Parallels

Part 7

Aj woke up the next morning with loud banging on his door. He feels an unfamiliar, yet soothing, warmth beside him, and a heavy arm around his waist. He opens his eyes to see Niko beside him, realising he must of fallen asleep before he could kick Niko out.

"Aj If you don't open this door right now, I swear," he hears the voice from the other side of the door.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Aj whisper screams, shaking Niko awake.

"Mmm, what time is it," He hears Niko groggily say, sleep laced into his voice.

"Thats not important! Get up, Now! Hide under the bed."

Niko quickly moves, the banging of the door finally settling into his own head.

Aj makes his way to the door and unlocks it, giving a sheepish smile to the girl on the other side.

"Don't smile at me like that. What are you hiding in here," His sister yells, storming into the room.

"Nothing. I was changing last night and I forgot to unlock it thats all."

"Mhm, sure. You know you aren't allowed to lock your door! Also you were meant to be up for school 20 minutes ago!" Suhaila yells.

"Su, its not that deep."

"Not that deep? If you don't make it to school on time, you'll miss out on learning. The school will call home, and you are so lucky mama and baba aren't here or else you would've been dead. Now go shower quickly and get dressed for school"

"Exactly! Mama and Baba aren't here, so why do you care so much, you aren't my mother to tell me what to do!" Aj screams back. Guilt hits Aj the second he said the words, watching as a break in Suhailas heart appears on her face. He loved his sister, but she babied him way too much, he was frustrated because he let Niko sleep over, he was being yelled at for no reason, and he just wanted to be alone right now.

"You're right. I'm not your mother, but at this point I may as well be! If you're own mother didn't raise you well enough to understand basic rules, and know the value of education, then I should take her place, and I did!" Suhaila says, "Tell me, Aj. Who helped you with your homework every night, because Baba was out of town on a business trip. Who took you to school up until you were 11, because no one was here to take you. Who walked you home when you were six years old, because Mama would forget to pick you up. Who would sleep beside you every night when you would have a bad dream. Who held you whilst you cried because you are afraid of thunderstorms. I'll tell you one thing Ayaanle, it wasn't your so called mother." His sister seeths through her teeth, exiting the room with the door slamming behind her.

Aj just stares into thin air, not a single word escaping his lips, until the silence is replaced with a loud sob and harsh ragged breaths. Aj falls to his knees, crying in realisation. Suhaila was right. Their mother was never there, but Suhaila was. His sister was there through everything, acted like a mother-figure to him, because clearly his mum couldn't do that.

In his hysterics, Aj had completely forgotten about the boy under the bed. Niko had heard everything and he felt bad for Aj. He had no clue he lived like this. Niko slides out from his hiding spot, and crawls over to Aj, picking him up and placing him across his lap.

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Aj." He whispers, rubbing his hand across Aj's back.

AJ doesn't reply as he continues to cry into Nikos chest, shaking and finding it hard to breathe.

"Here, follow my breathing. In and Out, come on Aje," Niko comforts, not taking a notice to the nickname that slipped his lips.

Aj tries to follow Niko's breathing, taking deep breaths in and out, until he finally calmed down.