-------------Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
---------------------------Edwards residence, Same day, 9:30pm.
"Don't you think it's weird that you easily located her?" Farouk asked as I quickly booked a flight to LA. I honestly thought I wasn't going to have to ever go back there.
" No, Faryah was smart enough to locate her number while they were talking, of course the Miss Hae whatever doesn't know that she tracked her and her network was good" Raihannah answered.
Abbah had informed the police of our new findings and they were on their way here. " Faryah the detective is here" Ummah called as she and Abbah walked hand in hand into the living room. " Good evening sir" I greeted as I got up from where I sat and dropped my laptop.
" Evening ma'am, are you all fine?" He asked as Abbah and Ummah walked to my side. " we are" Abbah answered as I dried my tears with my scarf. " We are going to be sending all the information we have on this case to the person handling your family's case in Los Angeles. We've alerted them that the green viper is there and they're on the look out for her. The security in all their borders are going to be tightened and the search for her will begin" Thank goodness. I really hope all this is going to end soon. " What about the woman that tried to kill Aidah?" I asked with a small smile on my face.
" We're transferring her to the prison in Seoul since she isn't saying anything, miss Faryah, I honestly advice that you stay close to your family at all times. You are in great danger, you're dealing with a drug cartel and a child trafficking group and you leaving the country could be a great risk, just leave everything to the police..."
" Hold up, wait" I cut him off with a small laugh. " So you want me to stay here and let anxiety kill me while I wait for the police?" They must be kidding me. " Are you joking with me or something?" I asked sternly. " You want me to let the police handle everything?, what have you been doing since?, you couldn't even find those two criminal masterminds and you tell me to wait?. You want me to trust you with my daughters life?. You're joking" I snapped as I looked into the dark eyes of that of the detective. I didn't care if I was being rude or whatever. I was definitely going to involve myself with the rescue of my daughter.
I most definitely wasn't going to sit back like a bag of potatoes and wait for them to put Najmah in my arms. " To be honest, if this woman hadn't called me you wouldn't have found her location and Najmah would be with her for a longer time, you're not doing your best" I raged and stopped to look at him. " Faryah don't say that" Ummah said as she tried to caress my arm but I pushed her away.
" I'm tired of being calm and patient, do you have any idea how I feel going to bed each day with knowing nothing about where my daughter is?. You have no idea. Now that I have a clue on where she is, you think I won't try to find her?" Letting all that out made me feel so good. I had to pour my rage out. The police weren't doing enough.
" Miss Faryah, I understand you but it's not easy to track down the location of these kinds of drug lords" He was trying to back himself up. " Look, I am very much aware of that but you could have gotten something from that woman that tried to kill Aidah"
" But she doesn't want to talk. We tried all kinds of torture we could"
" well all what you could do wasn't enough. I am going to LA and believe me when I say no one is going to stop me, not even you" I snapped and rushed up the stairs to pack my things.
The earliest flight to Los Angeles was by 12:00pm in the afternoon. Najmah needed me and I was going to find her. Yes the police were doing all what they could but I just felt it wasn't enough. Najmah needed more than their efforts, she needed me to try and save her. I wasn't doing anything wrong by wanting to save my daughter and Allah was with me. He knew my intention and he was going to help me.
Even if it meant going alone, I was going to go. I was calm and patient at the right times but now wasn't the right time for me to just sit and wait now was the time for me to act and find her.
I was going to In Sha'a Allah.
It wasn't going to be safe for me to stay alone in a hotel so I called up Sophia and she agreed to let me stay with them. I was better off working with the police in LA rather than the ones in Kuala Lumpur.
Raihannah and I were supposed to go talk to Ammie in the morning. We were going to meet up with her before I left In Sha'a Allah.
I heard gentle knocks on my door as I walked out of the bathroom after relishing my bubble bath. " Faryah it's your Ummi, do you mind coming downstairs?" her voice was always going to be melodious to my ears. " Sure, I'll just get dressed"
" okay then, don't take too long"
It was already 11:00pm. I made sure I took my time when I was praying Salatul Isha after I finished packing up some of my things.
I got dressed in a pyjama and threw on my long hijab, wore my socks and slippers and walked out of my room.
Everyone was in the living room. Firdaus and Naim, Farouk and Raihannah, Abbah and Ummah and then Ummi. My family. They were talking about the renovation of Georgia Motors.
" I'm here" I announced as I walked into the living room and caught their attention. I sat beside Ummi since she was the only one that wasn't paired. " Hey, you haven't had dinner yet"
" I'm good Raihannah" I answered as Ummah walked to where I and Ummi sat. " You haven't been eating properly dear, I'll tell Aisha to heat something up for you. Don't argue it"
" Fine Abbah" I answered and heard him call Aisha's name out loud. "My dear, Aleeyah told us everything and we came over to show you our support" Ummi said with a small smile as she held my in hers. " I'm fine Ummi"
" no Faryah, you're not fine. I know what it means to be away from my child. When I lost you, I almost went crazy looking for you. I really couldn't see myself living without you. Every day and night I never stopped looking for you. Even when they told me you were dead, deep in my heart I knew it wasn't true so I did all I could to find you. The police's efforts back then seemed worthless to me but I realized that all of it was Allah's plan and with time I was going to find you and look at you now" Ummah said as she held my right hand in hers.
" So you're not wrong for feeling the way you feel right now" I never said I was wrong. " Yes my dear, we're all here to support you and show you how much we love you" Ummi added as I looked at the both of them.
" Well thank you but I'm already aware of that so don't worry. You all didn't really have to come.."
" Shh girl" Firdaus cut me off. " We had to come so we could wish you a safe trip because we won't be able to wish you tomorrow"
" Well some of us" Farouk added with a smile.
" we're behind you all the way my dear" I heard Abbah say as they all tried to surround me. " I know you all are"
" well we had to make you aware of that again" That was Naim. " Yeah, bring Najmah back home to us best friend" Raihannah chirped as she pulled me into a hug. " Make sure you don't die" She whispered into my ear and I became cold. If losing my life was going to save my daughter's then so be it.
I was ready to accept fate.
-----------------Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
------------------------Ammie's apartment, next morning, 9:00am.
" I hope she's home, what if she's at the police station?" I asked Raihannah as she gently knocked on her apartment door. "ugh girl, stop being paranoid. You tracked her phone to her place yourself Faryah, so calm down, just chill"
" You can't blame me, I'm just worried about her" I replied as the door opened up and revealed a monster version of Ammie holding a cup of coffee. Her eyes were sore and red and she had a bruised lip as well. Her hair was a mess and she was still wearing the clothes she was in yesterday. Plus she reeked of vomit.
" why are you guys here?" She asked as she stood beside her door and looked at us questioningly. She woke up not long ago, I noticed that by her morning breath that mixed with a strong smell of coffee. She was beat up. " well we came to see how you were doing and to talk to you" Raihannah answered.
" mainly to talk to you" I added and watched Miriam sigh. " Come on in" she opened the door wide and we trooped into her beautiful apartment.
Her apartment was always squeaky clean, she hated dirt with all her body, mind and soul. It was a two bedroom en suite apartment with an amazing balcony that gave a great view of water parks. It was always so beautiful at night. Her apartment was modern, nothing girly, just classy.
" I really don't want to be nagged. I woke up with a really bad headache and I am not welcoming anything that's going to make it worse" Ammie said as she slammed her butt on her green bean bag. " we won't nag you" Raihannah said as we sat side by side on her comfy white couch.
" you need a bath. You need to soak yourself in a bubble bath for like two hours" I commented as I dropped my handbag on her centre table. " Yeap, I am going to make sure I enjoy that. If you guys want anything you can fix something up in the kitchen"
" Don't worry we're good" Raihannah answered and the whole place became quiet, you could hear an ant walk.
Breaking the silence, " What happened to you exactly last night?" I asked and watched her move in an irregular way on her beanbag.
" It was nothing. Don't worry about me, I'm getting better as you can see" She answered as she pulled off a killer smile with her insanely white teeth. Her smile slowly faded away and I nudged Raihannah so we could move closer to her together.
" We're here for you Ammie, no matter what okay?. So feel very free to confide in us" I could bear the horrible stench coming from her for a few minutes I guess. Sitting beside her, I took her hand in mine and intertwined our fingers. " yes Ammie, we've not really known each other for a very long while but you have a special place in all our hearts and we're going to support you all the way, so confide in us" She was warming up to our sweet words.
Yayy!!!.
" I know you guys will always look out for me but I'm scared of how you'll react when you get to hear about what I've done in my life. I'm scared of my past pushing you away from me" She was depressed. " Hey, it's better we hear it from you than someone else. Isn't it much better if you tell us what's bugging you so we can fix it together, we're friends you know and friends stick together during the good and the bad times"
" Faryah is right you know" We watched Ammie take a deep breath and let it all out in a minute. " You know it sucks being the bad sheep in a family, a very bad sheep" She was opening up.
Yayy!!!
" I had a best friend, Louise. Louise was my everything. She knew me in and out and everything but I ended her life with my own bare hands" Me being shocked right now was an understatement.
I was thunderstruck. Maybe she was using that phrase as a metaphor.
" Louise and I met when we were in middle school. We were trying out for archery class. They moved to Kuala Lumpur because her father was transferred here from France. They were French, Christians and both our parents didn't like that we were friends because of all that religion shit you know" Sad. " I was one stubborn child, I snuck out, well we both actually snuck out to see each other and hang out. We pulled lots of pranks on people and we were just amazing together. We were like tiny versions of Harley Quinn. We couldn't live without each other and we just loved each other so much" A tear was already rolling down her right cheek.
" well when we got to high school, we were shortlisted for the local Archery Championships. Only one of us could represent our school and she knew how important that was to me. I mean I wanted to become an archer and she just liked it because it was fun and she wanted to spend time with me, she wanted to be a hostess. Travel the world and all that. All I wanted was to play archery, all I ever dreamt of was to become an archer"
" The coach picked Louise for the championship and I heard about it, from our mates. I got mad, confronted her and pushed her off the top of an eight storey building we normally hung out and she died. Right at the spot. I killed her and I can never forgive myself for doing that" It wasn't a metaphor. Oh my Allah. " Her parents were destroyed cause she was their only child. Louise was an amazing person and I ended her life all because of jealousy and anger. I mean we would have sorted things out but I didn't even care to listen to her. You know she actually declined the offer and made the coach choose me, I almost committed suicide when I realized that" she was crying profusely and I pulled her to me for a long warm hug. " I killed my best friend" Raihannah was crying as well.
" I went to Juvie and got out on my 18th birthday. I spent 8 months there, we were lucky Louise's parents didn't sue my family you know. Her family left Kuala Lumpur. When I got out, I had no one. My parents abandoned me, I was a burden they couldn't deal with any longer. They had my siblings to take care of so I guess losing one child wasn't going to make a difference. Besides I always caused them trouble so yeah they got tired of all that and abandoned me so they could be at ease. I heard nothing from them, they left KL. That was how I gave up archery, started drinking and did all sorts of jobs so I could find a place to sleep at night. I took anything that came my way but nothing illegal. Juvie isn't a place I ever want to go back to" Her anger caused the death of someone she loved very much and it made her family abandon her.
She was a bad kid and all but her parents and siblings were supposed to support her, not run away from her. " You didn't deserve to be left all alone" Raihannah said as she cleaned her eyes. " I did. I was a bad kid. I never listened to them, I always loved breaking the rules and all with my best friend who I ended up killing because I was jealous and angry. I deserved to be abandoned, I don't deserve the love anyone has to give to me because I'm a bad person"
" No you're not Ammie, you're just a victim of all your emotions"
" I became a murderer because of my emotions Faryah. I am not a victim here" I really didn't know how I was going to comfort her.
" I have learned to accept my past and move on from it. That's why I always do my best to be happy and I always pray to Allah for forgiveness. Living on the streets and supporting myself through out college made me understand a lot of things. I am where I am now because I am determined not to go back to who or what I was before, I am successful because of the pain I brought upon myself years ago. I still can't give up alcohol though"
" when I met you and your family Faryah, I felt Allah was giving me a chance to be loved again. You all made me feel loved and I had to pretend so I could stay loved. I needed love in my life and I got it from all of you. I really didn't want you all to know about my life because I wanted to fit in perfectly into yours, I tried to stop drinking and partying all because of you but I couldn't take it last night" She said as she dried her eyes.
I really never imagined that she was going through all this. She pretended just so she could feel loved and that made me pity her so much.
At least she never lost hope in Allah even though she wasn't a perfect Muslim. We all weren't.
We were all trying our best everyday to please our Lord and I was more than proud of myself and my family for being a good influence to Ammie.
Her parents abandoned her and it wasn't the ideal thing for them to. She became an independent woman and luckily she didn't give up on love. She found love in me again and I was going to help her.
We were going to keep her positive vibes rolling.
She has made a lot of mistakes but everyone isn't meant to be perfect. It was a very good thing that she had learned to move on from her past and accept that what's done is done. She couldn't change the past but she could try her best to get a good future and that's what she did. She pretended for a good cause.
" We're definitely not going to push you away Ammie in fact Ammie we're proud of you" I comforted as we helped her dry her tears. " Yes we are, you killed your best friend and your family abandoned you. If that happened to me wallahi I would have committed suicide but you, you found it in your heart to forgive yourself and accept fate. Not everyone can do that. Even if the others don't forgive you, I am sure Allah will because he is seeing your intention" Raihannah backed me up and I smiled at her to thank her.
" yes and you know what you actually weren't pretending. We made you bring out the best in yourself and that shows that you're not a bad person Ammie and you deserve all the love in the whole wide world" That was very true. " I guess so"
" If your parents don't come back to you after we try looking for them.." she cut me off in my tracks. " I have tried to find them and I actually found them and tried contacting them but when I say they abandoned me they really did abandon me. They're happy with their lives and so am I"
" Yes so are you and you have us. We're you're family. They don't want you?, that's their loss you know. You're a great person Ammie, never forget my words and you see that alcohol, we're going to help you kick it out of your life for good" I said and hugged her tight. " we sure are" Raihannah added as she joined our hug.
This is what Ammie needs.
A lot of people out there have experienced worse than what she has experienced and they end up filling themselves with resent and anger. Those two things begin to run their lives for them and it destroys them but I'm really glad that wasn't Miriam's case. She paid for being disobedient and a murderer but Allah helped her out.
He still got her back.
She was strong enough to accept destiny and here she was, smiling again. Controlling anger and guilt is very very hard to do but as long as one believes in Allah and has faith in him, everything is going to turn out perfectly for them.
Ammie still needed a really long bath though. A very long one.