Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Academy Characters.
I still somehow relate everything back to my parents. I don't know why, but I do. Maybe it is because they both made me, I don't know. One day, I will have a definite answer, maybe I won't.
"Ibrahim! Where have you been?" Janine yelled as Ibrahim finally came home. She had called him numerous times earlier in the day and he said he wasn't coming home until later that night since he was buried in work. Bullshit, she thought to herself, he lost his job last week! Can't he just say the truth? Ibrahim has been doing this a lot lately. Coming home late, smelling like booze and sex, and of course, the messages from women that she doesn't know. It was already late in the night, as she was already in her nightgown and holding only a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
Ibrahim rolled his eyes as he got out of his black Mustang and slammed the car door shut. He really didn't want to deal with his wife's nagging right now. He had enough stress on his plate already. He had other shit to do other than deal with her.
"At work, I told you already." He lied smoothly to Janine who only glared at him. Obviously, she has stopped believing him. He has already caught on to that but still tried to lie his way out of it.
Janine's mother, Deidre, held her granddaughter Rosemarie close to her as they both watched Janine and Ibrahim fight from the front window of their one-story suburban house. Rosemarie is barely two years ago and was sucking on her thumb while pulling on her grandmother's ear, a habit she has. She looked like the combination of her mother and father. Her father's tanned skin and eye shape, but, with her mother's fine hair and temper.
Janine took out a cigarette from her pack then popped it into her mouth and lift it up. Ibrahim sighed. He hated how his wife would smoke every time that she got mad. He believed they only made her madder.
Ibrahim and Janine had met when she was finishing college and when he was working with his mother. He had dropped out from high school when he was sixteen and decided to help his mother, Nora, with her business instead. She sells vegetables in the local farmers markets and also has a small convenience store in town. Janine had been helping her mother who also sells in the markets and met him when they both were competing for a certain stall. When they stopped fighting and actually got to know each other, he found out that she is indeed older than him by six years. At first, he joked around with her about her age, since he was only sixteen and she was twenty-two. Then later on, they somehow fell in love and accepted each other's differences. They dated for about five years before settling down and having their beloved daughter.
Many people still disagree with their relationship after all this time. They say how Janine is being too much of "the boss" and how Ibrahim won't grow up. Many had worried about the future of Rosemarie even before her parents started fighting. Maybe the people's talk had instigated the fighting or maybe it was the fact her parents just couldn't stop.
Ibrahim pushed Janine out of his way gently. "Babe, please, I don't want to deal with this." He said as he tried to enter the house but Janine pulled the back of his shirt.
"Where do you think you're going?" She challenged him. "I called your office and they said that you were fired last week! What have you been doing all this time?" She yelled at him.
Their next-door neighbors had actually turned on their porch lights and were peeking out of the curtains to see what was disturbing their rest. This isn't the first time that this has happened. The young couple were actually the talk of the neighborhood. Many had even started betting on what was the cause of each fight. This one, on the other hand, no one had a clue about. It was one of those rare fights that just happen.
"I told you; I was at work." Ibrahim said once again to his wife. He knew the lie wouldn't work at this point, but it was the only thing that could save his ass at this point.
Janine took out the cigarette and let out a puff of smoke. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" He said nothing. "Rosemarie was sick earlier! We just got her home from the hospital." His eyes widened. He hadn't known. "I tried reaching your beeper but got no response from you then I called your working place to reach you but all I got was a notice that they had let you go a week ago!" Janine was basically yelling at the top of her lungs at this point. Many would say she was overreacting, but was she really? Her infant daughter had a high fever and they had just gotten home from the hospital.
All he could do was stand there and look at her. His face was sullen as she yelled at him. He felt guilt filling him up but he still made no move to comfort his wife or even apologize.
"Janine, please, let's just talk about this in the morning," he said as he tried leading her into the house.
She resisted and then slapped his face, hard. He was stunned as the slap left a hand mark on his face.
Janine just glared at him as she clenched her fist. She felt so much emotions filling her in that moment and even felt many names she wanted to call him on the tip of her tongue. But, her baby was still in the back of her mind and she didn't want her to hear those awful things she wanted to say. Instead she said, "Dammit, Ibrahim! You're such a liar! I know you were fired. You just won't say the truth and actually face me! What are you scared of, coward?"
Ibrahim's sister Irene was also watching the ordeal along with her niece and her in-law. She felt she needed to get her brother out of there, so she quickly grabbed the house phone and dialed 911.
"Hello?" she said. "I'd like to report an assault in front of my in-law's home." The operator asked her for more details. "My sister-in-law just slapped my brother and they are fighting and it seems she's getting more violent. Please send help." She cried into the phone as she hung up.
Deidre's jaw dropped. "What do you think you're doing?" She questioned Irene.
"She just hit him! Someone had to do something." She replied.
Deidre's face puffed up. "Are you stupid? She's a mother! Your own nieces mother and you just called the cops on her."
As Deidre scolded Irene, Janine continued yelling at Ibrahim who was still lying back trying to defend himself although he knows he was already caught. He just wouldn't give up without a fight.
About thirty minutes later, the police had arrived. They handcuffed Janine and put her in the back of the squad car.
"What do you think you're doing to her?" Deidre came out to talk to the police all the while still holding little Rosemarie who had unshed tears in her eyes. Nobody had noticed except for Janine who looked at her daughter desperately, quietly urging her not to cry.
"Ma'am, your daughter is being charged for physical assault. We have to take her in for questioning." The officer said coolly; although he had doubts that Janine, who was thin and short, could even do any real damage to Ibrahim, who was buff and tall. "She may have to be held over night."
Deidre was outraged. "But she's a mother! This is her baby." She lifted up Rosemarie who only rubbed her eyes. "You can't take her in! It isn't her fault."
The officer nodded. "We know about her daughter. But, we still need to take her in since it is protocol." The officer sighed as the baby only looked at him with tearful eyes. "We'll make sure this is cleared up." Was all he said before he got into his car and then drove away with Janine in the back.
"Give her to me." Ibrahim said to Deidre who hesitantly handed over Rosemarie. The tears in her eyes were finally falling over as she leaned her face down on her father's shoulders. He tried soothing her while rubbing her back to stop her crying. Rosemarie just lay on his shoulder and cried silently.
That night, people didn't know who to feel sorry for. Ibrahim, Janine, or Rosemarie. Many felt sorry for Ibrahim and Janine, seeing how their marriage is breaking at the seams. None of them even thought of how it might have affected Rosemarie. They thought she was too young to even understand. Little did they know, it would affect her greatly in the future.