Freeing or Fleeing

Chapter Eight - A Heavy Predicament

Chapter Eight

Ascending the stairs and entering Khadra's room, I was relieved that I hadn't bumped into Khalu because I couldn't bear another irrelevant conversation.

Her room was the smallest of three bedrooms but still fitted all the essentials and more; the first thing you see as soon as you walked in was a single bed, the head against the wall below the window, adjacent to this was her wardrobe and next to that was a small vanity table with a chair. In the opposite side was a computer desk, not that she used it much. It was piled with papers that she barely looked at and other little things. The chair in front of the desk had so much clothes thrown onto it and I can't remember the last time I saw it clear. Her laptop practically lived on her bed. Her walls were a soft blue, which she recently painted. Her two brothers shared a room and the master bedroom was for Khala, Khalu and Zarah.

"Hey! You could have knocked!" Khadra sat up on her bed, throwing her phone as far away from her as possible on the other side of the bed.

I raised an eyebrow, suspicious at her reaction.

"Since when do you care whether I knock or not?"

I plopped myself on the end of her bed and reached towards her phone, but before I could grab it, she dived for it and placed her hand on it. Her cheeks turned red when she realised what she had done, making it obvious to me that something was up.

"listen ––" she began but I interrupted her.

She sat up, her phone securely in her hand. She refused to make eye contact.

"Who is he?" I asked, sternly.

"Hafeezah, look..." she trailed off.

"Khadra! Stop being childish! It's not like Eijaz fell down from the sky on our wedding day. If you're talking to a guy, then you better tell me," I demanded, folding my arms across my chest.

I was not in the mood to play games.

"It's not like that," she responded, sheepishly.

Oh, it's exactly like that.

"Are you ready to marry him?" I cut to the chase.

There is no point beating around the bush. I wasn't sure if I was angry at her for what she was doing or for the fact that she didn't tell me.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, her eyes wide with shock.

"Oh, don't give me that. If you're talking to a guy, then either marry him or stop talking to him," I said, bluntly. "Why am I even telling you this? You already know this!"

"Hafeezah, hear me out, please."

She sounded nervous. For some reason, I really didn't care. I was angry, sad and frustrated all in one and this situation didn't help. I came here because I was ready to tell someone the truth, to let everything out before my insides burst, yet here I was stuck in her situation. I shouldn't have allowed myself to get to that point, where my emotions dictated my selfish behaviour.

"Just give me a moment, I need the bathroom."

When I realised that I let my emotions dictate my behaviour towards her, I knew I needed to cool myself down. I splashed some water on my face and took a look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"Okay, let's go!" I gave myself a pep talk and made my way back to Khadra's room.

"Are you okay, Hafeezah?" Khadra asked me as I sat on her bed.

"Yeah, so tell me, what's been going on? And preferably from the start," I commanded, less as harsh as before.

"I met him at the library," she began, taking in my reaction. So I was right, after all.