Chapter 32

Second chapter today, enjoy!:* @_Kuwaitblog


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"It's rude to leave when we have such a lovely guest here," Fahad widened his grin, aiming the grin at me. His pupils were clearly dilated, I could see it now. The alcohol was swirling inside him, controlling him while his brain was dead.

And now I knew.

He didn't just sound dangerous.

He even looked dangerous. 

And suddenly, I was scared. Truly scared.


-


*7 years ago*

"Shoshooo, rou7ay sa3day el rayal." Reem, during her teen years, told me. Reem's face was younger, her body smaller and her make up simple.

The man was frail looking and old, he was wearing a dishdasha and he looked sweet. He told us he needed help with looking for a cute toy for his grandchild. Reem decided to check the downstairs toy store and told me to accompany the man upstairs.

"Ohkaay," I said in a sing-songy voice. I was excited, I wanted to make sure his granddaughter had the cutest toy ever.

I gave the old man a big smile, exposing one of my missing teeth. He smiled back, his wrinkles forming besides his eyes and his smile seemed too big for his face.

 We approached the Kids Section and I pointed to a cute Baby Born toy. (*Baby born: a toy that has a plastic baby for kids to play with.)

"Allaaah, wayid 7lu. Cheykay el s3r 7beebty?" The man smiled at me sweetly.

We were in the corner of the toy store, no one could see us from afar. I tried to climb up to the shelve so I could see the price clearly.

"7 KD, wayid-" I got cut off once I felt strange hands touching me everywhere.

After a few minutes, I was too struck too move. I was too scared to yell out for help.  

What if he had a knife hidden? 

 He was about to grab me, to take me away from the store, away from my sister, away from my home.. before I heard a worker's voice. That random voice was my savior.

"Ana barou7 ayeeb el cart, la trou7een mokan." The man kept smiling at me before he hurried off to the other direction, leaving me all alone.

And that was when the tears started to spill. I couldn't breathe. I was panicking. I didn't understand what had just happened. What if that worker never came to check on me? I didn't take my chances this time, I made sure I escaped away from that corner. I ran towards the stairs, going downstairs to where my sister was.

Reem was too busy looking for a toy too, she didn't notice my loud sobbing until I was right in front of her. Everyone else was staring at me, probably thinking: Aw poor kid, did her Mom say no to the barbie she wanted? 

It's ironic how looks seem to deceive so easily. How an old man looked so innocent and sweet. How a crying child looked so cute and frail. In reality, nothing is what it seems to be.

"Shoug 7ayati, shfeech?!" Reem looked at me, alarmed. I grabbed at her hips, sobbing into her clothes.

"Sh9ar?!" Reem urged me to talk. I told her everything. Every last detail.

"Shoshoo, sim3ay.. d-did he.. uhm.." Reem couldn't say the words. She watched me cry hysterically. Reem checked if my clothes were unbuttoned anywhere, my clothes were the same. She didn't bother asking anymore questions since she saw how scared I was. She understood how small my mind was, how my childhood was shattered.

I saw reality too early. I was supposed to have innocent thoughts. Innocents dreams. Now my dreams were haunted every night, because of one memory. Of one incident.

 Reem pulled me in for a tight hug, repeating words into my neck. Her voice was soothing but her eyes were full of pity and fear.

 At that time, I didn't understand what she was doing or saying.

Today, I understood that she was praying for me. Thanking God that I wasn't kidnapped. That I wasn't raped.

-

*Present day*

"Shoug!" I heard distant voices, everything was black. The darkness overwhelmed me. I tried to open my eyelids but I couldn't. I felt like my eyelids were glued to each other, trying to trap me into the haunted dream.

"Shoug, binty!" Wait, was that Mom?

"Shoug, please, goumay!" Khalid's voice?

I finally forced my eyes open.  The lights were blinding my eyes, I rubbed my eyes repeatedly, smudging my eyeliner. I found S3ood and Shaikha standing over me. I thought I heard my Mom?

"7mdellah!" I heard S3ood sigh in relief.

Shaikha's bruises were covered up, the blood from her cheek was washed off and she looked okay-ish.

"Sh-sh9ar?" I asked nervously. I checked my clothes just like when Reem checked them when I was a child. I found the ripped part of my shirt but my jeans were buttoned. My hair was in place.

Nothing happened. 

"Wein Faisal?!" I started to panic again.

"Shoug, you're shaking!" Shaikha tried to rub my shoulders, calming me down. "He's gone, S3ood made him leave. You fainted after Faisal came but don't worry, he's gone. Faisal's gone."

"He's gone.." I repeated, trying to understand.

"Shoug, shfeech?" S3ood crouched down next to me, looking into my eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Eee ee, ma feene shay!" I smiled.

"Did he hurt you? Touch you?" S3ood's eyes hardened once his words slipped out of his mouth.

"N-no.. he hurt Sh-"

"Shoug, khala9. Forget about what just happened, okay?" Shaikha interrupted me.

"O-okay." I controlled my body, trying to stop it from shaking. S3ood was still looking at me, trying to convince himself that I was truly okay.

I stood up from the ground and patted the back of my jeans, patting off the dust. Shaikha did the same but I noticed how she winced when she stood up.

"Shaikha.. your arm." I noticed blood dripping from her arm.

"3ade 3ade." Shaikha smiled at me and hid her arm behind her back.

"Shaikha, mu 3ade! Okhouch yisawee feech chithe!? What if I never checked on you two? What would happen to Shoug then?!" S3ood's hand gestures showed how angry he was. He cared about me.

"Khala9!" Shaikha screamed. S3ood looked surprised, he instantly stopped talking.

"It's my birthday and we're going to have a great day today. Got it?" Shaikha put on a big smile before walking away. S3ood and I were too shocked to respond.

Wait..

Khalid and M7md. 

Alcohol. 

Traveling.

 Alcohol!  

Those words were swirling in and out of my thoughts. I had to find out now.

I pushed past S3ood before he could ask anymore questions on why I was shaking so much, I pulled the door of the diwanya open to enter.

"H-hey Shoug, wein ray7a!" I heard S3ood call out.

Many of the guys in the diwanya turned to look at me and my ripped shirt in confusion. I finally found M7md and Khalid sitting on two different couches. I approached M7md first and looked into his eyes, checking if his pupils were dilated. I inhaled his pizza-d breath. No alcohol.

"Hey! Shitsaween ehny?!" M7md began to lecture me. I ignored him. His pupils were okay. He didn't smell like alcohol. I moved on to Khalid to do the same.

"Shoug, wakhraaay." Khalid gently pushed me to the side so he could watch the match. I kept blocking the TV, trying to look at his pupils. Were they dilated? Was his breath full of alcohol? I needed to check, now.

"Fffh, Shoug!" Khalid complained. M7md was approaching me quickly.

His eyes were-

M7md grabbed me by my arm and ushered me outside. He was pulling me away from Khalid, I wanted to try to sniff his breath just to be sure. I couldn't believe Faisal's words just yet. I needed more proof! I didn't get to see Khalid's eyes or get a whiff of his breath. I was defeated.

"M7md, stop it!" I tried to fight off M7md's arms.

"Heey! Mu waktaa," M7md closed the door behind us, closing my view of Khalid.

"Laish?! Shm3na al7een?!" I tried to question him but he laughed in my face. Was he trying to stop me from seeing the alcohol?! My suspicions were growing by the second. M7md thought I was messing around.

"Shoug, shfeech?" M7md looked at me strangely. S3ood was right behind us, listening to our argument.

"Shoug, omech tabeech." S3ood lied. M7md walked back into the diwanya, leaving me standing alone. Probably ignoring my weird behavior.

"Shoug, khala9.." S3ood tried to calm me down. I only got angrier.

"Mu et7bny?!"

"Akeed a7bech.." S3ood looked alarmed by the sudden question.

"You would do anything for me?" My fury was talking, I couldn't control myself or my emotions. I still couldn't believe what had happened just a few minutes ago. It was too much to take in.

"Anything Shoug.." S3ood's eyes were full of love.

"Then ask Wahab, your older brother, if M7md and Khalid ever drank alcohol with Faisal!" I demanded in a loud and angry tone.