Her Hidden Lies

21: And Then It Ends.

I stood waiting for him to show up but he never did. He's supposed to come stay with me today. Just he and I but he's late and he hasn't called so I made the move first, I called.

"Hello? Khalil?"
"Yeah? What's up?" He asks.
I can hear giggling in the background.

"Where are you? I've been waiting".
"Oh sorry I forgot to inform you. Fadila and I had to go see her parents today. I won't be able to make it this week".

"And you can't come tomorrow?"
"Uhh—Unfortunately we're not in town. I'm sorry babe"
"Yeah? I'll be right there" he says to someone.

"Sorry, Z I have to go"
He ends the call before I could utter a word.

I guess I'll just have to wait until next week then.

•

She drops her bag and flops on the chair.
"Calm down. The doctor said it's not healthy to be flopping" Abdulrazaq reminds her.

"I'm well aware dear" she answers back sarcastically.
I won't bother you as long as you do the right thing"
"Yes sir"

He keeps the car keys on the tv stand and sits next to her.
"But how are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks to you"
"I have to do what I can" he says cockily.

"Yeah"
"Anyway I have noticed all of you are quiet these days about all this Zainab issue"

"Uhh—yeah we decided to let her be for now. Maybe all she needs is space"
"It might actually work. If she's doing this for attention it might all end when she notices all of you have move on with your lives"

"Yeah except Ya Ahmed"
"What do you mean except Ahmed? Including him. He told me he's making it official with his girlfriend in two weeks"
"Really? He didn't tell me"

"He told me earlier on the phone. But he sounded a bit unsure"

"Oh! Now I know why he wants Zainab back. He wants his sister present through all his marriage preparations. We have always talked about how we would dance and enjoy ourselves at his wedding. I just hope she realizes what she is doing to herself before it's too late" she says sadly.

"Maybe she might change when she sees you all moving on without her"
"That's what we all hope for but Zainab is very twisted. She might think of something else completely".

"Let's just hope for the best" he says pulling her in a tight embrace.
"You're warm" she jokes.

"I'll keep you warm then".
She giggles.

•

I turn around and make eye contact with someone.

Someone who isn't Abdulrazaq.

It couldn't be Abdul, he left for Abuja earlier today, before I could react I'm thrown off the bed and I scream when my back comes in contact with the edge of the tv stand.

I try to get on my feet but I slip and fall on the tiles. I wince feeling the pain all over my body. I cried in pain, my hands shaking as I slowly held my stomach.

The only thing I could think of was Abdul, he warned me and told me to go to Mami's but I decided against it after he left.

I see the man coming closer, he grabs the collar of my night gown pulling me up and throwing me on the floor, I hit my face with the headboard of the bed. The lights are turned on and I flinch at the brightness my eyes. Struggling to stand up I lean on the bed and groan.

"How sad! Someone would think I'm being inconsiderate but—" he laughs as he walks over and kicks me with his leg "I have to say you look pathetically sexy"
I raise my head and look at him.
I gasp and move back, scared.

"Don't be so surprised" Faroukh says. "I wasn't the one who threw you around—he did" he says pointing to a gigantic man standing by my bedroom door.
"It really hurts me to see you this way. It really does baby" he holds me by the chin and smirks.

"I wanted to let everything go until I saw you coming out of the gynecologist's office with your husband smiling like nothing could go wrong. Like you won but you can't beat me and I never lose"
He stands still looking at me but his expression changes, he stopped smiling and instead looked at me like a homicidal maniac, with so much anger.

"Faroukh—please" I plead as I bring my knees to my chest. He angrily pulls me by the shirt and slaps me across the face and I fall on the bed. My cheek felt like it was on fire and I start crying—This is the end, it has to be.

I slowly get off the bed and start crawling towards the door, he starts laughing at my pathetic attempt to escape. He grabs my leg and pulls me towards him, my nightgown folding as I'm pulled.

"So you are enjoying life and all it's perks? Well you were, not anymore at least not right now" he laughs.
"Faroukh—please" I plead.

"I always liked the way you called my name. It made me feel like you loved and cared about me so much but I guess you've always been a gold digger and a whore, you always went after the big fish"

He kicks me in the stomach and I start crying. He's trying to kill my baby.
I hold on to my stomach.
I have to protect my baby.
"Please!" I say in a pitched voice.

"No. Not now. Don't beg because I'm not done yet"
He kneels grabbing my collar and slaps both sides of my face, it felt like the skin was going to fall off.

Faroukh has always been a strong and relentless person.
"I'm not going to kill you. I'll leave that to your husband when he finds out you fell down the stairs because you decided not to listen to him and stayed home instead of leaving"

I look at him surprised. How did he know?

That was when I really looked at the man by the door, he wasn't just anyone, he was our gateman and he was the only other person there when Abdulrazaq told me.

"Now—" he looks at the guard "The best part of our night" he walks over pulls me and throws me over his shoulder and leaves the room walking towards the dark staircase.
"I'll do you the honor of keeping the lights switched off darling" as the man puts me down right infront of the stairs.

"One word about this to anyone and it'll be Ahmed And Abdul" he chuckles "Hope you get down safely" he says before he kicks me, I start rolling down the long stairs and eventually land with a thud. For a moment all I could feel was something warm, it enveloped me and I black out.

::