Hamza and Amy's Romantic Journey

Chapter 6

Amy Faber

Over the next few days, we doted over Kaiser and Jasmine finally started smiling a bit. She was starting to feel safe.

Jasmine's phone battery had died and we advised her not to charge it in case Jannic called with threats or even tried to track he to our house. I gave her my old phone so she could call us if she needed anything while Hamza and I were at work.

But eventually Jasmine couldn't help herself and she charged her phone. A part of me believed she might have missed Jannic and that made me sick. He was a horrible, abusive and manipulative man. How could she miss him? Or maybe I was wrong. Maybe she had friends she wanted to speak to and that's why she charged her phone. I decided not to say anything about it.
Jannic called numerous times and I advised her to ignore the calls. I assumed that he was calling to make threats or plead with fake promises.

Despite my advice, Jasmine picked up a call from Jannic in my absence. I only knew because of the letter I found the following morning.

I came down for breakfast, ready for work. Then I saw a handwritten letter on the table for myself and Hamza. I unfolded it and read.

I have to protect Kaiser from Jannic so I'm going to be leaving him with you. I trust you'll care for him as your own. I'm not sure when I'll be back or if I'll be back but right now, I need you to take care of him.

I'm sorry to leave like this. But after talking to Jannic on the phone yesterday, I realised the best thing to do for Kaiser is to leave.

I'm forever grateful to you both. And again, I'm sorry to do this.

Amy, ich liebe dich. Danke für deine hilfe. 

Jasmine x

I dropped on the chair reading it. I couldn't believe what she had done. How can someone leave their child like that?

For a moment, I was furious at her ingratitude. Here we were, desperately trying for a baby for years. Jasmine was blessed with one and she leaves him? How is that protecting him?

Then I remembered I had to go to work. What was I going to do with Kaiser? How was I suddenly meant to take care of a baby? Hamza and I both had work commitments. This was too sudden. 

Hamza came into the kitchen as I sat with my head in my hands. He was being his usual grumpy morning self. Our conversations in the mornings consisted of me asking a few questions and him grunting or complaining he wanted to sleep.

Well, at least this letter would wake him up. I couldn't bring myself to be nice or cheerful and ask about breakfast. My mind was racing too much with confusion and anger. I simply handed Jasmine's letter to Hamza and he read it through squinted eyes. For once, his eyes widened in the morning. He slammed his hand on the table.

"What the flip? What the actual flip?"

"I know," I said, pressing my palms against my forehead. 

"What's ich leeb ditch...?"

"She said, I love you and thank you for everything. It's like she's thanking me in advance for doing something I don't even want to do!"

"The cheek of that woman!"

"Hamza, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know. Who's going to take care of him?"

"Apparently, us."

"We can't just suddenly quit work today and start caring for him like he's our own. What if we do and he grows attached to us and she comes back? That's gonna mess him up. And then we'll lose Kaiser and our jobs. This makes no sense."

"I know. I don't know what to do either."

"Okay, let's just get today sorted and we'll talk about this tonight. Shall I pull a sickie or something?"

"No. We'll just... I don't know. Can we leave him with someone for today?"

"Do you reckon we can leave Kaiser with your dad for today? And when we get back from work, we'll try and find your sister."

"He has work too. Do you think your parents would mind?"

"No, they should be fine with it," Hamza assured me. "I don't get it though, how can someone be so ungrateful? This is your kid! How can you leave him? And how would her being away from Kaiser protect him? It doesn't make sense."

"That's literally what I've been asking myself for the last ten minutes. I guess Jannic really scared her over the phone or something. She wouldn't leave like that for no reason."

"She left her entire family once."

"Well, so did I."

"Will you stop comparing yourself to her!" Hamza snapped. "You were forced to leave and then you came back. You've had my side for over five years and in those five years, I've always seen you put others before yourself. So don't you dare think you're anything like her." Though my heart swelled with Hamza thinking so highly of me, I also had my lips clamped shut with fear.

Hamza banged his fist against the table again as he stood up to pace the room. "Have you tried to call her?" he asked. I shook my head and then took out my phone. I put it on loud speaker so Hamza could hear.

The phone kept ringing but there was no answer. I tried again and failed, again.

"We can't do this right now. I'll get Kaiser and take him to mum's. You go to work and when you're done, go to your dad's house. I'll bring Kaiser and meet you there. Then we're going to try and get hold of Jasmine."

"I'm sorry about this," I said, feeling guilty at all the issues Jasmine was causing. 

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Hamza sat on the chair next to me, facing me. "We're both trying to protect Kaiser from Jannic, that much is clear. Now we just need to find Jasmine and you can smack some sense into her." I nodded in agreement. 

"Cuddle?" I asked, feeling stressed and needing relief. Hamza smiled as he obliged. "Thanks." 

"Okay, we're late for work now so I'm going to take Kaiser and rush to mum's. See you when I get back." Hamza pecked me on the cheek as he ran up the stairs to get a sleeping Kaiser.

Neither of us had breakfast as we left for work. And I could barely concentrate on my tasks for the day, wondering what was going to happen next.

She couldn't just leave Kaiser with us. We didn't have legal custody. And if the law got involved, Kaiser would end up with Jannic if Jasmine couldn't be found. Other than the mark on his forehead, there was no real proof that Jannic hit Kaiser. And unless Jasmine picked up her phone, we'd have no witness either. This was the worst thing Jasmine could do to protect Kaiser. 

I wish she'd spoken to me about this. I texted her this information about custodies and the law. I also called her numerous times but she wouldn't answer or respond. I know her phone was on. Why wouldn't she answer after reading my texts?

If she didn't return soon, it would only be a matter of time before Kaiser would be subjected to an abusive life of misery. Being from different countries didn't help either. If Kaiser was to be sent back to Germany, how would we help him then?

The only solutions in which Kaiser would be safe included Jasmine's return. I prayed all day that we'd manage to contact her, but soon my texts stopped going though and my calls were going through to voicemail.

This was not a good sign.