Within the Sins

١٣ The Unraveling

بسمتها وطن.

A loud scream rings through Yazid's ears, causing him to flick his eyes open and sit up on the bed. Eyes half-opened, he scans the source of the scream, finally gawking at a body in the middle of the room. He rubs his eyes open to take a good gander at the person in front of him, which he can already tell is a girl with a yellow hijab on and light gray jeans.

The familiar pair of brown eyes look back at him in horror. No, he thinks. There is no way.

He looks down at his body and finally notices that his chest is bare. He lifts the blanket up. No. No. No.

Absolutely not.

What in the world happened?

No.

There is no way.

He looks back up. "Aseel," he breathes, his shivering hands held tight on the blanket, shoulders crouched.

Aseel backs towards the bedroom door. "What the actual hell, Yazid?" She searches for the doorknob while staring at him wide-eyed, lips parted.

Once she slams the door shut, Yazid instantly stands up and pulls his trousers on. He rushes to the door and swings it open.

Catching him off-guard, a palm meets his cheek. "What the hell?" He groans at the burning sting. He takes a step backward, hand on cheek, confused eyes looking down. "What are you doing here?!"

Aseel starts to swing her arms at him, throwing a slap one time, other times a punch or push. He kept blocking her throws and swings, walking backwards towards the bed. Once he reaches it, she pushes him onto the mattress, climbs on the bed, and continues throwing all sorts of hits, aiming for his face, stomach and chest. This goes on for several minutes, Yazid allowing her to hit him on the chest and stomach but not the face. He blocks each slap to the face with his forearms and uses his knees to push her away from him once she inches closer to his face.

This is the first time she ever lays a finger on him, and he deserves it. He has absolutely no idea why she is here, but God surely sent her to expose and punish him. He deserves this. As the eldest, he is supposed to be a role model for his sisters, but he is far from that. She is better than him. He knows Aseel well; yes, they never got along, but she is the perfect guide for Sandra and Sadeen. From the high grades to the right decisions to respecting her body, Aseel has always been what Yazid yearned to be. But he couldn't help his disagreeable nature. He and she were knee high to a grasshopper when he realized that she would always be seen as the firstborn. One would think Hasan would have a bigger heart for Yazid as his only son, but Aseel is worth one hundred and ten boys. His father made that very clear to him at a young age, when Yazid constantly picked fights at school, brought home poor report cards, and was arrested for hotwiring a neighbor's car at thirteen.

He is a waste—always has been.

Always will be.

Besides, he was conceived out of wedlock unlike his sisters.

At one point, the constant hitting starts to hurt his body, so Yazid grabs Aseel's arms right before her hands collide on his abdomen. He pushes her off of him and flips her body, gripping her arms and pushing them into the mattress. "Enough," he mutters.

"Let go of me!" Aseel shifts and kicks, but Yazid's hold is too strong for her to escape.

"What are you doing here?" He mumbles, a tightening in his chest branching out to his abdomen. He is too afraid to know what she is doing in such a neighborhood.

"Goddamn it, Aseel, the hell you doing here I said!"

"She's my friend, you bastard! She's my friend! What are you doing here? What's your problem, Yazid? You slept with my friend! You're so perverted! You're a monster and a demon! You damned jerk!"