The afternoon warmth settled down on the siblings as they walked to their condominium. The street was wide and empty today, making them feel freer as they traversed the road. "Faride, are you going to lunch with that guy?" Ibrahim asked.
Hajara swung around to face him, looking bewildered. "Of course she's not."
Faride and Abida looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Abida tried to calm their sister. "Yaya, there's nothing really wrong, you know. People do it all the time. It's just a simply lunch. No biggie."
"What? Abida, seriously? Do what? Are you the one really saying this? Is it this country? Has this country already changed you so much? That man is nothing but a stranger. I don't trust him at all. He's scary."
Faride almost burst out laughing but bit her tongue. If only her sister had seen that scary man all cozied up to her few hours ago, she might not think the same. Or maybe she would have a heart attack.
"And what's making you laugh?" Hajara looked at her incredulously.
"No, nothing. Just thinking of something form school."
"Hmm. As I was saying, I don't like that man. I pray we won't see him again."
Turns out, she was wrong. Few hours later, Faride was all cozied up in her room. It was a bright sunny noon and the whole family was indoors. From her room, she could hear Papa. If she strained her ears, she could hear him telling Mama of his life when he was younger and how he had helped everyone. He was always the hero in his stories. And everyone else was bad. Faride simply rolled her eyes and turned to the side. Her phone beeped. Reluctantly, she took it from the bedside mirror. What could it be? Perhaps a promo message from Digi, her service carrier. She had noticed that nowadays all her notifications were from Digi and it got her wondering if there even was any need to have a sim card. She never used it. Her mind far way, she swiped her phone. What? She blinked once, twice. What the…
Was her eyes deceiving her? How did he get her number?
The text looked back at her in bold black font. Hello Faride. How are you doing this afternoon?
She gulped as she reread the words again and again. Below it was a name. Alessandro.
How did Alessandro get her number? Red signals flooded in her mind. This was unusual. Who gave him her number? For a moment, Nur came to her. Perhaps she gave him her number? But when? Did they coincidentally meet somewhere and then she gave him the number? Nur would have told her though. They chatted on WeChat, which Faride had downloaded secretly. Anyway, a number was no big deal. Anyone from school could give him the number. And he looked like someone who had a lot of contacts. Her heart thudded as she debated on whether or not to reply to him. If she replied, he would be calling her on the number. Oh God. If Papa saw it, she was finished. Thank God the phone wasn't in the sitting room. If not, she hated to imagine what would happen.
Her finger hovered over the screen, contemplating. After a long battle with her thoughts, she turned it off. She didn't want any trouble. And if she replied, he would be able to contact her at any time. Better to make him think it wasn't her number.
That night, she tossed and turned thinking about her conversation with Alessandro. It was her first real conversation with a man and she loved it. He made her feel so alive, so matured not like the little girl that she was used to being at home. With him, she was herself. She said what she thought without fear of being reprimanded.
Hiding her face in her pillow, she smiled, a soft giggle coming out of her. She felt excited. But excited for what, she wondered. The date she had with Alessandro? Was it even a date? Did she want to go? Yes, she would love to go but at the same time, it felt strange. That was because she had never been to a restaurant with someone other than her family. And a date? Never. Though to be frank, it wasn't really a date. It was just lunch with a friend. Oh God. He called her a friend! He must have a lot of friends. But he still thought of her as one. She felt a surge of hope from deep inside. Maybe this friendship would go on forever. She could only hope. But as always, a bad thought slipped in.
Another mind told her that she was just a play thing for him. Alessandro was not the type of guy to be seen around her. What if Hajara was right? What if he was into something shady? And wanted to use her for some trafficking business of his? Why must you always be negative and not let me be happy for once, she chided herself angrily. Hot tears slipped across her face as she hugged her pillow tighter and wept herself to sleep.
Next morning, Faride awoke with an uneasy feeling. Today was Thursday. She had no class so she would be accompanying Mama and Hajara to the supermarket. Papa was going to Nigeria in a few days, so they had to stock up and cook his favourite meals for him to take back home. Nobody lived in their house in Nigeria now, something that Papa always wiped in their faces. He believed he was doing a great amount of sacrifice living alone whenever he returned back home for work. Faride wondered why he didn't just marry a second wife or bring in a maid. But as always, he claimed that they were all evil and would cause havoc in the house. Hence, why he had to sacrifice himself for the whole family.
The whole siblings were glad Papa was travelling back to Nigeria for a while. At least, they would have a bit of peace and freedom. Only Mama looked sad. As soon as they entered their usual supermarket UO stores, they took a polythene bag each while Ibrahim followed them around with a trolley. They went round the different sections gossiping about the happenings around the world. As they approached the meat section, Faride felt her body shiver. A strange unease wrapped around her and she turned around quickly, her eyes scanning the many people gathered around. Nothing strange. A little girl was running around the place, dodging people pushing trolleys and jumping around. She let out a sigh and continued pointing at the meat she wanted to the butcher. Mama had gone to the fish section, while Hajara had been allowed to go to the African market which was about ten minutes away. They all prayed Papa wouldn't be anywhere around lest he saw her.
"Why are you so jumpy today?" Ibrahim observed. He was a very good observer apart from being a ladies' man.
"Jumpy, me? Nah."
"Of course you are. You know I know you more than anyone."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Right."
"No, seriously. What's going on?"
After a long pause, she answered. "I've just been feeling weird today. That's it."
"Ooh. Preparing for the date tomorrow huh?" He smirked.
"Shh. Of course not. I've made up my mind."
"And?"
"I'm not going."
His smile faded as she turned away to another section. He followed quickly, pushing the trolley in a zig zag movement. "But, Faride, this is your chance. Why don't you take it? Take the bull by the horns?"
She swung towards him, and they almost collided. He had to move a step back. "What chance? The chance I'll get for Papa to somehow find out and kick the living hell out of me? No thanks."
Ibrahim saw the sadness in his cousin's eyes. This was her chance to have someone real. But Papa was in the way of it. As always. Damn! His eyes misted as he watched her slumped shoulders. She was really sad. And there was nothing he could do about it. His upbeat mood suddenly disappeared and he found himself moving the trolley slowly, unable to utter a single word. Now was not the time to be happy when his cousin was not.
Their trolley was full and they had to take another one. Mama and Ibrahim joined a line and when it was their turn, put the items on the counter. Faride joined the line as well with a little basket full of items. A young Malay standing behind her tapped her. She turned and smiled at her. The girl was around her age. She was holding a juice and cracker. For a while, Faride didn't understand what was happening until she saw the girl's hands. She was telling her something via sign language. Faride quickly grasped what she meant. She wanted Faride to give her the space since she had only two items. Faride quickly nodded just as Mama called her. "Faride. Bring the items."
"Oh." That was when she remembered she had not come alone. She looked at the girl and smiled. The girl smiled as well. She understood. The girl who was as young as Faride would stay in her mind for a long time.
They finished as soon as they could and were packing their bought goods when Hajara came around with a pack load of goods.
"Oh dear. That must have been heavy." Mama lamented. "Ibrahim, you should have followed her."
Hajara simply smiled, catching Faride's eye. It was their silent way of communicating. It meant Hajara loved going out alone. "It's okay. Besides, I have bought everything."
'Okay. But we have to enter a taxi. These items are way too much."
Faride didn't mind the walk. All she knew was that she didn't want to go back home, not even minding the weight she'd have to carry. She looked up at the sky, a bright light blue and smiled.