Alina Kanaan

Chapter 25

"Surely, Allah knows what they hide and what they reveal. Indeed, He does not like the arrogant." (16:23)

Warning: There is a mature theme in this chapter. Viewer discretion is advised.

I stare at the half-naked women on Aman's laptop. I notice that it's not a porn website, but a website to buy and sell prostitutes. I'm about to press the "x"on the top right side of the screen, but I see that Aman is described as a "pimp" on the description page of the website. That means he is in charge of multiple prostitutes.

Then, his Facebook is open as well. On his messages, there are multiple girls he's talking to asking for sex and also doing drug deals. Is he in a drug cartel or is he just a drug dealer?

By this time, I have tears down my face. Then, I hear a bang in his room. I walk to the bedroom and open the door. There's Aman and Salma in bed together kissing. They're both half naked.

I literally scream.

"Alina, I can explain!" Aman yells as he goes to get the rest of his clothes on. He pushes Salma out of the way.

"No, you can't explain anything! You've been cheating on me with one of my best friends instead of going to work. You've lied to me! I can never trust you again!

"I opened your laptop and saw that you're a pimp and you're either a drug dealer or in a drug cartel," I explain.

"Alina, the truth is, I'm in a drug cartel. I got into it at an early age because I wanted money. That's when I became a pimp as well. I just need money to be able to get the things I need and want, and especially for us. And, I sent the people to watch Francisco's house or else my boss would've done bad things to me. His uncle was an enemy to our group. I had to do it, Alina! I had no choice or else I would've been killed! And about the prostitutes, I don't do anything with them. I just make money off of them.

"Alina, I'm doing this for us and for us only now. We need the money!" he explain.

"How dare you call yourself a Muslim! You've brought disgrace on the name. Plus, you tried to hurt Francisco, my brother, just because of his uncle who he had nothing to do with! How dare you!" I yell. I walk out of the room, but Salma tries to grab me.

"I can explain too. I was so lonely here, Alina. I-" she begins to explain in Arabic, but I interrupt her.

"Don't even talk to me! Just don't! I thought you were my friend, but I guess you were a fake all along!" I yell in Arabic. I storm out of his room and reach the front door. Before I open it, I hear Aman say something to me.

"Alina, don't leave me! Please don't, mera pyara! I can't live without you!" he runs to me. He starts to cry.

"Well, you should've thought about that," I yell. I slam the front door and run to Francisco's car still in tears.

I get in and almost slam the door.

"What happened?!" he asks in a very concerned way.

"Just drive and I'll explain," I manage to say through my tears.

It starts to rain which is just perfect to match my mood.

Francisco parks in a park's parking lot. No one's there since it's raining.

"Tell me," he says with the saddest look. I explain everything that happened just now. I sob as I explain everything, but Francisco doesn't mind. After I explain everything, I keep sobbing. I feel as if half of me is gone. I thought that we were going to get married and have a bright future together. That's what I wanted! He even told me the other night that I changed him in a positive way. How could he do this to me?! I never wronged him in any way! I really loved him more than I've ever loved anyone else! He was the love of my life!