Against The Tide (Formerly Two Tribes)

72: Backed Against The Wall

Afrah's eyes flicked to her room's wall clock for the zillionth time.  Jameel had promised to return early, but it was already late and he had not shown up. He was not even picking up her calls or responding to her texts.

As Afrah sat by the window, her anxiety seemed to intensify. She couldn't pinpoint why he didn't deem it for to call and inform her of his whereabouts, knowing how worried she tended to get.

Afrah's hands trembled as she clutched her cell phone, hoping it would ring. Her only desire was to hear that Jameel was okay. That was all that mattered at the time. Every sound of a passing car made her heart skip a beat in anticipation, only to plummet back into hopelessness as it drove on.

Darkness was setting in. Fawaaz had fallen asleep and the house was eerily quiet. Afrah's fear intensified. Her gut feeling was hinting that something was wrong somewhere, but she just couldn't put a finger on it. "Where are you, Jameel?" She gulped a ball of nerves in her throat. "Where are you?"

As Afrah continued to wait for his return, or at least a call from him, her thoughts drifted to Jameel's mother. Although they weren't on good terms and she probably wouldn't pick up her calls, Afrah decided to swallow her pride and do it for the sake of Jameel. But immediately, she shook her head, dropping the phone on the bed. Her pride just wouldn't let her. She did not want to have to ask Hajiya for any favor.

"What am I going to do now?" She asked herself, as she paced restlessly in the room. Images of possible accidents played in her mind. She tried to distract herself by washing the dishes that had been in the sink the whole day, but her thoughts kept returning to Jameel. The knots in her stomach tightened with every passing second. "Please be safe," she muttered under her breath.

Afrah reached for her phone again, in hopes of a missed call or text message from Jameel. But nothing!

With a quivering hand, she finally gave in to the urge to reach out to Hajiya. She had to mentally convince herself that she was solely doing it for Jameel. As she fumbled through her contact list, the realization struck — she had erased Hajiya's number in a fit of rage a long time ago. "Oh no! Why?" She whispered to herself helplessly.

Afrah's mind continued to race with a multitude of scenarios, painting a bleak picture of the unknown fate that had befallen her husband, the father of her only child. Despite her attempts to reassure herself that nothing had happened to Jameel and he probably had his phone on silence, the gnawing worry in her chest could not be silenced.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the sound of the gates opening. She felt even more relieved when she saw Jameel's car advancing into the compound.

As quickly as she could, she ran outside; her eyes glistening with tears.

Jameel stepped out of the car, a weary look on his face. He looked very unhappy. Afrah could tell by a single glance.

She waited for him to approach her.

He stood in front of her, saying nothing.

"What happened?" Afrah mustered the courage to ask, for Jameel seemed like he rather be somewhere else. He wasn't even smiling at her. "You didn't answer my calls and text messages. You didn't call me even once, knowing that I would be worried."

"My phone was on silence," he answered, walking past her and into the house.

Afrah's jaw dropped to the ground. Did he just walk away? Without a proper excuse?

Frustrated, Afrah followed inside, determined to get answers to all of her questions. He was acting funny all of a sudden and she wasn't having it. Not after the emotional trauma he put her through.