthday is outrightly Haraam in Islam!" He said.

"But no one is celebrating anything here and no one said we are going to throw a party later. After all, I am not a party girl and I hate party!" I complained.

"Even wishing someone happy birthday is Haraam in this deen!" He squealed.

"Says which hadith?" Bala, the talkative chimed in wearing a smile on his face.

The mallam didn't want to say much due to time factor so he glared at Bala and asked us to start our usual hadda. He was the son of Mallam Babba (the owner of the Islamiyyah). His father used to warn him about how he used to talk to his students but he was the rude type. Unlike his younger sisters, Sayyidah Batulah and Ummu Salmah.

We went back home after Islamiyyah and hopefully there was still light. I ran to my room to iron the uniform I would wear to school the following day only to find out my mum had already ironed it for me while I was in Islamiyyah. Thus, I went to her room and thanked her.

"Come, my baby. Let me snap you" She said as she withdrew from her bed with her iPhone. "Today is your birthday and your grandmother ought to see you..."

By the mentioning of my grandmother, I smiled and nodded my head. I had missed her taunts. Perhaps one day we would visit her in Minna In Shaa Allah.

"Mum, lets go to the living room. The place is more brighter" I suggested.

"Alright, Umaimah" She said.

Thus, we went to the living room and she gave me a quick snap. It was really a wonderful shot and I so much liked the picture. You wanna see it? Okey!