The Illusion of Us

Chapter 32

"Oh my god!" Mina giggled out, her hands wrapped tightly around a baby photo of Khalil that, judging by the exasperation written across his face, she hadn't been meant to find. Her assumption was confirmed when he snatched the photo from her fingers seconds later, placing it back on top of the wobbly dresser they were standing in front of.

"You were so cute!" Mina complimented.

"Were?" Khalil turned with a frown that Mina promptly ignored, enamored by yet another old black and white photograph she had found. This one didn't have a frame, and she noticed it was paper thin as she took it into her hands.

It looked to be the oldest photo they had come across yet, creases lines folded into it, the faces present almost unrecognizable.

Almost.

The picture held a small little boy, barely five if Mina had to guess an age, accompanied by two adults, one of them in a hospital bed and attached to an obscene number of wires, the other in a wooden bedside chair. Balloons that read "happy birthday," surrounded them wholly.

There was no doubt, it was Khalil and his parents in the picture and, just like the picture she had been examining before, this one too was yanked from her grasp.

Mina folded her hands behind her back guilty. "I'm sorry." She apologized before asking, "Those were your parents weren't they?" She had already known the answer to her question before Khalil had given a silent nod of his head, folding the picture along the creases and slipping in into the confines of his back pocket.

"When was it taken?" Mina asked curiously, before backtracking, afraid that she had overstepped the boundaries of their relationship. "If you don't want to talk about it-" She began, yet another apology on the tip of her tongue, but Khalil surprised her, answering her question with ease.

"It was taken on my dad's birthday, five days before they both died." Khalil's voice cracked multiple times as he spoke, recounting the story behind the antique picture and Mina could practically hear the tears laced through his voice, but the sound was quickly overtaken by that of the large squeaky front door opening and closing.

"Boys!" A woman's voice boomed throughout the house. "I'm home!" She called aloud.

Donna.

Suddenly, Sahil's words from their cafe meeting came rushing back to her, "Ask Donna," he had told her. "She'll tell you anything else you want to know," He had said. Anything.

Mina couldn't help but wonder if anything mean the blaring sirens and flashing lights she had remembered too.

"I'm thirsty." Mina lied, hoping Khalil was still too distracted by the discovery of the old family picture to discern the falsity laced through her words or the erratic beating of her heart beneath her school blazer.

"I'm going to go downstairs and get some water." She told him, before adding, "Do you want anything?"

Khalil shook his head in silence, his hand migrating to the shiny metal pendant hanging from his neck, his eyes glazed over as if he were in a sort of trance.

"Ok." Mina nodded warily. "Well, I'll be right back." She said, dismissing herself, and she took the stairs two at a time, bounding down them into the living room and then the small kitchen where Donna currently resided, unloading grocery bags on the counter by the sink, but she turned on her heels as Mina entered loudly.

With a tight-lipped smile, Mina greeted her. "Hi." She said, hoping the woman couldn't hear her swallow loudly.

"Hi." Donna greeted her in return.