In the last chapter, Kamal joined the Ahmed siblings on an afternoon out. This allowed Saria to gain a bit more closure over the incident with the lizard, though when it came to Wali's punishment for his involvement, she was left with more questions than answers. Now, a bit more time has passed and once again, Mahmood and Tanya are planning to leave their children to their own devices...
As always, I do not own Kite Runner; only my OCs and my own plot points, ideas! I also do not condone the actions, thoughts, feelings or words of these characters. This is a work of fiction and should be taken entirely as such!
With that said, I hope you enjoy this newest chapter, and please feel free to drop me a comment should you so wish! And now on with the story.
Assef's fingertips gently glided over the top of my scalp, elicting in me a feeling of bliss that coursed through my entire body. I lay back on the living room couch, one hand dangling off the edge, the other hand intertwined with my soulmate's, who would bring it to his lips every so often to brush them over it. Every time he did so, a giddy rush of excitement burst inside me, like a family of caterpillars living in my body had just burst forth from their cocoons as butterflies and their big, beautiful wings were fluttering over and over inside my stomach. Here was a little slice of paradise, a heaven from which even God himself could not have moved me.
Well, God may not have been able to move me, but my parents certainly could. The sound of Tanya's heels clacking against the wooden floor, starting off just barely out of earshot and then getting louder and louder as she approached the living room was enough to set me on edge. Add to that the sound of my parents whispering just outside the door, and I found myself wishihng for the power to become invisible. But alas, such abilities did not exist in the world, and it was with this depressing knowledge in mind that I watched, helpless to escape, as Mahmood and Tanya entered the room.
"Your mother and I are going out," Mahmood said, as if the way that both of them were dressed in formal attire - pinstripe business suit for him and a knee length blue dress that flared at the ends for Tanya, as well as the way that Tanya kept tapping at her face and fussing over her hair, as if making sure that the time she'd no doubt spent perfecting them this morning wasn't going to be wasted, wasn't evidence enough that they had somewhere else to be. But rather than point this out, knowing the trouble I'd get into for doing so, I simply moved closer to Assef, who guided me into a sitting position and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
Mahmood contineud on, fixing my brother with a pointed stare. "We'll be gone for the night. Assef, you're in charge of your sister. See to it that she behaves herself in a manner appropriate to the family name," a pointed glare in Assef's direction, letting him know that he was included in this ridiculous statement, too, "and that she gets to bed at a reasonable hour."
I wanted nothing more than to roll my eyes at Mahmood, letting him know in no uncertain terms what I felt about him and his pedantic lecture. But, fearing that doing so would result in a few sharp licks of the belt, which I neither wanted to experience nor wanted my brother to witness, I settled instead for lowering my gaze in what I hoped would be viewed as a respectful gesture, merely nodding once to indicate that I'd heard what Mahmood had said.
My fingers reached for the locket that Assef had bought me, which I wore at every opportune moment. I traced the design on it, snuggling closer to my beloved other half as I did so. Of course, this just had to be the time that Tanya's attention was drawn away from her preening routine and over to me. Her lips set into a thin line, disappearing into her face as though she'd been sucking on a lemon. Her eyes fixated solely on the locket, her fingers twitching in the most minuscule of ways, as if she wanted nothing more than to rip the chain from around my neck and toss it into the trash.
She seemed bothered by it, as if there was something wrong with a brother buying a gift for his little sister. She'd rolled her eyes when she'd first learned about the locket, murmuring a "well, isn't that nice?" in the same patronising tone one uses when speaking to a toddler. Then she'd looked at Assef, that "sucking on a lemon" expression on her face, as if she'd wanted to say something to him, perhaps to tell him off for overspending the money Mahmood had given us. She must have thought better of it, though, for she never mentioned her distaste outright.
Tanya tore her gaze away from me, thankfully, as Mahmood moved to stand at her side. He leaned over to whisper in her ear, to which she nodded. "We need to get going now," she said. She pointed to Assef and I in turn. "Behave yourselves, both of you." As if Mahmood hadn't already said that exact same thing?
"We will, Mother." Assef drew me closer to him, pressed his lips to the side of my head, holding Tanya's gaze as he did so. They stared at each other, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, before Tanya turned, closed her handbag with an audible snap, and swept out the door, with Mahmood following at her heels. I heard her muttering something inaudilbe as the two of them made their way out the front door, then, finally, the sound of the car's engine as it reversed its way down the drive, granting us this blissful moment of freedom.
And just like that, all the tension in the air disippated. Freedom. Sweet, beautiful, perfect freedom. Nobody telling us what to do. Nobody forcing themselves into our business. No worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing and running the risk of being lectured or worse. No whispering to each other so as to avoid our secret conversations being overheard. Nothing but the peace of being alone with my soulmate.
I moved so that I was now sitting completely in Assef's lap, now that I could do so without being stared at. He pulled me close to him, his hands resting one on the back of my neck, the other on my lower back as he clutched my body to his, breathing me in. "Let's hope they crash on their way to wherever it is they're headed," he whispered in my ear, his voice sending a shiver running through me.
"That would be a dream come true indeed," I whispered back, pulling away to grin up at him.
My soulmate gently tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, his hand tracing featherlight against the side of my neck before he lifted my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. "What do you want to do today, Liebchen?" he asked, "we have the whole day to ourselves, after all. Anything in particular you can think of to while away the hours?"
I thought about it. There were plenty of options, plenty of ways that we could spend the afternoon. But as these options flitted back and forth through my mind, one came rapidly to the forefront, her smiling face the picture of innocence as it swam before me. "Maybe..." I began, looking up at my darling, "I mean... I haven't seen Adia in a while and I was thinking, if it's okay, I could invite her 'round and maybe you could take us to the park or something." I had suggested to Adia that we spend an afternoon in the park, and though I'd never gotten an answer to my question - thanks to the arrival of the Queen Bitch Ahtrai, who would pass up the opportunity to play on the swings and slides and just forget their worries for a few hours?
Something flickered in Assef's eyes, an expression that I couldn't quite discern. Before I could ask if everything was alright, however, he smiled, and the look was gone. "Of course, Liebchen. Why don't you go and phone Adia up, see if she wants to come over? I'll wait right here for you."
He pulled me towards him, gave me a lingering kiss on the forehead, then leaned back. I took that as my signal to make my way to Mahmood's office, and slipped out of the living room door, my head filled with thoughts of Adia. We'd not had much chance to speak after the incident with Ahtrai on the playground - Adia was lucky enough to have avoided suspension by a hair's breadth, but Mermon Yashfa had more than made up for that with a hefty amount of lunchtime detentions. And since I wasn't about to sacrifice my own break time, it had taken a toll on the time we'd gotten to spend with one another.
As I sat in the chair behind Mahmood's desk, legs dangling, the phone cord wrapped around my finger, my other hand quickly dialling up the number to Adia's house, I thought about today would be the perfect opportunity for my other half and I to have a little discussion with her about what had happened during her altercation with Ahtrai. Now, let's make one thing clear - I had no intentions of harming the girl, though I don't think a single soul would dispute the idea that she wholeheartedly deserved it. When I said I wanted to talk, I meant just that, and that alone. I wanted to sit her down and have an open and honest discussion with her, to tell her, in no uncertain terms, it was unacceptable for her to have put her hands on me in the way that she did. I would allow her this one moment of leniency, and hope that she would see my mercy for the blessing that it was.
The dial tone echoed in my ear, over and over. I drummed my fingers against the desk, lips pursed into a thin line. I hoped against all hope that someone would answer the phone soon - that I wouldn't have to sit here and wait much longer. The thread of my patience was beginning to wear thin, and I really struggled to prevent it from slipping through my fingers like grains of sand. What the fuck were the Kalahari's doing? Why weren't they answering me? Did they not recognize the privilege I was offering them by calling?
"Hello?"
That was Adia's voice, high and reedy and unsure, as if she wasn't meant to be answering the phone. As if she'd merely been passing by Javid's open office door, heard the phone ringing and went inside to answer it. I wondered why Javid or Faraya hadn't bothered to do so themselves, why it was down to their daughter to do this job for them. But that was of no matter; she was here now, and I could waste no time in getting to the point.
"Hello, Adia jan," I said, noting a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line when she heard my voice. "How are you, my dear?"
"Oh, uh, hi, Saria." There was something about the way she said my name that just rubbed me up the wrong way, though I couldn't quite put my finger on what that was. "I'm doing good, thanks." Anger bubbled inside me as I took note of the fact that she had not done me the courtesy of asking how I was. Into the memory bank that went, something else that I would need to discuss with Adia when we met today, another firm boundary that would have to be set.
But not now. There would be time enough to chastise her later. Right now, the most important thing was getting her to agree to come over. "That's great, that's really great!" I hoped she could hear the joy in my voice. "Well, Adia, my parents are out of town for the evening, and Assef's offered to treat me to an afternoon at the park. I was wondering, if, maybe, you'd like to come over, and we could all go there together. Maybe pick ourselves up some sweet treats to enjoy while we're over there?"
"Well..."
Was I getting through to her? I hoped so. I continued my plea, making sure to be as sweet as sugar, to really try to ingratiate myself to what Adia might want. "You could bring some of your dolls, if you'd like, and we could play with them. Or I could let you share mine, if... if you wanted." The old dolls, of course, not the one that Assef had got me for my birthday. "What do you think? It's been a while since last you came 'round to play."
The last time she was 'round to play' at your house was when you burned her for forgetting your birthday, a voice in the back of my head spoke up. Conscience again, that awful creature that I tried so often to put in its place. Reminding myself again that what I'd done to Adia was the least she deserved for the pain she caused me, I sealed Conscience once more into the box from whence it came, making sure to keep a tight damn lid on it this time.
"Oh, that... that sounds like fun, Saria. I just need to... uh... well, I mean... I've gotta ask my parents first."
Of course, that did make sense. She would need someone to drop her off at mine, after all, and I was sure Javid or Faraya would want to speak to Assef, too. I was just about to tell Adia that this was fine, that I would wait right here while she spoke to her parents, when I heard another voice in the room.
Faraya's, to be exact. "Adia?" she asked. "Sweetie, who is that you're speaking to?"
"It's Saria." Adia's voice was slightly muffled now, as if she was holding the phone away from her or maybe covering it with her hand, though I was still able to hear every word. "She's wanting to know if I can come over today, maybe go to the park with her and Assef."
I held my breath, waiting to see how Faraya would respond. Would she allow Adia to come over? Oh, how I hoped she would; hoped that she would see that Adia needed my friendship, needed to spend some time outside of the house where her sick and dying brother resided. Needed to be around someone who could give her the care and attention that her parents were failing to give. "Alright, sweetheart, and what do you want to do?"
This is it, I thought, a smile forming on my lips. This is it. All Adia has to do is tell Faraya that she wants to come and play, and Faraya can drop her off, and then everything will be perfect! We can get our friendship back on track, I'll teach her the right way to behave around me and she'll understand, I know she will, she's such a good and obedient girl, she has to understand. She just has to.
Then Adia spoke again, and her words sent me crash-landing into the dirt.
"Oh... Uhm... I don't... I don't really wanna go over to Saria's today."
Faraya might have said something else. She might have asked why Adia didn't want to come play with me. Adia, for her part, might have given off some excuse, rattled off some bullshit reason - though of course there was no excuse in the fucking universe that could make up for the heinous act of blasphemy she'd just committed - but I was numb to it all. The only thing that mattered right now was the fact that Adia had rejected me. Adia had taken my offer of friendship and chucked it right back in my face, spat on me like I was nothing more than dog crap under her shoe.
I balled my hand into a fist, my entire body feeling as though it was slammed by a freight train. Tears welled in my eyes, and I had to squeeze them tightly closed to prevent them from pooling down my cheeks. I moved the phone away from myself, not wanting either Adia or Faraya to hear me if I lost control of my emotions. Still, I kept the receiver at just the right length so that I was still able to hear the conversation between mother and daughter. With baited breath did I wait for Faraya to respond to whatever bullshit excuse Adia had given. Waited for her to tell her precocious little girl to stop being so damn ridiculous and go upstairs to get ready so that she could drop her off at mine. That's what I would have done, had a child of mine been so callous as to not wish to see a friend who had been there for her from the very beginning.
But that's not what happened.
"Okay, sweetie," Faraya whispered. "If you really want to stay home, that's fine. You can just tell Saria that something's come up, and that you can't come over." Her voice dropped another octave and it was increasingly evermore difficult to hear what she was saying. Yet I strained my ears, wanting to hear the lie that this bitch would force her daughter to spin. "Tell her I've said you have a prior engagement with family."
Faraya must have left after that, as I heard a faint clicking sound, as if the door was shutting behind her. Then Adia came back on the line, her voice quivering as she spoke my name. "Saria?" She didn't even give me a chance to respond, instead going right into the pathetic falsehood that her mother had crafted for her. "Uhm... I'm really, really sorry, Saria but my mommy says that I can't come over today. We have, uh, we have a family thing."
What 'family thing'? I wanted to ask. Where are you going? With who? Should the whole family really be gallivanting off when Masood is about to check out?
All very logical questions, in my humble opinion. Faraya clearly hadn't thought things through with that fuckng excuse, though I supposed I couldn't really blame - well, actually, yes, I could blame her. Fucking bitch.
"It's fine," I cut across her, just wanting this entire conversation to be at an end. "Maybe some other time, yeah? I'll see you at school, Adia. Have a good day." Then I slammed the phone back down, not caring one bit if Adia could hear it. I balled my hands into fists, nails digging into my palms. "Fuck!" I swore, punching the desk. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Stupid bitch, stupid ungrateful whore! Who the fuck does she think she is?!"
I stormed out of Mahmood's office and back to the living room where Assef sat waiting for me. The door almost knocked off its hinges when I swung it open, watching with satisfaction as it cracked off of the wall. Assef looked up from his place on the couch, his blue eyes shining with concern. "I take it Adia can't come over?" he asked, getting to his feet and making his way over to me.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, brushing a lock of golden hair behind my ear. And oh, how this simple act of kindness opened the floodgates. I let out a high-pitched whine of anger and pain, stomping my foot against the carpet in frustration. "Can't?" I spat bitterly. "No, Assef, she doesn't want to!" My darling opened his mouth to retort, but I cut across him before he could even get the words out. "I asked if she wanted to come over and she said she'd have to ask her parents which was fine, right, cause I mean obviously she'd need someone to drop her over but then Faraya came in and asked who was on the phone and Adia told her that I'd asked her round to play and... and..."
Pulling myself out of my brother's grasp, I doubled over, gripping the fabric of my dress, a terrible scream of rage escaping my lips before I could prevent it. "Adia said that she didn't want to spend time with me! And Faraya, the stupid fucking bitch, she helped Adia to fucking lie, Assef! Got her to tell me that she had a family emergency! A fucking family emergency, Assef, can you fucking believe that?! And I don't think they fucking knew that I was listening in on the other end of the phone but I was and I could hear every goddamn word, every bit of their LIES!"
Boiling over in rage, I began stamping my feet repeatedly, in the throws of a violent tantrum. "Stupid bitch! Stupid FUCKING bitch! What the hell is wrong with her?" What's wrong with me, I thought, but didn't say it. "That she would reject me like this? Doesn't she fucking know how lucky she is that I still want to spend time with her after the fucking shit she pulled! And now my whole fucking plan for the day is ruined thanks to that lying, conniving little CUNT!"
Assef crossed to me in two steps, pulling me into his arms. He held me close, rocking me back and forth as I heaved and gasped and whined in pain, tears pooling down my cheeks and splotching the front of my dress. "Shh," he whispered, stroking the back of my head, "shh, Liebchen, it's alright, it's alright. It's not your fault. Her foolish choices are no reflection on you, you understand that, right?" Oh, how it seemed as if he had read my mind, could understand intrinsicly that a part of me blamed myself for what Adia had done. Stupid, I know, and soon that self-hate would burn to anger directed entirely at the girl who'd rejected me - and her mother for having had the gall to permit such beaviour, but for right now, I'd have to ride the wave of blaming myself, too.
"I know, Assef, I know, but damn if it doesn't make me so fucking mad!" I clutched him tighter, wanting to bury myself inside his warmth and comfort. "I swear to God, I just want to go round to her house and drag her into the road and stomp on her skull until she's just a pile of blood and brain matter in the goddamn street!"
Was that overkill? Perhaps. But it was honestly how I felt, and who's to say I couldn't express that with the one person who wouldn't judge me for those feelings? My soulmate knelt to be on level with me, taking my hands in his and kissing the backs of them. "Not that I don't fully support that idea, in theory, Sar," he said, "but you and I both know that if I let you do that, it'd lead to some pretty disastrous consequences for us." Oh, indeed, how those pesky 'consequences' always but an end to plans before they could even be brought to fruition. "But that doesn't mean we can't go and have ourselves a little fun elsewhere, right?"
My eyes lit up, a smile curling my lips upwards. Oh, please let him be suggesting what I think he is suggesting! "I want to make another person feel as miserable as I do, Assef," I told my brother, fixing him with a pointed stare as he kissed my fingertips again. "I want to make someone hurt."
"We will," he promised.
I moved to leave the room. Just before I walked out the door, I paused, finger grazing against the handle, and turned back to my other half. "I'll hold you to that," I said. Then I slipped up the stairs, taking them two at a time, giggles bubbling out of my lips as I thought of all the carnage that my darling and I could cause. "Someone's going to hurt today," I sing-songed, making my way to my room and throwing open the closet door. I pulled out a pair of shoes and an overcoat, then hurried to put them on, balancing on one leg as I double-checked the buckles on each shoe were tied securely. My fingers quickly did up the buttons on my coat - had to keep warm when scouring the streets for potential victims, right? Then, I removed my locket, putting into my vanity desk for safe-keeping.
As I returned downstairs to where Assef stood waiting for me, the only thing on my mind was just what sort of pain we were going to cause. Who would be or victim? Male or female, it mattered not to me. The cries of a wounded animal were the same no matter which beast lay within our trap, did they not? And maybe, I thought, looking up at my darling as he lead me towards the door, maybe Assef will let me use his brass knuckles again.
We made our way out the front door, Assef locking and securing it behind him. I rolled back and forth on my heels, the excitement bubbling within me. Oh, I hoped, how I hoped, that Assef would allow me to use his most prized weapon. How I longed for the feeling of someone's bones crunching under my fists, to watch a bloodied heap of flesh cry and beg for me to stop. I wanted to hear someone scream, to feel the power that causing agony to some desperate, worthless piece of shit would bring out for me. Wanted to make my own pain manifest in some poor, innocent victim.
"Liebchen?"
Assef's voice brought me out of my reverie. I tilted my head to look up at him. We'd gone past our compound's gates, which Assef had locked behind him whilst I was away off in my macabre daydreams, and were now heading round the same path that would take us to our "home away from home" as I'd come to refer to the house in which we'd murdered Zainab. "What is it?" I asked, reaching out to take his hand, leaning my cheek down on it. Assef, too, looked as though he was deep in thought. He stared straight ahead, scanning the empty street before him. "What's on your mind, dear brother? Is everything alright?"
"I've been thinking," Assef hummed, reaching out to draw me closer to him. He rubbed his thumb along the fabric of my coat, brushing off invisible pieces of lint. "This Just Because... it might have to be a little different from the previous ones that we've been on."
"Different?"
The word tasted strange in my mouth. Excitement and apprehension bubbled up together, making my body feel tense and airy all at the same time. From the time that we'd had our first Just Because, it had all gone the same way. Find a vicitm, chase them down, put the fear of God into them, and then beat them into a bloodied pulp, leaving them to writhe in agony on in the dirt. It was a strategy that worked every time - and one that we'd never needed to change. Until now, apparently. But for what reason could my brother possibly have for wanting to change the narrative now?
My darling must have surely read my mind, and understood that I needed answers, for he was quick to provide them. "It hasn't been too long since our last excursion, my dear," he said, "and you know as well as I do the ripple effect that Mojdeh had on the community. Hell, we put the girl in hospital. And if we bring that same type of harm to someone else, so soon after what happened to Mojdeh, then it's going to put everyone on high alert, and we can't risk that. So we'll have to tone down the violence today, unfortunately."
"But you promised I could hurt someone today!" I could hear the panic in my voice, my eyes widening as I whirled to face my brother, staring up at him with my mouth agape. "You promised!"
"And you will." Assef rubbed my shoulder, attempting to comfort me. "I'd never lie to you about that, Saria, especially not when I know you need to let off some steam. We just can't beat them into a pulp like before, that's all." He must have seen the confusion on my face, for he gently tapped my nose, lifting my chin and brushing his thumb along my lower lip. "There are more ways to break a person than just physically, my love. Think of it as a way for you to explore other talents. I know that cunning mind of yours will come up with some clever ways to tear apart our newest victim's spirit."
He hugged me close again, and moved back. Then, side-by-side, we continued on. My eyes scanned the desolate patches of road, hoping and praying that some lone child would be spotted, some poor defenseless waif upon which I could then pounce and begin a ruthless torment. For while physical assault may not have been allowed right now, I consoled myself that I could indeed cause quite a bit of mental and emotional pain. I knew well what that felt like, and could so easily translate that hurt onto another person. After all, did I not experience that same crippling, soul-crushing agony when Adia had rejected me? Or during all of those times when Ahtrai and her Posse of Dipshits had made fun of me?
Minutes later, as we neared that patch of market wherein we'd watched last year's Kite Tournament, Assef held an arm out across my chest to stop me in my tracks. "Look," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear, "you see that, sweet sister?" He pointed to a lone figure sitting on one of the upturned crates - a young boy of about my age, with his head buried in a book. "Ahmad," Assef told me, obviously recognizing my confused look, "he's in school with me, a few grades down, but we know each other." There was something in the way he said this that let me know Ahmad was yet another victim of his. And indeed, who could blame my soulmate for having chosen this weedy wretch of a boy upon whom to enact his violent temper?
"He seems..."
I didn't finish that sentence. I didn't need to.
"Like a worthless, friendless nerd?" Assef laughed. "He's always got his head buried in a book, always twitchy and nervous. Apparently, he's got something called 'epilepsy', I don't know what it means exactly, but he's been in-and-out of hospital with appointments and the like. I hardly ever see him outside of school, honestly. Though... I think he tries to avoid me." He scoffed. "Honestly, he really is pathetic. Worse than-"
He might have said something else, then, but I paid him no heed. My focus was solely on Ahmad, my lip curled into a sinister smile as I moved towards him inch by inch, lioness approaching unsuspecting giselle. "This is the one," I breathed, motioning for my other half to follow alongside me. "The fool hasn't even noticed that there's anything amiss."
Soon, we'd made our way to the crate on which Ahmad sat. He still hadn't noticed us, peacefully reading his book as though he had not a care in the world. Blissfully unaware of the trouble that was about to befall him. Like a lamb to slaughter, I thought, as we neared the crate upon which he sat. So foolish, so gullible. So trusting in his perceived safety. Well, I think it's damn time I shattered his sheltered little worldview.
Assef must have had the same idea that I did, for he loudly cleared his throat, alerting Ahmad to our presence. Ahmad jumped, as though my brother had yelled, his twitchy dark eyes moving back and forth nervously. Then he looked up, seeing who was stood in front of him, and I watched his face become ashen in fear, watched as he tried to move back, tried to shrink against the crate as if hoping that by doing so he might make himself invisible. He really did look utterly ridiculous, wrapped in a woolen jumper with the collar pulled up over his neck, as if he were a tortoise trying to hide in his shell, thick-rimmed glasses covering almost half of his face.
His eyes were focused solely on my brother, as though I didn't exist at all in the situation. "A... Assef..." he stuttered, drawing his knees up to his chest and backing away as if trying to move over the crate and get away from my other half. "What... what... are you... doing...? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know," my soulmate waved his hand dismissively, keeping eye contact with Ahmad as he did so. "Just happened to be passing by, saw you here, and figured that I... or... we... ought to come over and say hello." He placed his hand on my shoulder, ushering me forward. "You've not met my sister yet, have you, Ahmad?"
Ahmad didn't respond, as if perhaps believing that by ignoring us, we might give up and leave. Well, there was fat fucking chance of that! I pursed my lips, tapping my foot against the gravel, staring directly at Ahmad, waiting for him to notice me and offer me the reverence that was my due. When a full minute passed without Ahmad having spoken a word, my darling moved forward again, his hand twitching slightly as if he were about to smack Ahmad in the face.
"I asked you a question," he said, "and normally when people ask questions, it's not simply to hear themselves talk, is it?" Assef narrowed his eyes, raising his hand again. "Is it?!"
"No!" Ahmad spluttered, flinching back and covering his face. "No, Assef... I mean... agha... I mean yes... yes, agha... I mean... what... whatever you want..."
A coy smile formed on Assef's lips. "Whatever I want indeed," he repeated, and I could tell he liked how those words sounded on his lips. Then he looked down at me, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, whatever we want, I should say, isn't that, right, darling sister?"
"Of course, brother." I moved closer to Ahmad, who froze like a deer in the headlights. "Oh now, Ahmad, don't be such a wuss. I haven't even done anything to you." Yet, I thought, and had to stop myself from grinning like the chesire cat as I took notice of how merely speaking to the boy was causing him to flinch back in terror. "All I want to do is talk, is that so scary?"
He didn't answer, but kept looking past me to where Assef stood. I moved so that I was right in his line of vision, leaning down and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, honestly, Ahmad, you're being rude now. I've not even done a damn thing to you, and you're cowering from me like I've smacked seven shades of shit out of you." Something flashed in his eyes at my language, as if he wanted to call me out on it, but had thought better of that. I turned to Assef. "Feel like I should give him a reason to be afraid."
Ahmad shook his head frantically. "No, no, khanom, no, I'm sorry..."
A surge of power coarsed through me at the idea of this frightened whisp of a boy referring to me with that honorific, the way his gaze lowered as though he were speaking to a visiting dignitary. I stood straighter, holding myself with all the confidence of a queen, looking down at this peasant who did not deserve to be in my royal presence. "Saria," I told him. "My name is Saria. Though..." I smirked, taking on a haughty air, "if you feel so inclined to continue addressing me as 'khanom' I shan't try to stop you."
No response. I leaned forward, now so close to Ahmad that I could feel his rapid breath. "What are you reading?" I asked, moving to grab the book out of his hands. "Let me see!"
Before Ahmad could even let out a cry of protest, I snatched the book from him, pursing my mouth as I looked down at the cover. Were my eyes deceiving me? No, there it was! A school-book. A fucking school-book! And I knew that, because it was a text that I remembered having read before in Mermon Yashfa's class! Here this little brown-noser was, head buried in a classroom text, as if it were the most interesting piece of literature in the world.
"Well, well, this is certainly very interesting," I hummed, "someone's catching up on their classroom reading, I see?"
Assef scoffed from behind me. Then, placing a hand on my shoulder, he motioned for me to hand Ahmad's book back. I tossed it at the boy, who fumbled to catch it before it could hit the ground. "Mhm," Assef hummed, rocking slightly on his heels. "well then, I suppose if he's in the middle of his schoolwork, we really ought to leave him to it, my dear." I turned back to him, the gleam in his eye showing me that we would be doing no such thing. Assef gestured for Ahmad to stand, which he did, his legs trembling, moving away from us as though we were wild lions about to pounce. "Run along now," my brother told him, placing emphasis on that word, his lip curling into a sneer, "while you can."
Our prey turned on his heel, taking off in a mad-dash, staggering and tripping over himself, running, it appeared, like someone who'd had prior experience being chased by my other half. I took a mental note to ask about that later. But for now, though, after we'd given Ahmad time to run far enough for this to be a hunt - a real hunt - we too began running.
And oh, what an adrenaline rush it was! There was something so utterly thrilling about chasing a person down, the wind whipping at my hair, almost carrying my little body, my feet barely even touching the ground as I surged across the asphalt, my brother's laughter echoing around me.
Then my shoe caught on something and stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Liebchen?" my soulmate asked, as I bent down to pick it up. "Liebchen, what is it? Everything alright?"
I retrieved the item that I'd almost tripped over, turning it over in my hands. "Would you look at that," I held the book out to Assef, who's lips curled into a smirk. "poor old Ahmad seems to have dropped his book. Whatever shall we do with it now?"
"Only one thing that we can do, sweet Saria." Assef grinned down at me, reaching out to tap the cover. "Poor little Ahmad will be in such big trouble if he loses his book, and what decent citizens would we be if we didn't give it back to him?" He shook his head, as if the mere idea of not returning Ahmad's property was an offense in and of itself. "Now, come, let's hurry to catch up before he gets away!"
Tucking the book under my arm for 'safe-keeping', I allowed my dearest to take me by the wrist, feeling his adrenaline become one with my own as we continued to run, continued the hunt for our prey. Assef was a man on a mission, a determined glare in his eye as he lead me towards the same patch of undergrowth where we'd beaten Mojdeh. The memory of her screams, my other half's brass knuckles on my fingers, her wrists snapping under my brother's feet, how we left her lying there, unconscious and bloodied, it filled me up, made the monster inside me want to come out and play once more
And there... right up ahead, scrambling to get away, tripping over dirt and gravel and pieces of loose stone, there he was! The newest addition to the long line of Ahmed sibling victims. "There you are," I whispered, "now let's play, shall we?" With that, I grabbed hold of his book, arched my elbow high in the air, and with all the expertise of an Olympian, launched it full-force at the back of Ahmad's head.
It hit him mid-run, tipping him completely off-balance. He threw his hands out to break his fall, but the idiot failed spectacularly at that, and instead ending up sprawling face-down in a patch of mud. There he lay, face-down, his breath coming in heaving gasps, reaching back to massage the back of his head where the book had struck him. "What..." he moaned, as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened.
Within moments, Assef and I were on the boy again, standing above him, one on either side, preventing him from getting away. He was cornered like a trapped rat, a muddy, shivering rat, to be more exact. I noticed how his eyes kept glancing towards his book, a look of horror having crossed his face at the sight of it, laying open in the mud, its pages ruined. "My book!" he whined, and I rolled my eyes at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes, his mouth agape, lips parted in a shocked O.
He crawled to pick the book up again, but before he could do that, Assef kicked it out of his reach, sending it tumbling a few feet away. It lay open, the pages covered in dirt, spotted brown mudstains across its pages. Ahmad gasped, crawling to grab up his precious book. I moved in front of him, grinning, hands on my hips, stopping the wretch dead in his tracks. Bending down so that I was on a level with the boy, I lifted him up by the collar of his sweater, leaning right into his face, seeing his eyes grow wide behind his glasses, which were now askew on his face.
"Poor thing," I cooed sarcastically, gently reaching out to fix them for him. What a thrill it was for me to watch the way he flinched away, although expecting me to hit him. Although... although he perhaps had prior experience with being struck. Perhaps, I wondered, he feared me because of who my brother was. Perhaps he could feel that twisted connection that my darling soulmate and I had, how I too yearned to create misery. I placed a hand on Ahmad's shoulder, nails digging into him. "Tell me, Ahmad, why are you out here, all by yourself, reading a schoolbook of all things? Seems to me like there's much more interesting ways you could be spending your time. Such as, oh, I'm just spitballing here, whiling away the hours with friends?"
Assef laughed loudly from behind me, as if I'd just told the funniest joke in the world. "Oh, Saria," he cackled, moving forward to stand at my side. "What a jest, my darling! 'With friends'?" He looked down at Ahmad, reached past me to pick up the book. "Little Ahmad here doesn't have any friends, only books."
I pouted. "How sad," I cooed, in that same infantilising voice that people often used when speaking to me. "Poor, poor lonely Ahmad. Nobody to play with him. Nobody except.." Bending down, I picked up the book that Ahmad had been reading, dusting off the cover, the feeling of fresh mud on my fingertips. I looked at the title, reading it aloud in a mocking voice. "A school book, honestly! If you're going to read, couldn't you have picked something a little more interesting? Or maybe it's that you like being a goddamn kunis nerd?"
Rising to his feet, Ahmad extended his hands, grabbing for the book. I moved backwards, light and airy on my feet, giggling as Ahmad tried to tug the book out of my hands, to take his precious property back. "Come and get it!" I teased, "come on, come on, that's it! So close! So very close!" Anyone else, I knew, would have tackled me to the ground and snatched the book from out of my hands. I mean, come on, Ahmad was at least four-eleven, a good fucking head taller than me. Sure, trying anything would have been a stupid move, what with my brother standing right there, but where was the anger? The boiling rage at yet another run-in with his tormentor, at having found a new one to boot?
"Please give me my book back!" Ahmad cried, as we continued our little dance back and forth. He moved left, I moved right, he took a step forward, I skipped two back. "Please!"
He was close now, so close, his fingertips brushing against my own. A look of determination crossed his eyes, it was obvious he believed things were going his way. Then, just as his hands closed over the book's cover, as it looked like a win was on the case for young Ahmad, my other half struck! With lightning speed, he extended his leg, just as Ahmad had arched up on tiptoe to grab for the book that I now held high above my head. With a cry of surprise, the boy tripped over Assef's outstretched foot, sprawling once again into the mud.
I laughed, watching him as he lay there, shaking all over. "Oh dear," I cooed, pacing around him, my eyes narrowing as I waved the book high in the air, watching Ahmad lift his chin to get a proper look at it. I glanced down at the cover, pursed my lips into a thin line. "You know something?" I asked, my voice carrying so that both Ahmad and Assef were able to hear me. "I don't think you really need this book, now do you?"
"What... what do you m-mean...?" Ahmad spluttered. Idiot. Surely if he was as intelligent as he liked to think he was, then he would know what I meant. It didn't take a simpleton to know what I was planning. I flashed a pleasant smile, eyes sparkling with mirth, as I held the book high above my head, waving it back and forth.
Assef was trying to conceal his laughter. He knew, of course, exactly what I had planned. He could read my mind without me having to say a single word. "You don't need this," I repeated, "and it makes you look a right freak, carrying a school book around with you. Reading it on your day's off, sitting there with your ridiculous glasses, all twitchy and nervous, all on your own. Rather makes you look a right embarrassment, if you ask me. If you had friends, then they'd tell you the same as I am. But... since I'm in a mood to be... friendly... then I'll help you out."
With that, I flipped the book open, looked Ahmad right in the eye, and started tearing out pages. One by one, in rapid succession, ripping them up into little pieces, letting them fall from my hands and watching as they fluttered like snowflakes to the ground. Then I pressed my foot into the scraps, grinding them into the mud with my heel. Ahmad let out a noise that was completely, totally inhuman. "Nooooo..." he moaned, a pained expression coming over him as if I'd kicked him in the face. "No, please, please!"
But I just carried on. Why should I care what this little brat was crying about? Why should I show him any mercy? He was of no concern to me, indeed, he was only a vessel that I could use to heal from the pain I felt regarding Adia's betrayal. I needed to let out my own suffering by imprinting it onto another person. There was no connection there, no need for me to feel any sort of empathy or compassion for the whining brat. Either he spent the afternoon miserable or I did, and I held no qualms about ensuring that his tears paid for my own.
I was about to tear the book's spine, ensuring its permanent ruin, when Ahmad had yet another random surge of... bravery? Stupidity? Desperation? Call it what you will, it was a fool's endeavour all the same. "Please!" he cried out, scrambling forward on hands and knees, no longer caring that his trousers were being caked in mud. Before I had even a single chance to realise what was happening, Ahmad's arms were wrapped around my legs, and he was clinging to me for dear life, sobbing piteousy, desperately pleading for me to stop.
My eyes widened, and I reached down to try and dislodge him from around me, but to no avail. Fucking hell, I thought, as Ahmad continued to latch onto me, goddamn it, you're a strong little bastard, aren't you? It honestly felt as though his arms were made of glue and were now permanently attached to my knees, as if I'd have to spend the rest of my life with this parasite clung to me. What misery that would be! But before I could think further on my new predicament, my darling came to my rescue, as the hero he so often was in situations like this.
He stepped forward, catching Ahmad under the arms and hauling him back, away from me. "Get the hell away from my sister," he growled, yanking Ahmad away with such force that it made the boy cry out in pain, and I wondered for a split second if Assef was going to dislocate his shoulders. "Who the fuck do you think you are, grabbing onto her like that?!" Assef was so offended at the idea of someone so lesser than us placing their unworthy hands on his precious Saria, it warmed my heart inside to see. My soulmate threw Ahmad away from me, placing his foot down on the boy's back so that he wouldn't be able to get up and come for me again. "Pardon the interruption, my darling Saria," Assef said, flashing me a bright smile that made me blush. "Please, continue."
I nodded my thanks, and with that, I continued tearing up Ahmad's book, all while my soulmate kept his foot pressed down on the miserable rat's back, preventing him from doing anything but whinging and crying as I bent back the book's spine, causing it to entirely split apart, pages flying through the air and landing in the mud, where I dug my heel into them, making sure the book was now completely ruined. Then, once that was done, I gave my other half a nod, signalling to him that he should let Ahmad go. Assef stepped off of Ahmad's back, moving away so that he now stood at my side once more, wrapping an arm around me, pulling me close.
"Well, would you look at that," Assef grinned, admiring my handiwork. "A fine job you did there, Liebchen." He kicked at the scraps of paper, sending some of them flying into Ahmad's face, mud and dirt sticking to the poor misfortune's hair and clothes. Ahmad spluttered, tossing the pages away from himself. Noticing this, Assef grinned, including our victim in the conversation. "Well, Ahmad, aren't you going to thank my sister? After all, it was very generous of her to-"
But what act of genoristy I had just performed in my earlier actions, I would never get to find out, for it was in that moment that Ahmad received some burst of courage from some unseen, unknown force, and he lost whatever vestiges of calmness that he had been so desperately clinging onto. He gathered up the pages of his book, clutching them to his chest, sobbing loudly and brokenly over them as if they were some dearly departed relative. He lurched to his feet, glaring at my brother and I with a look so fierce, that if looks could kill, the two of us would have dropped dead on the spot, right then and there.
Ahmad pointed accusingly at my soulmate and I, his furious gaze roaming between the two of us. "What is wrong with you?" he yelled, so loud that it caused a few birds that had landed on a bush nearby to scatter, taking to the skies in a desperate bid for escape. He rounded on me, jabbing an accusatory finger in my direction. "How dare you rip up my book like that? You've got no idea how much that cost, what it meant to me!" That made me want to laugh, it really did. It's just a schoolbook, I wanted to say, you can buy them a dime a dozen, easily replaceable. No need to get your panties in a twist!
But I got no chance to speak a word before Ahmad was off again, ranting through his everflowing tears. "I worked so hard, so... so hard, to get good grades, to do what I can, and you just ripped it all up, stamped it into the mud like it was nothing! I'm gonna be in so much trouble when I get home!" And that sentence, right there, I tell you for a goddamn fact, it made my blood boil. Made me want to grab Ahmad by his skinny little shoulders and shake him so violently his fucking skull rattled inside his head. Wanted to throw caution and Assef's earlier warning to the wind and knock this fucking asshole into next week.
How dare he? How dare he talk about how much 'trouble' he would be in! How dare he act as if he knew the fucking meaning of the word! What, were his mommy and daddy going to give him a lecture? Was he going to get grounded for a week? Horror above horrors, would he have to go without desert for a day or two?! He had no right to cry and whinge about shit like that! When he got the life whipped out of his screaming, agonised frame with the buckle end of a belt, when the person he loved most in the fucking universe was held down and forced to watch this horrific, life-altering ordeal? When his childhood had been whippings and groveling to his parents, and a life of neglect and pain? Only then would he have the right to complain about getting into 'trouble'.
As I was picturing more and more horrific ways in which to punish Ahmad for his words, the boy himself turned his attention and fury to my other half. "You!" he spat through gritted teeth, a look in his eyes as if e wanted to rip Assef's head from off of his shoulders. "You awful... mean... mean bully! Why are you always doing this? Always picking on me! Always finding some new reason to make fun of.. of or hurt me or tear me down!" He moved, then, and I wondered if he thought to physically attack my brother - an act that would have seen him in a fucking world of pain - but then he thought better of it, and instead continued on his verbal tirade.
"And now... now you've got your sister in on your bullying too?" It was as if he found the mere idea of Assef having roped me into his schemes to be offensive in and of itself. "Got her hurting other kids now, too, is that it?"
As if I wasn't the one who had suggested that we go and hurt someone in the first place? As if it wasn't because of Assef's carefully crafted advice that I hadn't snapped my darling's brass knuckles on my hands and pummelled the life out of the quivering fool before me. Ahmad's offense on my 'behalf', as if I was nothing more than some innocent waif forced into these acts of evil by my scary, big brother, it truly brought my rage to a boil.
"You've made my life hell since we met, and I'm... I'm so sick of it! Your snide remarks, how you push me into lockers every chance you get, your threats, everything! I hate it! And I hate you!" Then it was as if all of the rage inside him vanished, disappearing like a deflating balloon. His grip on the tattered pages of the book I'd ripped up slipped from his hands once more, and he wrapped his arms around himself, quivering, terror evident in his beady little eyes. He took a nervous step backwards, looking fearfully between my soulmate and I.
I glanced at Assef, who stood there with his arms folded over his chest. The look in his ethereal blue eyes, bright and vibrant as the sky itself, quietly surveying the boy stood before us. He'd said nothing during the whole time that Ahmad was ranting, just watched. His lips curled into a smirk, and he gave me a knowing look. It was blatantly obvious what we were both thinking. How we were silently agreeing how pathetic this was. It was like watching a chiuaha nip at the ankles of a rottweiler. So pathetic, indeed, that I couldn't help but burst out laughing as soon as Ahmad's little verbal tirade was complete.
And oh, did I need it. Needed to laugh. Needed to know that no matter my own struggles, I was at least nowhere near as stupid and useless as this idiot. Ahmad opened his mouth to speak again - my giggle fit obviously having caused some offense to him - but must have figured that telling me off again wasn't about to garner any positive results. "Why are we picking on you?" I asked, each word coming out slow and methodical, the way that one does when talking to a simpleton. I glanced at my brother, who quirked a brow at me, eager indeed for me to take our enemy down a peg or two.
"I mean, come on, Ahmad jan!" I spat the mocking honorific. "Are you seriously asking that question? Do you really have to wonder why anyone would make fun of you? I mean, honestly! There you were, sitting all by yourself, reading a fucking school book! Out here on a beautiful day, doing homework! All alone, as if anyone in their right mind would want to spend a nanosecond of time with you! As if anyone would willingly choose to be your friend!"
"I have f-friends!" Ahmad muttered, a strange glint in his eye.
I wondered if I'd touched a nerve.
Well, if I had, then all the more reason to keep prodding at that festering wound until it bled, right? I smirked, making a big show of looking around, hand on my forehead in that old cliche fashion. "Oh!" I exclaimed, mockingly. "You have friends?! Could have fooled me!" I looked at Assef, who was grinning cruelly. "Did you hear that, my brother? Ahmad here has friends!"
Assef quirked a brow, but said nothing else. How sweet it was for him to let me have center stage. He really was making sure I got to shine today, that I got to be the one to impart this humiliation, to make this dark impact on Ahmad's psyche. "Well, where are these friends?" I cooed. "I don't see them anywhere... Unless..." I trailed off, arching a mocking brow. "Unless they're invisible? Is that it, dear, sweet Ahmad jan? Do you have invisible friends?"
"Invisible friends." Assef snorted, making no attempt to hide how much he was enoying this. "Good one, Sar."
I smirked. "Thank you, brother, I try." Then I stepped closer to Ahmad, who trembled, looking for all the world like he wanted to run - to flee anywhere but here - but couldn't because he feared what Assef might do if he attempted to escape. "But of course, we all know that little Ahmad has no real friends, invisible or not!" And having no friends, I thought, is worse than having a friend who lies about wanting to hang out. "And who would want to be your friend, Ahmad? Who'd want to hang out with you? What would you do for fun - sit around and do homework? What a fucking barrel of laughs that'd be!"
"Hard to believe you don't already know how worthless you are," I mocked. And with that, I stepped forward, lips curled into a snarl, like a cat about to pounce upon a cornered little mouse. Ahmad balled his hands into fists, narrowing his eyes, his jaw set, head raised high. For a moment, I wondered if he meant to attack me, if the faux-courage he'd displayed earlier was now coming back to him.
But then a quick glance at my brother told me that even if Ahmad was stupid enough to make a move, he'd put paid to that before any harm could come to me. Emboldened by this, I lunged. Ahmad tried to get away from me, but Assef moved behind him before he could do anything, grabbing him by the arms and pinning them behind his back. Ahmad squirmed like a fish caught on a hook, trying to move away. "Don't fucking try it," my soulmate growled into his ear, yanking on his hair so hard that a few strands came out.
Ahmad let out a low moan, his shoulders slumping as he bowed his head in defeat. I got right up near to him, so close that I could see all the sweat pooling on his face, the tried tear tracks on his cheeks. Ahmad quivered, turning his head to the side, flinching away as if afraid that I was going to hit him. How fortunate for him that I had no intention of doing so at that moment. That all of his pain would - for the most part today - be mental. "I'm surprised you can't see what a fucking kunis you are, given these ridiculous glasses of yours."
"Let's see if your looks improve without them, shall we?" With a coy smirk, I hooked my fingers around his glasses, removing them from off of his face. I stepped back, holding the glasses aloft, between my thumb and forefinger. My eyes narrowed as I made a huge show of inspecting them, cleaning the smudges, holding them up to my own face. "Wow," I teased, "these have to be the dumbest looking glasses I've ever fucking seen."
"Please give them back," Ahmad begged, "please. I can't afford to lose those glasses, my parents would be so mad at me and they're already gonna be mad enough 'cause of the book you just ripped up and I... I don't wanna-"
Dear God, would he ever give over bitching and moaning about being in trouble? Did he think I gave a flying fuck whether or not his parents scolded him for this? I rolled my eyes, still holding onto his glasses, twirling them back and forth in my hands. "Hmm..." I mused, tapping my lips, looking at the shaking boy trembling in Assef's grasp. "Wonder what I'd look like if I tried these on?" Then, with a dramatic flourish, I slipped the glasses over my own eyes, adjusting them into place.
Instantly, it was as if someone had placed a heavy filter over my eyes. Everything became blurry, the trees and ground blending into one, my brother turning into a hardly visible shape in the distance. Ahmad's vision must have been terrible, I thought, if this was how a person with twenty-twenty vision experienced the world through them. It felt so strange, so upside down.
"What'd you think, Assef jan?" I asked, taking a step forward, hesitant, a little off-balance. I could feel the grin spreading across my face. "Tell me, how stupid do I look in these things? How much like a nerd?" A giggle. "You know, I'd best be careful, if I leave them on for too long, I might develop an urge to start doing homework on weekends! For fun!"
"You're asking the wrong person there, my love." Assef let our victim go, tossing him harshly forward so that he once again went sprawling into the mud. Then he stepped over him - literally trod on Ahmad's back and pressed him into the ground, ignoring his cry of pain. He walked over to me, twirling a lock of my golden hair around his finger, stroking my cheek gently as he tucked it behind my ear. "You know you could wear a bin-liner and I'd still think you put the sun to shame." He took my hand in his, bent to kiss my fingertips.
A blush formed on my cheeks, and my heart fluttered, tears misting my eyes. In that moment, Ahmad disappeared, as if the crying boy lying in the mud never existed in the first place. There was only my soulmate and I, his touch, his words, the only things that mattered in the world. I took my brother's hand in my own, rubbing my thumb along the back of it as I smiled up at him. "You flatter me, Assef," I responded. "Although, I really should get these glasses off. Making the whole world feel topsy-turvy and blurry."
Assef reached out to cup the side of my face. "Can't have that, now, can we?" he asked. With that, he unhooked the glasses from around my nose, pulling them off. The world righted itself, and I beamed up at my darling, happy that I got to see his face more clearly now. "Suppose we really ought to give these back to their owner," Assef said, before turning to Ahmad, who had staggered out of the mud-puddle my brother had thrown him into and was fumbling, his hand outstretched, eyes red-rimmed and watery. "Alright, Ahmad, come here and I'll give you your glasses back."
Blind as a bat, Ahmad moved to the sound of my brother's voice, fingers reaching and reaching, desperate. Just when it looked as though Assef was going to hand over the glasses, he turned to me, winked, and lifted them high above his head, so that even when Ahmad strained on his tiptoes, there was no chance of him getting them back. "Changed my mind," Assef said, looking down at Ahmad with utter disdain on his face. "Think I'm gonna hang onto these a little while longer."
"Please just give them back," Ahmad grit out through his teeth. "Please. Just let me go home. I won't tell a single soul about what happened here, I swear it."
"Oh, I know you won't." Assef smirked, holding the glasses out, just barely out of Ahmad's reach. Ahmad held his hand out, palm upright, eyes glistening with humiiiation. "Oh, give over your whinging, we're only having a laugh!" He rolled his eyes. "I tell you what, Ahmad, why don't we play one last little game? One last bit of fun before my sister and I leave you alone." The 'for now' hung silently between us all. "We'll let you have your glasses back..."
At this, Assef turned to look at me, offering me a mischievious wink. "If you can catch them."
I almost cheered with delight. This was a really twisted plan of my brother's, one that would shatter many, many things, including Ahmad's already cracked and fragile heart. For you see, blessed though I am with a myriad of exceptional talents, the likes of which many unfortunate souls could only dream to have, I needs must humble myself now and inform you of one of my flaws - a distinct lack of hand-eye co-ordination. Assef had often tried to impart the skill onto me, helping me in our friendly games of volleyball, and he'd managed to help me improve a great deal from what I used to be like, but I'd still never be an Olympic champion. And who's to say, then, that Ahmad's glasses might not find themselves a lot harder to catch than a volleyball?
"Catch, Sar!" Assef said, and with that, he tossed the glasses to me. Time seemed almost to slow to a halt as they sailed through the air towards me. In desperation, Ahmad too made a grab for them, but my other half stuck his leg out just as he moved forward, knocking Ahmad down into the mud again. The glasses were within my reach now, all I had to do was stretch my hand out far enough and I could have had them, I really could have. But, unfortunately, poor co-ordination got the better of me at the last minute, and I fumbled the catch at the last minute, my fingers barely grazing the handles before I lost my grip entirely and the glasses plumetted to the ground, right under my feet.
Shaking my head, as if embarassed by my failing, I offered an apologetic look to Ahmad. "Oh, sorry! Never been the best at catching games, honestly. My brother will attest to that." I smirked at Assef, who raised a brow in mock-exaggeration. "Here, Ahmad, let me get your glasses for you. I'll just-"
Crunch!
The sound of Ahmad's glasses breaking under my shoes as I trod on them felt like I was standing on Ahmad's very bones. Like Mojdeh's wrists breaking, sickening and satisfying all that the same time. And if the horrified squeal of indignation that Ahmad let out after having witnessed that was anything to go by, this act of mine was as painful as if I had crushed his bones.
Assef was right, I thought, there really are so many other ways to tear a person down rather than just through the use of physical violence. Just look at how miserable the piece of shit is, how much suffering we've caused and barely had to lay a finger on him! Oh, I'll definitely have to do this again! Find some more victims. Who knows, maybe I can even start to get back at Ahtrai and her Posse of Dipshits with these techniques. Find out what hurts them, deep in their cores, and use it against them.
"Oh, honestly, Saria!" Assef threw his arms up in frustration, his tone stern, despite the grin that threatened to split his face in two. "Do you have to be so clumsy, little sister? Look at what you've done! Poor Ahmad won't be able to see anything now!" He gave the boy a look of faux-concern. "I do apologise for my sister, Ahmad jan, I'm sure she didn't mean to break your glasses."
I bent to pick up Ahmad's glasses, the lenses and frames both shattered beyond repair, and tossed them in his direction. They landed a few feet away from him, and the boy scrambled to pick them up, holding them against his chest as he whimpered. Beaming, I faced my other half. "Assef," I sing-songed, "if Ahmad can't see right now, then that must mean he's a sitting duck, right? Won't know what we're going to do to him next."
Of course, I had no real intention of doing anything else to Ahmad. The fun we'd had with him was over now, and he'd outweighed his usefulness as my newest victim. Best for us to just let him go now, show a little bit of mercy. But, obviously, he didn't know that - didn't know that we weren't going to cause him any true physical pain. That I was bluffing with my words.
Together, my darling and I began to stalk towards Ahmad, who scrambled backwards in the mud, his hands raised to cover his face, tears running down his cheeks. Assef bent down, seized Ahmad boldly by the collar, and hoisted him back to his feet. Pumping his free hand into a fist, he moved it right next to Ahmad's face, so close that I even wondered if perhaps he might actually punch the boy.
"No, please..." Ahmad cringed back, trying to protect himself.
Assef laughed. "Oh, calm yourself, kunis, I'm not going to hit you. You're getting off lucky this time, we're done with you now." He kept a tight grip on Ahmad's collar, though, as he began the threatening lecture that would see to it we remained in the clear for our actions on this day. "You will not breathe a single word of what happened today to anyone. Won't tell a single soul that my sister and I were responsible. Because if you do, then I can promise you this, we will find you, and we will destroy you. You will wish for the humiliation you've faced this afternoon to be the worst thing you've gone through. Do you understand me?"
"But how... how will I explain...?" Ahmad gestured to the tattered scraps of his book and glasses.
"I'm sure if you put that brain of yours to use, you'll be able to figure out an excuse." Assef let our victim go, shoving him backwards so that he once again fell into the mud. "I'll ask again, do you understand what will happen to you if you dare to speak out?"
"Yes... yes, agha, I understand. I won't say anything, I swear I won't! Not a word, not to anyone! Please just let me go, I beg you, I just want to go home..."
Assef held his arm out to me. I went to him, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, drawing me in close and pressing a lingering kiss to the side of my head. We stood there, looking down at our victim as he scrambled to pick up the broken pieces of his glasses and gather up the scraps of his book. In the back of my mind, I wondered what excuse he would come up with to make sure he didn't not lay blame at our feet for what happened. Whatever the case, I was certain that he'd figure something out - my brother did not make idle threats, after all, and of all people, Ahmad must surely have known that.
I looked up at Assef, smiled sweetly. "I think I'm ready to go home now, my Assef. I've had such a great time." Then, addressing my comment to the boy in the mud, I said, loudly, "I do hope you've enjoyed yourself, too, Ahmad jan! Remember, not a word about our fun to anybody." I sliced across my throat with my finger, winking at him as I did so.
And with that, my brother and I walked away, leaving Ahmad in the mud. Turning our back on him, as he no longer mattered. He had served his usefulness and now, it was time for us to go home. Assef took my hand in his, bringing it to his mouth, kissing my fingertips as my cheeks flushed. "I do hope that's helped you feel better, Liebchen."
"So much better, Assef jan, I can't thank you enough for this."
"Anything for you." He drew me close again. "Now, let's go home. Today's been quite the adventure, I don't think any of us will forget it."
He was right. I would carry these memories with me for the rest of my life. The feeling of power, taking back my control. I would hold Ahmad's suffering close to me, his terror and pain, the humiliation that we had imparted on his soul would give me the strength I needed to face life's challenges. As my brother had taught me, it did not take just fists and knives to hurt a person - mental anguish could be as turbulent, and with that knowledge, I felt that I would be able to conquer anything.
Let my enemies dare to cross me now.
In the next chapter, Saria returns to school, where she sees Adia for the first time since her rejection. But when Adia reveals the true reason for her actions, will Saria continue to hold a grudge, or will forgiveness be the healing balm needed to reconcile the two friends?
Once again, my apologies for the delay in publishing this chapter. From now on, there may be a slight delay in getting things published - I am working five days a week on a computer and this means I may take slightly longer with writing. But I am determined to continue on this story as it has been my passion project for twelve long years, and I have so many ideas and future plot points to come.
I thank you all immensely for your patience, and for everyone who takes the time to read my work. Wishing you all the very best, and every happiness!
