Freeing or Fleeing

Chapter One - Drowning Without an End

Chapter One

"Where is she?" Khadra peered over my shoulders to look at my face, while I washed the dishes and then circled her body to look around the rest of the kitchen. "I can't seem to find her."

I jumped at the voice that pulled me out of my trance and continued with the dishes. I was previously staring out of the window, looking but not really seeing. The sun had long retired and the dark and gloomy night reflected the way I felt.

"Oh, stop it! You can see me right in front of you and did you really have to scare me like that?" I moaned, not even glancing her way.

"Not my fault you're not on planet Earth today," she giggled, continuing with her jokes, which I really didn't want to entertain.

She positioned herself beside me, her back against the counter that was attached to the side of the sink.

"Please, I'm really not in the mood right now." I wasn't even excited to see the one person who was the motivator behind my success and the clown who added to my happiness.

"When are you these days? It pains me to see you like this. I barely recognise you," she sighed.

This time I did look her way, taking in her furrowed, low-arched eyebrows and her pouted lips. Apparently, her beautifully shaped eyebrows were natural but I'm not sure I believe her. Her dark coloured eyes glowered back at me. I couldn't tell whether she was angry with me or worried about me. Many of her features resembled mine and more often than not, we were mistaken for sisters. Apart from her face being slightly rounder than mine, her nose that she inherited from her father and her slightly lighter skin tone, she looked exactly like me. If you weren't paying attention, you might end up mistaking one for the other. Under her neatly wrapped hijab was the same black hair and eyes the shape of almonds, which were our most prominent features. Our resemblance came from our mothers who are twins and funnily enough, we appear more like siblings than her own siblings look to her. Unfortunate for me or fortunate, depending on how you see it, I'm an only child.

"Like what? Washing the dishes? In case your eyes are failing you, there are dishes to wash and I'm not filthy like you." I played ignorant, unable to deal with her with patience.

Without answering me, she gasped and grabbed my arm, scratching me in the process and pulled it up to her eye level. Drops of water splattered across the counter.

"How long have you been washing the dishes for?"

"Erm..." I trailed off. My fingers had shrivelled up and looked like dried apricots, the youth of them taken away by the water. "My husband has a lot of friends?" My defence, however, failed.

"Seriously Hafeezah, where is your head at these days? I bet you've been mindlessly staring out the window with your hands under the tap," she commented, observantly. Hate to give her credit for it but she knew me well.

I stared at her blankly, not wanting to give her the satisfaction.

"Just look at you! I swear those dark circles under your eyes have taken permanent residency and I can't remember the last time you smiled." She was definitely angry.

I mocked a smile. "See, I'm smiling." I pointed to my lips with my soapy hands.

"Stop it, will you!"

She shut the tap off and pulled me towards the table. Drops of soapy water fell to the ground in a trail in front of me. She sat me on the chair that was already pulled out from when I had vacated it earlier. The force she used caused escaped strands of my hair to fall to my face. Khadra took a seat adjacent to me.