Duplus

Chapter 17:

Amaani's POV:

I stared at myself in the mirror with disbelief. My puffy eyes and my red nose made me look like one of the undead. I felt itchy in my nose because of my tear-soaked niqab that had been over my mouth for more than 10 hours.

I couldn't believe it. The Amaani that stood in front of me was the old Amaani. So old that I forgot she even existed. It had been so long since I cried my heart out. The last time I cried; it was when Uncle Saeed came to our doorstep to tell us that my sister had been shot along with her husband. It was overwhelming, hard, depressing, painful—you name it. But I managed.

Actually, Allah helped me through it all.

After the little meltdown I had in front of Jaber, I was sent to my room to "rest". Though, I made a fuss and created a scene that I didn't want to sleep when Lx16 was rotting in prison. Despite all that, Jaber Suleman, aka the mean bully ordered me to go away and rest.

He said that I was tired and a little sleep would do me good but I wasn't taking it. With what he did back there, he earned himself a bad reputation in my eyes.

"Are you done, Amaani?" Sufiyaan's distant voice from behind the wooden door shook me out of my thoughts. I blinked twice and looked around. It hit me that I was standing in the bathroom. I had come to take a bath and freshen up but the events of today had me so occupied that I completely forgot.

Recalling that I had a concerned cousin waiting for an answer behind the door, I called out to him. "Not yet! I'll be out in a minute!" I quickly shouted back. "You've been in there for a while. Are you all alright? You didn't look okay when you entered either. Is something bothering you?" Sufiyaan voiced out his worry which he had been holding in ever since I returned.

A smile automatically appeared on my lips at that. "Don't worry. I'm fine. I'll talk when I'm out." I replied. If Sufiyaan ever got to know that Jaber had made me cry, he would most probably get into a physical fight with him. Even though Jaber certainly did need to get his mind straight and no doubt, a few hits would do the trick, I did not want things to get violent.

Walking out of the bathroom, I felt a wave of comfort and satisfaction. That shower was the most relaxing one I had in ages. Especially since I was completely worn out. I brushed my wet hair and put on some comfortable casual clothes. Content with my look, I walked out the door, ready to face Sufiyaan.

"I'm so relieved to finally see you, Amaani." Sufiyaan stated as soon as I sat down on the chair. He placed a bowl of gravy in front of me and handed me some bread. Looking up at him, I gave him a smirk. "Sufiyaan cooking for me? I could get used to it." A glint of mischief flashed in my eyes as I teased him. Sufiyaan rolled his eyes a little. "Don't. If I start serving you, you're gonna drive me nuts."

I pouted. "Anyway, I'm glad you're finally back. I was so worried. You aren't hurt, are you?" Sufiyaan came straight to the point. I shook my head. "No. Alhamdulillah, I'm perfectly well." My face fell when my mind reminded me that it was due to Lx16 I was sitting there and enjoying lunch. But I shook it off when Sufiyaan spoke up again.

"Alhamdulillah. By Allah's mercy, you're fine. But I'm never letting you do something like this again. Who knows? Next time, you might not be so well." He said bluntly. I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm never doing something like this again."

The dead bodies crawled back to mind. The bloody scene started to replay in my mind again and I thought to myself; did these gruesome thoughts trouble Lx16 too every once in a while?

I was once again pulled out of my thoughts by Sufiyaan. "You're spacing out a lot today. Mind telling me what happened there? How did you find the girl?" He asked, sitting across me on the only other chair around. My gaze moved to him, wondering whether Sufiyaan needed to know about the attack and most importantly, Mr. Ibrahim's murder.