Kameela

Chapter 28 - A Subtraction and an Addition

A pariah
A loner
An outcast

She was no longer a wife in the house. She had become a complete maid with no wage but room and food. The lady that brought Badawiyya had come to take her back for reasons unbeknownst to Kameela but of course, Gwaggo and Zara did not mind Badawiyya's absence.

Since her loss, Ismail had become so cold to her she was certain that wasn't the man that she married. He no longer slept in her room, no longer approached her. When he her bustke to her, he's shouting at her. This wasn't like the time he was getting married to Zara. This was worse.

Little did she know he blamed her, he knew what she did. Zara had told him all and Gwaggo was the witness. She had forced herself to work. To do tedious jobs she wasn't used to. She lost their baby and it was all her fault. He was hurt and angered. How could she? How dare she? At first, he thought avoiding her was going to make it all better but it didn't. He just got more angry at her.

Kameela's patience was slowly but surely wearing thin. The insults to her face. The smacks from Gwaggo. The throwing of the food she cooked at her from Zara and worse of all, the ignorance of her husband. They would have their usual 'family hangout' that he had instigated when she came back home, but they would not have her there. The first time, after she had finally left her room after a week of sulking, she entered the parlour and she immediately knew she wasn't welcomed. She received a hiss from Zara, Ismail looked right through her like she was an invisible entity standing in front of his view from the TV, Gwaggo was the one that spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Kameela was dumbfounded. What could she possibly reply with?

"Did anyone invite you here?" All she did was stand and breath.

"When you're done standing there, you'll find your way back to your room." And that's exactly what she did. After then, she had never stepped foot in the family living room except if she was cleaning it or serving them.

She hadn't seen her mother since the day at the hospital. All her mother did was call her and check up on her. She knew it would be fruitless if she asked her to come and she couldn't approach her husband, no, Ismail.

He always looked like a ticking time bomb when she was around him. Those his brown eyes looked like they turned to black anytime she looked at him. His bushy eyebrows always furrowed in when she was there.  She never got appeased by his face anymore. She got scared instead. Scared he would dare raise his hand on her. She was defenseless. She had no one. She couldn't talk to anyone but God.

A day came. After she had finished cleaning the house and was done with washing the dishes used for breakfast, she heard the gate open. She ignored it as she knew no one would come to her rescue. She heard the front door open and close. She heard Zara's distinct voice and another she couldn't quite hear. She was done putting the dry dishes away. She just wanted to take a shower and cuddle on her bed till one of the three yells her name.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she almost jumped up scared when Manal called her name. She turned to the parlour and saw her cousin. A rush of emotions got to her. She just wanted to hug her. They approached each other and embraced themselves. Manual hadn't seen Kameela since the last family lunch. She heard the bad news from obviously Zara and she couldn't get to her because of her busy internship schedule and talking through the phone would not cut it. But looking at Kameela now hurt her soul. She didn't look like the Kameela she knew, not one bit.

They sat down side by side on the couch perpendicular to the armchair a sleeping Ummita was placed on. Zara ignored them and sat back down.

"How've you been? Oh my goodness its been a long time." Manual spoke excitedly.