A walk on thorns

Chapter 33| Overdosed Drama

Sabrina's POV

"What?!" I retorted sharply, my tone brimming with disbelief.

"Yes! You should apologize to her, Sabrina! Apologize!" Anisha yelled, her voice trembling with frustration. This girl didn’t even understand what she was fighting for.

"Just an apology, right?" I smiled mockingly, the bitterness laced in my tone unmistakable. "Aunty Haseena, sorry," I said flatly, my voice devoid of any emotion. Instead of diffusing the tension, it felt like throwing fuel onto a raging fire.

"Is that the perfect way to apologize for all the rotten words you threw at her?! Get on your knees and apologize properly before I call your father!" Mama's voice cut through the room like a whip, her frustration boiling over.

"Seriously, Mama?" I countered, incredulity etched on my face. "You’re making me apologize for telling the truth, and you’re still threatening to call Baba? Go ahead, call him! Tell him everything I’ve said and done, and let’s see what happens."

She glared at me, nostrils flaring in fury, but no words escaped her tightly pursed lips.

"No? You’re not going to call him, are you?" I pressed on, my voice steady but cutting. "Of course not, Mama! We all know why. You won’t call him because you have your own plans for me. You’re envisioning the same life for me that Anisha is living now. You want me to marry a man and turn me into your source of income. But calling Baba and exposing all that I’ve said would ruin everything you’ve built up all this time. Baba doesn’t care about anyone’s pocket when it comes to giving out his daughter, isn’t that right?"

My voice rang out in the room, carrying the weight of years of bottled-up resentment. Mama stood rooted to the spot, her lips twitching as her eyes darted between Aunt Saudah and Aunt Haseena. Anisha’s glare was sharp enough to pierce through my skin. Her lips quivered as though she was ready to spit venom, her fiery expression daring me to speak another word.

"Innalillahi! Sabrina?!" Mama’s voice cracked as she finally found her words, her tone laced with disbelief and indignation as the fall on the floor, her legs in different angles. “Is this the kind of payback I deserve from you?” she wailed dramatically, tears suddenly pooling in her eyes. She began to stagger, clutching her chest as though her heart had been shattered into pieces.

Mama knew how to play the victim like a seasoned actress. Before I could say another word, Anisha rushed to her side, abandoning Aunt Haseena. She caught Mama just in time, wrapping her arms around her as Mama dramatically slumped into her embrace.

“Oh, is that so? Fine!” Aunt Haseena’s voice thundered as she stood up, bristling with authority. “I am going to call your father right now, and then we will see who is who!”

The moment those words left her mouth, Mama’s body jerked upright as though she had been struck by lightning. Her eyes widened in panic, and she quickly sat straight, her previous dramatics vanishing in an instant.

"Uhmm...Na’am!" she stammered, swallowing hard.

It was at that precise moment that my eyes met Aunt Saudah’s. She had been battling to suppress her laughter for what seemed like ages, and the moment our gazes locked, the dam burst. We both erupted into laughter, though for entirely different reasons. Mine was mocking; hers was a secret delight in the unfolding chaos.

"What is funny?!" Anisha snapped at me, her voice slicing through our laughter. She forgot, or perhaps ignored, the fact that I wasn’t the only one laughing. I didn’t bother acknowledging her glare, it was far beneath the fury Mama had already stoked in my chest. Meanwhile, Aunt Haseena continued her self-appointed mission to “call Baba,” holding her phone like a weapon of ultimate justice.