-chapter seven-
àKATERIß
"Over here," Farid said, pulling me through some kind of brambly plants. There was a small, abandoned house behind it. It looked black through the thick water that poured from the sky. Farid quickly ran over to the door and pulled me inside.
I was glad to be free, out of the rain's reach. Farid let go of my hand to search for some kind of light.
He swore, in Arabic, then switched to English. "Dammit, the powers gone."
"Where are we?" I managed to ask. A breeze came in through the wooden boards, making me shiver in the cold. I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt, glad that it was dark so Farid couldn't see.
Farid took his time to answer, set on looking for a source of light. "This is my house." he said finally. “I live alone.”
"Your house?" my voice cracking as I shivered. It never occurred to me that Farid had a house. Suddenly Farid seemed a lot older then I had imagined. Then fear hit me the same time realization did. "Won't they come looking for you here?"
"They don't know I have one. They think I live at the manor." he said. "Aha."
In a second, a light flashed at the palm of his hands. A flashlight. He used it to look for more. I looked around the house and tried to notice the features in the dark. Water was dripping from the ceiling. Pictures hung on the walls. I made out a couple bikes and a poster for a Bollywood action movie. The wooden floor and the walls creaked as the wind shook the one roomed house.
I looked at Farid as he searched for a flashlight. I stood where I was, shivering and unsure whether or not to help him.
Farid sensed my unease. He shined the light at me. "You know you could-." he froze as he looked at me, and I realized that the sleeve of my shirt had fallen off, revealing a good part of my bra and skin below it. I quickly covered myself up with my arms, embarrassed.
"He tore my clothes." I said quietly. Thankfully, Farid turned the flashlight away, and rummaged in a new drawer.
"I don’t think I have any clothes here...ah, wait." he shoved open another drawer only to find it full of not only clothes but rainwater. He grunted and pulled out a dark wet material. He shoved the wet clothes back in and searched another closet.
"Found some." he said. He passed me the flashlight, without pointing the light at me. "Hold this."
I gratefully took it, glad to have something to do. I directed it at the closest and couldn't help but notice the light shaking in my hands.
Farid pulled out a giant flannel shirt. He smelled it and then threw it away behind him. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and decided they were fit to wear. There was nothing else in the closet.
He came over to me and pushed the flashlight down. His hand slid over mine as he pressed to power button, leaving us in darkness. I froze in fear for a moment, but then realized that he hadn’t turn the light off so I wouldn’t see him, but so he couldn’t see me. My cheeks flushed.
He pressed the pants into my hands and lightly held my shoulders.
"You're shivering. I don't have a shirt for you, but you should change your pants at least. Otherwise you'll catch a cold.” I held the crisp sweats in my hands and met his eyes with the dim moonlight. He was shivering too.
"What about you?" I shoved the pants back into his hands. "You'll catch a cold too. You wear these, and I’ll wear that." I pointed to the flannel shirt he had discarded. I needed a shirt anyways.
"But it smells." he wrinkled his nose as I grabbed the shirt, smelling it for myself. It smelt like tobacco and some kind of cologne, otherwise, it smelled fine.
"It smells fine."
He frowned. "It smells like Bahir. It's his shirt."
I wanted to drop the shirt on the floor, but I thought of a question. "So what's it doing here? Has he been here?"
"No, don't worry." he shook his head and turned to look at the water droplets that covered the window pane. "I borrowed it but never returned it." he turned away, towards the fire put I hadn’t seen. "You change."
As he poked at the old wood with a metal rod, I peeled of what was left of my once strange yet beautiful shirt. I kept my underwear on, but squeezed out of my leggings. Goosebumps emerged off the skin of my legs, and tiny hairs lined them from my lack of shaving.
Thankfully, the shirt hung just at mid-thigh. Short enough to be a comfortable nightdress, but it was weird. Reminded me of the TV shows where a wife would wear her husband’s shirt to breakfast. I spread my clothes out on the floor to dry.
"No luck. Everything's wet." he stood and kicked the metal frame of the fire pit. "Good for nothing house."
"I like it." I said, walking over to him to try and be reassuring. I met his gaze and glanced at the sweatpants in his hands. "Your turn."
He looked at me, taking my outfit in, he laughed.
I held up my arms, looking down at myself. “A little too big?” I asked.
He nodded and then walked a couple steps away from me, preparing to change.
"Don't look." he said. I caught his gaze and found the corner turned upward in a humored smile.
"I won't." I said, smiling. It was weird, smiling. I hadn't done it for so long.
I turned back away and stared at the empty fire pit.
"You're peeking." he said behind me, as I heard cloth shuffle.
"No, I'm not." I sang, humored.
"I told you not to look!"
Now I laughed. "I didn't look, don't worry!"
His voice was closer now, as if he had moved. "You perv!"
I turned around. "oh, I'm the perv-."
I stopped to see him standing in the middle of the room. His chest was bare, and the moonlight that broke through the windows lightened parts of him and darkened others. The splattered raindrops on the window pane caused the entire room too look like it was filled with silver lighting bugs, speckling not only the room, but Farid.
His dark features looked almost godly in the moonlight.
I turned bright red as I turned away, holding my face. "I'm so, so sorry! I thought you were done-." I dreaded turning around to look at him again.
He laughed. "It's okay, I am done."
I refuse to turn around, and at the next second felt something soft tumble around my shoulders. I touched it to realize that it was a blanket.
"We're stuck here for the night, so we might as well get some sleep." I turned around, my face back to its normal color and watched as Farid settled himself on the floor against the door. I looked around. The bed was not an option - I wasn’t taking any chances.
"Where should I...?"
Farid shrugged, not looking at me. "Anywhere is fine."
I sat on the floor and curled up against the frame of the bed and pulled the blanket over my shoulder. I was warmed up in minutes, and the silent plip plop of rain threatened to put me to sleep.
I opened my eyes at one point to look at Farid, to make sure he was still there. His eyes were closed, but his eyebrows were knotted together as if he were thinking. Then I realized that he wasn't thinking - he was cold. He had taken his wet clothes off, but that left him in just sweatpants and no blanket or shirt. He was sitting with his arms around his legs, and I could make out the slight shivers of cold run down his moonlit arms.
I felt bad, and although I heard the voice I my head scream terrorist, terrorist, I ignored it. I got on my feet and walked over to him. He only realized I was there when I plopped down next to him.
"What are you-."
"Shh." I had to say twice, as I pulled the blanket over his knees to cover him. Our calves pressed against each other. His were icy cold, and he scooted away instantly.
"You can't sleep here." he said.
"You said 'anywhere is fine'." I argued. I scooted closer to him and this time when I pressed my calf against his, he didn't move. He didn't say anything and I closed my eyes. As time went by his body stopped shaking and he became less tense. I, on the other hand, couldn't get sleep to come at first with him next to me. Soon I heard his familiar snoring, and that was enough to finally pull me into a dreamless sleep.