——————Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
————————————Faryah's apartment, 7:00pm.
" He's a different case now honestly, he still feels he can get me back after everything that happened" I said to Khalifa as I cut my vegetables to prepare my dinner. Mee goreng Mamak. I was on a video call with Khalifa and Najmah was eating rice I cooked with chicken broth.
I had already narrated my experience with Khalid today to Khalifa.
It didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I honestly thought we were going to end up arguing and I wasn't going to tell him all what I had in mind.
But I did.
" You know he can't" I heard Khalifa answer. " It's going to be hard for him to sign the divorce papers" I said as I washed some of my shrimp. " Then we can pursue it in court" he answered and I nodded. I honestly wanted all of this end. I wanted to live a peaceful life. " or we could just be patient and see if he can finally understand that I can never be his" I answered. " won't that be long?"
" well it's better than going to court and arguing about who gets what, I mean we are going to have to fight for Najmah's custody and I honestly don't want that, I don't want to ever be away from my daughter, no matter what" I replied and dried my hands with a small kitchen towel.
" I'm lonely here, I miss you guys so much" He called and I blushed a bit. " we miss you so much more" I replied with a small laugh. " I wonder how Grandma Humairah is doing"
" she should be fine, Faryah?"
" yeah?"
" where do you want us to stay when we're married?" I didn't bother thinking about that. " with you?, in Dubai or what do you think?"
" Dubai is okay but hey, you know something, I admire how you have time for Najmah even though you're the CEO of a big organization, you still have time for her"
" of course I do, I have to, I definitely want what's best for her"
" yeah I understand, but I was hoping it would change when we're married" what was he getting at. " what are you trying to say?" I asked as I focused more on him. " you know I earn pretty well here in Dubai and I really want you to have time for our family, for me and our kids, I'm not saying you should stop working completely or anything like that, I just want you to have time for all of us" He said and I watched him stare at me with a cute smile, showing off his dimples. " Okay so you're trying to say that I should consider being a housewife"
" Well if that is what you want"
" You know I also want to have time for you and our kids but I also want to work and help you with everything you need, But I honestly understand where you're coming from so let's see how about this, I can Maybe set up a business, a small business in Dubai maybe a store or something or a bakery or a restaurant or something nice, but I'm going to make sure I have time for you all of you" I said and watched him smile wider. " oh my, I love it when you smile like that, you're so handsome" I chirped and giggled. My chicken was already done frying and it smelt so good, MashaAllah and Najmah had succeeded in painting her face with rice. " I'm honestly glad I have you Faryah, You really don't know how happy I am"
" I should know, I know how happy you are"
" No you don't, I'm honestly much more happier than you are" well that was true. " well yes, but I love you sooo much"
He laughed a bit before answering me. " I know you do, I'm going to get some food from the eatery close by, I am hungry, plus you're cooking so I'm more hungry"
" Sorry love"
" it's fine, I'll call you back later okay?, take care of yourself please"
" okay, I will, you too please" I answered.
" I will, can you turn the laptop so I can see Najmah?" He asked and I nodded and turned the laptop and moved it closer to her so she could see him. " NajNaj" he called and I watched as she tilted her head from her plated and looked to see who was calling her. Her smile widened and she became restless. " atatata" she called and Khalifa answered. " atete"
"Atete" she screamed with a big smile as she played with her hands. They were communicating in Baby language.
" You guys are too cute" I said as I halted their conversation. " Hey, she was telling me about the teddy bear her father got her, don't interrupt us" Khalifa nagged and Najmah continued smiling. " I honestly love that she's always smiling you know" Khalifa added and I nodded. " She's honestly a sweet blessing" I said and admired my daughter. I needed to clean her up. " Yeah, so I'll go now, I'll call you later, take care of yourself okay?"
" we will, make sure you do same"
" sure, I love you soooo much"
" I love you soooo much too, byeee" I called and waved at him as he waved us good bye. " Byeee" he answered and ended the call.
I already missed him so much. I was so used to him being around me all the time. I was grateful for that.
I needed to do something about Khalid honestly. I wasn't sure if I could be patient with him for long.
——————————KLCC park, beside the stream. 7:10pm.
I never thought I could genuinely feel happy with someone that was almost a stranger to me. He was only my boss and a big asshole but it was fun hanging around with him. He had a playful side I luckily managed to stir up and I wasn't regretting it. I mean I needed this kind of peace in my life even if it was just for a few minutes.
We sat down on the bare grass with soaked clothes and stared at the beautiful light shows. " Who are you really?" He asked and I gave him a small smile. I wasn't sure he could take who I actually was. Even I didn't like who I truly was." A mysterious person" I answered as I looked up at the dark sky. " Your files say you originate from Saudi Arabia" I honestly wasn't comfortable about talking about my past. I mean I went through a lot and I didn't want people to pity me just because of all what I went through.
" You know opening up helps one forget the past right?, I mean you can't let your past eat you up slowly and lower your self esteem. You might be putting up a great font now to cover up all your pain inside but it's slowly eating you" I heard him say and I laughed to myself. He needed to use his advice for himself. I had researched everything about Mr Olyster and the big love scandals he was involved in with a Pamela Hutchkins and a Beautiful Faryah Mustapha. She was the one I saw earlier with him with a baby girl that looked exactly like him.
According to the media, she cheated and other stuff. But I could never trust their words. " I'm aware of that, but I know you're not going to be able to handle my adventurous life" I answered and looked at him. I didn't have a proper friend or even a real friend that I could trust or anything. I was meant to be all on my own in this world and here I was, living it. I knew how to handle myself on my own.
" Tell me first, I can handle it" He said and I rolled my eyes. I had already had enough of sadness for today.
Mother was released from prison today, but she didn't care to look for me or try to contact me or find me. Her only child.
" My mother was released from prison today" I started as I looked back at the stars. " isn't that nice?"
" it's not, she didn't bother looking for me or contacting me or anything"
" you're her only child?" He asked and I nodded.
" She killed my father right in front of my eyes when I was 7 years old in Saudi Arabia" he had stirred up my emotions. I didn't even know when I said that. " I'm sorry I said that please don't mind me" I said and rubbed my eyes before the tears could pour down.
" Hey, look it's okay, you can talk to me, I know you don't know me enough to trust me or anything, even if I won't be able to help you, you can talk to me, confide in me"
" Look it's not easy to trust anyone, can we just go, I can take a cab to my hotel, I'll be fine" I said as I got up from the grass, I needed to be alone. " I can take you don't worry" He said and I shook my head and looked at him. " please don't bother, I'll be fine, thank you" I answered and quickly walked away from him.
I honestly wasn't comfortable talking about my life with anyone. I mean the topic " my past" always gave me goose bumps and I couldn't bear another person finding out and knowing who I was. I was trying to live a comfortable life now and I wanted my past to stop haunting me.
I got a taxi after walking a little while away from the park and I headed to my hotel. I couldn't stop the images of my past from filling up my head anymore. It weakened me, every single thing I went through weakened my soul.
I was only 7 years old when I watched my mother stab my father in the chest with a broken bottle she smashed on a wall. My mother was a lunatic who always found her way out of the psychiatric hospital anytime my father took her there.
Ever since my younger brother Ishaq died when I was 5 years old, she changed completely. She couldn't bear losing her only son so she ran mad. Every single day for a year, she kept on crying and claiming her son wasn't dead. Every single day. She claimed that he wasn't dead and she always wished I was the one that died, instead of her son. Honestly there were times that I felt that she wasn't my real mother but Abbah always told me not to think such. That it wasn't fair.
I mean It's not right to show favouritism between children. Hers was more than obvious. She always made me feel like I could never be enough for someone to love. She made me hate her. It wasn't my fault.
The nice and loving wife of Walid turned into a mad woman the moment she lost her son. Wasn't her loss supposed to make her want to cherish me more and protect me always?.
It wasn't that way for her I guess. After a year, Abbah decided to take her to a psychiatric hospital and that was when matters became worse for us.
She always escaped, I mean she could be tied or handcuffed to something but she always managed to find her way out. Part of me honestly thought she was possessed by Jinns. Strong Jinns.
She escaped, the fateful afternoon she killed my father. She stabbed my father. Right in the chest. I watched them argue and the result of their argument was the death of my father. The only family and friend I had. I didn't know what was going to become of me after I watched him lose his life. But Allah knows best.
Mother was taken to a psychiatric facility and was held under tight security. Well, news got to me that she showed signs of recovery so she was transferred to Prison for 6 years to complete her sentence. She had no lawyer, no one to back her up so she had to pay the price. It was sad to see that my family was so perfect one day and suddenly it got ruined and I was left all alone. All alone in this horrible world.
I was under the custody of the police when my father died. They were supposed to take me to an Orphanage home but I didn't want to go. I really didn't like socializing and being around people and besides no one wants to adopt a 7 year old. Everyone wanted a baby they could raise right from the start. I ran away from the police when I heard they were taking me away. I could remember how I kept on running and running just to get away from them. I was supposed to travel to Jeddah on my own, to my cousins. We lived in Saudi Arabia, Medinah. I knew Abbah had some money at the house so I went back to take some of my stuff and money as soon as I was sure the police had stopped looking for me.
There were police officers outside the house but I still found a way in. It was my house after all. I knew each and every corner of it.
I took some of my files, Abbah said he was storing them for safety. They were going to be safe with me. I took some of my clothes in my backpack that day after taking a quick shower. The police weren't even doing their jobs well, I mean I was in the house, I even took my bath and they were outside standing and chatting.
I laughed at myself as I remembered that moment. Running away that day was the worst mistake I made in my entire life. I fled to the bus station after taking everything I needed.
It was a long walk and it got dark pretty quickly. Something I was expecting. I wasn't afraid of being outside alone at night, I mean I spent two nights in the streets so I honestly thought nothing could go wrong that night.
I continued walking past all the neighbourhoods and highways that was going to take me to my destination. No one questioned me cause honestly, I looked 10 instead of 7. I was cute and all but I was tall so yeah. I was a big girl.
I remember clearly how I panicked when I saw a police car stop me as I walked on the sidewalk of the highway. I really didn't want them to take me to the Orphanage home. Even though they weren't the ones from earlier at the house I was still scared. I took to my heels when I couldn't take the questions they were asking me. They were chasing after but I was luckily faster than them.
I kept on running without looking back or any other way. I ran into some neighbourhoods to make sure I cut them off my trail before making my way back to the highway. I didn't look sideways or anything as I crossed the road and there was where my life changed. A red sports car hit me. I couldn't remember any other thing after that.
I cleaned my eyes as tears brimmed them up. I found myself in Cartagena, Columbia. Apparently a man, Pa Alejo, I was never going to forget that name, he saw me running away from the police that night and he took interest in me. He intentionally ran me over that night, took me in and I had to pay him back for his apparent kindness.
I remember clearly when he said he saw something in me that no one could see, he wanted to take care of me and raise me up. To be honest, I didn't stop trying to run away from his massive mansion but it was heavily guarded. He was the criminal behind the Martinez Cartel. A cartel even the armed forces weren't aware about. He got his money from drug trafficking, child trafficking and manufacturing disastrous weapons.
He changed me, everything about me, he gave me a totally new identity. I went by Alexandra Martinez. I believed he used drugs on me. He did.
He introduced me to his organization as his daughter. He trained me personally, how to fight, how to shoot, how to kill. He got into my head. I became a totally different person. He gave me a tattoo that matched his. We were three who had that tattoo on our arms in that organization. I, Pa Alejo and Tyler. Tyler was the son of Pa Alejo's right hand. The tattoo was of an eagle attacking its prey. He said it signified glory and what not.
He was three years older than I was. We were best-friends but I fell in love with him.
We went on missions together, we did literally everything together, for 6 years.
I was supposed to take over Pa Alejo's organization when he left, Tyler wanted that position. Badly.
He found some documents on my mother. That was when I found out that she was in Prison when I was 13 years old. That was the year I realized my Abbah wasn't going to like the kind of person I was then. I always wanted to make him proud and who was going to be proud of a daughter that wore revealing clothes and killed people.
I always pray for Allah's forgiveness for that part of my life that I lived. I found my old backpack I was with when Pa Alejo ran me over, I had my clothes in there, my real identity. It woke me up.
I found a way to escape with Tyler's help. Of course he wanted me gone. He wanted to take over the position that was supposed to be mine. I caused the cartel to lose a lot from my escape, but it was for my own well being. I went to Malaysia, an Orphanage took me in. Al-Hussein. I made friends there. They took me to a Rehabilitation Centre so I could be clean from drugs. I never mentioned the cartel to the Orphanage home. It was part of me living them all behind me. I knew Pa Alejo wasn't going to find me there. I grew up, I changed, physically and I got my identity back. I knew he was going to search for me with papers of my real identity. But I was prepared for anything. For everything.
He still hadn't found me up till date. He possibly gave up looking for me. But I knew him, he was cunning and I was sure he was waiting for the right time to strike.
I was enjoying my life now, I wanted to live a life of a normal person but my past kept on haunting me. I was given a scholarship from one of the sponsors of my Orphanage home and I got to study BA in CALU. I went to high school in Malaysia. It was a fun experience living in Malaysia and California. I didn't want to go back to the old days. I was more than comfortable with the people I had in my life now. But I couldn't trust anyone at all. Not a single soul, cause anyone could stab me in the back.
I still trained everyday and had a weapon with me to attack at anytime so I wasn't going to slack when I meet them again.
If I was ever going to. Allah had helped me find my way out of their syndicate and he was protecting me now. I always prayed for forgiveness and his mercy. He was the only one I always turned to during hard times cause I knew he was definitely going to help me. He always helped those who had true and pure intentions to change.
And I had changed.
I had to gather enough strength to face my past.
I could do it. I knew I could.