"Guys, we don't tell him shit, okay? You know what he'll do."
Inayat took another drag before adding smokily,
"He'll flip out..."
Everyone nodded their heads in unison. All except for little boy Idris.
"Inayat Bhai, don't you think that this is a little extreme? I think he'd find this all a little insulting."
Arsal interrupted Idris with a flick of the hand.
"Little boy Idris, Illyas is fucking crazy, kay? He-"
I opened the door abruptly and my presence knocked everyone over. Inayat dropped his fag.
"Illyas Bhai! You're back?!"
I gave Inayat a once over and scratched the hairs on my chin.
"Kept ya waitin', huh?"
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TheManWithTheBlueHat is back on Eff Eff!
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"So what's this about a secret?"
Everyone darted their eyes toward Arsal who looked at me sharply. He rose up.
"It seems I've no choice. Illyas, you should know that Sara is back in London."
My world shattered just as Arsal spoke those words. How could this have happened? How could I have missed it?
"Illyas, you okay? You're frothing at the mouth."
But I was far from okay. I let out a squeal and collapsed; my world torn apart; my pants, crapped.
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BLACK
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Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Illyas and I am the third leader, to date, of the family social group previously known as Illyas's Lads. Dawud's return should've strengthened us but it broke us apart instead. Don't think that my reaction in the paragraph before was a little much. You have to understand that I spent my entire family career trying to bring everyone together. And Sara fucked it all up. She was someone I thought I could depend on. Now I don't know what to believe in. Luckily for me, though, I know my brothers would never do that kind of thing to us. No, they would never betray the family.
"Hey, Illyas, come on. Let's get you washed up." Inayat carried me like a child to the bath-tub and scrubbed me down gently.
"Illyas, you really flipped out back there..."
I gave Inayat a half-smile, my signature expression.
"I'm kinda pissed off as well. She fucked everything up, didn't she?"
"No." I groaned darkly. "She made the right move. She always was the smartest of all of us."
Inayat pondered my words for a moment.
"Yeah, but Illyas Bhai, don't you think she could've at least-"
"I need to find her, Inayat."
Inayat sneezed and coughed at the same time and dropped his sponge which was now lost forever to my bubbly underbelly.
"Illyas Bhai, I don't think that's a good idea..."
I spoke with more conviction this time.
"Inayat. I have to find her."
