Freeing or Fleeing

Chapter Sixteen - Surprise Guests

Chapter Sixteen

Day after day passed and Eijaz refused to speak to me properly, only when necessary. As I became more reserved, mainly keeping to my room, Aaliyah began spending more time with Khadra. This left me feeling even more lonely as the days I would go seeking for her, she wouldn't usually be home. The times I did come out of my room, Mum continued to taunt me. All those factors resulted in the decision to stay with my parents for a while even though I wasn't too fond of the idea, anything was better than here.

A couple of days had gone by without any contact with Eijaz, however, Mum made it her mission to call me every day and find something new to say. Turns out she doesn't like it when I'm not there and even tried to call Amma to get her to send me home. My adamant refusal raised suspicion and Amma kept asking me what was going on, eventually trying to send me home. With the continuous nagging from both Mum's, I eventually agreed to go back at the end of the week, which was in another three days.

I was in my old bedroom, laying on my bed, contemplating where life had gotten. How did it get this bad? I was really unhappy and, as Khadra had put it, a shell of my former self. I was no fun to be around with the state I was in and no one wanted to be around me because of that. Maybe I am the problem after all. Of late, my cheeks had gotten accustomed to becoming wet with tears; it's all I seemed to do when I was alone in my room. And I was in my room a lot, trying to avoid my father. He used every opportunity to pressure me into giving him the financial support he previously had, amongst other demands.

My thoughts went from my father to Mum, to Khadra and Aaliyah and finally settled on Eijaz. Tears poured and poured down my face as I felt betrayal kicking in. How had we only recently spoken about him fulfilling his rights as my husband to this? How had we spoken about his promise to me, to always protect me, to have him refuse to speak to me when it was truly the time that it tested his promise? I couldn't help the anger I felt towards him. What kind of married life was this? Did I really want to live the rest of my life like this? Heartbroken, unhappy, angry and losing the will to live.

Suddenly, my phone rang, scaring me out of my trance. I peered at the caller ID and it was Aaliyah. I had no desire to speak to anyone so I let it continue to ring until it stopped. Only, it began to ring again and again until I finally picked up.

"Assalamu alaikum," I muttered, not meaning to make the anger I felt obvious but it was.

"Uh, waalaikum assalam, Hafeezah. You okay?" She asked warily.

"Alhamdulillah, what's up?" I was not in the mood for a conversation so I didn't ask about her.

"Uhm, I think you need to come home."

"I will, at the end of the week," I answered, rolling my eyes.

"No, you need to come now!" She sounded so desperate.

"Why, what's going on?" I asked with curiosity.

"I don't know exactly but I just have a feeling something that isn't good. I think your mother-in-law is up to something. She told me not to come out of my room." Her voice turned into a whisper towards the end. "Please just come, seems really dodgy. I gotta go, please just come quick!"

With that, she put the phone down. I instantly became confused and worried. Was Aaliyah in danger or something? Without a second thought, I got off the bed and ready. If Mum does something to Aaliyah I had to help her. Fifteen minutes later, I was out of the house and in a cab. In all the rush, I left my phone at Amma's.

When I arrived at the house, I noticed an unfamiliar car parked outside on my way towards the front door. I could hear quite a lot of noise coming from inside as if there were several people there. As I made my way indoors, I saw at least five pairs of shoes that I had never seen before. My heart rate quickened with nerves; I mean, the car and the shoes don't mean much as we could just have guests but mix that with Aaliyah's words and that's where I became anxious. The noise coming from the living room drained out the noise of the front door shutting so nobody heard me come in. I composed myself after I shut the door, took off my shoes and followed the noise into the living room.

Upon walking in, I dropped my bag on the floor from shock and everyone in the room stopped to look. There was Taaibah (the girl Mum wanted Eijaz to get married to) and her family all dressed up in Asian attire as if they were here to impress somebody. Taaibah, what I assumed was her mother and father were sitting on the large sofa. Mum sat on the one-seat sofa and there was a little boy and girl playing with some toys they must have brought with them on the floor close by. Taaibah had her hair neatly tucked under a maroon Hijab that matched her blue and maroon Salwar Kameez. She wrapped her hijab in a way that you could see silver earrings dangling but could not see any of her hair or neck. She was sat with her hands clasping each other on her lap. She was wearing make-up and I must admit she was skilled at it. Her father was wearing a black thobe that had a gold rim, his black hair starting to grey. Her mother wore a lime green saree and a matching hijab. The kids were dressed casually; the boy in a top that had a truck on it and some jeans and the girl in a pink dress. I heard that Taaibah has a brother that has two kids but I didn't see him around.

A couple of days after khadra told me about Mum going to Khala's with a proposal, she sent me a picture of Taaibah because I asked for it. I don't know why but I wanted to see what she looked like and whether she was prettier than me. That's how I knew it was Taaibah and her family. The setting just didn't sit right with me. What would they be doing here?

Mum looked as shocked as I was and everyone else was just confused.

"What's going on, Aleema, who is this?" Taaibah's father broke the silence as he saw Mum's and my expressions.

He turned to Mum, so I could only see the side of his face. His black eyebrows were pulled up questioningly, wrinkles on his face, growing deeper in wrinkles.

Mum snapped out of her shock and shuttered a little for a response before she answered, "Oh, nobody, just someone who helps me around the house sometimes but I told her not to come today."

Mum got up as if trying to direct me out of the room to speak to me quietly but just from her response, I knew something wasn't right. I had to speak up or this whole situation would get worse for me.

"What do you mean, I am the help, Mum?" I chimed in. I turned to Taaibah's father. "I'm her son's wife."

I watched as everyone's expressions changed. Her father's and mother's faces turned into a scowl while Taaibah's face dropped with disappointment. The kids stopped playing with toys.

"What is going on? I thought you said she doesn't live here anymore and that they are in the process of divorce." Taaibah's Mum sounded angry and stood up.

My stomach sank. I was getting a divorce and I didn't even know it? Eijaz really didn't want me? Mum turned from them to me and back at them without uttering a word; she was unsure of what to say. There was no way she could get out of this one.

"A divorce?" I questioned.

"Come on everyone, we are going. What is this nonsense? My daughter will not become the second wife to anybody," Taaibah's dad boomed but before anyone could do anything, the front door unlocked again.

That could be no one other than Eijaz who should have been at work at that moment. He must have come back early for the guests. So he really did want to get remarried.

The anger surrounding me became my own anger and it consumed me. I was extremely hurt. Even before Eijaz could close the front door, I stomped towards him.

"What kind of coward are you?" I attacked. "How am I hearing from people I don't even know that you plan to divorce me and get married to someone else?"

"What are you talking about, Ha ––" He began but I interrupted him.

"Don't act dumb! I know what you and your mother are up to. If this is what you wanted then why did you get married to me in the first place? I didn't need you to save me back then and I don't need you now! You could have saved me the pain and I would have eventually married someone who could have at least tried to keep me happy. Not someone like you," I screamed.

I was beyond caring that there were people watching.

"Hafeezah, calm down. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You can drop the act. I hate all of you!" I shouted as my vision blurred with tears.

I barged past Eijaz and went out of the door. Before I was out of earshot I heard his mother scream:

"Argh, she ruined everything!"