Sham

20 :) Aminah

I went back to working my regular shift. After I escorted my cousins back to the airport the other day, I felt a little bit homesick at their absence. Even though they spent just a period of 24hours, nothing could compete with the gaiety I felt during the moments we were together. No matter how unaffected Layla claimed to be, I could clearly see past her facade and saw how sad she was that they had to leave so soon but it couldn't be helped.

I travel back home during the holidays, never wanting to miss any time to spend together with them, but lately, I've been spending lesser and lesser time with them. I've been picking up shifts at BD's during the holidays too, but after seeing their faces recently, I doubt I would anymore.

Today, just like every other day, I was at Highlights, counting down the minutes left before I get off. I haven't been working overtime lately, instead I've been getting more sleep than before and working on my assignments at the appropriate time. I was almost done with my shift when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. The caller ID read Nate, and I picked it up almost immediately, thinking it was Alex.

"Hello." I said unsure, not certain it was Alex.

"Hi." I heard a distressed Nate say from the other side. "How are you doing?" He continued.

"I'm fine." I replied. "Is everything okay?" I asked carefully.

"Uhm, y-yeah." he stuttered and I immediately knew something was up.

"Nate what's going on, is Alex alright?" I crossed my fingers as my mind raced at all the endless scenarios of what could probably have happened.

"He's fine, but I need you to go get him before he does something stupid. He went to the Underground."

"What's that?" I asked confused.

"It's a street fight down the alley." I sucked in a breath as he said that. The alley. Everyone who lives around here knows there are no clean businesses done at the alley. What on earth is Alex getting himself into?

"Why-" I gulped down hard. "Why would he go there?" I croaked out.

"He used to go there whenever he couldn't get his anger under control, but he's stopped going there for months, even over a year now." he revealed another part of Alex I've yet to know.

"Then why did he go there again?"

"He- fuck, I don't know either. He's been doing so well lately, but ever since his last match with Austin, he's been on edge." I knew I should have pressed further when I heard how strained he sounded the other day.

"Please Minah, can you get him? I know it's pretty dangerous for you to go but there's no one else I can call. Dy isn't in town right now, he's out on a business trip, and I'm also not at school. I had to rush back home for an emergency."

"Okay." My shift was almost over, I just had few minutes left. "Send me the location."

"Okay, I will. Please Minah, be careful. You can take some self defense tools along if you have any, and please put a call through to me when you see him." I ended the call, staring ahead in deep thoughts. I didn't spare another second the moment the clock hand stopped on 11, bolting out of the club like a madwoman. I followed the direction Nate sent to me, stopping on the way to purchase a pocket knife and a pepper spray.

When I got close to the alley, I clutched my bag tightly around me, sending a quiet prayer of protection to the big man above. I tried calling Jen but her number wasn't connecting, it kept going to voicemail so I left a voice note for her instead. At least if anything was to go wrong, someone would be aware of my movement.