The Girl in The Green Scarf

F i f t y - o n e | Hamsa

C H A P T E R

51

- H a m s a -

"How are we going to stop your father?" I ask Sebastian as we drive closer to the markets.

The streets are now deserted; scary and dark, and the sirens have stopped. But in the distance, I still hear screams and gunshot. And every time I wince.

Sebastian doesn't answer me for a long moment and I think he didn't hear me, but then he says, "I really don't know."

I bite my lower lip. "Talking to him won't work will it?"

"I doubt that. He is blinded by his greed," Sebastian says, rage coiling off his words. "He will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

I can't argue with that.

"You knew about my mother, didn't you?" He asks.

I blink furiously at the back of his head. I know the two versions about his mother's death, which one is he referring to?

"I--"

"Alex told me my father threatened you," he says. "I understand why you did what you did. Your family was in danger."

You were in danger too. I wanted to protect you.

"I thought I had no choice."

"And you didn't. My father is a monster. He killed my mother and made me believe that Muslims did. He always said Muslims deserved what they got after taking her from us. And I believed him, I hated all of you, it didn't help with the pain of losing her, but it helped that I knew who to blame..."

His fingers tighten around the steers.

"I am so sorry," I say, fighting the urge to reach out and soothe the tense muscles of his shoulder.

"It is not your doing."

"It is not yours either."

He glances at me over his shoulder, and I get a quick glimpse of his bloodshot, teary eyes.

My heart aches for him. I get to hate General Walsh all I want, but he's Sebastian father, and no matter how much he hates him, some part still misses his dad.

"Are you scared?" I ask him.

"I'm terrified." And he sounds like a little, lost boy.

"We are going to stop him, no matter what it takes," I tell him, feeling anger boil up in my chest.

He nods, avoiding my gaze.

He starts to slow down, as the courtyard comes to view in the distance. The place where we first met, I held down and being whipped, him barefoot and to the rescue.

Oh, how things changed since then.

The motorcycle comes to a stop and Sebastian hops off.

"Come on," he says. "We are going the rest of the way through the woods. We'll climb over the fence to avoid any guards."

I start to get off the bike when sound explodes above us. The ground shakes slightly and I stumble, losing my balance.

My eyes dart around, and I see fire and smoke plume filling the night sky ahead.

"Is that the factory?" Sebastian exclaims.

Before I can so much as nod my head, another bomb goes off, and then a third, both louder.

My head whips in their direction and I see more flames, this time from deep inside my neighbourhood.

Then I realise those were the last three bombs marked on the map.