Twice His Age

9: Promises Made

"How's Waleed?" She must've remembered her son. Maybe she thought about the possibility of someone that would never have to hurt her and he was the only person she could think of.

"He's at home. You know I always feed him and ask him not to come out of the chamber, right? He's safe, I promise." Anas answered with a voice that was clouded with so much agony.

"I think we should get a nurse to help her change into this, Anas." Zaid uttered and handed him the dress. He dropped it beside her on the bed before the two men walked out of the room together.

Zaid walked up to the reception and asked for a nurse that would take care of her for the night and paid extra for that before they walked to the car. Anas was about to walk back to the room when he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I think she needs an alone time, Anas. She's still frightened over what had happened." He said softly and Anas looked up at him with so much pain in his eyes. "I know it's hard watching the one you love going through all this. I don't know her story but trust me, everyone could tell that she's going through so much. And for someone that deeply loves her like you do, it must have been killing you everyday. But just for today, let her be, okay?"

Wordlessly, Anas walked together with him to the car and they drove directly to the Barkindo mansion. Anas wanted to walk up to Mommy and confront her about it but Zaid stopped him, because he knew with the way he was feeling tonight, there was nothing he wouldn't say to her and he of all people, he knew what having a feud with one's mother felt like. He wouldn't want his friend to experience the same kind of pain.

They had bathed and ate before they both sat and stared into space, with everyone fighting his own demons and out of the blue, Anas began to speak to him with a voice that was coated with so much agony.

"From what I've been told, Sabeeha is my relative. She came to our house when she was only ten years old and I was one year old at the time, you know?" They both chuckled painfully at that, while Anas thought of how good she had made his childhood. "Mommy told me that Daddy's elder brother is Sabeeha's grand father, making Daddy her grand uncle, right? And when all her parents are late and Alhaji Babba died too, she has no one but Daddy, and so they took her home. But not for once had I ever seen her get treated like a relative, Zaid. Somedays I wondered if the story Mommy told me was even true, I swear."

Zaid was silent, because he could see how painful it was for Anas to open up to the darkest side of his beloved family. "To my brother, me and my sister, our parents are the best ones could ever wish for, and I've always wondered why they couldn't even be as half to Beeha as they are to us. She was done with primary when she came here and hadn't been enrolled to school until she was fourteen years, reason? I don't know. But even though I was only four at the time, I knew what she was going through wasn't right. And most of the times, I cried to Mommy and Daddy and beg them not to do that to her."

"Beeha practically raised me and Meeral all by herself at that tender age and if she dared make a mistake? She'd be severely dealt with. Fast forward, she graduated at twenty years old and then was immediately married off to Waleed's Dad..." He stopped midway and burst into tears. Zaid didn't know what it was that made him cry but he knew whatever it was, it had to be so terrible for her and he didn't even want to know her story now.

Because once he do, he knew that she'd be stuck into his mind for eternity. Not that she wasn't already.

"It's fine, Anas. We have forever to talk about this. It's so hard for you now." He whispered and Anas wiped at his tears.

"For most nights I stayed up and wondered what I'd do to help bring her out of the situation she's in, Zaid. You have no idea what she has gone through and is still going through. I know that I have to protect her but it would've been easier if these people weren't my parents, Zaid."

"Believe me, I understand how you're feeling Anas. You're torn between what is right and wrong because to you, both sides are right. Don't beat yourself up at it, okay? We'd figure things out, but for now, just sleep."

They lightly spoke some more before they all turned to their sides of the bed and laid down. But sleep was the last thing on their minds. Zaid was jet lagged that after having thought for some time, sleep was slowly trying to take away his soul and he heard his name being called by Anas.

"Mmm?" He mumbled sleepily and Anas was silent for a while to the point that Zaid thought he was mistaken when he heard him called his name.

"I want you to promise me one thing, Zaid, please." His voice was so low that it instantly awakened Zaid and he turned to get a clear view of his face.

"What is it? And you please need to stop sounding so heartbroken, Anas. That driver will be taken care of, I promise."

"I'm not even worried about that. Yes, it bothers me and hurts me so much, but for now, I'll have to keep it at bay. It's about Sabeeha and Waleed, will you please promise me?"

"Yes. What is it about?"

"Please even if I failed at protecting them, help me in doing so. Promise me that you'd protect Sabeeha for me, Zaid. That you'd make sure that Waleed didn't get to live like his mother did. And for Sabeeha to find happiness even if for once in her life, please?"

Zaid stared at the battered eyes that stared back at him and he realized he had never seen something so raw as the pain in Anas's eyes. "I can't promise you that, Anas. You know how serious I take my promises, especially when you asked it looking this way."

"Why? Won't you do this for your friend? Or it's too much a task to do for a friend, Zaid?"

He lightly threw him a punch, feeling a squeeze in his heart at the way Anas's voice was sounding. "You know that's not it. I can have my life on hold to do something for you, Anas. I owe you my entire life and you know it, right? But for this, how could I take care of them, her happiness and that of her son when I can't be in their lives? You're in the right position to do this, and I believe you can do it even if it's going to be a bit hard."

"I believe I can, but you're like a pillar of my strength when mine is going low. Knowing that I have you beside me in this painful and hard project will make me at least worry less. Promise me, Zaid, that you'd protect and take care of my Beeha, will you?"

Zaid didn't like the sound of this conversation, it was too heartbreaking. And the last thing he wanted was another heartbreaking moment now. So, he forced a smile to his lips and nodded his head. "I promise, Anas, I'd take care of your Beeha and her Waleed until my last breath. I promise that if I could, she'd never shed a single tear ever again. She'd be treated kindly and know what living a life actually means. And if I could, I'd make sure she gets to experience love. And I'd make sure she gets loved in it's highest and most beautiful form."

Anas heaved a sigh and a forlorn smile took over his lips. "That's all I need, my friend. Thank you for being this kind of friend."

"I'll make sure I get the two of you married and get to hold your child that'd lay on her womb. Have all your fantasies including her fulfilled, okay?" Anas was smiling at the sound of that and Zaid chuckled softly before he punched him lightly.  "Now, sleep peacefully because you've gotten a Shitu by your side. And you know our loyalty is never one to be questioned."

"I trust my guy," he mumbled sleepily and turned to the other side of the bed. "Beeha has a dream, and that's to further her studies and be a lawyer someday. Make that dream come true too, will you?"

"I will, I promise. You know I'm like Aladdin, just tell me everything she wants and I'll fulfill them all. And I'll keep all my promises, Insha Allah." He avowed. And even though this seemed like a childish conversation between them, because they both know what Anas had asked of him and what he had promised he would do, but deep down, Zaid knew that without intending to, he had taken those promises to heart and now he'd have to figure a way out to keep them.

Because a promise made, should be a promise kept.

Maybe that was his reason, maybe not.