Break Of Dawn

Chapter 10.

Turns out I wasn't as good at memorizing numbers as I thought,

I called about five different people who had contacts almost similar to Aisha..

One was extremely rude when I told him I had called the wrong number, the rest were relatively OK.

When I finally got the number right, Aisha was on the other side of the line,

"Is that you Eva? Are you OK? "

So I told her everything

And she asked me,

" So what are you saying? "

" I need an place to crush , for a few days before I can figure out what next,  "

" You want to come over? "

There was hesitation
in her voice so I told her,

" Yeah, just a few days,
I have a plan, "

That's what they said in the movies,
People always trusted you more if you had a plan,

" Is Saturday OK? "I asked.

" Saturday is perfect, "she answered.

See the I have a plan thing always works.

****        *****          ******
On Friday afternoon,
I wanted to spend time with my family but I knew I'd look suspicious,

especially with Joshua who  knew exactly to say,
and soon enough I'd be spilling stuff like a leaking faucet.

I saw my dad in the study, the door was slightly a jar,
he was sleeping against his chair face up, his mouth slightly open.

I smiled,
he was snoring , my dad always denied it when my mom told him that he snores.

I found Joshua in the kitchen, he was whipping batter, I pulled a stool to where he was,

"I'll miss your cooking, "
I said laying my head on his shoulder,

" Why, where are you going? "
He asked,

" No, I'll miss your cooking once we don't live together, say in college? ,!! "

" Oh, "

I bit back a sigh, that was close.

I had to get out of there fast
before I got discovered,

The door to my parents room was open,
and I saw my mom sitting on the floor polishing her toenails and then she'd blow at and hand fan them so the polish would dry faster,

Tracie was in the living room giggling and laughing at something on her phone,

my family,
my family that I'd be leaving tomorrow.

When I ascertained no one was watching,
I carried out my backpack which had a few of my clothes, and walked towards town.

I bought myself a bus ticket to Isiolo with some of my allowance money,
and left my bag in a kind old lady's stall for safe keeping,

I walked home feeling worse than I had ever felt in my life, and went straight to bed, without having my dinner,

Saturday,
me and Joshua went to the hospital for the weekly review that happened every weekend,

I didn't hear a lot of what was said,
I just stared at the rest,
discovering things I had never noticed about them.

Even Joshua,
I knew he chewed on the inside of his cheeks sometimes,
but that day I discovered he did it just before he wanted to say something.

Joshua went off with his friends, and I walked home alone,

At around 5 in the evening, I threw a book, and the rest of my allowance money into a sling bag,
laid out the red volunteership program shirt on Tracie's bed and,
left my phone on the dining table.

I remembered my mom's words,

It's either you leave or I leave.

I left, I walked away.

I wished I could cry,
but I was too numb to even talk.

I collected my bag from the kind old lady,without a word.

boarded my bus,
took my seat, without a word,

When the engine roared and the bus set off, I cried,

I cried for myself and for my family,

I cried for not being able to resist the urge to know Islam more,

I cried for running away,
I cried for being a coward.

I've been staring at the edge of the water,
Long as I can remember,
Never really knowing why,
I wish I could be a perfect daughter,
But I come back to the water,
No matter how hard I try,
Every turn I take,
Every trail I track,
Every path I make,
Every road leads back,
to the place I know,
Where I cannot be,
Where I long to be.
                        - Moana.

******      *******       *******
Salaam aleikum every one,
That was the last chapter to this part of the book, (part 1)
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See you guys in the next chapter, In shaa Allah.

Until then,
Happy reading.