My Crush

Chapter 5

Yushraf's POV

"Reedah, hurry up, we're running late. You know it's Friday, and we'll be back soon." I reminded her, as I checked my gold wristwatch.

Reedah took nearly 30 minutes to exit the room and put on her hijab. Exasperatedly, I sighed. "Ladies who waste time can be very annoying," I muttered.

"Are you speaking to me?" She inquired. "No, ma," I said, cracking my neck.

I went to the kitchen refrigerator and got three bags of bottled water, one for Reedah and the other two for myself, and then I locked the door and left the apartment.

I'm hoping we'll be able to sell everything before returning to school.

"""""""""

We were hawking in the streets when I noticed my ex-best friend Bashar leaning against his car. He was both my best friend and my cousin. His father, uncle Jaafar, and my father were all brothers. They only had one sister, Aunty Salamatu. She lived in Canada with her husband and their three children, two boys and a girl. Hafiz was the firstborn and a year older than I. Noor, the second child, was the same age as Reedah, and Afzal, the youngest, was sixteen years old.

Uncle Jaafar, on the other hand, had only one son, Bashar. We had been friends since childhood, but after Baba and Ammi left, Uncle Jaafar and his family severed ties with us. We were never even invited to their home. We only went there once when we didn't have anywhere else to go, thinking we'd be welcomed because Aunty Salamatu had convinced us she'd always be there for us.

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Flashback

3 years ago

It had been more than three months since Baba and Ammi had abandoned us in this vile world, and things had begun to change for us. Things had become unbearable, and Aunty Salamatu had returned to her husband's country, where she was staying with her family.

We didn't know how it happened, but we ended up losing all of Baba's belongings, to the point where we were told that Baba's businesses had gone bankrupt... When and how? We couldn't think of anything. The companies were then sold to repay the loans we had no idea dad had taken.

We attempted to take the matter to court, but uncle Jaafar stopped us, claiming that we would lose the battle and face severe consequences. He told us about a time when Baba was in financial trouble and went to get a loan. We found it difficult to believe, but what could we say when uncle Jaafar and baba were so close, and he even shared his secret with him, so we suspected it was one of the secrets he kept from us in order not to worry us, so we gave up fighting and followed uncle's advice.

Reedah and I were sitting in the living room when a knock on the door interrupted us. I stood up and went to the door to get it. Immediately I opened the door, I saw some men at the door staring at me wearing some uniform.

As soon as I opened the door, I noticed some men wearing some sort of uniform staring at me.

"Hello and good afternoon." I greeted them and invited them in, but they refused and remained outside the door.

"By the look on your face, you must be Yushraf Sufyaan." One of the strangers at the door said, and I nodded and asked if I could help them with anything because they were already terrifying me.

They show me their identification cards. "We are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from Abuja, and we are here to close down this house in order to repay the loan your father owes the central bank," Reedah spoke first before I could respond to one of the men I assumed to be a police sergeant.

"What about the companies that were sold? Were they  insufficient to pay off our father's loan?" She inquired.

"No way, ma'am. It wasn't enough because the loan was up to 20 billion dollars, so I believe this will be the last one we sell to recoup the money he borrowed." According to the sergeant.

We were both taken aback and speechless. We had no idea Dad could amass loans worth billions of dollars. What is it all for? We tried everything to persuade them to let us stay for a few more days, but they refused and closed the house down immediately.

We tried to enter and pack some of our stuff, but they did not allow it. We could only take our phones, wristwatches, wallets, and some of Reedah's gold jewellery.

That was how we left the house we had lived in for the previous twenty-one years, empty-handed.

Reedah continued to cry, and I tried to comfort her, but it all fell on deaf ears.

"What are we going to do now, Yushraf?" "Where will we sleep tonight, and how will our lives be from now on?" Reedah kept asking me random questions, and for the first time in my life, I was terrified. Everything happened so quickly, could this be our fate?

I was still deep in thought when Reedah suggested a place for us to go.

"Why don't we go to Uncle Jaafar's place in Lagos, Yushraf?" You know he's the only relative we have now, especially since our favourite Aunt has returned favourite husband's homeland."

"We can stay with uncle Jaafar." He can accommodate us because you know how much he and Baba adore each other" She added and I could not help it.

I simply nodded, assuring her that I would think about it before tomorrow, as it was already late and I knew how much Ammi disliked night journeys. We can't risk our lives by travelling this late at night.

"Yushraf I'm scared," she whispers into my ear and hugs me tightly as we walk past the empty night street. My heart stung in pain because I had never imagined a day like this in my life.

And I heard Reedah yell at my back, only to turn around and see blood dripping from her leg as she fell on her butt.

Her leg collided with a stone, causing her to scream in agony.