Strings Attached

~Chapter 15~

But, he surprises me by greeting me cordially. And I reply with a bit of a morose air than usual. Which he catches on, immediately. "Are you alright, child?" he asks me worriedly. I can't seem to find an answer for a while. But then I give him a small nod to indicate that I'm actually fine. I'm anything but that, at the moment.

"You can tell me if something's troubling you, you know," he tells me softly. "Or is it about Hiba? Has she done something grave?"

He's caught on to it. But, should I tell him? Maybe, I should. It would be on me if I kept it to myself. I should be a responsible girl and tell him, for once. It's a horrible sin, too.

"Hiba was...-" I don't, for the life of me, know how to proceed. Should I just say it? But it's so vulgar and embarrassing. God! I should've known how to go about it before I stupidly started talking.

"Yes... Hiba was what?" Uncle Jabbar prompts me gently. "Was she drinking?" I shake my head no at his conjecture. Come to think of it, she might've been drunk too. But I've never seen a drunk person, so I can't really say.

"Well, she was-," Before I can complete my sentence, I'm cut off by the sound of the door opening abruptly, shaking me out of my weirdly inert state. And when I see the intruder of our secret conference, my body goes cold with fear.

"Before you listen to any crap she has to spout, you've got to see this, dad," Hiba says loudly and confidently, raising her phone in the air like a prized catch, its screen poised at the beginning of the clip she'd recorded.

As the video plays out slowly (far too slow to my chagrin), I stand still near the door like a shameless thief caught in the act. At a distance from the giant table sitting in the middle of the room, lest anyone of them charges at me.

Suddenly, the room has gone silent and still. I have my head down so I can't tell what expressions the father-daughter duo carry on their faces. But I can tell that Uncle Jabbar believes his daughter and must be seething right now.

I can also guess the telltale signs of a wicked grin forming on Hiba's face. And the worst thing is, I can't even defend myself, for I'm far too shaken and scared.

"Am I seeing correctly, girl?" Uncle Jabbar suddenly asks, his voice stern, cold and strangely detached. And I look up to find them both looking at me expectantly.

One expectant of an answer in the negative and the other expectant of a positive reply. Surely, you can figure who's who. Apparently, he's convinced of a positive reply, for Uncle's next words arrest me. "Her father needs to be informed. I can't keep her here."

He's in the middle of taking out his phone, and I spring into action. I'm at his feet in a trice. "No uncle! Please no. I beg you, please don't tell my father. Please uncle. I swear I didn't do anything." I'm on my hands and feet, shamefully crying, my palms stuck together imploringly. A picture of agony and misery.

Anything but this. I'm ready to live on the streets but my dad can't hear about this. He has enough on his plate already. He'll be broken beyond repair.

"Apart from being shameless, you're deceitful too!" Uncle ejaculates disbelievingly, contempt clear in his voice. He shakes his pant leg to disengage me from it, like I'm an insect and not an actual human being.

"I've had enough of you, get out. I can't bear to see your face anymore. I trusted you! Is that how you'd repay me?!"

"I..I will go, uncle. But please, please don't tell abba. He'll die if he hears of it!" I try once again. Tears stream down my face ceaselessly, as Hiba watches me squirm particularly smugly, her back towards her father.