Loving You

chapter eleven

Yusuf woke up late. It felt weird waking up late after so many sleepless nights and early mornings because of Hamsa and as odd as it sounded, it made him restless. He worried for his daughter. How was she? He would go visit her right now but Tasneem had forbidden Yusuf to visit their house and ordered him to spend one whole week alone with Durdanah. 

He stretched his arms and went to brush and get ready.

He followed the fresh aroma of food cooking. He hadn't smelled that in so long. 

He walked into the vast kitchen seeing Durdanah in a simple flower imprinted cotton shalwar kameez deep in thought as she made pancakes and toast and juice.

He cleared his throat hoping she would notice but she seemed out of it.

Having no choice left, he lightly touched her arm and Durdanah flinched immediately upon touch, burning her hand on the pan in process.

"Ya Allah! Durdanah!" Yusuf shouted as she didn't remove her hand, it looked as if she hadn't even realized what was going on as she looked at Yusuf in fear.

Before she even realized what was going on, he forcefully grabbed her arm and soaked her hand in cold water. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Move your hand from the pan!"

She watched the panic in his eyes, feeling different. She'd burned herself tons of times, especially during her time with Arham. He had not only not helped her when she was burned, but instead burned her when she did anything he deemed inappropriate.

"You burnt the roti." Arham scowled as he gave a piercing glare at his fidgeting wife. "Do you expect me to eat this crap?" He slammed the plate away breaking it into pieces. "Come with me." She hesitated but he just smiled at her, "No, no. I won't hurt you. Come, come. Let me teach you something. I'm just teaching you something your mother should have." He dragged her into the kitchen and heated up the roti pan. Once heated, he forced her hands flat onto the burning pan, waiting until she screamed in excruciating pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'll fix it! I'm sorry. You don't deserve to eat that burnt roti, I'll make you a new one, please. Please! I'm sorry!" She screamed and only when the top layer of her skin had burnt off, and raw flesh could be seen, he let go and let her hands free.

She placed them in cold water. But he forced her outside. "First, clean up the broken plate and only then are you allowed to cool your hands. Do you understand?" She nodded. "Do you understand?!" 

"Yes."

"Good."

 While he did this, her long sleeves rolled up a bit and he was shocked by what he saw.  Stitches, burns, scars, bruises. He quickly washed her hands with the cold water but his eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing the letters carved onto her right hand. Whore.

Durdanah immediately pulled back covering her arms and hand as she tugged her dupatta closer towards her. She cowered in his hold. He let go upon seeing the terror and humiliation in her eyes.

"I saw you talking to that man." Arham spoke, his voice controlled, each breath screaming menace.

"What?"

"You know I hate repeating myself. Who was that man, and why were you talking to him?"

"He was just a neighbour, Karim, who came to apologize for his son's antics. You know that kid, Danial. He's so cute. He's always leaving his baseballs here." Durdanah answered truthfully, confused.

"Don't lie to me, bitch." Arham spat. He'd seen how she'd smiled at the man like that and laughed. She never smiled or laughed like that with him. She was obviously having an affair.

"I'm not scared of you to lie, and who the hell are you to call me a bitch? Fucking bastard." Durdanah's short temper was flaring up. It'd only been a week since the two had been married and already Arham had started being a prick, and she couldn't handle it anymore.

Arham closely walked over to her, his face stone cold and devoid of any emotion. His blue eyes reminiscent of a dark sea. "What did you say? Hm?"

He quietly pulled out a pocket knife. "You know who I am? Your fucking unlucky husband, that's what. Now, listen close. You know who you are? A fucking bitch. A whore. A skank. Okay? You're nothing. Nothing. Do you hear me?" He whispered as he sharpened the knife.

Durdanah looked at him completely shocked. He'd forced his way with her on their wedding night but she'd forgiven him because she knew even her own family would be like he's your husband, that's his right, but this was the second time he was being violent. He'd never been like this.

A knife? What was he going to do?

He took hold of her right hand and smoothed it flat before writing in the letters, permanently degrading her and decreasing her value.

"Nothing. That's what you are." He spat at her before walking away, fists coiled.

"Who did that?" He whispered, not caring that the food was burning.

"Di-did wha-what?"

"Everything. That gash on your lip, that lisp and stutter, those scars on your arms, that disgusting word." He spoke quietly but even Durdanah could tell he was anything but pleased.

"Who?" He pleaded. "Tell me who it was. Duri, we're friends remember?"

She slung her head down as she stared at her feet. "Why do you think I divorced him?" She mumbled.

His suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't a normal divorce or a marriage. Durdanah had been abused. That's why she was like this now. 

Oh God.

Why wasn't anything working out like it was supposed to? Durdanah threw a glance at the burnt food before shouting, "Oh my God, it's burnt! It's burnt!  I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's burnt! I'll fix it! I promise! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry! I'm really sorry, please don't hurt me."

Yusuf flinched at her voice, confused and shocked. He got a hold of her and gave her a warm hug. "Hush, hush. I won't hurt you. It's okay, it's just food. Don't worry about it, okay? It's just food. Come on, I won't hurt you, okay? I won't ever hurt you. I promise. I won't ever." He stroked her hair as she breathed heavily.

To anyone else, it would seem like he was whispering sweet nothings to her but to her those words meant everything and she would keep them with her and cherish them for a long long time.

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WOW TWO UPDATES, IM ON A ROLL HERE! (last few days of summer treat lol :D)