6- Enamoured

Like a robot, she headed out of the estate ignoring her Baba and the yelling. They could shout all they wanted but she wasn’t going to stop neither was she going back to that monstrosity of a family lunch. Family, the word made her almost want to vomit. There was just no way they could ever be a family.

She needed to get out of there, and she needed to get out then. In her hurry, she had forgotten to put on her shoes. But oh well, that was neither here nor there, she couldn’t go back for them.

She ran out, heading towards the community gate, not stopping even when Khaleed and Jawahir came after her.

Only once she was out of her community did she allow herself to slow down, walking aimlessly for hours till she found herself on a hill she hadn’t been to for years which happened to be one of her Dada᾿s favorite spot. She wondered what her Dada would've wanted to do in this situation. She'd probably want her to be happy. But Noor couldn’t, wouldn’t allow herself to be happy for her Aunt not after everything she had done to them. She couldn’t fake happiness and watch her Baba and Aunt be happy with whatever child it was she brought to the world.

Was it going to be a brother or a sister for her? Or perhaps, it was both. Whatever, she couldn’t care less, he or she wouldn’t be her problem because they shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

She was still bitter after all these years and she blamed her Baba for everything. But mostly, she blamed her Aunt for them too. If she hadn’t always been secretly in love with her twin᾿s husband even while she was still alive then perhaps, things would have been different.

Her eyes started to tear up as she leaned against a tree, watching the amalgamation of colors blanketing the sky. Maybe she was just looking for someone to blame for all her woes but she didn’t care, she was at a point in her life where she no longer cared but why did it still hurt so much?

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, exhaling through her mouth. How did she get to that point in life? She had always been a good girl but somehow, along the line, her life had gone offkilter and everything was such a mess but she was so tired, tired of cleaning it up.

It was funny how three words; she is pregnant, could break her.

Just five minutes, she told herself as she crumbled like a heap at the trunk of the tree. Five minutes, she told herself and she᾿d get up, go home, clean up and attend the stupid barbecue.

Time was a haze and all too soon, her five minutes were over but she couldn’t bring herself to get up. The tears kept rolling but she did nothing to stop them. If anything, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again in a bid to get more of the tears out. Fucked up, wasn’t it? She needed the reprieve.

She wanted the pain to stop.

Lord, she wanted it to stop, she could have sold her soul to the devil just to make it go away.

She cried until there were no more tears to cry and only when the shuddering stopped did she notice how dark it had become. She tilted her heads backward and stared at the night sky, mesmerized by the glittering celestial bodies blanketing it. The sight was beyond beautiful and for a moment, she let herself forget the woes that tormented her, remembering only the beautiful moments she spent on that particular hill.

She remembered the moments when her Dada would force them to have picnics there, how she would squeal and dance around the house, screaming in Khaleed᾿s ears to get ready because those picnics were the only times the four of them- she, Baba, Dada and Khaleed- get to be together, their Baba was always traveling. Khaleed would sulk all the way, complaining about bugs and mosquitoes but would relent when she shut down and begin to tear up. She missed those moments, she missed her family and most importantly, she missed her Dada.

Dada…she couldn’t think about that now, it would only bring about a fresh bout of pain and as it was, she was emotionally and mentally drained. Funny how a sentence could break her down like that.

With a new surge of strength she didn’t know she had, she rose on her feet, noticing how much they hurt. Who knew that walking without shoes for hours would hurt so damn much, she was sure to get blisters.

Releasing a puff of air, she threw one last look at the sprawling hill before she began her walk back home, ignoring the looks people threw her way as they took in her appearance; cheeks stained with tears, barefooted and covered in mud. Yeah, it wasn’t a look she would have wanted to be caught in. But oh well, what could she say? She had a breakdown.

Fifteen more minutes, she huffed, glancing up and down the road, praying for a cab to make an appearance. When she saw a headlight coming from a corner, she almost squealed, praying it was a cab heading her way. But when she saw a white Kia Sportage, she almost cried out in frustration.

She couldn’t walk another more fifteen minutes to Ivy Hills, her feet were killing and she was starving, she was sure she was going to pass out if she took any more steps from there. In a bid to get away, she had also forgotten her phone so calling Khaleed or Nadia to come pick her up was definitely not an option.

The Kia zoomed past her but a few seconds later, it came back, stopping in front of her. The windows were tinted so she couldn’t make out who was driving. She didn’t recognize the nameplate so she ruled out the fact that it was someone she knew.

When the windows rolled down and she didn’t recognize the person in the car, she turned her head sideways hoping a cab would appear.

The man in the car kept talking but she ignored him; one, she wasn’t in the mood for the shameless flirting of men and two, she wasn’t in the mood for talking. All she needed then was to be home, a place that she hadn’t felt at home in years but was better than being stranded out on the streets and she needed a shower.

“Hey miss, you need a ride?” he questioned, stepping down from the car. The heady scent of his perfume- cinnamon oil, oudh, cardamom and a hint of tobacco- assaulted her nostrils and she almost sighed in content, already in love with it except the tobacco part. 

Before she knew what she was doing, she sniffed again, realizing only a moment later that she somehow knew that scent. When she looked up, her breath caught in her throat.

Standing beside her was the man who had almost threw up at her feet that gala night. What was he doing there?

When he spoke again, this time around, his deep husky voice washed over her, making her splutter because she shouldn’t be feeling what she was feeling then.

“Come on,” he cocked his head towards his car. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

“I…”

“Don’t even say you don’t want to okay? It’s late and dark, it’d be foolish of me to leave you out here alone. And besides, you look like…” he paused, looking for the right word to say.

“Like hell? Ugly? Haggard?” she suggested.

“I was going to say tired,” he smiled ruefully.

“Yeah well,” she shrugged. “You’re not wrong, I am tired but,” she looked at her mud covered feet. “I might muddy up your car.”

“Wait a moment,” he head to the booth of his car and returned seconds later with a pair of black Chinos. “Here, wear this.”

With a grateful smile, she accepted the offered shoes and slipped her legs inside. Even though they were a bit large for her, they were still better than walking barefoot.

“Shall we go ahead?”

Noor hesitated for only a moment before she followed him to his car which was highly uncharacteristic of her. The guy could be a rapist or a serial killer for all she knew but there she was, accepting his help and getting into the car together with him.

Being around others made her all tingly and nervous, and not in a good way. But today, she felt oddly comfortable with this stranger whom she was yet to know his name. It was a good comfort, something she hadn’t felt in years from others who weren’t her immediate family.

“Where are you headed to?” he questioned, breaking through her line of thoughts.

“Ivy Hills,” she whispered, suddenly self-conscious. And when he kept quiet without saying a word, she knew he was probably regretting picking her up.

The community she lived in was mostly known for housing highly conceited influential people in Nigeria, boasting the highest population of a great number of people who make up the latest African history.

When the car pulled to a stop in front of a diner which was a stone throw away from her home, she quirked an eyebrow at him wondering why he stopped there.

“This doesn’t look like my house.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I figured you might need some food in your system before I drop you off, you looked almost ready to topple off when I met you.”

“Do you make a habit of giving off your shoes to strangers and buying food for them?” she questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sometimes,” he shrugged as he got down from the car. “But were not practically strangers now, are we?”  Without waiting for her answer, he rounded to her side of the car and opened the door. “Now come on, I’m also hungry.”

“I think I’m going to walk from here,” she stated as she got down. “My house is only a few seconds away from here.” Not bothering to wait for his answer, she turned and began to walk, pausing a few steps away from him as she began to feel dizzy.

“Whoa,” she exhaled a breath and turned to face him only to find out he hadn’t moved an inch from where she left him.

“Does your offer of taking me home still stands?” she smiled sheepishly, wrangling her fingers nervously.

“Mm-hmm,” he nodded. “After we get something to eat.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “If you insist.”

Smiling to himself, they head into the diner together.

“Good evening,” a lady greeted, smiling warmly at them.

“Evening,” he replied. “Table for two please.”

“Sure,” she nodded. “Follow me.”

She led them to a small table set for two in the corner which was overlooking the window. Noor took the booth side of the table while he took the chair opposite her. The lady took their orders and a few minutes later, their table was set with plates of burger and fries. They ate their food in amiable silence and when they were done, he paid for their food then they head out.

They got into the car and he drove her to the gate. Before she got out, she bent down to take off his shoes but he was quick to stop her.

“You can keep them, return them to me when we meet again.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, goodnight.”

“Night and thanks for everything.”

“It was nothing, don’t worry about it.”

With a nod, she stepped down from the car and watched as his car disappeared before she punched in the code for the gate to open.

Time to face the music

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