I hope everyone had a fantastic eid! :D I really missed writing and I got so many great ideas el7amdellah, so enshallah no more writer's block. I've tried to make this post as long as possible to make up for the days that I haven't posted. Thanks for all the kind support, I love all of you and I can't thank you enough! x
www.ask.fm/vieblogue.
Comments on posts will stay disabled, I'm still not sure about enabling them but maybe in the near future I will, I miss seeing my anonymous commenters, you guys have always been such sweet supporters! This goes out to you Um Yousif. :')
SMOKING IS: 7aram, unhealthy and harmful to your body, stick that into your head. Don't copy any of my characters, I've said this 242423 times and I'll keep on saying it, you're all smart enough to know the difference between right or wrong, all of this for only your entertainment.
And "marijuana" *I've heard of it in news before*, can be used for medical reasons but using it for entertainment purposes is wrong.
Also, I promised all you lovely bloggers a blog post for you, I still didn't forget, I'll start writing it soon. If you find any mistakes, please tell me, kent daykha 7ail w ma kent abe anam without posting, so please forgive me if you ever find a mistake, don't be shy to tell me about it on ask or twitter. x
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Previously in Chapter 15:
"Shal ree7a?" My father snapped at me, his head shooting up in response once I was cinches away from him.
"Ey ree7a?" I nervously replied.
No no no, did I smell like smoke? How could I be so stupid?
"La etchathib!" My father stood up, the veins in his neck were now
visible, showing off his sudden anger. He grabbed my jumped, pulling me
closer so his oversized nose could sniff at my clothes.
"Marijuana?!" His nostrils flared in fury, his eyes nearly bulging out of his eye sockets.
(*Marijuana is a drug, it's like a cigarette but it has leaves, they
wrap it up in a cigarette and smoke from it, it's illegal and of course,
7aram. It makes you dizzy and causes diseases, google for more info.)
-
"Yuba, la2!" I nearly screamed out in defence. My father's eyes were full of red viens, expressing his sudden bolt of anger.
"3abalk ana ghabe, etchatheb 3lay?!" My father gripped my shirt, pulling up closer to him, so close that I could smell his onion scented breath. My mother was on her feet, her face looking fearful of what was about to happen.
"Yuba walla-" I tried to pull myself away from him but he was even stronger than me, his frail body didn't seem so frail anymore, his looks deceived me.
Before I could even continue, or even try to defend myself, I felt a hard blow hit against my cheek. Knuckles dug deep into my cheek, the roughness forced me to fall back to the ground, it took me a few seconds to understand what had just happened.
Finally, it hit me.
My father just punched me.
My head was pounding, the ceramic floor hit it hard, and my cheek was throbbing with pain.
"THARI!" My mother screamed in shock. The dizziness overwhelmed me for few long seconds, it felt pretty long to me. I was so sure I would have taken that blow but the punch was too aggressive.
My view was finally adjusted and I could see again, figures weren't flying and swimming around me anymore. My father's second wife was holding him back away from me, suddenly I had some affection for that woman, stopping my own father from hurting me again.
My mother was knelt besides me, her soft cool hands gripping my face, trying to pull it off of the floor, her eyes full off wet tears.
"T-thari?!" My mother squealed out.
Wath7a? Where was my sister? The only thought that was taking over my head was the fact that Wath7a had watched her own father hit her brother, how would she see our father now?
"Ma feene shay." I forced the words out, I wasn't going to act like a wussy in front of my father. He was watching me, he wanted me to crawl down to the floor and beg for his forgiveness.
I wasn't about to give in, I'm stubborn. I won't let someone control me, even if it was my own reckless father. I pushed away my mother's hands, ignoring the pain and stood up. The ground shook under me for a second, I was about to wobble over and fall again but I quickly adjusted and kept my balance.
I turned around and found Wath7a. I felt as if my heart was squeezed and was gripped by a pair of tight fingers because of what I just saw. Wath7a was hiding behind the couch, her face was peeking out a bit and I could see her eyes, there were smudged with mascara because of her tears. She kept hiccuping, her sobs were quiet but depressing to listen to.
"BARA." My father's voice alerted me, bringing me back to the sudden situation.
"S-shnu?" I stuttered, unable to believe what my father had just demanded.
He took a step forward, pushing his second wife over so she fell back to the couch, his hands gripped my arms, he was too strong, just too strong. One second I was in the living room, the next, I was being held by my father, being forced out of my own house.
I tried to fight him off, my mother's hands were trying to pull off his. I heard Wath7a scream, following us but my father was too fast, I was outside of the house, the door locked in front of me. The ground under me was my new home.
I couldn't understand what had just happened. I seriously couldn't.
All I knew was that my cheek was throbbing. Wath7a was scared. And I was now alone.
I could hear the distant screams from my mother and my sister from inside the house but the door was still locked, trapping me out of my own home. The home I lived in for nearly 19 years now. A home I had no access to anymore.
I fell down to the floor, sitting on the steps. The tears wouldn't form, I hadn't cried for years. The last time I shed a tear was when Manal told me she was dying, when she lied to me.
Now? I couldn't even form a frown. I felt numb, in shock.
I did the right thing, didn't I? I walked away from 3abbas, I walked away from that poisonous marijuana, I chose the right decision. And what do I get in return?
Not even a chance to explain myself.
I dialed 3abbas's number as I stared at the long row of cars parked in front of me. 3abbas didn't answer, I called again and again.
Still no answer.
And then I remembered. I still had my car keys but my car was back at Chocolate Bar. All I needed was a ride.
I dialed Ali's number, one of my friends who I was sure that was still awake.
"Ahlaaaain." Ali drawled, his voice sounding a bit intoxicated. All I could hear was ear pounding music in the background, he was probably at some kind of party, that guy was wild.
"Ali, tigder etmurny?" I asked.
"Thari... Shfeek?" Ali said in a weird-ed out voice, he knew the number of cars we had and I never had to ask him for a ride before.
"Ma feene shay.. bas tigder tiyee wla la2?" I cut to the chase, trying to avoid his suspicious questions that was about to fire at me.
"Khala9 okay al7een bayee." Ali gave up and I appreciated that, my friends didn't have the tendecy to push themselves into my business as long as I didn't do it to them.
I waited patiently, my bottom still resting over the steps. The voices from the house were quiet now, I couldn't hear anything and the door was still locked. I checked twitter and stalked Layal. It was weird, that girl could keep my mind off of my problems, even though she wasn't really doing anything.
I decided to send her a message, being anonymous gave me a lot more freedom to do things that I wouldn't usually do.
"@*******: Layal? Ga3da?"
She replied instantly.
"@LayalAlX: Eee.. is everything alright?"
"@********: Haha I got kicked out of my own house. :p"
I stared long and hard at the "haha", it wasn't exactly a funny situation..
"@LayalAlX: What?! Why Thari?!"
I still reacted in a surprised way whenever she said my name and then I'd realise that she didn't even know that it was my actual name.
"@*********: Long story.."
"@LayalAlX: I have all day. I'm listening. Well, reading."
"@*********: It's not a pleasant story."
"@LayalAlX: I'm still here, aren't I?"
"@********: My parents think that I smoked and did drugs because I smelt of marijuana, but it was my best friend who was doing the dirty.. it was never me."
"@LayalAlX: Why didn't you tell them!?"
"@*******: Layal walla I tried.. and I can't tell them that it's my friend, they'll tell his parents, he's like my brother, I can't rat him out Layal."
"@LayalAlX: Seriously Thari? You're homeless now, if you tell them the truth you'll have a home again. And a family."
"@********: But I won't have a brother anymore."
"@LayalAlX: Wow."
Wow? What did she mean by that? I felt like I was disappointing everyone. My best was never good enough anymore, I tried to change, I tried to improve, but seriously, did no one notice? I decided to ignore Layal, I seriously didn't need any more problems or drama.
I was a man who wanted to stay away from drama. Far, far away.
Yet drama still followed me.
-
-LAYAL-
I was staring at the blogger's message for 20 minutes now. He didn't reply but he tweeted a quote, he was ignoring me. I was surprised, I hadn't ever met a guy before who would lose his own family, his home, over a friend. But why was he ignoring me? Did I give him too much? Was I too open? Was this inappropriate, did I seem too easy?
I thought about messaging him again but then decided against it, I was not easy and I wasn't going to show any kind of act that made me seem desperate.
Layal why do you even care about an anonymous blogger's opinion? Stop over thinking everything.
"Layal!" My brother's voice called out before my peach painted door was pulled open. I quickly dug my phone under my bed covers, I had the blogger direct message chat open and I did not want my reckless brother Ebrahim to read it.
"Halla?" I asked in a patient voice, my long hair was messily cascading over my shoulders, my face clear of make up and all I wore was a comfy pair of Juicy sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt.
"Shfeech neseitay? It's Dad's time for his medicine." Ebrahim shook his head at me in an annoyed way, rubbing his tired eyes, he was shirtless, his chubby stomach in view and his hair a mess.
"Enshallah al7een ba36eeh dewah." I kept in my anger, I wanted to lash out at him. He had the energy to get up from bed to tell me that it was time to my Dad's medicine but he had no energy to get the medicine himself for my Dad?
"Eee yalla, la et6awleen hff." Ebrahim muttered, leaving my room without another word.
I signed out of my twitter account from my iPhone and left my room, making my way down to the kitchen. Denny, our housekeeper, was fast asleep and I never liked waking her up, she was a frail woman full of energy but she still needed her sleep.
My feet touched the cool ceramic floors of our house, it wasn't that large nor that small, it was full of paintings and statues, my father always said it was my mother's touch to the house, he never liked changing the decor, even after she left us, he loved to remember her.
I grabbed the injection from the white fridge and walked to my father's bedroom in the dark, everyone was fast asleep except me. I didn't bother knocking, I knew my Dad was asleep.
"Yuba, yalla time for your medicine." I knelt down besides him, his room was large but plain, he didn't put on any pictures or any of my mother's artistic decor. He liked his things kept simple.
"Al7een?" His tired face looked up at me in the dark, his wrinkled eyes crinkling.
"Eee neseit yuba? Ma3aleih, ma ra7 y3wr hal mara." I stroked his hand softly under the sheets before pinning the injection against his skin, it always hurt him the most, his daily injections but I always had to assure him it wouldn't hurt this time, just so he wouldn't fight me off.
"Ake-a7!" He groaned out in pain as the needle sunk deep into his skin, the wet medicine swimming into his body. I quickly took out the needle once I was done and handed him a glass of cool water.
"Ley meta Layal?" My Dad's voice croaked out.
"Yuba bas bage chem youm w b3dain mu lazem takheth el dwa, walla mu bage wayed." I lied. Sometimes I felt like I was the parent and he was the child, it was the opposite now.
"Enshallah." He murmured before his eyes slowly closed, the medicine usually made him sleepy, forcing him to drift off to sleep. I quietly shut the door behind me, trying to not bothering my father.
"Layal, shfeech?" A deep voice startled me for a second. I turned to the right and found my brother, the more responsible one, the one I trusted so much, Abdulrahman, standing in front of me in his shorts and shirt, looking worried.
"Ma feene shay, laish?" I asked in a confused tone, my fingers gripping the empty injection.
"Ga3da tabcheen?" 7amany walked over to me to peek at my face. I quickly touched my cheek and found a wet tear plastered over it. I brushed it off with the tips of my fingers in a mere second.
"La2 la2, bas daykha fa akeed, uhm-" I couldn't find an explanation.
"Shlouna obouy?" 7amany changed the subject and I felt grateful for that.
"El7amdellah 3la kl7al." I forced a smile. My face bore no true emotions.
"He'll get better." 7amany said in a hushed tone, his eyes finding mine.
"Goul enshallah."
"Enshallah. Al7een yalla namay, warach dawam." 7amany kissed the top of my forehead before he walked off to his room, I watched him for a few seconds before I did the same.
-
-THARI-
Ali was kind enough to drive me to Chocolate Bar to get my car and then let me crash at his place last night. I borrowed a random Aviator shirt from him, it was a bit tight since he was more of a stick figured guy than a muscled one, but it'll have to do. I was extremely grateful that Ali didn't ask about the huge bruise over my cheek because of my father's punch or maybe Ali was a bit too distracted to notice.
I skipped university for work, for some reason, I just wanted to see Layal, even though her message confused me.
I didn't get a call or any kind of message from my mom or Wath7a. Did they believe that I'd smoke marijuana too? Was I that bad of a guy for them to believe such a thing?
I didn't know but it bothered me to the core, it wouldn't leave my head and I couldn't just forget about what had just happened last night.
I finally parked my car outside Chocolate Bar and hurried in, I was early today, I wanted to distract myself.
"You're early today!" Ferro said in an impressed tone once I was in the cake scented cafe.
"Haha yes." I forced a laugh and a smile. I went over to the kitchen and grabbed an apron from the counter. I was right next to the door where it led us to the cashier, where Layal usually was. I avoided looking at her today, I couldn't stand seeing her eye to eye after feeling so scandalous for using the blog just to talk to her.
I couldn't help it but I caught her voice and her words made it's way to my ears.
"Jarra7?!" Layal gasped.
"Eee akeed ohwa ma36eech el notes." Noura, Layal's friend, said in a gossipy toned voice.
"Jarra7 yersim? W laish yigouly sorry?" Layal asked, sounding confused.
Was she talking about the notes I left in her locker?
No no no, she thinks it was Jarra7?!
"Eee shefta bel locker room, akeed Jarra7! Kela yikhizich, akeed it must be him saying sorry for being so obvious." Noura continued on.
"I always thought it was..." Layal murmured quietly.
"Thought it was who?" Noura questioned.
"No one, never mind."
Can this day get any worse?
