MELODY #2

Safe Haven

"Ten days and not even a text? Are you freaking crazy?! How could you do this to me, Melo?" Asha squealed through the phone speaker, her shrill voice extremely agitated.

"I'm so sorry, Ash. I swear I d--" I pinched my eyes shut and moved the phone away to protect my eardrum from her peevish scolding.

"You guys left me out in the cold!" Asha continued ranting and raving like the worried mother I'd never had. "I rang you and Akram like a jillion times and it went straight to voicemail and I almost had a heart attack! I thought you were kidnapped or killed or something even worse. I've been having nightmares, Goodness Gorillaz! Why the hell did you disappear like that?"

"It's a long story," I murmured.

"Alright, go ahead, I'm all ears. I have all the time in the world here and I'm planning on listening to your logically convincing explanation of why you freaking vanished on me, dumbhead!" she screeched at the end.

I flinched, flashing on that unforgettable day when Akram had flung my phone - well, his old phone that he'd given to me - from Laila's car. "I... I lost my phone."

"Seriously, that's your long story? So what? Superman's got one. Sell me something else, 'cause I'm not buying it."

I peeked at Akram through the glass door of the patio. He smiled at me as he fiddled with his mother's piano. He had gone inside a minute ago, giving me some privacy to catch up with my best friend.

"His phone broke before we went to your aunt's place, remember?" I explained, biting the tip of my thumb. "Really, we just got new ones."

Asha huffed audibly, her exasperation palpable.

"Okay. Listen." Her tone was serious and compelling. "You're either the most unlucky person on Earth, or you're hiding something from me. I will not have it this time, unless you give me a mighty good reason why you scared me witless for ten days, Melody!"

Asha had never called me 'Melody' since the first time we had met in her aunt's cafe. Definitely a bad sign.

My heart wrenched and the words came out strangled. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I can't say much now. It's not safe."

"Not safe? Ohmygosh! You okay? It's that witch again, isn't it? She's still after you? I swear I'll come back and bury her with my own hands, that sorry piece of..."

"She's dead." My voice broke.

Deathly silence erupted for a moment as my words seemed to grow heavier, filling the long distance between us.

"Holy...! Wait! Wait! Give me a jiffy to restart my brain." Asha paused for a second more, before she asked, "how did you know?"

I swallowed the lump that clogged up my chest whenever I remembered the accident. "I was there."

"You mean you saw it? With your own eyes?" Asha whispered gravely. "Gosh! What happened?"

Pressing my eyelids with my thumb and forefinger, I tried to unsee the dreadful flashbacks. The dire car chase. The groans of metal being crushed. The blood-soaked blonde hair. Another blood on my hands for the rest of my life.

"A car crash." The words choked in my throat.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! You were in an accident?!" Asha shrieked. "Were you hurt? And Akram? Is he okay? Dammit! I can't handle this! I knew I should've taken you with me! I wanna fly back right now! Dammit! Dammit!"

"We're fine, I swear, we're both fine. I just can't talk about it right now." My tears welled up and I sniffled. "I miss you, Ash."

"I miss you too, Melo." Her high-pitched voice softened. "Superman is there, right?"