Every few minutes, there is a burst of contractions spread all over the mother’s body. The mother screamed painfully: “All things are not the Lord, but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” In the dim hut, with a mattress on the mud floor, Resked was lying naked on the mat. She was sweaty and shiny. Reese Kate’s mother, Cudirat, and sister Adiyat sat around. The wind-proof lantern shone on them, dragging out strangely shaped long figures. Mother and sister holding rosary beads in their hands, quietly chanted: “All things are not the Lord, but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
After a few moments, Mom Cudirat would get up, put her hand on her daughter’s belly, which was still contracted, to comfort her, and then wipe the sweat off her face with a wet towel. Then, my mother used a small gourd scoop to scoop some water from a nearby earthen jar and handed it to her daughter who was in labor. “Be brave, kid, be brave! Everything will pass soon,” she persuaded, and then began to pray again.
At this moment, the side door of the hut opened and an elderly woman walked in. “I wish you all peace!” She greeted, “I hope her delivery goes well.”
“I wish you peace too!” Kudirat replied, “Her amniotic fluid broke a few minutes ago, and now the little guy may come by Allah’s grace at any time.”
“Well, I hope it’s a boy this time. I already have three granddaughters, and I should have a strong and hardworking grandson like Rashid.”
“May Allah bless and give birth to a boy.” Adiyat replied immediately.
After the woman left, Kudirat sighed loudly. “What a stupid woman who still said this. It seems that we can control these things. Isn’t she a woman herself? How could she come here to say such untimely things? Isn’t she also a husband and only five daughters have Rashid Is it?”
“Okay, mother. Don’t be upset, let’s continue praying.” Adiyat said.
Suddenly, there was a rumble of muffled thunder outside, and the wind violently started to roar. Rashid’s cabin was only a few meters away from his wife’s delivery room. He looked up from the bamboo bed. More than three hours ago, his beloved second wife gave birth. This 45-year-old man who grows cocoa for a living has been unable to sleep. At this time, the rumble of thunder became louder. A wave of lightning sneaked into the hut, and the hut was suddenly bathed in a strange blue light. When Rashid smelled rain from the wind blowing into the hut, his heart sank. This time I will give birth to a girl again! Although he knew that for the locals, rain meant peace and the blessing of the Lord, but rain also had a passive meaning, implying that it was a girl. In contrast, boys usually come to the world in heat and storms. For Rashid, this is an ominous omen. His ex-wife Tabat gave him five daughters. After that, he married Reese Kate and gave birth to three more daughters. Now, whether fortune tellers or witch doctors, all the prophets in the Corrid area say he can give birth to a son this time. However, at this moment, he was worried that he would give birth to a daughter. He is a very hardworking man, how can he always give birth to daughters? How does he face his friends and his family? They were already making fun of him, saying that he was a cowardly man and could not give birth to a boy. Even though he prayed, fasted, donated to all churches and mosques in the district, and alms to local beggars, how could he still have a daughter? The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became, and even thought of it all.
Rasheed got up from the bed calmly and checked his watch. It was already half past one in the morning. He wondered why his wife was still in labor? According to common sense, she should have given birth to a child at this moment. He hoped that his wife could give birth to the baby before it rained, so that he might still be a boy. He came to the door and tried his best to listen in the direction of his wife’s cabin, but to no avail. He even cupped his right hand behind his ear, but all he could hear was the whistling wind. After another burst of thunder, jagged lightning tore through the dark night sky. He was surprised to see that the torrential rain swept down with the wind.
“It’s a girl again this time!” he muttered to himself, trying to control his emotions. Yes, his ex-wife Tabat had warned him not to marry again just to have a son. At this time, he silently stared at the dark night sky before dawn, knowing in his heart that it was impossible to marry a wife for the third time. He could not afford to marry, but he had already given birth to nine daughters. How do you live with nine daughters? Who will cultivate the land? Who will pick cocoa beans? Who will beat the cocoa pods? He has several acres of farmland and other properties, and according to local law, his daughter cannot inherit these properties. What should I do? He felt two teardrops on his hand before he realized he was crying.
During the day, an almost crazy idea had long germinated in his mind, and at this moment, this idea once again entangled him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was logical, and he got stuck in it and couldn’t extricate himself. He rushed back to the bed and fumbled around under the bed. While he was still groping in the darkness, another lightning struck, and the rain poured down again with the previous rapidity. Large swaths of rain fell from the sky like waves. With the occasional light from lightning, he finally found the rope and shook off the sheep dung stuck to the rope. He played a lasso. He had nailed a nail on a bamboo rafter earlier in the day. At this moment, he hung the lasso on the nail. Then, he placed a stool directly under the lasso, then stood on the stool and adjusted the lasso. The lasso was just under his chin. Feeling satisfied, he got off the stool and picked up the Koran and the rosary. At this time, the heavy rain gradually subsided, and it began to drizzle. He sat on the kneeling rug and chanted and said the last prayer. At this time, a harsh scream came from the direction of his wife’s cabin. He stopped praying, not knowing what happened. Suddenly, another harsh scream cut through the night sky. He got up quickly and walked out in the drizzle.
As he approached his wife Reskat’s cabin, he heard the cry of the newborn baby; he stood there suddenly, his feet seemed to have taken root. His heart jumped wildly: Do you want to keep going? He struggled with thoughts inside. He involuntarily began to move forward against the wall of the cabin, and finally moved to the window. He looked into the house and saw the baby in his mother-in-law’s hands under the light.
“Adiyat, it’s another girl. Can you…can you tell Rashid?”
“No, mother. You are an elder, I think you should tell him.” Adiyat replied. Behind her, Rescott was full of tears and stared out the window in horror.
Rashid quietly left the window and tiptoed back to his house. An icy feeling covered his whole body. His emotions fell to the bottom, and he felt like he was falling suddenly from a cliff. Suddenly, he grabbed the rosary in his right hand, as if afraid of being blocked, he quickly climbed onto the bench and put the noose around his neck. He adjusted the knot of the lasso and felt the lasso tightly around his neck. He deftly kicked the stool with his right foot. The lasso was tightened tightly into the muscles around his neck, and he felt pitch black before his eyes…
At the same time, it was another scene in Reskat’s room. Mother Cudirat was surprised to find that her daughter still had a bulging belly after giving birth. She walked up to her daughter to see what had gone wrong. She touched Resked’s belly and felt a mass in her belly. “It looks like there is still a baby,” she said excitedly.
“There is another baby?” Adiyat asked.
“Yes. See it for yourself.”
Adiyat stepped forward and looked carefully. “Yes, mother, it is true. Sister, you are pregnant with twins.” She said to Raskat.
Suddenly, a strong contraction spread all over Rishiket. “Mom, I feel there is a mass to squeeze out.” She muttered. In the blink of an eye, the second fetus appeared.
Cudirat gently pulled out the little pink baby. “Almighty Lord, it’s a boy!” she cried.
A moment later, the excited shouts of Adiyat and Kudirat awakened the neighbors, and people cheered. Everyone was so excited, it took a while to realize that the father of the twins was not present.
“Did you tell the child’s father?” someone in the crowd asked. Everyone rushed to Rasheed’s house, everyone wanted to be the first to tell him the good news. With the swaying lights, they found Rashid curled up on the ground, still wrapped around his neck with the remaining rope. When people realized what had happened before, the happy crowd could no longer calm down. The women and children ran out of the hut and shouted. Soon, the men ran to Rashid’s side. “He’s still breathing.” A man said, bending his arms to prop up Rasheed’s head, and then untied the rope from his neck. People looked up and saw that the other end of the rope was still hanging from the bamboo rafters.
“Thanks to Allah! He was too heavy and broke the inferior rope, which killed him.” Someone said.
Rashid quickly awoke, and in an instant he heard the news of the birth of the twins. After the pain, he felt numb and didn’t have any strength. He lay there, murmured in prayer, “Allah Almighty!”
