Freeing or Fleeing

Chapter Thirteen - The Expected Reaction

His mouth was agape, unsure of how to reply.

"Why didn't you give him Khalu's number?" He eventually voiced.

"I did. He has yours and Khalu's number but someone needs to go to Khalu and tell him about it. I can't exactly do that, can I?" I asked, slipping out of my abaya.

"Do you even know what this guy is like?"

"Nope, that's your job to find out." I bounced around the room, putting all the clothes I took off in their designated places.

"You are something else," he muttered, although I managed to hear it.

"Hey! I heard that!"

He just chuckled in response.

I finally turned back to him, making my way to the bed. It was now or never; I had to tell him I brought someone home before Mum found out and made a fuss. I sat beside him and fiddled with my hands.

"I need to tell you something," I gulped nervously.

"What's up? Is everything okay?" Concern was laced in his voice.

"Er... so you know that girl we saw on the way back from my parents' and we tried to follow her?" I began, waiting for him to react.

He nodded his head slowly, raising an eyebrow, wondering where the conversation was going.

"Well, I found her today and she's downst ––" I wasn't able to finish my sentence when we heard shouts coming from downstairs.

Eijaz immediately stood up and ran out of the room and I followed pursuit. We came face to face with Mum holding the spare room door open, shouting while the girl in the room (I just realised I still didn't know her name) was shaking on the spot, biting her bottom lip.

"Mum, what's going on?" Eijaz asked as we came to a stop outside the room.

"What do you mean what is going on here? Why is there a stranger in the house with all her things here as if she's moving in?" Mum directed her anger towards him.

Eijaz turned towards me with an eyebrow raised.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. She's been kicked out and I couldn't leave her on the streets so I brought her here," I babbled, worried about their reaction.

"I told you to be careful of this one! She does whatever she wants whenever she wants. You need someone who listens to you and gets your permission before she does anything. This is your house. How have you allowed her to get on top of your head?" Mum shouted at Eijaz.

"Mum, please, can we just discuss this somewhere else and not in front of the guest," I suggested, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Guest? Ptsh, it looks like she's moved in and without letting anyone know."

"Mum, let's just go into your room and talk about this calmly." Eijaz grabbed his Mum by the shoulder and directed her out of the spare room. "She's had a rough time, let her settle for a bit. Hafeezah, let's go."

Mum didn't argue and I followed the two, but not before I flashed an apologetic look over to our 'guest'.

"I'll sort this out, don't worry," I mouthed to her just before the room's door closed.

I closed Mum's bedroom door behind me to muffle out our voices to stop it from escaping the room. That's only if no one shouts. Mum and Eijaz both looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to explain.

"She needs a place to stay and we had a spare room, just until she is able to sort something out." I leaned against the door of the room and played with my fingers behind my back.