Replacement Girl

Chapter 2 - Ahmad

I stood pathetically at Garima junction searching for a cab home. My car had just broken down and the network was so bad that I couldn't contact my driver to come pick me up. It had been a hectic day at work, I wanted to go home and have some rest only to end up in this mess. "Gosh!" I cursed as I turned to look at my car again. "Crazy bitch" I muttered. The time was quarter past six in the evening, meaning if I didn't reach home soon the place would soon be dark. And considering how dangerous it could be for me to stand there alone, I decided to trek to a hotel few kilometers away. It wasn't easy for me as I wasn't use to stress. I was halfway to the hotel when a car pulled over in front of me, it was a black Mercedes Benz with tinted glasses. I was scared.

I gently moved away from the car and continued walking. One strange thing about the car was it kept following me slowly, and each time I turned it would stop. I wanted asking the person the hell he or she was but I was the scaring type so I kept moving swiftly until I reached the hotel. I booked a room for the night and peeped through the window to see if the car was still by the hotel's gate. It wasn't there. I sighed and walked to a bed. "God, I'm exhausted!" I said falling wearily on the bed. My phone beeped in my pocket, I slut my hand inside and brought it out. It was a text from my wife, the network had recovered. I sighed reading the text.

"Ahmad, where are you? Stay wherever you are please, it's not safe over here"

I gulped as I adjusted to a sitting position. What was she really talking about? I wondered as I began typing,

"Naziha, I don't understand..."

I texted and patiently waited for her to reply. It took almost ten minutes for her message to pop up. I quickly viewed it.

"Xenophobic attacks in our area, they are destroying Mtn and DStv shops"

What?! I blurted out with my heart beating very fast. Perhaps that was the reason why the network went down hours ago. But why would they retaliate what the South Africans are doing to our people in their country? Don't they know that it would critically affect us? Many people here are using Mtn, DStv, and many other South African products. Fire can never quench fire, they should let the government do its job. I mulled over.

"This isn't really good, stay indoors please! Tell Mubarak not to open the gate to anyone at all cost, okay?"

This time around her text arrived just immediately after mine was delivered,

"Okay, I love you Ahmad"

I sighed as I quickly typed back,

"I love you too, Naziha"

I went to the bathroom and performed ablution after having dropped my phone on the bedside table. I did my Magrib prayer and later on, Ishaa. I took my phone to check on my parents but the network wasn't stable at all. I hissed and turned on the Tv in the room. The xenophobic attacks was been aired by a local Tv station. I hissed, turned it off and slept. I disliked nonsense.

...

In the morning I woke up, prayed, ordered for breakfast, and then took off. I went to the exact spot where I left my car, thus I called my mechanic to handle it. "Bring it to my house once you're done" I said to him before leaving.

The cab I boarded was owned by a South African, he said he wasn't happy about the xenophobic attacks that was going on in his home country and here. "We are all Africans, I'm sure the whites are now laughing at us" He said.

"They sure are" I blurted.

It was a wonderful ride, we kept talking until we reached the area I lived in. Everywhere was calm, no pedestrian could be seen outside. He dropped me in front of my gate and I paid him.