LIGHT FROM THE DESERT✓

||CHAPTER 10||

||ZAWADI||

The last two days have been a nightmare. It feels like I have been walking through hell. But not a hotter one than the one my father can make you walk through. His hell leaves permanent scars as painful reminders.

Memories from last night are a blur and I hate it. I keep recalling them in flashes and it's hurting my mind trying to fix and put them together. I thought the alcohol was supposed to make me forget everything entirely but it only made me sick. It was my first time drinking it and perhaps that was why it acted like a violent plague on me.

I barely remember anything that went down after I sent the money to my father. All I recall is walking to a park with a bottle of alcohol in my hand. There was a man who joined me. He was sweet. But there was a man in blue who nabbed him. He took me along. Cuffing my weak hands. He took us to the police station and locked us in a cell. But from that point, there is a loop I can't figure out what fills it. I do not recall whatever happened then. A time or two, I think I slept.

'Cause when I woke up, I felt sick and vomited violently. The man, Kelvin, called a nurse. She gave me a few pills and lots of water. In a few minutes, I felt good as new save for my filthy and worn-out self. She left when she was sure I was okay. Then another man entered with a chair and a notebook. He questioned me about the sweet man who he claims is a drug dealer. I told him I didn't know him or whatever he was talking about. He pressured me for a while until Kelvin intervened.

He told him that I was just an unlucky soul at the wrong place at the wrong time. He left me and Kelvin told me he would release me at dawn. But before he left, he asked for contacts he would use to make a call to have someone get me. I told him I didn't have any off head. I never wanted to give out Kes' number. He would tell her everything and she would worry so much. I didn't want that even though I already knew she was worried sick. He insisted I give him a relatives number. I insisted I would be fine alone. He gave it a few more trials. However, he gave up when it became clear I wasn't going to hive up any contacts. 

At dawn, no one came. I waited patiently even though I felt like tearing the steel rods to get out. I needed to get home to Kes but they didn't bother. They took all the time they needed until a few hours later, Kelvin came back. He brought along the one soul I find hard to hate despite his actions towards me. Evans.

He said he was going to take me home. I couldn't shake the excitement. Though I feared he would be lying. He wasn't a saint to be believed easily. And in modern times, you never know who is real. But when he gave me his jacket I felt as if he was real. If he never cared, he wouldn't take me home. He wouldn't even have come to the detention centre in the first place. So I chose to believe in that. The fact that he did care.

He is driving me home. I feel dizzy. I haven't slept since yesterday. I was so terrified and confused to find comfort in sleeping amidst the maddening chaos. The only thing that kept me from going crazy was the fact that my father had received the money before all that happened. My mom and sister were safe. I dread the thoughts of what could have happened to them if I hadn't managed to send it. I am thinking of calling Hussein once I get home. He may have talked to Salima and I want to know how she is fairing.

Evans has been quiet. He hasn't uttered a single word since we left. The traffic on the other hand is heavy since most people are driving to work. When his eyes aren't on the slow-moving traffic, they are on me. His powerful gaze makes me more uncomfortable now. That's because it stirs a raw desire in me. A desire I hate myself for feeling. I promised not to ever get involved with this gender. They are dangerous. My scars can prove it. And my difficult life can prove it too.