Chapter Sixteen.....You humiliated me now you humiliate yourself
I was sweating profusely. The blazing hot sun wasn't much help. We were having our usual weekly soccer training. The coach was practically torturing us. Splinting! Push ups! Sit-ups! All the players felt like dying. What minutes seemed like hours. The soccer, in itself, I love it. But the warm up and training are just impossible! It almost felt like we were going for a warm up tournament instead of a soccer tournament
As I was doing sit-ups, I stole glances at the coach. He had an evil grin on his face. He looked confident, murderous, so much in power. All I could think about was Sakinah and putting my blackmail into action.
As some of the players groaned in exhaustion, the coach just laughed evilly."That's right, I'm the master here. You shall obey according to my will." He continued laughing evilly.
Everyone groaned with stressed pissed-off look. I only smirk.
"Soon, that will be me."
*****
(Sakinah's P.O.V)
(Flashback)
"I-I accept." I gulped down nervously.
"You accept, what?" Jerk raised a brow, teasing with that famous smirk of his.
"I-I accept m-master."
"That's more like it." Jerk was grinning by now.
He's loving this. That Jerk! Taking pleasure out of my pain, what a sadist! He has no idea how much torture it brought me from just saying the word "master". I did it all for the sake of Hassan's deceased- or maybe dead now- ring. I had no idea how the operation went. It's been days since I heard from Hassan. He was absent from school for obvious reason. Oh Allah, I just hope his mum's just fine. Damn, I need to get back that ring at all cost!
Jerk told me that he'll be keeping the ring until I kept my my deal to the end of the bargain. Damn, why must he be so smart? I cursed my own fate. But I wasn't all stupid, accepting Jerk's blackmail just like that. The deal was for two weeks. Meanwhile, school is left with only two days before we go into a one week holiday break.Like hell would I want to meet up with Jerk during those holiday breaks just so he could torture me some more. So I am left with these two unavoidable days to endure the torture.
I hid a smirk and turned to leave Jerk's room.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Jerk called.
"Home. Like where else?! I want to enjoy my remaining hours of peace before I start with my torture tomorrow."
Jerk smirked. "Who said you would get any break. It all start these very instant!"
"Excuse me?" Was he kidding me? It's 6.30 p.m and I was still in Jerk's hell room. All I wanted was to go home- which was just next to Jerk's house- shower, eat, pray, maybe watch a little tv then sleep.
"You heard me. Now, wait here." Jerk demanded as he went to his closet and after about a minute, I saw him took out a whistle with a string looped to it. Jerk tied the string to his neck along with my ring. He then went to his school bag and took out two worksheets and looked it through. I took my time to look at Jerk's room since I wasn't paying much attention before. The walls were painted light blue. The floor was carpeted black. There was a small dark brown clock attached to the wall, a simple bed, computer, study table, air conditioner, posters of band, girls (yuck)...and...I have no idea what poster that one is about!
"Okay, Sakinah. I want you to listen here and listen well..." Jerk's voice brought me back to reality. "For these upcoming two weeks, whenever I whistle to you with this whistle, I want you to come to me immediately and wait for further orders.."
I gasped my mouth in disbelief. What am I, a dog?!
Jerk suddenly whistled, loudly if I may say. I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly came to him.
"Finish all these homework for me and return it to me by early tomorrow at my house just before school. You clear?" He ordered.
Again, what am I, a dog?! "Oh yes, speaking of dogs..."
Jerk furrowed his brows and looked at me weirdly, "Since when was I talking about dogs? I told you to finish my..."
"Yes, yes, I know." I rolled my eyes and continued. "But how am I to give it to you tomorrow morning by your house if Snoopy's there? There's just no way."
"Psst, what a baby. I'll chain snoopy up or something. Just come and I want it done."
"Grr, why can't you just do it yourself and save me the trouble?" I complained.
"Shush! A servant shouldn't question. Let the Master do the talking and the servant do the obeying part. Besides I got a TV show I've got to watch tonight."
I felt so furiously pissed and ready to explode. But that one look on my ring on Jerk's neck calmed me down a little from doing so. I try to remind myself that I'm doing this for a purpose. I held out my hand unwillingly. Jerk shuffled through the pages and yawned involuntarily. "God I hate maths. Such a pain in the ass."
Jerk handed the worksheets to me and I snorted. "Coward. You only dare say that to Mr Izzat's back. Why not say it to his face?"
Jerk snorted in return. "I'm no coward. And I dare, say it to his face any day, any time and any place."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Can I go now?" My voice filled with sarcasm and annoyance.
Jerk whistled loudly, it made me cringe. "Servant. Leave my house and get out of my sight this instance! God, I can't stand the sight of low class people with low standards."
My mouth went agape. Again, I found myself clenching my fist tight and gritting my teeth. Another look on the ring and I painfully held back.
"Very well." I said rolling my eyes and was just about leaving. Was he taking this Master/Servant thing seriously? Hell, It's not like I had wanted to stay in that place or even look at his ugly annoying face for a second longer. In fact wasn't I the one who asked to leave? I bet he just wanted to enlighten his ego more for being the master and wanted to have the last say in the matter.
I was already by the door ready to leave when suddenly Jerk whistled and I cringed. Does he have to whistle so loud? He could simply call me out, It's not like I'm deaf. I'm starting to feel like a dog by his treatment.
I turned around angrily, "What now?!"
Jerk fake cough and pretended to look at the window with a cocky expression. "Nothing. Just wanted to torment you some more. Oh, and you forgot the last part of your sentence."
I narrowed my eyes at him, pissed. Like, seriously?! "Master!" There, done. And in a snap I was gone making sure that I banged the door hard in the process.
I strutted out, went down the stairs and out of the house as I wore back my market slippers. I can't help but notice the other shoe sizes placed beside me. There were clutters of a grown woman's high-heeled shoes whom I guess belonged to his mother. And also another clutter of a smaller sized shoe of a kid which was probably a little boy.
I wondered whether Jerk had a younger brother? It was weird how I had been neighbours with Jerk for about three months now but had not come across any of his family members. I was starting to get curious as to how they looked like in person. Would they have any similarities to Jerk in terms of looks or personality? I laughed at the funny thought of a family filled with mother-faced Jerk, father-faced Jerk and sibling-faced Jerk.
I saw Jerk looking down at me through the window of his room with a cocky evil smirk. I turned my back on him, strutted towards my house, kick a random rock and banged my house doors close angrily. I took a shower, ate one of my mum's delicacies which was spicy macaroni with sliced meatballs and sausages, plus a little added veggies. NYUM! Just saying it makes my mouth pour. Then I prayed my maghrib prayers with my family and went to my room to get started with Jerk's worksheets. It's about six and a half pages long. I yawned.
Suddenly, a random idea kicked in. I wrote down all fake formulas with wrong steps and solutions. I tried to make my handwriting messy, similar to that of a guy's handwriting. I giggled evilly. Jerk said "finish it up" NOT "finish it up WITH the correct answers" . That's a mistake on his part. Anyone could have interpreted it wrongly, right?!
When I was done to the six and a half pages, another idea came in. I then wrote in the remaining half blank pages with big bold letters.
GOD I HATE MATHS. SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS. I'M NO COWARD, AND I DARE SAY IT TO YOUR FACE ANY DAY, ANY TIME AND ANY PLACE.
I went to sleep with a smile and prayed that Jerk will not take note on the fake wrong answers and especially on the last page with that evil note which no doubt Mr Izzat, the most strict teacher, would come across.
Mwahaha. Jerk, let's see if you are as brave as you said you were.
*****
The next morning, I woke up from a terrible nightmare again. Part of it it was about Ahraqah. But even more than that, I dreamt that I was in a huge creepy house where I sensed other creatures besides Ahraqah as well. "Audhzubillahi minash shaitaanir rajim (I seek protection from Allah from the accursed Satan)." I spat lightly on my left side as my mum had once taught me that Islam teaches if we were to wake from a bad dream, we should read the doa as mentioned and spit just a little on our left and it will hit the devils like balls of fire.
'Oh Allah! I so don't anticipate today, but I do anticipate the part where Jerk might potentially get killed by Mr.Izzat or severely scolded and punished.'
I took a long calming cold shower (I never shower with hot water) and got dressed. I wore a black cardigan with a grey long T-shirt inside which wrote 'I will survive today and sleep tonight' which I found comical and fitting for my day. I also wore my usual dark jeans, a cool dark shawl which covered all the way to my chest like the way I liked it and my silver watch that almost looked like a bracelet.
I prayed Suboh and ate breakfast with my family. My parents can't stop talking about how excited they were that Toyyibah was soon going to be a primary school student next year at Greenfield Primary School. Mine now is at Greenfield Secondary School. Hmph, whaddaya know. My lil superbly cute plus innocent sis will be following my footsteps soon. I just hope there's no Jerk-alike in her school otherwise I'll have to come rescue her like a woman Muslim armour in black.
I accepted my father's offer to send me to school with his car as I don't want to risk any chances of getting chased by Snoopy again. A torture less is a happiness gained (wait is that how the saying goes?? Oh, whatever). Me and My father went out together. I stopped by Jerk's house for a moment to send back his worksheets. I try to hide, or rather control my evil excited expression from showing. I had practiced faking innocence while talking to the mirror when I took my shower earlier so hopefully I will make it through.
Jerk did not say much. Luckily he wasn't paying much attention to the fake answers or the last page where I wrote what I wrote. But he did question: "Why the messy handwriting?" I just told him that I had to make it believable that it was his. He mumbled: "So over the top..." but let it pass and kept it in his bag. I released my breath that I hadn't realise was holding in.
"So, Servant. I decided since you were a poor helpless servant- out of my kindness- to send you to school with my car. Don't get use to it though!" He offered with that usual disgusting cockiness.
I rubbed my nails on my clothes cockily back and then looked at them shine as if I wasn't paying much attention to him. "No thanks, Master. This Servant can so totally afford a car and a driver. Adios!" I waved my hand in the air and walked out of Jerk's gates to where my father was waiting with his car. I knew Jerk was eying me from behind.
To add on to my cockiness, my father actually helped open the door for me as my hands were full. "Oh, thank you driver. I'd sure to give you a bonus!" I pat my father's back and he looked at me weirdly. Once we were both in, I quickly apologised to my father and told him I was just joking around. My father just chuckled and drove away.
*****
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!" The whistle blew loudly in the Canteen. Everyone looked weirdly at the same direction where the noise came from, which I know without doubt was where Jerk was. I was at the other opposite corner of the canteen from Jerk. I was with Layla and Raudhah, barely even touching my food yet, before the whistle sounded. "Oh no, not at a public place like this..." I whimpered, sad and anxious as I massaged my temples.
"What's wrong?" Layla and Raudhah looked at my troubled face with concern.
"I gotta go. I'll be back in a minute...hopefully." I stood from my seat and unwillingly walked towards where the source of the whistle was, waiting to find Jerk around the corner. I could feel Layla and Raudhah's eyes observing me from my back. My body tensed at the public attention that I was getting from a lot of people. Luckily half of them were uninterested and went back to eating and talking to their friends, ignoring me the way I wanted.
I saw Jerk in the distance and came closer. I gulped nervously. Jerk was sitting at a table accompanied by his friends, snickering loudly. 'God, if only Cockroaches could be killed with a simple stomp of the foot, I would have tried that on Jerk months ago. Unfortunately, cockroaches are invincible and almost unbeatable.' I sighed and just waited for an unfortunate event to come.
On closer inspection, I saw Jerk and his friends wearing soccer P.E T-shirt and sweating vigorously. Jerk had his left leg up on the chair and his left arm resting on his left knee.
"Yes?" I asked softly, my voice almost diminishing from the embarrassment.
"About time. Fan me. I'm burning with sweat over here." Jerk barely looked at me ever so arrogantly and put a paper fan on top of the table near me. I bit my lip, took the object, opened it and start fanning jerk. This was so freaking embarrassing!
"Harder!" Jerk scolded. And I silently obeyed, eyes not daring to look at Jerk's friends in the eyes. Shaliza was sitting beside jerk like a faithful girlfriend. The rest of the guys also had girls beside them.
"God, you all stink..." I whispered more to my self, not realising that there were people listening. I fought the urge to close my nose.
"What's that?" Jerk asked with a scary note to it.
"Nothing." Oups, they actually heard.
All of Jerk's friends looked at me, amused. One of the girls, who was probably that lizzard shaliza's friend sprayed perfume to ease the smell. I took in a deep breath and involuntarily smiled. Now, that's better. I continued to fan jerk whilst still standing and it was getting rather exhausting. Not to mention the intense stare I was getting from a lot of people was killing me.
"Whoa. Why is she fanning you? I thought she hated your guts?" Saifuddin asked Jerk, confused. The rest was probably wondering about the same thing.
"Go ahead, tell them, Servant." Jerk continued to eat his burger.
"HAHHAHA, SERVANT?!" Alwi and Sayed barked with laughter and said in unison. The rest was just as amused. Oh Allah, I want to kill this Jerk soooo much!
"No." I protested, still fanning him. Isn't this act torture enough as it is?
"Tell them, or the ring's mine." Jerk warned.
There was a few seconds of silence as I debated with myself. Finally, I spoke. "I'll do as he says because..." a long pause as I gulped with fear. "He's my master " I whispered softly on the last part, praying that no one had heard. Everyone narrowed their eyes at me as they faught to hear what I said. Their heads were put close to hear out the words. My cheeks flushed and I fanned faster.
"I can't heaaar youu." Jerk teased.
"He. Is. My. Master." I said a little louder, feeling rather pissed. By now, they all heard and broke into the loudest laughter. Even the girls joined in and Shaliza snickered. 'Darn these devils. They are all pests to me and should all die!" My cheeks flushed a deeper red.
"Louder!" Jerk was not satisfied, clearly enjoying my embarrassment.
"HE IS MY MASTER." This time I literally shouted. I closed the fan and pointed it at Jerk. "YOU ARE MY STUPID JACKASS MASTER, YOU HAPPY?!" This time, not only everyone in the table heard, but a good part of people in the canteen heard as well. Some laughed, some stared and some broke into whispers.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Now the whole school knows. Good for you!" Jerk smiled, done with his burger, and now on to eating Nachos.
I was on the verge of tears from pure anger and embarrassment. "Shut up." I said bitterly, not finding it anywhere amusing.
"What?"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" I banged the fan on the table, pressing my fist and clenching my teeth. Now they all stopped laughing. I stared angrily at Jerk with my eyebrows furrowed.
"Servants don't tell their Masters to 'shut up', only we masters can do that." Jerk casually took another bite of Nachos, unaffected by my scream. The sound of Nachos crunched into smaller pieces burned in my ears.
"Well my hands are tired, Master. And I am starving! Even Servants deserves a break. Now, can I go?!" I said angrily, full of sarcasm. I don't know for how long I could hold it in before I finally break.
"Wow. Can you believe it? She's actually acknowledging that she's a servant!" Shaliza said excitedly as she nudges on her friend beside her and they all laughed. She also gave me a sinister smile which I detest. I tried to not pay attention to these people much.
"Shut up, Servant. You'll rest when I say so. Now go buy me coke." Jerk took out a couple coins from his pockets. I snatched it and turn to walk 15 steps to the vending machine. I cursed him on my way there. Finally, I came back with the coke he wanted and bang it on the table, impatient.
"Open it." Jerk further instructed. I took the can, opened the lid and again put it on the table as I rolled my eyes. "Good. Now, feed me." He added.
"W-What?" I felt my voice stuck in my throat. "ARE YOU INSANE?! You are a grown up, not a spoiled one year-old kid!"
"Shut up, no complaints. My hands are full and you'll do as I say." Jerk opened his mouth for emphasis while his hands was jumbling what seemed like lyrics on a piece of paper. I begrudgingly raised the coke to his mouth and let him drink it. After about three seconds, Jerk raised his right hand as a sign for me to stop one sec. As I held the can of coke away, he took a deep breath, then signalled for me to feed it to him again. That was my boiling point. My face was so flushed and I was so pissed, I shove the drink hard to Jerk's mouth that he choke on the liquid.
Jerk looked angry as he fought to regain his breath and coughed multiple times. "Were you trying to kill me?!" He scolded.
"I can't take this brutal torture, master, not to mention the humiliation!" I protested angrily.
"Oh I just love it when you call me that! Fine, I'll forgive you. Here's you pay..." Jerk handed me a red dollar note. I rolled my eyes. Like a two dollar note would make me forgive him! I'm not that cheap... When I realised it was actually a ten dollar note, it brought an immediate smile to my face, I kissed it and stuffed it in my pocket and grinned widely.
Jerk smiled at my regained spirit, "yeah sure, keep the change." I rolled my eyes and ignored him, too happy to take offense.
"So, can I finally go now?" I asked.
Jerk dropped his pen to the floor. "Hand me that, and then you can go." I sighed and bent down to reach for the pen on the floor near Jerk's legs. When I finally picked it up, Jerk looked at me and suddenly said enthusiastically, "heree doggie, hereee doggie!" He was treating me like a dog!
I clenched on the pen and threw it to Jerk's chest. "That's it, I am out of here!" I turned and stomped away. Jerk flinch when I threw it at him but caught it anyhow. He grinned and broke into laughter himself. "Master, my ass. If it wasn't because of the ring or the wonderful pay I got, I would have strangled him on the spot." I mumbled to myself as I went to my faraway seat with Layla and Raudhah to resume my eating. They both looked at me with a smirk, just waiting for me to arrive. Oh no, now I have got some explaining to do to them...sigh...
*****
I knocked on the door then entered the principal's room. I sat obediently on the chair directly in front of her table. She was on the phone and I waited awkwardly for her to finish. When she did, she rested both her hands on the table. She smiled warmly, but somehow I tensed up even more. "Sakinah! Remember the day you thrashed the school canteen with the food fight?"
I fake laugh awkwardly." How could I ever forget?" I smiled weakly at the memory.
"Well, I have finally decided on your punishment now. The principal from Greenfield Primary School had just called me for help with the new to-be primary one students next year. They want me to assign someone from this school to help with the small kids so that the parents could go to the school's auditorium for a short briefing. I heard you were good with kids, so I assigned you."
"When?" I asked politely.
"Next week."
"You mean during our holiday break?" The principal nodded and I sighed, disappointed that it had to take away my holiday. But I guess since it's just kids it'll be fine. Maybe fun."For how long?" I asked again.
"Three days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. From 9 am to 1.30 pm. You'll get further notice from the Principal or office once you get there."
"Will I have someone to help me with the job?"
"Yeah, I'll think of someone soon."
"Alright, Miss. Is that all?"
"Yes, you may go now."
*****
School finally ended. I took out my hand phone and dialed Hassan. He answered it on the fifth ring. "Hello?" He asked.
"Hi, Hassan! It's been 5 days since I last heard from you. How's your mum? Did she...Dis she make it through the operation?" My heart was beating nervously.
There was a long pause as Hassan told another person from the line that it was me calling. Suddenly another unexpected voice pops up through the phone. "Hi sweetie! It's so nice to hear from you. I'm fine, thank you so much for asking!." She had a bubbly excited voice, though a little dry and hoarse.
It took me a moment to realise who it was. "Oh! Ms SARAH! I can't tell you how glad I am to be hearing from you. I'm glad you made it through. Anyways, you don't sound fine. Didn't the Doctor tell you that you should rest?" I was near to tears and so proud that she made it through. I was happy for Hassan. 'Alhamdulillah Ya Allah!' I thanked Allah silently in my heart.
"Oh, shucks. You caught me! Even my kids tell me to rest, but I can't help it. I'm glad to have a second chance in life and I don't want to waste another second of it!"
"That's awesome, Miss." I called her 'Miss' out of a habit of mine as a way of respect to people. As for the guys older than me, I would call them 'Mister' or 'Sir'.
"Oh, I'm not that young to be referred to as a Miss!" Miss Sarah joked on the other line.
"I bet you are beautiful enough to be regarded as one though." I smiled.
She chuckles sweetly, "Oh what a sweetheart you are. By any chance, can you drop by my house? You know, I won't take no as an answer!"
"Umm... Sure. I'll just... ask my Mum first so she knows."
"Yay! That'll be great! I'm so excited to finally meet you in person. Hassan talks a lot about you..." "Mum!" Hassan protested. Suddenly I heard rumbling of the phone.
After a few pause, I finally spoke. "Umm, Hello? I'm very excited to meet you too Ms Salma. Hassan talks very highly of you."
"Ho ho...what a sweetheart..." It was the sound of a guy talking girlishly. It took me a second to realise that it was Hassan pretending to be his mum. I flushed from what I said but broke into laughter of amusement at his earlier attempt to sound like his mum.
"I so don't sound like that!" Her mum protested. Me and Hassan laughed.
"I so do.." Hassan said.
"No you don't." I back his Mother.
"Whatever. So, do you want me to come fetch you here?" Hassan asked.
"Nah, I'm okay. You go take care of your Mum. Just sms me the address and I'll come."
"Okay." We both cut the line. Around one minute later, I got an sms of the address. I then call my Mum to ask her permission. She said okay, but to be back before Maghrib. I jumped gleefully. I'm still so happy that Hassan's mum made it!!! And so, I made my way there.
*****
I got lost a few times, but after asking for directions, I made it there. I took a bus for 20 minutes to reach the place and walk the rest of my way there. When I did, my smile was wiped off immediately. This was the exact same picture of the house from my nightmare. I gulped and read the du'a my Mum once thought me if in fear.. "Bismillahi llazi la yadurru ma'asmihi shai'un fil ardi wa la fiis samaa', wa huwas sa'miuun aliim (Translation: In the name of (Allah) which nothing could bring hurt with His name, not anything from this Earth neither high up the clouds, and he is the All-Listening and the All-Knowing.)
I took a deep breath and gathered my courage to enter. The gates were already opened. The house was huge with old trees lining beside it. The wind that kept blowing was rather creepy. It was so silent, other than the wind. It was a cloudy day and I barely see the sun. The bushes swayed gently. I kept saying Allah's name to calm myself down. I can't quite explain the feeling, but I already sense something evil about the house.
I knocked on the door three times, it opened. I entered silently but saw no one by the door. Again I gulped. "Assalamu alaikum wa ala ibadillahi solihin." I said the islamic greeting. Usually it was read if we wnter an empty house with no people in it, to greet the angles. But once on my research, it said that it could also be used to test if there are any other 'creatures' staying in the house. In a normal empty house, I will hear no reply, but if the house has Jins staying in it, I will hear the wind blow or the glass break or something as a form of reply from them.
The moment I entered after saying my greeting, a very harsh wind blew to my face and the door behind me was closed shut. The wind was not normal, I felt it. And a frame hanging on the wall nearby fell and broke. I jumped and tensed. So it's true. Just then, a very tall and well build guy passed by me accidentally as he drank his canned soda while walking. When he saw me there, he stoped drinking and turned to look at me.
His features was slightly like Hassan, only older, taller and more built. His skin was slightly more tanned though. But other than that, it was the same very dark black hair, beautiful dark long lashes with misty grey eyes like Hassan. I was slightly intimidated by him. This guy, I'm guessing it's Razi, Hassan's elder brother. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and long dark pants.If it was me and Hassan, my size would only reach up to his chin. But with this guy, I was just by his shoulder- that's how tall he was towering me.
He looked me up and down then with a single press of one of his strong hands, the can he was holding squashed. "You must be that notorious girl Hassan keeps talking about." I'm not sure whether he was pleased seeing me.
"H-He said I was notorious?" I asked clutching my cardigan. Something's wrong with this guy, I could sense it. He ignored my question and continued to observe me with that intense stare of his. He walked around me, then finally settled his back against the wall with his arms folded as he stared at me. Suddenly I felt My legs sliding backwards against my will, wind blew hard at me from all direction, and I stuggled to fight against the wind and regain my balance.
I nearly screamed, "What's going on??" My voice trembled with fear. Something. I sensed something near me that's not human. Not even Ahraqah. It's multiple times stronger than Ahraqah. I fell on my butt and Razi laughed amused. When I looked at him, my eyes widen and my body trembled. His eyes...the iris...they weren't grey anymore, they weren't even black, they were pure violet.
Suddenly, Hassan walked down the stairs mumbling a random tune. He was wearing a plain grey T-shirt and a black track pants up to below his knees. When he saw me, he rushed towards me. "Sakinah!" He helped me stand and I was still slightly shaking. "Stop it Razi, this is no way to greet a visitor." Hassan scolded, staring at Razi intensely back with his growing black eyes.
I stared at them both back and forth. I screamed, panic, and shouted, "ENOUGH CHANGING YOUR EYE COLOURS, ITS CREEPING ME OUT!" I covered my ears and looked away, scared. They both stopped starring at each other and looked at me with their normal grey eyes again. I looked at them again, contemplating if it was safe.
Razi looked away and smirked. "Whatever. That's enough Ifriit. Let's leave her be." Ifriit? Was that his Jin's name? "If she can't handle a shit so small, I have no idea how she'll manage in the future knowing this family." A high pitch giggle was heard very close to my ears and I jumped at it's unexpected closeness by me. It was followed by a really hard gush of wind blowing against my back towards Razi and it abruptly stopped beside him. My body was slightly swirled from the push. Razi walked away with his right arm resting on the air as if he was resting it on someone's shoulder. It was scary and creepy as hell as I see him walk away with that unknown thing beside him.
"That guy...I don't know what to do with him." Hassan mumbled and shook his head. He looked at me and asked, "are you okay?" His eyebrow furrowed when it drop on my cheek. "You have a small open scar on your right cheek." He bit his lip, feeling guilty.
"Huh? What?" I touched my right cheek, and when I felt the scar, it stinged and I cringed. I must have gotten it from that 'Ifriit' as the hard wind blew pass my face earlier. "Uh, don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt one bit." I dismissed it and smiled awkwardly.
Hassan gave me 'the look' as if to say he doesn't believe me one bit. "Fine, a plaster would be good." I rolled my eyes. Can I ever lie and not get caught? Is it really that easy to see through me?
"Big bro, what's taking you so long??" A cute small petite girl ran down the stairs to Hassan. She had long straight brown hair up to her hip, one small strand of it in the front was braided. She had the same grey eyes. She was wearing a short brown T-shirt and a short cream skirt. When she saw me, she immediately tensed and hid behind Hassan, clutching the sides of his pants, shy and scared.
She was too cute and pretty, she reminded me of my youngest sibling, Toyyibah. I just want to hug her from her cuteness and press her little cheeks. I bent down slightly to reach her level, "you must be Fathimah, Hassan's lil cute sister. My name is Sakinah." I smiled warmly at her and held out my hand.
She clutched on Hassan's pants tighter and hid her face behind his legs. Hassan held the back of her head lightly. "It's okay Sis, She's my friend. You can shake her hand, she's quite friendly." Hassan encouraged her. Her head popped out beside Hassan's legs shyly with her palms covering her mouth. She looked at my hand, and ever so slowly shook it quickly as her cheeks flushed pink. But she shocked me greatly by suddenly screaming in terror and running up the stairs, stumbling and fell, then back up again with her two little feet and hands outstretched in the air. She entered a room and banged the door close.
Hassan looked at me apologetically. "Sorry about that. She's very shy."
"Gyaah, she's sooo cute!!" I grinned and Hassan smiled. "Is there anyway I could meet her again and maybe play with her?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure. Despite her running away from you, she's actually pretty excited to be your friend. Just wait after you meet my mum, then you can see her again and play and stuffs."
"Aww, she's just too cute! Okay, let's go meet your mum then." I grinned. As we walked and climbed up the stairs silently, I felt deathly anxious again. Not only at the fact about meeting Hassan's mum, but mostly about this house. I just can't put my hands on it.
After what seems like hours around this huge house, we entered a room. There I found her lying asleep in a bed. She was so skinny and pale. She probably haven't fully recovered yet.
"She still looked sick." I told Hassan.
"Yeah I know. But she was too stubborn in wanting to get out of the hospital. She kept screaming and screaming to the doctors and nurses there to let her go home. So when the doctor see that it was safe enough, he permitted us to bring her home with the exception that a nurse should follow us there to check on her everyday until she is confirmed to be on the speed of recovery.
I looked at the nurse sitting at the far corner of the room writing something. "Her name's Selena. She's only 27 years old. We hired her to check on mum and she'll be staying with us for one month to continue checking on Mum's health and making sure that she ate her medicine. My mum don't like her much though. She insisted that she was perfectly healthy. Like i said, my mum's just too stubborn for her own good." He explained and smiled weakly as he looked at my mum.
The nurse passed by us, I smiled and she nodded shyly and left the door to give us some privacy. Ms Sarah, Hassan's mum, suddenly awaken and saw me. She immediately arose from bed, weakly with her still shaky thin arms. "Sakinah!" She said excited. Me and Hassan rushed to her to help her out.
"Oh I'm perfectly fine! Hassan can you leave me with Sakinah one second?" She asked politely. Hassan looked at me and her back and forth as if unsure, but left. I smiled and sat at a chair in front of her bed.
Ms.Sarah breathed in and out a few times, clearly still weak as she looked at me smiling and thinking. "I've been so excited to see you." She said.
"Yeah me too. You're an awesome mother I heard." I smiled.
She shook her head and smiling even wider, "Oh that Hassan. I wonder what he told you."
"He loves you so much." I told her.
"I know. And I love him too. He's a good kid. He's been taking care of me greatly when I was sick and was so patient." She said, eyes wondering around as if she thought about all the memories with Hassan. Then, she looked back at me. She smiled and breathed in a few more times. Suddenly a tear fell down her cheeks and she sobbed.
I panicked. "What's wrong."
"I really wish I could serve you all the delicious food and make you feel at home, but I'm so week, even sitting is so hard for me!" She complained, upset.
"Oh, it's okay. I've just eaten. And I do love eating your food, I bet it's very delicious. So you must stay strong for Hassan's sake, and maybe one day you could cook me those food and I would gladly eat them!" I smiled and held her hands on mine, rubbing it to comfort her.
She chuckled, "yes, I suppose I'm a fairly good cook." She joked and I laughed. "But I'm not that stupid. I know I'm not perfectly healthy. I'm old, Sakinah. Although I've been given a second chance in life, I doubt it will be for that long."
"Oh, don't say that. You'll do fine." I ascertained her.
She looked at the air plainly, and breathed in and out, in and out. "You're his first ever true friend, you know that?" I nodded and looked down. After a few more seconds of silence, she spoke again."I hope you'll remain forever his friend. You were the light for him, the reason he found to carry on living. He's different now since he met you. Now he sees hope in life. And now, I knew why." I sat quietly, listening.
"You're a good kid, Sakinah, no wonder Hassan's the way he is now." I kept quiet. Somehow, I felt really sad at that statement. Am I really a good kid?
"Who knows. Maybe one day you'll end up marrying Hassan." I widen my eyes at her boldness.
I almost choked on air. "I-I don't think he looks at me in that way more then a friend." I chuckled and dismissed the statement.
"Fate works in weird ways, Sakinah. Believe me. You'll never know what great surprise is waiting for you. Life is truly wonderful. Sometimes, people just take it for granted. Without you noticing, happiness is actually there in ordinary days. The people close to you, those whom you loved, the hardships you faced, everything. Success is not in the result, it's actually in the effort you put in and not giving up."
I started crying uncontrollably and she notices. "What's wrong dear? Did I say something that upsets you?"
"I have a confession to make. I hope you won't get mad at me."
She looked at me, worried. I felt guiltyand fear. "I lost the precious ring you gave me. I didn't mean to! It was so lovely and beautiful. A guy stole it from me. But I promise you, I'll get it back no matter what." I promised her as tears kept streaming down my cheeks.
"Whoa,you got me worried there." She chuckled lightly and smiled after listening to what's bothering me. "It's okay Sakinah, forget the ring."
"B-But the ring! Your ring! It helped you through hard times, a-and the beautiful words written on it..."
"Shush.." She place a finger on my lips, "you're wrong, the words are truly in your heart, not on the ring. The ring is nothing but an accessory." She pointed to my heart and it stabbed my chest to how true she was.
"Umm, it's time for your daily injections madam..." the nurse suddenly popped inside. I wiped away my tears.
"Oh shoot, not that damn nurse again..." I chuckled at Ms Sarah's childish side.
"It's okay. I'll come by again someday. You should rest." I stood up and carried my sling beg. "You take care, Miss." I turned and left. and I didn't stay to see how her reaction was.
*****
I was in a room full with toys, more toys than in my entire house combined. I had been playing with Fathimah for half an hour now. She was very shy at first, but finally when she got comfortable, she was pretty lively.
"This is so fun! You should come visit here everyday!" She shouted as she jumped and hugged me.
"Aww, you are soo freaking cute! I feel like kidnapping you home."
"What? No! Please don't." She walked a few steps back, panicking.
I laughed at her funny gestures, "relax, I was only joking. How could I steal you from Hassan, you're his beloved sister."
She thought about it. "I guess you're right." She shrugged. "You know, I'll be starting school next year! I'm so excited but a little nervous. I don't want to mess things up."
"Just be yourself and people will surely love you!"
"You think so?"
"I know so." I ascertained her. "Which school will you be going to?"
"Greenfield Primary school."
I gasped and jumped excitedly, "my sis will be going there too! I guess we'll meet soon then! Next week I have to take care of the soon to be primary one kids like yourself."
She gasped and giggled excitedly as she jumped and hugged me again. "I need to go pepee. I'll be back in a minute." I noded and she left the room.
I sat quietly as I waited, when suddenly a purple marker pen beside me stood by the air and started to jumble down words into the paper. The handwriting look like that of a child. "I'm NoT sUrE i LiKe YoU tHaT mUcH"
I jumped and sat further away from the paper. Suddenly the marker pen dropped, and the paper flew lightly to my hand. I gulped as I read It. I took another Dark green marker pen and wrote behind it. "Who are you?" I then turned the paper where I wrote and I showed it around not sure where 'it' was at.
It then wrote on a fresh new paper, "My NaMe'S aRwAh" It flew by my hand again.
I turned the paper backwards and wrote, "why would you not like me? Did I do something to upset you?"
It wrote, "NoPe...NoT yEt At LeAsT. YoU'rE nOt GoNnA sTeAl HeR fRoM mE aRe YoU? sHe'S tHe OnLy FrIeNd I hAvE..."
I stared out the door thinking about Fathimah. She's like my own sister now. I then wrote behind the paper as it flew to me, "only if you promise never to hurt Fathimah."
"Oh. YoU'rE sMaRt! SuRe I wOn'T hUrT hEr. BuT i'M qUiTe KnOwN fOr LyInG. rEsT aSsUrEd ThOuGh, I hAvE nO rEaSoN tO hUrT hEr NoW."
Suddenly, Fathimah's foot steps was nearing. I snatched all the paper's that we both had wrote and tore it to pieces. I put my forefinger on my lips, hoping that the Jin Arwah would understand the message as Fathimah enetered the door. "What's wrong, Sis Sakinah? What's that paper?"
"Oh. It's nothing!" I assured her. As Fathimah faced me and looked at me weirdly as she tries to figure me out, my eyes landed on a plastic baby doll behind her.The doll suddenly stood, opening it's blue eyes. It put it's forefingers on it's lips like like the way I did it before, then held a thumbs up and smiled as if it gotten my message. I widen my eyes in shock at what I saw. Fathimah noticed me looking pass her and before she could turn to see what it was, the doll fell back down like a lifeless doll again, eyes closed.
*****
(Mirza's P.O.V)
I hid behind the walls, spying on Sakinah. I saw her contacted someone on her hand phone. I found out it was Hassan. I frowned, that guy had been missing from school for quite a few days now. Sakinah is planning to come to his house. I guess this was a great opportunity for me to find out more about him and about his secret.
Sakinah rode a bus and I rode my car, stalking behind the bus until I saw her walk out the bus. I parked my car nearby. Then followed her silently to a house. She entered the house. I had no choice but to wait outside. As I waited for more than half an hour now, I decided to come closer to the house so I could see what's happening inside. I walked inside the gates and to the windows to see what's inside. I saw no one there.
The wind was fairly weird today, I can't quite put my hands on it. It kept caressing my skin in a creepy manner, giving me chills to my spine. Numerous times I felt like someone was there watching behind me, but every time I turned, I saw nothing but the wind. Suddenly as I turned back to see through the windows, it locked itself shut and it's curtain suddenly closes out of nowhere.
I rubbed my head confused. Now what? I wondered what just happened? I can't enter the house, I'll get caught. I thought hard with a stressed look on my face. Suddenly, I felt something lick my cheek and giggled, then disappear out of the blue. I jumped and stared wide eyed as I looked around me for the source. Nothing. It gave me chills. I had never been scared of ghosts, but this time I was truly creep out. I decided to go back to where my car was and wait for Sakinah there.
More than an hour had passed, I was in my car listening to the music blasting to ease my uneasiness. Suddenly, I saw Hassan in the distance. I decided to follow him quietly and see what's up. He seemed to be arguing with someone, but I saw no one beside him other than plain air. 'What a weird person' , I thought. I came closer to hear what he's saying.
"Enough, Ahraqah. I'm tired of repeating myself. She's JUST a friend. Now, seriously quit it before I get really pissed." What is he talking about? More importantly, who was he talking to?!
""What's that... I got company??" Hassan listened to the unknown voice as if it was telling him something, then he turned to look around. I quickly ducked behind the walls.
Hassan took a deep breath.
"The same sun, the same skies, the same trees,
the same heart, yet humans are banding;
I count from one, two and three,
Come out, come out now from your hiding."
The moment Hassan finished reading the verses, I felt my body being pulled out by a very strong force and I flew in the air towards Hassan. My heart was beating insanely in shock and horror. What the hell is going on? What was happening to my body?
I landed harshly near Hassan, and I fell on my butt. I groaned in pain. "Oh, it's just you..." Hassan said, bored. I stared at him in shock. His irises were black.
"W-What's g-going on?! Y-You're not normal, you're a freak of nature!!" I shouted.
"I'm no freak. Well at least I'm no self conceited Jerk." He yawned and was about to walk away.
"Does Sakinah know about this? That you are a freak?!" I stood and yelled at him.
He turned to face me, his eyes was back to grey. His hands were in his pockets. "She knows. But she doesn't think of me as a freak.That's what's awesome about her and why I like her." He smiled.
"Liar! T-That's impossible. I-I'll tell her and she'll leave you for good!" I threatened.
"Go ahead. She's my friend, so I trust her. She's not yours, so no need to worry about her leaving you though." He smirked and walked away. That stroked a nerve in me.
"I'll tell her, I'm soooo telling her. SHE'LL LEAVE YOU! Mark my words!!" I yelled but he totally ignored and dismissed it and slowly disappeared in the distance.
*****
The next day Hassan came to school and sat beside Sakinah throughout class. They seemed really close, and it disgusted me. Wait till I tell her about him!
Recess came, and I searched for Sakinah in the canteen. She was heading to one of the food stalls. I ran and turned her to face me. I grabbed her shoulders tightly and shook it "Listen, You have got to leave that freak Hassan for good. He's not normal!" I shouted at her, desperate.
"What are you talking about? Let me go!" She wiggled her arms free and pushed away my arms.
"No, Sakinah, LISTEN. He's...He's not human."
"W-what..." Then she widen her eyes in what seemed like understanding. She turned behind her to where Hassan was observing casually and asked him. "Wait, does he really know about...?"
"Regretfully so...Who cares, not me." Hassan answered and shrugged, looking away, uncaring.
Sakinah turned to face me with a serious and angry look on her face. "Now you listen, Hassan IS normal and he IS human. He's just an unfortunate person who is tested with greater trials. What's not normal here, is YOU! He's not him by choice. YOU'RE a jerk by choice. Now, that's not normal."
"No,no..." I shook my head disbelieving. Hassan smiled evilly at me and whispered 'I told you so' behind Sakinah's back. He held his tongue out, held a thumbs up, then turned it upside down into a thumbs down.
"No,no..."I can't believe this! "He's not normal, People! This guy, Hassan, is a freak! A psycho and a weirdo. He's not human! He has magic! HE'S NOT NORMAL!!" I screamed to everyone in the canteen as I pointed fingers at Hassan, widening my eyes and hoping they would believe me. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
"T-Tell them Sakinah! Tell them what I said is true." I stared at her, waiting and hoping.
"You're crazy, go get your brains checked at IMH. Come on Hassan, let's leave this weirdo be."
I whistled loudly with my whistle, "tell them, or I'm not returning you the ring." I threatened.
Sakinah turned towards me, "I DON'T CARE! It's what's in my heart that truly matters. And I hate you!" I was taken aback by what she said.
"By ring...did you mean this ring?" Hassan asked holding out the ring shocking both me and Sakinah. "Thief; people should watch out for a thief like you, not me. Here you go Sakinah." Hassan dropped the ring on Sakinah's palms and they both soon left.
And like that, people broke into whispers and all stared at me like I was crazy.
*****
Throughout the day, I was mixed with so many emotions all at once: Pissed, angry, pissed, confused, sad, betrayed, disappointed, sad, infuriated, betrayed. I was silent and ignored my friends when they asked whether I was okay. My head was in a frenzy, it was hard for me to think.
When class ended, I walked out like a dead zombie. I thought I was the last one to leave the class. But then Hassan appeared next to me, "you're more stupid than I thought. Like anyone would believe your nonsense." He whispered, snickered and left.
Sakinah clapped her hands once. "Well, Master... I see your reputation had dropped. Too bad, I can't work for poor no-classed people no more. I QUIT. ADIOS!" She put the words I told her earlier morning in my mouth. She stuck her tongue out and was ready to leave.
I held her hand back "Wait, why. Why do you choose to defend that guy, whom you barely met? Why not me instead, we knew each other longer than he does! Why defend a freak like him? Why, Sakinah??"
She snatched her hands out of my grasp."He's no freak, HE'S MY FRIEND. And You? How have you been treating me, huh? Like an enemy? Like shit? I pity you Jerk. You're actually okay being your self-conceited jerk that you are, and you see nothing wrong with that. Plus, I hate you." Like that, she left me.
I continued walking lifelessly. As if to make matters worse, Mr Izzat randomly called on me. He snatched my the back of my clothes and dragged me to the principal 's office. I was stumbling to regain my balance. He opened the door, and we entered without as much as a knock or a permission. "Is anything wrong??" The principal asked confused and shocked.
When we were in there, I broke out at screamed at him, pissed then ever. "WHAT?! " I stared immensely at him. I'm in no mood for this shit. I already feel like shit, no need to throw more shit at me. Plus, I don't remember doing anything notorious at school as of yet.
He slammed a worksheet with my name on it on the principal's table. "LOOK, all wrong answers!! And even worse, LOOK HERE, what he wrote on the last page! I can't tolerate this Miss. He must be severely punished!"
I looked at the paper he pointed and read it:
GOD, I HATE MATHS. SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS. AND I DARE, SAY THIS TO YOUR FACE ANY DAY, ANY PLACE, ANY TIME.
I took a very deep breath in.....
SAKINAH!!!! YOU'LL GET IT FROM ME!!!!!
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How do you like this chapter guys? :)) Pic is of Fathimah on the side.