Hello, Mr. Umbrella

Chapter Nine

Almond oil has the best fragrance there is, but when mixed together with the stench of stale leftovers, the fragrance would transgress into something from Davy Jones' locker. That was what Aliyah's room smelled like. Everything was disorganized: she left her laundry undone; dust had covered every furniture she had, rotten untouched foods were scattered all over her marble tiled floor—worse; used, baked tissue were also lying carelessly on the floor. The picture-perfect pigs' pen. She laid on her bed unaffected—probably because she was lying on her stomach, yet she slept peacefully with the filths.

Obnoxiousness runs in her veins.

The bolted metallic door unlocked from outside and it opened ajar. Mrs Santos' head popped inside from the crack the door had made. She instantly covered her nose as she perceived the unpleasant stench her daughter's room was emitting. Disgusted was an understatement to describe how she felt: she felt like thousands of arachnids were crawling under her skin. She couldn't help but leap not to step on any disgusting—rotten food that was kept on the floor.

Mrs Santos couldn't help but pity her daughter. She was undergoing a very hard moment in her life and all they could do was to worsen it with more lies. She kind of felt sorry for Aliyah and wished she could just make her skip school for the day, but either way she had to go.

Rolling up the blinds, the sun rays flashed directly inside Aliyah's eyes burning her eyelids. She hissed softly like a vampire and gently opened her eyes. Setting them on her mum made an audible scoff escape her mouth.

Feeling guilty for lying to Aliyah at the hospital, Mrs Santos tried to talk first. "Salaam (peace) Aliyah, how was your night?" She questioned in the sweetest voice she could gather and she took her seat next to Aliyah on the bed.

"It was fine before you came in unorthodoxly." Aliyah shot her mother's heart with her sharp tongue first thing in the morning.

Mrs Santos forced out a fake smile, "I'm sorry Aliyah, we lied to keep you save from your ego."

Aliyah came out of bed and ignored her mother totally; she stretched and yawned nonchalantly—mostly to annoy and chase her mother out of her room.

Mrs Santos' lips were out of words. She felt betrayed and sad; her daughter thought of her as the devil's incarnate if not the devil himself. The reasons behind their dishonesty were: to save Aliyah from her egoistic mind, to save her piety and mostly they thought lying to her and feeding her new and pure memories could convert her from her obnoxious self to a better somebody; but they were wrong once again. The anonymous writer ruined everything for them. Maybe the universe was also tired of their dishonesty.

"You should eat something and perform salah (prayer). If you're angry at us, you should at least pray. Allah wasn't the one who lied to you." Mrs Santos forced out and gave Aliyah a smile before walking out of Aliyah's room, embarrassed.

Aliyah was surprised her mother didn't push her buttons and she was vexed at the same time; she had many venomous things to say to her but she left earlier than she did. "I will never talk to any of you again!" She yelled as her mother walked out. Since she couldn't watch her mother breakdown, she could actually say that to the back of her head. She was self-contained saying that; like she had won a battle between herself and her mother. As much as she wanted to keep her room stinky she needed fresh oxygen to circulate her room.

She opened her window widely and could see the oak tree planted just below her balcony—it was beautiful. The birds in it were chirping in a harmonious way as the summer breeze blew inside her room. The breeze had drifted the smell of orchids and roses inside Aliyah's room and it was perfect.

Aliyah had missed school on purpose; going to school after an amnesiac episode was part of her worst test in life, and she wasn't ready to excel that one. Her mind drifted back to what her mother said. It was all true. If she was rebelling against her parents she should never allow that to obstruct her connection with her lord. She knew she was losing her religion gradually but she had no choice—she was confused; she'd forgotten the purpose of her creation.

To suffer probably.

"A 'oo thu billahi mina' shaytani rahgeem (I seek Allah's refuge from the devil)." Aliyah prayed in Arabic. The only cause of having such depressing thoughts were the whispers of the devil. Aliyah cleared her head and breathed in-and-out evenly before picking up her smartphone. It was time to face reality. She opened her Instagram and clicked on the anonymous writer's profile; there she saw the candid picture of her and Bilal, and the picture of her and the unknown boy holding an umbrella. "Mr. Umbrella," a smile flashed across Aliyah's face, it was sure to be a sad and exhausted smile. She reread the offensive and caricatured caption; this made tears drop from her eyes. She was mad at herself for forgetting such a vital memory. She wanted to remember: she shut her eyes close and squeezed her face like she was forcing out a fart, but nothing happened.

Her amnesiac insanity was halted by the sound of her door creaking open. The expectations of her mother made her sigh but the sight of Safiya; her elder sister, kind of eased her restless mind.

Safiya shut the door close after peeping. Maybe someone noticed she had come. "I'm sorry I joined in with the lie." She began.

Realizing Safiya was also a part of the coup, Aliyah frowned at her. "I trusted you Safiya, but you betrayed me. I can never forgive you." Aliyah exaggerated, she took two footsteps closer to her sister and gazed into her already-glossy eyes with vexation, "—from today onward, we are not sisters." She declared.

Safiya sighed in exhaustion and laid her right hand on Aliyah's shoulder, this caught Aliyah off guard and it seemed to have calmed her down. "I'm sorry," Safiya apologized, not even in a rueful manner. "I know you can't forgive me, but when you later receive the permanent cure you need, you will run to me with open hands."

Aliyah knocked Safiya's hand off her shoulder. The cure Safiya said made Aliyah look like she was a dementia patient—she wasn't crazy; at least, that's what she knew. "Don't even try to play the victim here. I don't know what's happening to me, I can never get drench; is it normal for humans to be feuding with rainfall?" Aliyah asked hypothetically.

"Aliyah, hiding your memories from you is for your own good."

Aliyah scoffed wryly, "you call lying helping. Y'all devil's incarnate. Maybe I was even stolen, maybe you're not my real family." Aliyah said in tears and anger.

Safiya tapped Aliyah's shoulder gently. "Trust me Aliyah, not all of your lost memories are perfect; some are very dark and depressing. So, it's better you ignore what you see on Instagram. Memories that are gone are supposed to be left where they belong." Safiya said, voice reeking with honesty. She unleashed some part of the truth to Aliyah and couldn't wait any more, she left the room before spilling the beans.

Aliyah stood in petrification and mortification as Safiya walked out of her room. The Safiya she knew was kind and gullible; she always thought maybe she was the eldest amongst them, but now Safiya showed her she was more experienced than her. According to her sister's words, Aliyah could gather the fact that she wasn't always perfect and had done something bad in the past, which she knew nothing of.

The only person she could turn to now was the Messiah her lord had sent down to her to help her uncover her past memories in a painful way; Gossip Gurl. She clicked on the follow button on Gossip Gurl's profile. If her parents weren't ready to talk, it was time for her to play Gossip Gurl's silly and dangerous game—but first, she must find Mr. Umbrella.

The both of them were interlinked like cobwebs. Finding Gossip Gurl would unveil Mr. Umbrella's identity.

* * * *
Salaamualaikum guys. I'm sorry this chapter is kinda short; Inspirations seem to be hard to find nowadays. But lemme know if I tried. What could be the dark secret Aliyah's family are hiding from her?
Don't forget to vote, comment down your opinion and share to your friends, frenemy and family.