Strength |✔️

twenty-one

Neil

Right after Alisha had stormed out the door, I started to spit out words at my dad. "Dad, what were you thinking?! I bring a girl over and trust you to treat her well, but this how you treat her!" His face shows no expression.

Not even bothering to continue on the conversation, I quickly wash my hands and go outside to meet Alisha. I open the front door to where she stormed off, and I see her on the front porch, rocking back and forth on the rocking chair and silently crying to herself.

Feeling bad, I sit next to Alisha and put my hand on her thigh and whisper to her, "Alisha, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Neil," she says, her voice cracking. "It's just that- it's not my fault these things happened to me. I can't control what happens in my life."

I bite my lip. "Yeah, you're right."

"But why would your dad say those things to me? I don't even know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Alisha. And don't worry, I am going to talk to him. He should not say those things about you."

She nods her head. "I just hope he understands."

"He will," reassuring her. She smiles at me and then places a small kiss on my lips. "Thank you, Neil."

Blushing, I say back, "it's not a problem."

Then, we stare off into the sky. The stars sparkle in the sky, twinkling back at us. The crickets chirp peacefully into the distance, and the night wind blows against us. Grabbing her hand and intertwining our fingers together, I say, "Alisha, are you ready to go back inside?"

She nods her head. "Yeah."

I take her back to the house and I open the door. I immediately see my parents standing there and seeing a regretted look on my dad's face. He looks defeated, which means my mom had probably really lectured him. He clears his throat. "Alisha, I am dearly sorry what had happened. I have no filter from my mouth, and I am sorry."

"It's okay, Mr. Shah," she immediately says, smiling. 

He slowly smiles back. "And you don't mind sleeping in the guest room, do you?"

My face warms up as I look at Alisha. She stutters, "Yeah, that's fine. I don't mind."

I look at mom and she shrugs, as if saying, "Nice try, Neil." Alisha grabs her bags and decks into the guest room.

______________________________________________________________________________

Alisha

My eyes open up as I look at my surroundings. It is really dark, and I can't see a single thing. Groaning, I turn on the lights to see a small, Indian figure sitting at the chair, smiling at me. Mom.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I say quietly, feeling a small smile grow on my lips. 

She stands up and places her hands in her pockets. The wrinkles on her face expands as she smiles. "I came here to see my beautiful daughter and how she is doing."

"I am doing fine, mom."

"That's good." She looks at my phone and sees that my wallpaper Is now a picture of me and Neil at Faith's birthday party. She has a small smile on her face and looks to me. "Is this your boyfriend? He's pretty good-looking."

I laugh. "Yeah. His name is Neil Shah?"

Her eyebrows raise and she chuckles. "Is he taking good care of you?"