Under the Olive Tree

12. Itna 'Ashar

Filling his own cup with water, he lowered himself to the ground to water the growing plant beside her. The plant she'd shown him. The one he'd told her was a grapevine.

Her grapevine.

Why was he watering it?

Amani moved like a storm, her feet quick and powerful as she made her way over to him. He heard her and had only begun to rise when she snatched the cup from his hand, tossing it to the ground in the middle of the dark street. Muhsin's eyes followed the brown cup as it bounced on the dirt, spilling the water he'd just filled across the soil.

"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped, feeling her body grow warm with the diffusing heat of her fiery rage.

He didn't meet her gaze, as usual. "I was only watering-."

"You don't get to water this plant. This is my plant."

Muhsin's expression didn't change. He didn't frown or furrow his eyebrows or even tilt his head. He just continued looking down. "I didn't realize it would upset you," he spoke softly.

Amani scoffed. "Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time." She crossed her arms and waited for him to leave. He'd taken himself so quickly out of her life. He had no right meddling about in the places that mattered to her. It was cruel.

He was being cruel.

"I apologize," he lowered his head so his hair fell over his eyes the same way he always did to alienate himself from those around him. To push others back. They weren't worth enough to even see his eyes.

She watched him walk over to pick up the cup, dusting it off. He was wiping his thumb over its base when he spoke again. "I heard you were leaving," he whispered, like he wasn't even sure whether it was something he could say.

She wasn't. Not yet, anyway. But Amani wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she would still be placed under the torture of walking his streets any longer. "What does that have to do with you?"

The corners of Muhsin's lips twitched but Amani couldn't see if he was smiling or snarling. It was Muhsin, she knew it could never be the second one. The dim light didn't mask his sigh the same way it masked his expression. He continued watching the cup for a moment longer as if he didn't recognize his own property in the dark.

Then Muhsin did something so exactly himself that filled Amani with the same heartbroken frustration he'd been making her feel on the daily since their conversation in the bakery. He turned around and began walking back home, not uttering a single word in return.

Amani's exasperation reached its peak and she was blinded by emotion for a moment. A moment that, once she recovered from, she saw Muhsin showered with dirt a few feet in front of her. It filled his hair, stained his neck, and clung to his beige shirt. He'd paused in his path away from her, as shocked as she was.

But definitely not as angry as she was.

"You know what I hate about you, Muhsin?" Amani trudged around him, fueled by whatever negative emotion she felt in the moment. When she saw Muhsin, there were so many of them caught in the blend, she couldn't possibly decipher which took control now.

His expression still looked like he was processing the fact that she'd just showered him with grime.

Amani didn't care. "You don't care."

His gaze carefully slipped up to meet hers.

"Everyone says you're great. Everybody loves Muhsin because Muhsin is so respectful and polite, but it's because you don't care. You're not respectful, you can't be bothered enough to be disrespectful. You're just... you don't care about anything, about anyone!"