The Memory Of Us

Chapter 28

The waiting was the worst part and, at night, Mina tossed and turned, unable to sleep soundly, afraid another stray burnt red brick might come sailing through her other bedroom window once more.

Her old window, the one that had been broken, had been temporarily covered with industrial tape and a thick shower curtain her grandma had reluctantly purchased after Mina confessed that the broken window was a result of her inability to control her anger. She still wasn't sure if she could divulge the truth to her grandma, nervous that it was she who was behind the numerous near-death experiences she had barely survived.

Anxious as ever, she found herself tactfully avoiding her grandmother's house as often as possible while she waited for Chris to finish his 'investigation.' It didn't matter where exactly it was that she went and, more often than not, she found herself wandering the streets aimlessly, as long as she was far away from that house and even further away from that woman.

Tonight, the winter wind whistling through the trees and permeating her thick winter coat even as she tugged it tighter against her body, she had found refuge with Khalil.

He was seemingly just as surprised to see her on his doorstep now as he had been the first time, though this time he invited her in almost immediately on account of the high winds and the undeniable chill in the air.

She let him wrap an arm idly around her back as he ushered her over the threshold of the front door, but he dropped limply at his side once more as Elias peaked, nosy, around the corner of the wall, his eyes sparkling in an innocent child-like manner.

Giggling, Mina held out a hand in the boy's direction and, shyly, he took it, padding softly after her and Khalil as he made his way up to the room he shared with three other boys in the house.

One of them was present, a black-haired boy who looked only a year or two younger than her. Khalil forced him out without an apologetic tone or glance, ignoring the curses the boy spewed beneath his breath as he took care to stomp loudly and drag his feet as he made his way towards the bedroom door that he swiftly slammed behind him.

Luke's voice echoed throughout the entirety of the house seconds later, reprimanding the action.

It was in this room, on Khalil's small twin bed, that she comfortably pulled her legs beneath her, enclosed by both boys on either side, learning sign language. Or at least attempting to learn. She tried to mimic Elia's and Khalil's hand gestures to the best of her ability but, even when Khalil reached over to manually move her hands himself, she still couldn't mimic what she was seeing.

Neither boy seemed to mind though, both grinning wildly as if they were simply happy she was there, a real living being and not a figment of their imaginations.

More than once she had caught Khalil's eyes lingering on her parted lips and, instinctively her eyes would fall to his momentarily before she became hyper aware of the small body pressing firmly against her other side hanging onto her every word and action.

She knew Khalil was hyper aware of it too because everytime his eyes inevitably returned to her lips he would let out a chilling sigh, glancing briefly at Elias at her side before dropping his gaze to a fixed spot on the floor in front of him.

Every time this happened Mina couldn't help but nibble at the inside of her cheek in an attempt to repress an entertained chuckle.

At this, Khalil would look, shake his head, an amused smile threatening the corners of his mouth, before he returned to demonstrating another sign for her. And Elias simply watched it all happen over and over again, though Mina doubted he understood what the charged glances she and Khalil were exchanging actually meant.

It was in the midst of one of these repeated exchanges, Khalil's attention desperately trained towards the lower half of her face once more when her phone pinged with an incoming notification.

The sound pierced the air.

"It's Chris." Mina noted aloud. Khalil scooted closer to her figure, his shoulder pressing firmly against hers now as he glared down at the screen of her phone, both of the reading in silent unison.

His message was a long blue block that Mina had to scroll through to read in its entirety but, not even halfway through the message, she simply began to skim. Luckily, the gist of his wordy message was straightforward.

In his text, he had summarized a week's worth of surveillance of her potential stalker, concisely displaying a clear-cut plan of action of when and where to confront her.

Finished reading, Mina glanced over her shoulder at Khalil, whose eyes were still moving across the screen of her phone. Though his attention was elsewhere he asked, "Are you sure about this?" The worry in his voice was evident and Mina doubted he would have been able to hide it had he tried.

Swallowing hard, Mina responded, "Yes."