{"id":2494,"date":"2023-11-14T19:35:45","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T11:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2025-04-21T20:38:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T12:38:26","slug":"tabang-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/tabang-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Tabang (Help)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jannah Reeham M. Macaumbos<\/p>\n

<\/em>The smell of death permeated the small dimly lighted room. Two elderly women sat still and quietly near the large bed. Their eyes were swollen, ringed with dark circles. Laid on the bed was a young woman covered in white. A group of men entered the room carrying a wooden casket on their shoulders. They placed it near the bed and worked carefully together to place the lifeless body inside.<\/p>\n

Quiet whispers began to fill the house immediately after the men left the room in silence. People began to swarm at Babu Aina\u2019s. Their relatives in distant places also arrived on that day and expressed their sincere condolences on the abrupt death of Babu Aina\u2019s daughter \u2013 Amina.<\/p>\n

Amina was the brightest girl in our town. An exceptionally smart and talented young woman with an innocent and angelic smile. However, one day, she lost all the colors in life and began to act like a madman. No one, not even a single soul, knew the reason behind her sudden change.<\/p>\n

I remember that day when a scream echoed all throughout our neighborhood \u2013 a scream of torment coming from a frail body of a helpless young woman.<\/p>\n

I was preparing my morning coffee that day when I suddenly heard a faint voice coming from Babu Aina\u2019s house. Strange, I thought. I stood quietly for over a minute hoping to hear it once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cTabang<\/em>! Ina, help me!\u201d There it was again. I held my cup and hurriedly paced into our living room, trying to make sense on what I was hearing. The words were clear when I heard it once again. \u201cOh! I beg you, please help me. Tabangi ako niyo.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>Series of weeping sounds followed the chilling sound. I sat down near the window trying to listen intently to the muffled voices outside, hoping to grasp some details that would enlighten my curious mind of what transpires in our neighbor\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

I was flooded with questions when I heard a woman\u2019s voice saying \u201cAllahu Akbar! <\/em>Poor child.<\/em>\u201d Her voice was masked with utter disbelief. \u201cShe totally lost it! Miyabethang so wata.\u201d <\/em>she added.<\/p>\n

In a hushed tone, a man with hoarse voice said in incredulous manner \u201cI saw her! They tied her wrists in the bedpost. There were bruises all over her body.\u201d Resolute, he added \u201cJinn! <\/em>A Jinn<\/em> took over her body.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the chatters grew, a man\u2019s voice erupted in midst of the small crowd caused an uproar \u201cI told you! She is possessed by a Jinn<\/em>.\u201d I gasped upon hearing the news. \u201cI agree. Have you seen the look in her eyes? She is definitely possessed. Astughfirullah! <\/em>\u00a0It was red! It was bulging as if the blood was coming out of her eyes,\u201d a man\u2019s voice loudly responded, affirming the claim.<\/p>\n

I shuddered upon hearing the words of the people outside. I felt a series of cold sensation slowly creeping inside my body and my hands began to freeze \u201cAudhubillah<\/em>. May Allah protect us against all forms of evil.\u201d I whispered quietly as I awfully sought comfort and warmth from my morning coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhhhhh, NO! Don\u2019t touch me! Ina! Help! Help me, please!\u201d I jerked upon hearing the deafening scream. I tried desperately to balance the cup I was holding in my hand to avoid spilling the coffee. I managed to place the cup on the table when the sound of a slamming door caused me to jump to my feet. My heart was racing uncontrollably. I look at the direction where the sound came from. I tried to calm my nerves when I saw my mother walking inside the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh! There you are. I was looking for you.\u201d she said as she tried to catch her breath. \u201cWhere were you? I went to your room, and you were not there.\u201d Her face was filled with worry as she marched towards me. \u201cI was calling you and you did not even respo \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAydo! Tabangi ako niyo. <\/em>Help me!\u201d a loud scream resonated within the walls of our home.<\/p>\n

I looked at my mother and muttered in almost inaudible voice, \u201cOmie, <\/em>something is happening at Babu Aina\u2019s.\u201d She replied with the same pitch and horrified look that mirrors mine. \u201cAstughfirullah! Audhubillah! <\/em>\u00a0Their daughter is said to have been possessed by a powerful Jinn<\/em>. Miyakasapher so wata sa marata.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/em>\u201cYou mean Amina?\u201d My mother nodded in response to my query. \u201cAudhubillah. <\/em>Are you sure? She was fine when I last saw her with Aisha,\u201d I added as I was clearly in doubt of the news I heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things that reason alone cannot explain.\u201d My mother replied as she placed her hand to mine. \u201cBe careful, there are people out there that will do anything, even resort on doing something so evil just to ruin you.\u201d Deep inside, I know exactly what my mother was trying to tell me. Amina was nothing but a perfect daughter. It was inevitable that people grew envious of her beauty and character. That might have been the reason behind her dreadful predicament. Her good nature tempted an evil soul to perform vile ritual to let the Jinn <\/em>own her body.<\/p>\n

That day had passed, but not as quietly as it used to. I thought it would end after the countless visits of a pamomolong. <\/em>But I was utterly wrong. Days have turned into weeks. Sooner, it turned into months. Babu Aina did not give up on her daughter. She did everything in her power just to fix her daughter. She prayed day after day and gave charities to those in need, hoping that a miracle will happen, and her daughter will return to her usual self.<\/p>\n

Due to the recommendations of her relatives, she invited known local healers from different towns and paid hefty amount of money only to expel the powerful Jinn <\/em>that was said to have possessed Amina. However, not even one of them were able to explain the peculiar ordeal befallen in our small, secluded street.<\/p>\n

One day, as I silently walked out from our house to catch a ride to school, I passed by a group of old folks, including Babu Halima, in front of Babu Zainab\u2019s store. I heard them talking about Babu Aina\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cEhh she had it coming,\u201d said nonchalantly by the old man. He was sitting on the wooden bench with his legs crossed and a cigarette in his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes say so?\u201d asked Babu Halima.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen how she present herself? Astughfirullah,<\/em>\u201d Babu Zainab replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes! Oh God! Her dress was not appropriate at all,\u201d said by the woman who stood next to Babu Halima. \u201cShe even laughs so loud. With men, if I may add.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith men?!\u201d Babu Halima exclaimed. Clearly taken aback from what she had heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. She laughs as if those strange guys were her mahram,<\/em>\u201d replied by the woman with incriminating tone as she continued to say, \u201cShe doesn\u2019t have any modesty left at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSii rekaniyan bo tiyaman o Allah.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0Babu Halima muttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI warn you, Halima. You better talk to your daughter. That girl is her friend after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAstughfirullah! <\/em>God forbid! Such hysterics have no place in our house.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t pay much attention in their conversation. I continued my way to class as I was running late. My day went as usual. I saw Aisha, Babu Halima\u2019s daughter, sitting weirdly and out of place at the student\u2019s lounge. She looked lost and pale like a ghost. I sat near her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, are you okay?\u201d I looked at her worriedly. She lost weight excessively. Her cheeks were sunken, and her eyes were lost in complete oblivion.<\/p>\n

I stood from my seat and decided to leave. Clearly, she needs her time alone to cope with what was happening in our neighborhood, especially to her friend, I thought. I left her alone and went straight home. I never would have expected what will happen a week after our encounter.<\/p>\n

There was a huge commotion outside our home. Our neighbors were screaming for help and frantically saying that Aisha attempted to end her life. Fortunately, she survived.<\/p>\n

It was difficult for our entire town to understand what was running in the minds of these two girls. The madness that corrupted their souls. Most people from our town were claiming that something evil was behind this string of tragic events, and that someone was trying to harm these poor souls.<\/p>\n

Naturally, due to the recent occurrences concerning Aisha, her mother decided that for the time being, she will drop out at school. Since then, I never heard from her again\u2026 not until the death of Amina.<\/p>\n

Babu Halima went to the diaga <\/em>of Amina along with Aisha. I felt relieved upon seeing her despite the traces of loneliness that were evident in her eyes. She was sitting alone on the chair placed at the corner of the room trying to avoid any attention. I went to her to ask if she was doing well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Aisha. Is everything okay?\u201d She was reluctant at first to answer. She tried to dodge my peering look but later sighed in resignation and replied, \u201cAlhamdulillah. <\/em>I\u2019m okay.\u201d I didn\u2019t pry any further, afraid that she might feel uncomfortable. We sat quietly beside each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, Amina was hearing voices\u2026 voices that she can\u2019t explain.\u201d I was puzzled by her words.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe tried to fight it. Believe me, she tried so hard to fight it \u2013 to silence those voices in her head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked her curiously.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmina, that poor girl, was having episodes.\u201d She looked at the distance trying to hold the tears that was about to fall from her eyes.<\/p>\n

I tried to make sense of her words and asked, \u201cWhat episodes are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSchizophrenia!\u201d She said trying to catch her breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn her mind, voices murder her repeatedly, hunting her even in her sleep.\u201d She cried.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one listened to her plea. For God\u2019s sake! She was begging for help!\u201d She said loudly as she stood from her seat. She looked at me with sadness in the depths of her eyes. Her voice began to crack.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe screamed for help\u201d she continued to say. \u201cShe was screaming for help\u2026 from her mother! From anyone\u2026 from me.\u201d She was panting uncontrollably as she slowly lowered her gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, she is lying there, in her grave, because no one even dared to listen to her.\u201d She was in tears. \u201cI \u2013 \u201d she uttered with conviction and longingness \u201c \u2013 didn\u2019t listen to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the dark and gloomy clouds\u2026 it was quiet.<\/p>\n

The screams of agony and madness were slowly forgotten, buried along with the memory of the girl with brightest smile. The whispers were finally silenced as I sat still, listening to the quiet sound of the girl who mourns the passing of her only friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jannah Reeham M. Macaumbos The smell of death permeated the small dimly lighted room. Two elderly women sat still and quietly near the large bed. Their eyes were swollen, ringed with dark circles. Laid on the bed was a young … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions\/2495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}