Just Make Du'aa

• t w e n t y • t h r e e •

Dina

I gulped, too afraid to move a bone in my body. The first time the gun was held to us, he was laid back and smiling, now the man was tense, grim, serious; all the more terrifying. Farouz was also careful not to make any sudden movements; he reached his arm out in front of me and then very slowly moved until he was shielding me completely. The act made my heart race faster, Farouz felt like he might need to take the bullet, like this man might really go through with it this time.

Or should I say might actually make the shot this time. He pulled the trigger once before, Alhamdulillah Farouz was quick to act. We weren't going to press our luck this time. The two of us stood there, frozen and silent. Farouz felt still, almost calm, if it wasn't for the tense way he set his shoulders. I, on the other hand, could not stop shaking. If this was it, this couldn't be it, but if it was, I didn't want to go without saying something.

"Farouz."

He jerked his head, a small movement that I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't standing so close. My husband was warning me, don't say anything. But I had too.

"This is all my fault I'm sorry."

"Dina," he spoke through his teeth, "can we save this for another time please?"

Just as I was about to say something, we were interrupted by the man behind the gun. "Not another word. I let you guys flounder around a little, but your heads got too big. I won't let you out of my grasp this time, son."

Farouz's body tensed, his fists clenched. I placed my hand on his back, that was all I could do without risking our lives. Thankfully, he let out a breath and unclenched his fists. Time ticked on and I grew more hopeless, there was no way out of this! He was going to kill us. No one knew where we were, and I highly doubted the neighbors visited this place much.

I studied the man who held our lives. His full head of hair was just as full of grease, his skin was filthy and unhealthy. His lips dry and his teeth stained. While Farouz was tall and lean, this man was tall but entirely lost control of his body long ago. The most disturbing characteristic was his eyes. They were wide and a beautiful hazel color, much like the eyes I fell in love with. Farouz definitely inherited his eyes from this man. However, while Farouz's eyes were wide with curiosity and passion, clear with love and laughter, this man's were clouded from the consumption of drugs and hate of the world. I marveled at how their eyes could be so similar yet completely different at the same time.

The trance I was in was startled away by a loud knock on the door. Everyone jumped, and I let out a sharp gasp and gripped onto Farouz for dear life. "Police! Open up!"

My eyes filled with hopeful tears and I looked up at Farouz expecting a similar expression, but his face was drained of all hope. He watched the man, as if knowing exactly what was about to happen. "You know the drill boy, right?"

Farouz remained still and silent.

The man laughed, "alright, I'll just have the girl do it."

"No!" Farouz hissed, his hand grabbing onto me, holding me in place, "don't think about it."

"Let's not forget who has the gun here okay? I'll shoot her in that pretty little head of hers if you say no one more time." He pointed the gun at me and Farouz instinctively moved to hide me again, "what did I say? Get out of my way!"

Again, the police pounded on the door, "open up! That's an order."

"Come here darling, I won't hurt you. I promise." The man cackled, "come on now."

"Farouz?" I looked up to see Farouz gritting his teeth and shooting daggers with his eyes, "what's he doing?"

"Come on!" The man nearly screamed, but he was always careful not to be heard by the police. I still jumped, and quickly started walking towards him. Farouz's grip on me didn't loosen until the man cocked the gun. Then he let me go, his eyes full of pain that only multiplied my fear. When I was close enough, the man said, "you will walk to the door, open it just a crack, and tell them they have nothing to worry about? Alright darling?" He put his filthy hand on my face and patted it almost endearingly. From the corner of my eye I saw Farouz move, but then the gun was at my head, and he was back to being frozen.