Scarred For Life

Chapter 71

*

The Police station smelled like urine. Zainab had scrunched up her nose ever since they arrived, the rank odour forming a cloud within the walls which she desperately wanted to leave. She was aware of the numerous pairs of eyes on her, and the veil of suspicion over them. The officer who was questioning her, Inspector David, sat across from her with an old file in his hands. He was a short man, his body a glut of muscles, his hair thinning and with a rough mustache over his lips. When he looked up at her through hooded eyelids, she avoided his gaze and chose instead to stare at his mustache.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions," he began in a bored tone, the drawl characteristic of one who'd practiced the same speech over and over again. "I expect you to answer them truthfully. It will be best if you cooperate with us here. You have no fault here, so we have no reason to suspect you. Should you refuse to cooperate however, I will be forced to take any precautions necessary. Do you understand?"

Zainab placed her hands on the cold table, palms facing up. It was her way of saying 'I have nothing to hide.'

"After Mr Aminu and Mr Yusuf left, can you tell me exactly what happened then?" he said, pulling out a pen and a notepad.

"Well," Zainab leaned back into her seat, "I was standing by the pool while the whole thing unfolded. After they left, I walked over to see his battered face up close. I don't know if you know, but his precious son broke his nose a few days ago. It was just starting to heal when they came over and broke it all over again."

She chuckled then, at the memory of how bloodied Yusuf had looked.

Served him right after all.

"Anyway, he went back into the house while I remained where I was. I heard the car starting, but I didn't bother to check up on him. And then I heard him drive out of the house, and it was a few minutes later that you all arrived. That is all I know."

Inspector David watched her curiously, his head cocked to the side while he took notes rapidly without even looking at the notepad.

"So you had no prior discussions with him about his destination?" he asked.

"Not that I can remember." The heat was starting to get to her. She wished there was a window nearby.

"And you have no idea where he went to?"

"None, whatsoever," she replied.

"You can't hazard a guess?"

"Look, inspector," she leaned forward, "the man and I barely talked. And in the situations where we did, it wasn't to discuss future plans of escape. Trust me."

"You mentioned that he is your father," David said, narrowing his eyes a bit more. "Mr Yusuf says this is a lie."

Zainab squirmed at his statement, withdrawing into her shell. Memories flooded back into her vision, and she took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Unfortunately, it's the truth," she said. "Yusuf is my father. And just to clear up any confusion, can you please refer to Adnan by his name? I don't see the use of the formality."

David scowled, but he remained as bored as ever otherwise.

"Mr Yusuf -Adnan- said that you came to live with them a few months ago."

"I did."

"So if Yusuf indeed is your father, then why weren't you living in his house?"

"Maybe because he didn't want the world to know he had a daughter outside of his marriage." The conversation was beginning to bore her. Again, she wished there was a window nearby.