CHAPTER THREE - THE JOURNEY OF ONE DAY

WU

One day.

Twenty four hours, a thousand four hundred and forty minutes.

Eighty six thousand and four hundred seconds.

It's amazing all that could happen in just one day.

Your heart could give up on you any day.

And your life could stop that day.

You could both smile and laugh in one day, fail and triumph in the same.

Life can show you all its pitfalls and you could find yourself spiraling down a dark path in another.

You could say your vows in one day and a day can destroy that once promising joy.

In a day, you could loose both parents to a tragic accident.

A day can change your whole perspective about life.

A day can make you question your faith.

A day that can change a life plan, take your true love and-

-a day can bring your whole world to an end.



****

THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER

I staggered around the lighted roads, with a bottle a vodka in my hands.

I was high on coke with my vision a little bit impaired.

I didn't know how on earth I stood there or how I got to where in stood.

Until I was sucked into my own consciousness when I heard her screams.

Followed by a solid thud as if in a fight.

I had to gather my drunken self behind the car as some sort of shield till eventually the yelling stopped.

But just as soon as I thought it was over, the moment when her body was thrown over the balcony and unto that pavement, I was suddenly grasped by the hem of my fabric-

-a bloody knife to my neck.

And I was faced with the most gruesome form of murder and it was then I screamed

DURING THE INVESTIGATION

-urging me to gasp, awake.

As I stretched my arms, I could feel the tenderness of the sores around my eyes as I closed them.

Unrequited sleep clung heavily unto them as I sat there in the four cornered room.

My hair was a mess fall on my shoulders as I just stared in the poorly lighted room.

My hands rested on the table as all my ear could pick was the ticking of the clock

-very much eager to strike twelve.

To start the new day but perhaps I'd rather not hope to start that day.

After all, what difference would it make?

As much as I craved for the drugs, just to get high, to get swooned in my unrealities, it was never possible.

I was filled with utmost misery as my eyes met with theirs, two of them.

I couldn't wrap my head around that fact that I was the prime suspect.

Their badges hung around their neck in proper detective fashion as they awaited my response.

The image sat at my front, a capture from the nearest surveillance footage of that night

-an almost blur side view of me.

"Ms Wu, earlier you stated you were in the club when the crime happened" She said.

Clearly, I couldn't defend myself as I looked back at the paper.

I swallowed a lump down my throat as I slid a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Maria is in the next room, sealing a deal. She's going to tell us all she knows of that night" He added.

"So just give up, stop fighting. It's over"

****

PRESENT

The music boomed as a few glided sweaty bodies, emotions burst on the dance floor.

The flashing lights wavered around the stage before Aaliyah loosened off her kimono.

Handing her belongings over to me, the birthday girl quickly had a shot before running off to the stage.

The music took a brief pause, giving her time to get over to the stage.

"No, I've gotta dance to this" She said as she walked off.

Her ass sat up in her tightly laced leather skirt and her fitted single handed top.

She bent forward beside the pole, her skirt rising to barely shield her socked thighs.

Her scarf wrapped her hair in the air as she fell to a perfect split.

She smothered her skirt as she looked to the pole, contemplating whether or not to give a little show

-after all it was her special day.

She knew if she was going up there, she was going to strip off that skirt.

As she contemplated giving a performance, she threw in a shot of tequila in her mouth.

"Go, Aal" Jacq danced around in a flee gown.

And just as she clung to that pole, her phone buzzed in her jacket.



Mum: Come pick us at the airport, Aaliyah

10:45PM

Father: We've been waiting good ten minutes, I just hope you're aren't sleeping.

10:56PM

Mum: Oh, Allah. We hope you're safe.

11:20PM

Dad: Aaliyah Nadia Abdullah!

12:01PM

****

"Oh, shit" I cursed as I looked to Aaliyah, who by now had taken off her skirt.

"And somehow I'm the reckless one" I said to Jacqueline as I showed her the texts.

"She doomed" Jacq shrugged her shoulders.

****

"I'm sorry for that interruptio-" Jacq said to the chanting crowds.

"You need to get your parents from the airport asap" I said as I literally pulled her off the stage.

I saw her slowly zone out, drunk to stupor.

"Aaliyah" I snapped before she spoke.

"My parents are back in Egypt, probably on the front lawn. In the white house" She said, lackadaisically.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked, my hands to my temples in frustration.

"I wish I had that on audio, where is the the white house again?" Jacq asked.

"Guys this is not funny. We have to get her to her parents" Ruby said as she held in her laughter.

"Amelia took the stage, but your guys are booing. They chant for Aal" Maria said as she walked in.

"Now we're going to deal with the drunk Aal and the disappointing people-"

"And the fact that her parents are calling" I said as her phone started buzzing.

"What do I do?" I asked before suddenly she fell forward, bumping into me before falling curved on the billiard table.

"Scratch that, a now unconscious, bleeding and drunk Aaliyah" I said with a hysterical laughter.

****

I looked to the clock as I paced around the room the last time.

"Someone has to go to meet them" I said.

"Well, if this anyone it's you Ruby" Maria added as she looked to her.

"She knows you, thinks you guys attend the same school" Maria said.

"Why don't we just ignore them, they'll probably find a motel or somewhere" Jacq said as she covered her with a blanket.

"Oh yeah because they're very familiar with this place" I said sarcastically as she heavily snored.

She remained lifeless on the ground as Jacq unenthusiastically sprinkled water unto her bare face.

Ruby grabbed the keys hastily before walking to the door.

"You can't just walk up to them and tell them their daughter's too drunk to come herself" Maria said.

"We can't just stay here till the missed calls reach fifty" Ruby defended as she suddenly gasped.

"I don't feel too good" She said.

"They know me already, I'll probably tell them she's under the weather or something. No biggie" I said.

"There's a biggie because they spoke earlier on" Jacq said.

"Any better ideas?" Ruby asked.

"Look, I'm the one that told her to go big, I owe it to her to get her out of this mess" I said.

"We all wanted it to be special, it's been a while we all came together" Maria said.

"I know I did" Ruby said before she opened the door.

"Dang, Amelia's good around that pole" Jacq remarked as she walked I to the crowds.

****

Immediately we stepped out, Ruby bent forward into he nearby bushes before she threw up.

"Ruby?" Maria called.

"I just had too much to drink" She said as she leaned against a half filled barrel.

"Twice this week. We should go to hospital" I said as I reached for the keys in her hands.

"I just said it, too much tequila" She said.

"You're gonna need back up" She said as she stood up straight.

"So we're just gonna leave Aal here till she wakes up?" Jacq asked.

"We can't take her along in the trunk of the car" I said as I opened the car door.

"Hopefully we don't get pulled over by the police and we'll say?" I said as I started the engines.

"M.G might take care of her" Ruby said as she walked over to the back seat.

"No way he's doing anything for her" Maria replied.

"Still haven't given him his cut?" I asked.

"No way his cut is seventy percent over ours, even as the manager of the club" Maria asked.

"Sometimes, I just feel like fucking killing him" She said as I switched the gears before pulling away to the roads.

"Like strangling him with his wires" Ruby said with a laugh.

"Or stabbing him in his chest" Jacq said before screaming into the air.

"That better be the alcohol talking" I said.

****

"That's her excuse?" Her mum suspiciously asked, her hands on her luggage.

"We could doubt she was exactly happy to see us after months" Her father said as we walked along the roads.

"She wasn't even exactly happy today, her birthday" Ruby pointed out as she helped with the bags.

"I never asked you what you're studying" Her father enquired with a smile.

"I never know myself, a day I'm reading for law, another for human rights" She joked.

"Basically, I just want to do something that will help others" She said.

"She sounds like our daughter" Her mum said to her father.

"So you all attend the same school? It's soothing to know she has good friends" She said with a smile.

"It's an honor to finally meet you" Jacq said.

"So Ruby, think we can meet your parents for some lunch sometime" Her mum offered.

"We might stay a while, and we could use friends" Her father continued.

"They stay away, unfortunately" She said.

"Oh, very. Such a smart daughter they have" He said with a smile.

"Actually we were thinking of spending some time with her. You know it's been awhile" Her mum said.

"That's our ride" I said as I knocked on the door.

"You can throw the bags through the back seat" I said as I sighted Maria at the driver's seat.

"There you go" I said, helping them with the bags before closing the doors.

"You know, thank you" Her mum said as she adjusted her hijab.

And for the first time I noticed the striking resemblance in their eyes.

"Not just for today. But for everything" She concluded with a smile.

There's that joy in a mother's voice when she knows that her child is okay.

The assurance and love. The desire for nothing but good.

I never really understood the meaning of that love till I couldn't have it.

"So we'll check you in a hotel. Tomorrow she'll come pick you up" Maria said.

"That'll be fine" She replied.

****

"You can drop me off here" I said before the car pulled over.

"Really? We're headed back to the club" Maria said as she turned back.

"This is no where near your house" Ruby said, looking out of the window.

"I'm crashing at a friend's" I said as I pushed open the door.

"Don't get wasted. Please" Maria said.

It was no doubt I had started pulling away from them.

-beginning to feel like I didn't belong.

But the truth was, I never did.

Right from when I rocked the pony tail and that pinafore, still a young girl.

Growing up was hard.

And as I walked down that path, all that sprung in my mind were questions.

What if I grew up with a mum? Or at least a father?

That maybe, just maybe, I might have turned out different.

I picked up my phone before dialing her number.

I couldn't go home, I couldn't pretend all was well.

Fine, I'd wear on a smile for my girls but I was hurting.

I felt my life going dark, and deep down I knew Aaliyah was right.

We were once good.

I was.

"Hey" I said as I sniffed in my tears.

"Wu?" She called doubtfully over the line.

"I'm at your door" I said, pathetically.

****

TWO DECADES AGO

"We'll be back before late. Grandma will read you a story for bedtime" Her faint voice reassured as she walked out with my dad.

"Or I'll be back to do it" She added.

NOW

"Wu" She called out from across the room.

"Bye, mom" I whispered from the stairs after she closed the door.

"Maybe she didn't even hear me" I said, a crack in my voice, as I remained invested in my thoughts.

"Wu, is that why you're here?" She asked as I stared distantly, tears clouding my eyes.

"You asked earlier if my lack of sexual pleasure was as a result of any traumatic event-" I said and she sat up.

"

your therapist, I want you to know you can tell me anything" She responded.

"I drank today. Maybe I couldn't he-"

"I'm not your alcoholic therapist, Wu" She interrupted, as she sat up.

"I drink. I smoke. My life is just a series of bad decisions, over and over" I whispered.

"More of a sequence. I met some people today and they reminded me of my mum" I added as I wiped my tears.

"They reminded me of family and I was sober enough to get sulked into that fantasy. That joy of having people around to call family" I added.

"Family is no fantasy, it's real-"

I felt a stint of pain in my chest as I looked back at her.

"She left that day, in the arms of my dad-"

"-and she never came back" I continued.

"She never did. The next day was my grandmother telling me that they were in some kind of accident-" I paused.

"Both their lives. In the same day" I said.

"I never grew up with the love, except for my grandmother who I kept failing" I said.

"But it was that day I lost a piece of myself and afterwards day by day, living was pain" I said.

"I lost it? All of it, my faith, my dignity. My reason to live and thrive and love" I added.

"I just always wanted to die, after all life was vanity to me. If both my parents had their lives taken at the same moment" I continued.

"What was the point?" I asked.

"I could drop dead now any day, tomorrow" I raised my voice, diluting the anger in my voice towards her.

"One day" She said.

"What?" I softly asked.

"You said, one day. That doesn't mean we can stop trying to be better" She added.

"That day might be today, but it might not. It's still a fifty-fifty" She said.

"How can I try to be better?" I asked.

"By getting help" She said.

"Not just from people like me, but from your friends and family" She said.

"Do they know?" She asked.

"That I'm more than a drug addict or that I've lost my libido?" I asked.

"Or that I fear a part of me is suicidal" I said.

"Asking for help doesn't mean you're weak. Even it does mean anything, it's that you're strong-" She said.

"Strong enough to admit to yourself that you're down, that you're weak" She said.

"And that's where most people fail. To recognize their faults, their flaws" She said.

"And not just embracing it, by changing it into something you can be proud of" She said.

"There's perfect in imperfection" She said.

~

TWO DECADES AGO

"Your mum was in a fatal accident, she's gone in a better place" Grandma said.

"Tell me it's a story for tonight" I asked but she remained quiet, failing to assure me.

To assure me that all was right.

"And dad?" I asked and she shook her head.

"

day was all it took" I said.

****

AND THEN MONTHS LATER

Bang. Bang.

I had lost my balance, falling over the chair.

"Wu" Grandma yelled as she hit the door.

My eyes began to close before I felt my systems shooting off.

The last thing I saw was the emptied nylon of coke on the ground.

Until I gave up.

I overdosed.

****

Even though to this day, I never knew what it took to restart my heart that day.

No detox, no rehab was enough to ever reassure my grandmother that it will not happen again.

So whenever we did see, all she asked of me was my health and each time

-i lied.

I'm clean grandma, I'd say.

But maybe I was done with all the lies, I was ready to face my truth.

To get help.

My life was crashing in unexpected ways.

And it took that whole lot of darkness for me to find out, I had no light.

NOW

So as I paced down the corridors in the hope of finding any of my sisters.

And immediately I sighted Ruby along the stalls, her back rested against the door frame.

"Rubs" I called, picking up my pace to where she sat.

"I have a problem" I said.

"And I know we all do but I just wanted someone to tell" I said before she looked up-

-with moist, sore red eyes.

"Were you crying?" I asked.

Then after a bit of hesitation, without saying a word

-she hefted up an instrument in her palms.

It wasn't long till I realized what I held in my hands and seeing the results, I gasped.

"Ruby?" I called, my voice overshadowed in the doubt that laid in my hands.

"You're pregnant?" I asked.

To be continued...