Beneath Guarded Hearts - 73

Previously…

3alya

He wants a battle? Well he’ll get one. I fished out my bronzer and red lipstick, adding the final touches to my make-up, and not to merely cheer myself up anymore. It was time I took this unjust correlation to another level. It was time for payback.

____________

Sul6an

            A whole day had passed since I sent the text, and no reply. No sign of 3alya. I sighed heavily. Images of her deep eyes sneaked into my head, her pink cheeks, the thick locks of her fringe that curved in a messy crescent just beneath her shaila… that one rare moment when she actually smiled…

           

“Sul6an… Sul6aaan!”

I blinked. Why couldn’t I get her out of my head?

Me: “Haa sho?”

3wash: “What is up with you today? The least you could do is pretend like you actually care about your family.”

            And here we go again, typical 3wash. Always seizing the moment to embarrass me or prove me wrong whenever she could. I flashed a smile at her.

Me: “Of course I care, just not about you.”

            She knew I was teasing her of course. Our little rivalry might have settled down, but that didn’t mean that I still didn’t have fun mocking her. I got up and excused myself, slipping my phone into the pocket of my kandoora. As was expected, she followed my tracks.

3wash: “Yalla spill. Who is she?”

            My shoulders stiffened for a mere second before I forced myself to relax. I took in one breath, a long pause, and I finally replied.

Me: “There was and always will be only one ‘she’ in my life, and we both well know that she’s long gone.”

            I continued all the way through the hallway without looking back, and I picked up my car keys and drove off.

            Just when I was about to check my phone, it buzzed and started blinking. I had a message from Rashid, for some reason. After I found out what he had done for my sister, I had thanked him for being the brother I always knew him to be. And then of course, I beat him for not telling me about it. I smiled and opened his chat.

            He sent me a picture and wrote in the comment: I’m so sorry.

            I opened it. I was mesmerized. She was posing, her eyes shut and her red lips rounded into a kiss as she blew into the camera. A figure stood next to her, his white clothing contrasting with her opaque, black 3abaya. His face didn’t show, but there was a strong arm curled around her lower back, resting on her waist. I stared at her for a long time before I took it all in, and I blinked into reality. I hit a sudden break in the middle of the highway, and not moments later I felt the door crush into me, cracking the bones in my left arm. My head was spinning as the deformed body parts of my car blended into a new shape. I only saw a flash of a robust truck as sparks of firelight ignited beneath the friction of its tires, and then I saw nothing. I only saw her face, the bright red of her full lips curving into a smile, fading into the blackness. My brain was numbed as unconsciousness won me over.

3 days later…

3alya

            Baba received me in my old bedroom, a place that reeked with my childhood memories. No matter how much I was determined to put my past behind me, my room was bold reminder that it had all happened and would never go away. My tears were embedded into these walls, my hopes and fears floating in the air about us, and traces of my mother’s compassion lingered in the corners. He finally spoke, breaking me free of these chains of locked memories that roamed freely in this room.

Baba: “Inte mafeech 5air?”

            I stared at him, confused. I was used to his demeaning comments, but his face seemed anxious, almost worried.

Me: “Sho?”

            He sighed heavily as the features of his face slackened, making him appear older.

Baba: “Sul6an got into an accident, and your only response was to continue partying night after night? You didn’t even bother visiting him, you selfish, ungrateful girl! I’m trying to help you regain your status, and this is what you do to me?!”

Me: “P- Party?”

Baba: “Your pictures have reached me, 3alya. This is the last straw. I-”

            My brain processed all his information. I gasped, automatically standing up.

Me: “Sul6an? Accident?!”

Baba: “PLEASE, drop the act. 9idg mafeeni. E7mdy rabch he even considered taking you in the beginning. Now all your chances are ruined! You were supposed to seduce him! What use are you making of your mother’s beauty? It’s all gone to waste!”

            The mention of my mother grabbed my attention again, stealing away my worried thoughts as my hand loosened its grip on my car keys.

Me: “Don’t you ever speak about mama like that again. She was never your item to show off to everyone, never your right to boss around as you willed. Look what has become of us! It’s all your doing, not mine! And my status is perfectly fine, I don’t need YOU to tell me what my worth is!”

            I strode off with purposeful steps, enraged as I rushed to my car. I had to get to Sul6an. I had to see him and make sure he was okay. I don’t know why my eyes started to water, but I blinked my tears away and hit the gas. There was no time for tears; Sul6an needed me.

To be continued…