AYAD

Chapter 8

Some days went by, and things were back to normal. Well, as normal as it could get.

Saheed's drunken night came and went, there was no discussion of what had transpired.

No conversation, nothing.

Gracie had a particularly rough day at work. There was a patient in the lactation center that went into a depressive episode due to her perceived weak bond with her baby. Gracie was called in to de-escalate. Moments like that always triggered an adrenaline response in Gracie, it took rest and time to recoup.

She had time to take a quick shower and change into something comfy after work, but had to hurry so that she could eat dinner with the family. Dabir often did not eat dinner with the family, due to being at work. Saheed would usually speed through his meal and be out the door to the clubs. That night, Gracie didn't care what he did, she just wanted to rest. Gracie had every intent of getting through the dinner as quickly as possible, calling her mom and going to sleep.

She was wearing a sweat suit, her glasses and a high ponytail in a much more 'lax look than she usually had. Mrs. Ayad stood in the kitchen micromanaging the kitchen staff, she looked Gracie up and down and looked away, Gracie didn't care. She was far too exhausted to mind the judgmental look.

Mr. Ayad, on the other hand, was always happy to see Gracie. "My daughter, how was your work today?"

"It was a crazy day, if I'm being honest." She breathed out, taking her seat at the dining table.

"Oh! A crazy person?"

"No, not that, no one there is clinically able to be called crazy so to speak, it was a challenging moment with a challenging patient, that's all."

"What happened?"

She smiled at him and shook her head, "Patient confidentiality, sorry."

Sarai listened in, with a star-struck look on her face. "That's so cool that you are a therapist. There really does need to be more POC in mental health."

"POC?" Mr. Ayad was unfamiliar with the terminology.

"People of color, Baba."

"Oh! So...black?" His eyes darted to Gracie, "Is that the correct way to say it?"

Mrs. Ayad cut in as she took her seat next to her husband, "Yes, habibi. It's black."

There was a venom in the words as Mrs. Ayad spoke. Sarai rolled her eyes and gave Gracie an apologetic look.

Shortly after, Saheed joined them at the table, and Raamatu with the rest of the kitchen help brought out the elaborate feast. Gracie was not going to complain about it, she was grateful after all, but the surplus of food cooked every night...was getting old. The family was not even able to finish half the amount that was cooked, tons were thrown away every night. To make it worse, Mrs. Ayad did not believe it was right for staff to eat the same meals that the family did, so they would have to cook the ridiculous requested amount, serve it, throw it away, clean up all the dishes and then get to go look for dinner for themselves.

To everyone's surprise, halfway through the silent dinner, Dabir joined them. Mr. Ayad looked as if he could have fainted from the excitement. He stood up from his seat at the head of the table, and offered it to Dabir. "Son, please, sit."

"It's okay, Baba." He calmly responded, taking a seat next to Sarai, across from Gracie. They caught a glimpse of each other and Gracie gave him a reassuring smile. A small smile spread on his face as well, before he took off his suit jacket to comfortably begin eating.

Saheed caught sight of the little interaction Dabir and Gracie shared. He felt instantly on edge, and felt the need to claim what he felt was his.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny blue box . He didn't buy it for Gracie originally, but she didn't need to know that. Afterall, he could always buy another pair. He put it on the table and slid it towards Gracie, "Check it out baby."

"What's this?" She asked, taking the box in her hands. As she opened it up, 2 carat sapphire earrings looked back at her. They were set on 18k white gold, and the back of the post had a white diamond. She never saw anything like that in her life. "Oh my goodness...This is–"

"I told you I'd always take care of you!" He boasted, he turned to Dabir. "What do you think? How do they look, 'big bro'? Guess how much they cost me? $40,000! AND I paid in cash."

Gracie let out a breath and set the box back on the table, his gloating and over the top flashing of wealth made her uncomfortable.

Dabir simply took another bite of his food, he wasn't about to play into Saheed's theatrics, Dabir fully understood that Saheed is not reasonable and therefore can not be reasoned with. He took his jacket off the back of his chair, got up and left. Saheed felt victorious as his brother walked away, Gracie felt distraught.

Mr. Ayad also watched Dabir leave, the sight made Mr. Ayad's heart heavy. That was one of the first times in years Dabir had sat with the family and it pained him that it was over so soon. Mr. Ayad wondered what was different that he would now be willing, his eyes landing on Gracie.

The dinner carried on in a cryptic silence.

After dinner, Gracie sat outside enjoying the cool summer breeze, and talking to her mom over the phone. She planned to go visit her mom over the weekend, she missed her greatly.

Saheed eventually joined her outside, he draped his arm over her shoulder. A huge change from his recent behavior, his tone was sweet and peaceable. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I miss my mom." She answered truthfully. "I'm thinking of going there this weekend. I miss my friends too."

"I wanted to talk to you about that actually..."

"What happened?" She looked him in the eyes, he had her full attention.

"I don't like you being friends with that Alexis girl. You shouldn't be friends with girls like that." He avoided eye contact as he spoke, Gracie noticed.

"You only met her once. I'm not sure how you know anything about her."

"How do you mean?"

"You said I shouldn't be friends with girls like her... What is a girl like her?"

"Oh come on, you know." He fumbled over his words and made random hand gestures. "Look. I just don't like the girl, I don't trust her. I don't want anyone causing you headaches."

"You cause me headaches."

"Yeah, everything is my fault, like usual. Would you just listen to me?! I'm only warning you because I care."

"Okay, message received. I will keep my distance." Gracie sighed eye, rolling her eyes for the cherry on top. "If that's all, I'm going to bed."

"Did you finally quit your job like I told you to?"

"Do you even care about me? Like...At all? You sleep all day, drink all night, the few times we even speak to each other we are bickering. What are we doing?"

"Of course we are bickering! You are always cuddled up under MY BROTHER!"

"Cuddled up. Wow." Gracie folded her arms. "He's kind and considerate. We aren't cuddling up, and you know that."

"You expect me to believe that? No, like really?"

"I want to be with someone who wants to be with me. Someone loving and gentle and sweet. Which is how you were when we were dating long distance, Saheed you've changed. I don't know how much longer I can do this with you treating me this way. I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with your brother and I's friendship, I really am, BUT maybe you should spend more time with me if you dislike it so much."

"Go to bed before I lose it!"

Gracie huffed, her blood was hot. He still wasn't hearing her. He still did not see how close she was to being done. "Good night."