BANE

CHAPTER THREE (2)

They found her seated at a corner at the far end of the café. She was sipping green tea and was lost in thought . She stood up when she spotted them,after exchanging pleasantries ,they sat down.

"So,what do you want to know?"

"The girl he mentioned ,did you believe he was telling the truth?" Zaid started ,a part of him was praying she would say no. Its better to believe Sabiha disappeared than she is dead.

"Ibrahim was a lot of things ,but hallucination was never part of his sickness. So ,yes I do believe him." A waiter came to their table to take their order ,they both ordered a cup of coffee .

"Did he give you details?" Banan played nervously with the strap of her bag . "I mean how she was murdered and all." She took a sip from her cup to moistened her now dried throat.

Hafsy looked confused for a moment ,before understanding dawned in her eyes ." I don't think she was killed." She heard the kids let out a sigh of relief.

"But the nurse..."

"The nurse was probably misinformed. Ibrahim believed the girl was drugged . he said he saw someone put something over her nose."

"Was the car green?" Zaid needed to be sure ,God knows how much wrong information they were fed.

"He said it was a van ,and I think it was black."

"Did he describe the girl to you ?"

Hafsy shook her head." I am sorry we didn't go into such details before he ..disappeared." She had spoken to Ibrahim earlier ,he had given her the permission to tell the kids where he was but she was still sceptical. What if they tell the police and everything goes wrong . Ibrahim needed to get away from the hospital and she couldn't risk her job. But then,she keeps remembering the girl.

"Do you know where he is ma'am. Please help us." The girl pleaded softly ,her eyes glistening with tears.

"Look,this man had a tough life . he needed to get away. If you tell the police ,they are going to ask how you got the information and we will all be in trouble ."

"Then ,we won't." Zaid said causing Banan to look at him swiftly ,wondering what he was up to." If we get the full details,we would find her ." the determination in his voice scared Banan.

"No,its too dangerous . I am a mother and I wouldn't want to see my teenage kids do the police's work. I beg you, if you know what's good for you ,let the police handle it . You can send them anonymous message . " She advised.

"The police may trace it to us ." the boy argued . They obviously don't know what they are saying . if at all that girl was their friend, and she was kidnapped, then whoever did it is not someone to be messed with.She deliberated about what to do .

"I can't believe I am doing this . You really need to involve the police ." she wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to them.

She watched them leave,she wasn't sure she had made the right decision . There is something in that boy's eyes .

*******************
"Zaid,can I ask you something ." Banan asked as she fastened her seatbelt ,that was the first time they spoke since they left the café.

"Sure."

"Why didn't you tell uncle what we learnt earlier?"

"Why raise his hope? Besides what we learnt was not even a good kind of news ,and we weren't sure then." He shrugged.

"But we are going to tell him now and inform the police as well,right ? Right Zaid?" She laid emphasis on the last question,but she received no reply.