The door creaked as Nadia pushed it open, she muttered her salaams before entering into the living room,

"walaykum salam" Abdallah answered, he was lying on the two-seater sofa with his hand behind his head, "I've been waiting for you" he smiled when she approached him,

"ohh" she muttered lowly, Abdallah immediately noticed the expression she had on, He sat properly on the couch tapping the space he created beside him with his hand,

"seat here" he said, he used his hand to turn her face towards him, "are you OK?" he arched his brows, "what's wrong?" he asked, "is everything okay at home?, talk to me Nadia",

She stared into his eyes deeply, "on 4th of May 2014 was the day my life turned upside down", Nadia watched how Abdallah averted his gaze away from her, he held his head with his hand like he was preventing himself from thinking of something, "I was just a young teenage girl without any worries, I left my home, my mom, my dad, and my sister that day not knowing that would be the last time I'd set my eyes on them. I came to Abuja to spend a week holiday, I never knew I'll spend it forever" she sighed, Nadia was revealing the incident to him, so she could gauge his reaction. "I could remember vividly how devastated I felt when my whole family was bombed alive".

Nadia watched how fear clouded Abdallah's eyes, but there was something else, she could also detect pity in it. "Have you ever heard of that story?" tears glistened her eyes as she asked him, she held him by his wrist while gazing directly into his eyes,

"I've, but I n-never knew you were co-co-nnected to it" he stammered, horror was written on Abdallah's face as he talked, he placed his left hand on top of Nadia's hand that was holding his wrist,

"are you responsible for that event?" two tear drops fell from her eyes as she asked him the question she dreaded the most,

"what?, no-" Abdallah cut his sentence short like he just remembered something, the whole room turned silent except the sound of their raging breaths, Nadia prayed to Allah internally for everything to become easier, "yes I did" He answered tearing his face away from Nadia's gaze, it was like he didn't want her to see through him, he didn't want her to read him through his eyes,

"Abdallah, you're confessing to me that you killed my family, and you don't feel any remorse" she screamed into his ears, but he didn't budge, he was still avoiding her, "look into my eyes and tell me you did it, look into my eyes!" Abdallah slowly turned his face towards her, their eyes locked as they gazed at each other,

"I did it" he muttered in a shaky tone,

"I don't believe you Abdallah, your eyes says a different thing Abdallah" she said in a low tone, "why are you doing this Abdallah ?" she asked holding his cold hands, "the police are coming tomorrow, you have to tell them you didn't do it, you have to deny it" she cried, "Abdallah talk to me, don't stay silent"

"I can't say I didn't do it bec-" he rubbed his palm on his forehead, "Nadia if they arrest me, I can then pay for my sins" he declared,

"if you did it, how come you didn't kill me too?, why didn't you know who my real parents are?, you had countless chances to kill me also, why didn't you, so you'll achieve your aim completely, you can even kill me right now, then I'll believe you" she bellowed, "kill me" she said wrapping his hands around her neck,

Abdallah released his hand from Nadia's neck gently, "stop Nadia, stop already" he sobbed, "I didn't do it Nadia, it wasn't me" he cried, it wasn't me",

Nadia pulled him into a tight hug "I knew you can't" she smiled amidst tears, "I can help you escape, you don't have to face the police tomorrow, until the real culprit is found" she suggested when she broke out of the hug,

"if I do that, ummi will be in danger".

****

"Nadia take care of ummi" Abdallah said when the police handcuffed him, he smiled as the police took him inside their black hilux,

"I'll, and I promise you'll be out soon" she muttered with tears spilling out of eyes like a running tap, she watched as their car went out of the gate. She closed her mouth with her hands as she cried her eyes out, Her life was falling apart before her, "ya Allah, please ease my pain and make everything right" she prayed holding her chest tightly.

Nadia cleaned her face with her palm, crying won't help Abdallah, she had to do something really fast. Nadia hurriedly went into her room to give Idris a call, she couldn't do it alone, She needed his help.

"salam alaykum ya Idris" she said into the phone,

"walaykum salam Nadia is everything alright?" he asked,

"no, can you please come over to my house, I need your help"

"okay"

****

Nadia scurried to open the door when she heard the doorbell ring. After exchanging pleasantries with Idris, she offered him a seat on the couch, "Abdallah is innocent" Nadia declared,

"but-",

"no buts ya idris, Abdallah personally told me that and I believe him" she stated before she continued, "we can't punish the innocent and allow the guilty walk freely on earth, we have to do something ya idris"

"okay, did he give you any clue or something" Idris asked,

Nadia ransacked her head before she shouted "yes, yes he said something, he said his mother will be in danger if he confessed",

"yes that's a good clue, we must talk to his mother" Idris declared,

"okay, let me call to ask if she's at home" Nadia said picking her phone up.

****

Idris decided to stop being undercover since the case was already coming to an end, He just prayed they found the culprit if Abdallah isn't the one. He and Nadia waited for the door to be opened when they rang the bell, they were standing in front of Hajia Maryam's house. They moved backward slightly when the door knob turned to avoid being hit by the door,

"salam alaykum baba" Nadia smiled when she saw Alhaji Ahmad at the entrance of the door,

"walaykum salam" he answered blocking the passage way with his body,

"I want to see ummi" Nadia said walking towards the entrance, but he quickly stopped her,

"she's not in" he said tensely, Nadia stretched her head to see the inside of the house, but his body was in the way,

"but she told me, she's in" Nadia said placing her hand by the side of her head, she was frustrated, she wanted things to solve fast, but it was going otherwise,

"we can check back tomorrow" Idris told Nadia,

"yes it'll be good" Alhaji Ahmad uttered quickly. They were about to turn back when they heard screams coming from inside the house,

"please help me, help me!"

"That woman!" Alhaji ahmad scowled attempting to close the door, but Idris quickly stopped him by taking both of his hand behind tightly,

"Nadia go, go check inside!" Idris instructed Nadia, Nadia hurriedly carried her legs inside the house panting,

"ummi where are you?" Nadia shouted on top of her lungs, she strode towards the stairs quickly, the sound got clearer when she was upstairs "ummi where are you!",

"check the third room by your left, the key is under the foot mat" Hajia Maryam declared in a quavering tone. Nadia followed the instructions, she unlocked the door with the keys she picked from beneath the mat with shaky hands. She pushed the door open when she succeeded in unlocking it. She found ummi tied on a wooden chair with a brown rope, her hair was disheveled, they were eye bags beneath her eyes, the clothes that was used to tie her mouth was on her neck.

"ummi" Nadia bottom lips trembled as she scurried to her direction to untie her. Nadia loosened the rope in the five different directions it was tied, "ummi" nadia said hugging her tightly, "who did this to you?" she asked,

"we don't have time for that now, we have to leave, he's very dangerous" Hajia maryam declared trembling, she held Nadia's hand as they scrambled out of the house.

They found Alhaji Ahmad already tied close to the door, Idris stood close to him, guarding him intently. He threw him into the house, then locked him up when Hajia Maryam and Nadia got out,

"we have to leave this place" Idris said as they all ran into the car.

So who do you think the real culprit is?

Don't forget to vote, comment, and share.

@zinat Abdulkadir ✍️