The Villains

Guests.

I was sitting in my room, floating in my thoughts when my mum came in.

'Yousif is sleeping. I'll go and buy some stuff.' She said.

'Okay.'

'Do you need anything?' She asked, as she walked away.

'No, thanks' I answered even though she didn't hear me.

I stayed in my room staring at the ceiling and checking my phone. I had no clue why was I checking my phone every few minutes.

*****

'Come in. I'll call Lilia now.' I heard my mum saying.

I ran downstairs before she could even call my name. Hoping to see my dad. But unfortunately it wasn't my dad.

'Lilia, this is Mrs.Huda, her daughter Mariam, and her son Muhamad .' my mum said.

I smiled at them. Mrs. Huda and Mariam smiled back,  Muhamad didn't.

They sat down in the living room and I sat a little then i got up and went to the kitchen. My mother told them that they had to stay for dinner. Mariam came to the kitchen and helped with the food.

She was quite. She didn't talk that much, but she kept on smiling.

Her dad went to the mountains and he disappeared, they know nothing about him.

We had dinner together. Mrs. Huda and my mum kept on talking and she told them about my brother and father. Mariam and I talked a little. Yousif tried to talk to Muhamad but he didn't talk that much. I thought that he was weird.

We finished eating and I was washing the dishes, and suddenly Muhamad came in.

'I need some water.' He said.

'Here you go.' I gave him a glass of water. 

'Thank you.' He said.

'You're welcome.'

He left. And my mum came in, saying that they're going to stay here for the night.

Ugh, why? 

'Be polite, Lilia.' She said.

'Don't worry, mum.'

'Okay dear.'

When I was done with the dishes, I checked the time and it was already 9 o'clock.

I wanted to go and sit in the garden. Mariam said that she didn't want to come. I went alone.

 I laid on the grass, looking at the stars thinking that maybe my dad was looking at them too.

'What are you thinking about?' I heard a voice.

I freaked out. And it was him, Muhamad.

'You got scared?' He asked, mockingly. 

'No, I just wasn't expecting anyone to be here.'

'You didn't tell me, what were you thinking about ?'

'My dad.' I said.

'Do you miss him?'

'I do.'

'It sucks to be there, I guess.'

'Have you ever been there? The mountains.' I asked.

'Once with my friends.'

I wanted him to tell me about them and how they were and how they got there but instead, great was what I said.

I looked at him while he was looking at the sky. He had eyes that reminded me of hazelnut and honey. Oh, how pretty they were.

*****

I went inside. Mariam was there, she was smiling at me.

'Lilia, can Mariam sleep in your room?' My mother asked.

'Sure mum.' I said.

'Okay, go to sleep both of you.'

'Goodnight!'

We both said that we'd sleep on the floor. I laid down, looking at the ceiling and thinking.

'Do you miss your dad and your brother?' She asked with a shaky voice.

'I do.' lying about my brother.

'I miss my father too. And my fiance.'

'Your fiance?' I asked, surprisingly.

'Yeah. He died there. They killed him.'

'I'm sorry. That's heartbreaking.' I said.

'It is.' her voice was cold.

' It must be really hard for you.' 

'It is. Losing the only person you truly loved, the only one who could make you laugh even though he made me cry sometimes but I was okay with it. He'd do anything to make me happy, but they took him away from me. Losing him was one of the hardest things that has ever happened to me. And I'm still not over it. ' A tear fell from her eyes.

And only now I could see how broken this twenty two years old girl, was.