The Wedding

Chapter 26

Monday (night)

5 days to the wedding

As she stands there outside still confused as to why Mukhtar had acted that way, the first breeze blows by, carrying that heavenly scent of fresh flowers, the first tell of the hopefully coming rain. Laila remembers that at around that time, a year ago on the first rain of the season she had gone to that reunion. She finds herself not sure of what to feel, to smile because of the turn her life had taken due to the events of that night? What she'd gotten from it; Yusuf or to grieve on the opportunity she'd lost due to the events of that night; Yaseer.

"Where've you been?!"

Laila looked to see Ya Zainab rushing out of the house and toward her. When she reaches Laila she comes to stand in front of her but she looks scared. "I was at Zee's house, what happened?"

"I knew I heard right" she stalks towards them her hand pointed at Laila "You"

Laila cranes her neck to look behind her sister to see her other sister rushing towards her. She too looks emotional just like Ya Zainab but a different type of emotion.

"What is going on, what hap-"

Laila's eyes widen in shock and she involuntarily staggers back. She raises her head to face her sisters, one looked as shocked as Laila did, the other looked angry.

"Why did-"

Her words are interrupted again by another resounding slap across her cheek whose sound was drowned by the thunder that struck across the sky

"Ya please calm down" Zainab was pleading

"Calm down?!" Ya Halima yelled "You're asking me to calm down after knowing what she did?"

Only then did the victim of the assault realize what she was being hit for. Her mind had been occupied with things and she'd successfully forgotten the events of the morning. "Ya I was trying to help you"

"You carried yourself to my husband's restaurant and insulted him in public? In what sick way does that sound like helping me?"

"I'm sorry" Laila said, her voice calm and she wasn't crying yet surprising herself greatly cause those slaps stung. "But he needed to know what he'd done"

"And the only way to do that was by insulting his mother?!"

"Laila you should have stayed out of this" Ya Zainab was saying

"I shouldn't have stayed out? I've caught her crying so many times these past few days and remember when Maryam left?" she looked at Ya Zainab while her finger was pointed at Ya Halima, "She cried, when the girl hurt herself she cried, when Mama said Maryam was the granddaughter she never had she cried, every little reminder made her cry!"

"Did I ask for your help?!"

"You didn't ask for it but you needed it! You were letting an old fickle woman control your life!" Laila snapped and Ya Halima raised her hand to slap her again and Laila readied herself for it. She heard the sound of her sister's palm making contact with someone's skin but it wasn't hers. She looked up to find Yaseer standing between her and Ya Halima having emerged from nowhere

"You should calm down" he said to Ya Halima ignoring how she had just hit him

"Get out of my way"

"Hitting her won't solve anything"

"It'll solve more than you think" she barked, "Move!"

Ya Zainab grabbed Ya Halima's arm and pulled her back, stopping her from trying to get around Yaseer to reach Laila. Laila was standing behind Yaseer in silence as he blocked her from her sister.