Family Matters•••[COMPLETED]

Prologue

"Do you really have to leave again?"

"I'm sorry Nimah, you know that I have no choice.
I'm doing this for us, you know."

It wasn't nice to eavesdrop. I was pretty much aware of that fact, but doing what was wrong didn't bother me as much right now.

The strained, tear filled sounds of my mom's voice was what bothered me more than anything.

I clutched my brother's hand tightly, and he squeezed them protectively as if saying "All would be well."

I feared they wouldn't be.
How could all possibly be well when mom and dad usually had this conversation twice every month, when mom had to play her role and dad's too every time he left the house.

It was bad enough that at six years old, our friends at school thought we didn't have a father and took every opportunity they found to rub our father's absence in our faces.

My brother was always the strong one, and he always protected me no matter what but still, it felt like us against the whole world.

I was tired and I really needed to get some sleep, I watched Umar as he stood defensively by the door and I tried bringing him down to sit on the floor beside me, but he wouldn't budge.

I slowly lowered myself to the floor and kept my gaze on the door waiting for what would happen next.

"I have to finalise this deal once and for all Nimah, we could finally live comfortably, think of it.... We'll settle all our debts and never have to borrow a dime from anyone, we could even get a house of our own and never have to worry about paying rents, we could give our children a very good life, every toy they could ever want, every where they could ever dream of going in the world.... The only thing stopping me, is you"

"And the kids, Habeeb, what about them, you don't care about the kinds of questions they'd pester me with or be pestered with about your whereabouts?

What happens if you find it hard to come back? I'm scared that you might get carried away by just this one deal and you'd want to finalise another, and another, and another...... I'm scared to lose you for a comfortable life Habeeb"

"If that ever happens, then I'll be counting on you to help me find my way back to you, help me Nimah, let's do this together"

Now I thought mom and dad were just being mushy, but a certain weight fell on my chest, and I had a feeling that whatever happened tonight would determine a whole lot in our lives.

I looked up to see my brother's face saying exactly the same.

Before I could say a word, the door to my parent's room flew open and I got up to watch my dad walk out of the house.

I had no idea why he didn't stop to say goodbye to my brother and I didn't think of it much.

Umar took my little hands in his and his touch spoke of a promise, that whatever happened, he'd be there for me.