IT ENDS WITH HIM (Completed)

6. Unraveling

The next morning as per usual, Hafsa woke up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers. A handwritten note was attached to it.
"Forgive me" - your loving husband

She sighed. At this point, she could open up her own little flower store with these forgiveness flowers. She placed the flowers in the vase at her window and started her Sunday morning. She took a shower and made brunch. Khalid had just come back from his morning jog. He walked in, kissed his wife on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "I'm really sorry about last night."

She couldn't find it within her to say anything and to this Khalid didn't know what else to say. So instead they quietly say down at the kitchen table and ate their brunch in dead silence. It was getting awkward until Hafsa said, "I'm stepping out today."
To this Khalid nodded and replied, "That's nice. Anywhere specific?"

"Just the mall with Aqsa."

Khalid raised an eyebrow. She had plans today with his sister. He did find this skeptical but he also knew that she and Aqsa had a good relationship so instead of making a remark, he decided to simply nod in approval.

It wasn't until after thuhr, the second Islamic prayer of the day, that Hafsa met up with Aqsa. They laughed and talked as they usually did until Hafsa decided to test the waters and ask her sister in law a pressing question.

"Can I ask you something about your brother?" She asked.

"Uh-oh. Is he being mean to you?" Asked a concerned Aqsa.

Hafsa bit her lip, a habit of nervousness.
"Has he ever been...aggressive to you or anyone before?" She asked. Hafsa noticed how Aqsa tensed.

Aqsa took a minute before answering. She sighed and replied, "Yes, he use to be very aggressive, especially in his teenage years. Our parents had to send him to therapy once. I'm pretty sure he's grown out of that phase now. Why do you ask?" Aqsa asked quizzically.

"Well if I'm being transparent with you, he held my wrist very tightly the other day. He's making me feel uneasy."

As Hafsa spoke she subconsciously rubbed the wrist that Khalid had held.

"Oh. Did you two have an argument?"

"Yes, about his Instagram. He follows numerous women online who behave as if instagram is the new porn page. When I confronted him about it, he became hysterical."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I truly am. I know first hand how he can be. My brother is a well behaved individual but when he gets mad, he becomes livid. Like a couple of years ago for example, I was dating someone and Khalid found out about it and he threatened to tell our parents. I started yelling at him and I called him a hypocrite as he use to go out with girls all the time when he was my age. He held onto my throat really tightly and told me to dump him or else he'll make the guy pay for it. So I ended up breaking the relationship that very same day and he apologized afterwards. I understand now that he was looking out for me as my big brother," said Aqsa as she took a sip of her smoothie.

As her sister in law spoke, Hafsa could hear her heart pounding in her chest, feel the hair on her arms rising and her throat constricting.

"Dated?" She whispered.

Young Aqsa was too distracted by a text message that she had just received to notice the change in Hafsa's demeanour.

"It was never anything serious and I'm sure he never slept with them. Just harmless teen guy flirting."

"Did...did you ever tell anyone but me about this? I mean his aggressive attack?" Asked a concerned Hafsa.

"No of course not silly. You're the only sister figure I have in my life so I'm telling you now. Oh but please, I'm begging you. Don't ever tell anyone about this. This happened two years ago and no one found out and I've moved on, so please." Her sister in law begged her with big pleading eyes.

Her heart warmed hearing how her sister in law trusted her with her secret. She rubbed the arm of her sister in law and assured her that she wouldn't tell a single soul.

They continued their outing by makeup shopping and having fun. Aqsa took this as a positive sign that Hafsa wasn't mad about Khalid's past. But what young Aqsa didn't understand was one can place on a happy mask all while their inside was fuming with anger.

2 years ago. Just 2 years ago he had almost strangled his only sister. That's what kept nagging at the back of Hafsa's mind. Her husband wasn't a changed man; Just a man who knew how to play his cards right. If his own sister didn't know him that well, then how well did she know this man that she had accepted into her life?

It took every inch of her not to run home and confront Khalid. But she knew she could never do that. Not after she had assured Aqsa that her secret was safe with her.

That's the thing about secrets. We feel special when someone shares their secrets with us. But once the word is out, it becomes a burden to hold onto. So what do we do? We keep on piling them up,  like bones in the graveyard.