Chapter 15 — Aftermath

"I swear dad, I wanted narrating the whole thing to you guys but seeing mum in such condition made me to promptly change my mind". I gulped, staring at him. "I don't want to add up to her problem that's why". I sighed.

"Which problem? Or did she told you her blood pressure is high?" He said loudly, not minding who would hear him or not. "Tell me Balqis!". He added.

That moment, I felt like busting into another series of tears but then my conscience told me to be strong. "Why can't you just believe me dad? I know I made a mistake before, I should have told you about Abdullah's past aloofness towards me but..."

"You didn't,". He chimed in. "Yes, you didn't because you were so afraid that I might end your marriage with him".

"Dad I'm so sorry but I swear I have no intention of hiding this one from you or anyone, after all I'm no longer even returning back to Abdullah's house anymore". I gulped, folding my arms around my chest as I adjusted my sitting position. "He doesn't love me!".

"Yes, he doesn't anymore". I heard him cleared his throat. "And I will make sure he pay for everything that he..."

"Excuse me dad". I intruded, immediately my phone began to ring. "It's Abdullah's friend, please can I..."

"Yes Balqis, we will talk later". He left.

And immediately he stormed into mum's ward I picked the call... "Hello".

"Hi Balqis, please can you come over to my office tomorrow? I want us to talk, it's about Abdullah". He asked.  

I sighed. "I... I don't really think so. My mum is sick you know, she's got a broken ankle. But Alhamdulillah, she's already recovering". I explained.

"What!". I heard him screamed through the phone. "Broken what you say?".

"Ankle". I recapitulated.

"But hope she's fine?". He asked.

"Ehm, oh yes! She's recovering, just like I told you earlier ". I replied.

"Okey, is like I'd be the one to come over, or what do you think?" He said.

"No, please don't!".

"Why?".

"Because my mum doesn't know about what happened yet, and I don't want her to know until she gets better".

"So now what?".

"Wait, I will give you a call when I think about it. Bye, and take care". 

"Okey Balqis, I will wait".

And that was how our conversation ended. I went back to the ward and saw dad explaining to mum what the doctor said about her ankle. I sat on the other side of the bed, where I was, and listened to what he was saying.

"And so another x-ray needs to be done tomorrow, In Shaa Allah, as soon as possible..." He calmly elaborated.

...

The following day I called sister Barirah, she was baffled when I told her about mum's situation. She came immediately with a feigned angry face and began querying mum why she wasn't informed about it earlier.

I left them while they kept arguing with eachother. Meeting Basheer was all I wanted that moment, and so I called him. He told me to meet him at the staff conference where he worked in the Government House. We met and he ushered me into his office, for the first time since we've known eachother.

"What would you like me to order for you please Balqis? Is it pizza? Although something is telling me all you want right now is Shawarma and some kinds of..." He said halfway as I intruded.

"Oh please Mr Truth, don't adhere to your scrutiny okey? I'm not even hungry, and neither am I thirsty". I objected, surveying the interior of his office. "You're enjoying here, your office is awesome and your air-con is cool".

"What did you just say?". He busted into laughter. "You call this awesome? Seriously you need to look around again, Balqis". He said, glancing around.

"I don't need to, it's awesome I say!". I smiled at him. "So, what do you want us to talk about Abdullah? I hope he's enjoying his life with that whore?".

He heaved a sigh and brought out an envelope from a file on his desk. "Here please Balqis, have it". He extended it to me. "It's from your husband, he told me to deliver it to you".

"What's that?". I collected the envelope and opened it. "A letter and our house keys? I don't understand".

"Check very well, your car key is there too. The one you gave him". He said.

I checked, and behold it was there. "What's all this about? I don't really understand, seriously!". I blurted out.

"Read the letter". He said.

"Okey". I quickly opened the letter and began reading it inaudibly... It was a divorce letter from Abdullah,

Subhanallah!