Dried Ink

45

For Kheedy  ,yusufrabee and kareeematu !! Thanks for your constant votes and comments!!

Karima sat back down, she couldn't believe Khalifa would ask her to leave.
She watched him climb up the stairs with absolutely no regard for her.

She took her phone and dialed her best friend.

"Lara, I can't do this anymore. I want to go home" she cried. The tears fell effortlessly and her sobs shook her body.

"What? Home? You've been with him for a few weeks only. Karima that's what marriage is, you need to have a lot of patience and understanding. You need to also learn to always forgive, even without being asked to." Lara's words carried wisdom. But Karima would not have it.

"Lara do you even like me? You of all people should know how Khalifa and I live, is that how Abdallah treated you?" She cried.

"Karima everyone loves differently. Okay? Maybe this is Khalifa's coping mechanism."

"Are you even hearing yourself? His coping mechanism? What about me? Is he the only one that has to cope? Or do all of you see me as a burden shifted from one person to another?"

"That was not what I meant. You know him better than I do. Try and talk to him"

"Don't you think I've done that? You're not any help. Goodnight" Karima hissed and hung up.

She dialed Amatullah's number a few times but it only rang without an answer.
She threw her phone against the wall and let it shatter on the floor.

She wiped her tears aggressively and ran up to her room. She threw some of her clothes in a huge box without care and zipped it up. Then it occurred to her.

Where would she go if she left that night? She didn't even have a phone to even call an Uber. She sat down in her mess and cried her heart out.

If only Anas hadn't died. She wouldn't be in this mess.

Khalifa heard the crash of her phone and when he came to check, he saw her running up the stairs. He stood outside her door and listened to her cry. Hurting her broke his heart but he wasn't at the right place at the moment.

For some reason, he couldn't remember anything that had happened in the last five hours before his drive home. Karima had overwhelmed him and he poured out all frustration on her.

He wished he could tell her he didn't mean a thing he said but it's too late. Words cannot be taken back.

He sat down and pressed his back on her door wishing she could just sleep off and forget everything the next day.

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Karima wore her hijab and dragged her box downstairs only to meet her husband in the living room.

"KK" Khalifa said.

"You said I should leave. I'm doing just that"

"Heyy babe, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I had a bad day at work" He came closer to her and blocked her path.

"I don't know how to differentiate between you having a bad day at work and when you don't"

"I'm sorry. I really am. Everything was impromptu, it was too much for me to handle" he reached forwards to hold her hands but she snatched them away.

Karima didn't miss the bit of hurt she saw on his face when she did that.

"Do you think I planned it then? Heck, you even knew before I did. I suddenly had to adjust to being married to you. Since when I came to this house Uncle Khalifa, since when I came, the only conversations we have is when I'm giving you the list of groceries or when we greet. I'm human too, let me in. Please"