Chapter 30

--------------Los Angeles, California.

------------------------Next afternoon(UCLA)

My thesis was due in two months time. I really had enough time to prepare. I had to submit my thesis to enable me graduate. I knew I could do it, Allah was with me. Always. I was done for today. Khalid was picking me up again. My ankle still hurt, but little. I was limping a little bit. I waited for Khalid on the same bench I waited yesterday, hopefully no one from the awards crew was going to come my way again.

I watched as the rude dude from yesterday sat on the bench, thank goodness far away from me. I couldn't deal with another episode of bullying right now. He was on a phone call. His accent actually did sound like RiRi's but his had more sense of class, he had already adjusted to the California lifestyle. I wanted to get to know the Nigerian cultures more. RiRi was from the Hausa/ Fulani Ethnic group. I really wanted to visit that country someday. I really hope I could.

" Hey" I heard him call. It couldn't be me he was talking to. " Lady from yesterday" not me. " Girl" he called and I didn't answer again. " oh so we're going to do it this way" I heard him say from afar before moving closer to where I sat. " Hey" he was a little bit too close now. There was no harm in answering I guess. " Are you talking to me?" I answered softly. " Salamualaykum" oh wow. That took an entirely different turn. He was a believer. Surprising but oh well Masha Allah.

" Wa'alaykumussalam" I answered and looked at him. He had a small smile on his face. I really hoped he had nothing up in his sleeves. " How's your ankle?" why was he trying to be nice all of a sudden. " Fine Alhamdulillah, I thought you didn't care, you didn't push me so no need to ask" I answered softly. " I wasn't in a good mood yesterday, I'm sorry for being rude" His accent was so pleasant to my hearing. And I appreciated the apology. " Fine" I answered. That was all.

" I'm Khalifa" He said again and I looked closer at him. I didn't want to be his friend. At all. Not even a bit. He could've just left the apology and forget about my existence.

" Oh Okay, Nice name" I answered and smiled at him. " Yeah I know, what's yours?" was he trying to do really. " What do you want from me?" I really needed an answer for that.

I watched him smirk and laugh a little. " You're funny, and I just want to get to know you, you know, to be your friend if you don't mind"

" I do mind, and I just don't make friends like that" I answered and watched his smile widen. " Feisty, but on a serious note, its hard to find a Muslim brother or sister here and I want to stay intact with my deen, to have someone that will always be there to advice me when I'm going astray here, my family is back in Nigeria, It's a country in Africa, They're Muslims, righteous ones I hope, you know no one knows where the devil lurks around, even though I have faith in myself, I need someone to just keep a watch on me, to help when I'm slowly moving to the wrong path" he actually did have a point and I was more than willing to help a believer. " Well, Let's see, you want someone to watch your back" I answered and nodded. " Yes and no one around here can, except you, even though I'm in my final year here and might go back to Nigeria soon, I still need someone, I hope you understand" he added and I nodded. I was more than willing to.

" I'm Faryah, Faryah Mustapha" I finally said and watched him smile. He really had a charming smile, with his perfect set of white teeth. " Great, it's a pleasure meeting you" he answered and smiled at me. " I have to head home now, I'll see you, next class" he said as he got up to leave. " Ma'assalam" I greeted. " Bissalam" he answered and walked away from me.

Few minutes later

" Hey wifey, how's your ankle?" Khalid greeted as he gave me a light hug. He was a little bit late, but it was fine. " It's okay" I answered as we walked towards his car. " I'm sorry I arrived late, I just had to make up my mind on something" He said as his mood changed. He became stiff and looked angry. " What thing?" I asked as he opened the door for me and I sat in the passenger seat at the front. He got in and answered me before starting the engine. " David met up with me in the office, I didn't chase him, I controlled my anger and told him to meet me a cafe close by, by 3, to talk" he sounded really hurt as he drove out. This was all so sudden. I managed to try getting him out of my mind a little, but here I was, going to see him again. I couldn't totally bring myself to accept that Khalid's father raped me without being hurt or saddened or weak. I really hope I could face him again and try acting normal.

" We're going together?" I asked again to be assured. " Yes, if you don't want to.."

" I said I'll come with you, I'm not backing out" I cut him off and watched him smile a little. " Thank you, so much" He answered and continued driving. " At least you'll keep me from acting all stupid" He said again and smiled at me. I smiled back and placed my eyes back on the road as all the horrible memories flooded in my mind. He couldn't remember who I was. The innocent six year old he molested and took advantage of. It was hard to live with those memories. It was seriously heart-breaking. I always wonder what came into his mind to actually do that me. What was that thing that was controlling his mind when he was doing what he did. I'm pretty sure Mama Zainab knew nothing about this, maybe it happened at the time she ran away from him. But why did he really take me away from my family. I had lots of questions that only he could answer. He had to answer. He really had to. I was going to find a way without letting Khalid know.

I got down from the car as Khalid parked a few metres away from a certain Ritas Coffee.

" He's supposed to be in there" Khalid said as he walked to my side and looked towards the cafe. " Are you ready?" I asked as I felt him intertwine our hands. He nodded and smiled at me. I needeed to ask myself that same question too. Was I ready?

I wasn't sure that I was. But I could do this. I knew I could.

"let's go" I said lightly as we walked towards the cafe, hand-in-hand.

The cafe door jingled as we pushed it open, it was a small cafe, with about twelve tables , for two and for four. Six tables were already occupied. The cafe was painted red and brown, simple. It was decorated with flowers and paintings of food. I looked around and found a man seated near the window. He was seated on a table for two. " There he is" I said to Khalid as I felt his hold tighten. It felt like he was going to break my fingers. He was looking towards the man I saw and the anger on his face was so obvious. I tried slipping out of his hold and found his hands clutched. He needed to calm down. I placed my free hand on his right cheek as I caressed it gently and stood in front of him. " You can do this Khalid" I whispered and felt him let go of my hand and pull me into a hug. " Breathe in and Breathe out" I said again as I patted his back. " I can't stand his sight" he shot in a whisper. " Try, it's for the best" I replied and let go of him. " Let's leave" he said as he was about to turn around. " No, be a man and face your father" I whispered and watched as his eyes laid on his fathers back again. He sighed and finally spoke up" hold my hand" He replied and I obeyed. We slowly walked over to his fathers table and he got up from his seat to greet us. I couldn't bear staring at his face for long if not I was going to lash out. I had to control myself.

" Son" His eyes held happiness at the sight of Khalid. " I only agreed to this because of my wife" Khalid shot at him. He needed to calm down. I felt him lay his eyes on me and all the memories from that night came flashing back again. My eyes were stuck to the wooden floor. " oh you're married, I didn't know. It's nice to meet you, daughter-in-law" His voice were like daggers thrown towards my heart. I was going to explode. I didn't know for how much long I could keep on pretending. I took my eyes of the floor and looked at him briefly, giving him a small brief fake smile. " Come on sit down, what do you two want to eat?" He said nicely as he brushed his suit and took a chair from the opposite table for me to sit. I wanted to say he looked like a changed man honestly, but I couldn't bring myself to. At all. Khalid sat beside me, in front of his father without saying a word. Without us saying a word to him, he smiled and called the waiter. " Uhmm please get us each a cup of latte and a slice of cheese cake" he said to the waiter and he walked away.

" Son I'm really thankful that you met up with me today, thank you" He said to an angry Khalid. " What's your name?, you are a really beautiful girl, no wonder my son married you" He said to me and I stared at him intently as I watched him smile. It looked so genuine and nice. " Fauziyyah" I answered and felt Khalid’s eyes on me. I looked at him to see if his facial expression was going to change, but it didn't. " Sorry, I go by two names, I don't really use Fauziyyah, but call me Faryah" I answered as I pretended nicely. " Oh, that's nice" he answered and I heard Khalid groan.

" I am honestly tired of pretending we're on good terms. You really don't know how much I despise you for all what you put me and my mother through, I really hate you David" He was pouring out his anger. He needed to calm down. I held his arm tightly, trying to make him calm down, he was still fuming. " You beat her up for straight six years, every single fucking night you bastard" he wanted to grab him but I had to stop him. We really couldn't cause a scene here. " Khalid, calm down" I whispered as I held him tighter. " I know I did a lot of horrible things in the past that I really wish I could go back and erase but I can't. I want to make amends Khalid, I know it won't be easy, but I want to try and fix my relationship with you and your mother" He answered and I watched Khalid smirk. " I don't think I can ever forgive you for ruining my childhood, I really am lucky that I didn't follow your footsteps, I am disgusted by the fact that you're my father, I don't think I can ever accept you, at all" Khalid shot at him.

It should really hurt for a child to hate his parent. A father. A biological parent. " I'm sorry for all what happened Khalid, please forgive me, all I need is your time and attention, I am willing to do anything, to go through anything, I only want you and your mother's forgiveness" He looked so sad. I almost felt pity for him. " It's too late for that, extremely late" Khalid answered and got up. " Khalid, sit down" I whispered as I stood beside him and made him sit. I loved how he listened to me. " You know how bad it is to hit a woman, you molested a woman for good six years of life, you made me see her go through all those you bastard. I want to clear my mind and say all what I feel, this is what I feel towards you, hatred and disgust. I can never bring myself to forgive you, it's best if you get out of our lives like you did before, leave us alone" Khalid snapped and rushed out of the cafe. I looked at his father and found him in tears. I needed to go to Khalid before anything bad happened. " Can you wait please" Mr David said as he cleaned his eyes. I wouldn't even ever wish for my worst enemy to go through what he was going through. At all. " Thank you, for convincing him to see me today, I am really grateful Faryah, at least today he didn't throw punches at me, and he finally used words to speak to me. Thank you for making that happen. I am glad he found someone like you, thank you very much" he thanked as more tears rolled down his cheeks. " You should leave them alone for now sir, please" I managed to say as I got up. " I will, thank you" I guess he really changed. " Good day sir" I replied as I rushed towards the door to meet Khalid.

" Hey" I called on seeing him outside the cafe. " Thank you" He cried as he gave me a very big hug. I patted his back. " I talked to him without punching him, even though it didn't go well, at least I told him how I felt" he added as he hugged me tighter. " You did good at least" I answered as he let go of me. " I love you so much Faryah" He said as he cupped my cheeks. " I'm very lucky to have you in my life, Habibaty" He said and my heart softened. He just called me Habibaty. " You should call me that more often" I said and smiled widely. " Of course, anything for you, let's go. I have to take you somewhere" He said and pulled me towards the car and opened the door for me. " Where are you taking me to?" I asked as he got into the car and started the engine. " somewhere nice, so did you make friends today?" He asked as he drove off. " Well I think I did, he said his name is Khalifa, from Nigeria, he said he wants me to watch his back, in the deen, so he won't go astray" I answered. " Oh, do you need to do that?" he asked as his eyes were stuck on the road. " well yeah, I want to" I answered and looked at him. " Fine just be careful okay, you can't trust anyone" he answered and I nodded.

" Faryah, Uhmm, I and Sophia had an idea, when you were still in the hospital, my PI hasn't really found anything concerning your real family" He began and I looked at him. I wonder what he was trying to get at. " Oh" I answered. " Well we wanted to advice you to go to the police station and see if we can sketch out the person who abused you. Even if he's dead, we can still find him and know more about him, why he kidnapped you and we can trace it to your real parents" pretty smart. But I couldn't let the hatred Khalid had for his father worsen. I mean he was taking a small step to forgiving his father and I really didn't want him to start all over because of me. I was going to talk to him myself and get the answers I needed without letting Khalid know.

" No, I want us to forget about him, we can find my parents another way" I answered and avoided his gaze. " Faryah this could help you" he said again. " I know, but Khalid not this way, not through him" I answered. " Why not?"

" I don't want to remember him at all" I answered and heard him sigh. " fine, you are free to change your mind at any time" he answered and continued his driving. I wasn't going to change my mind at all.

We finally got to a small amusement park and he helped me get down. It was small, with lots of kids running around, with their parents and all. Ice cream carts and other snacks were all around. This should be fun. " Come on, lets go, I used to bring Sophia and Neill here, you know back in the old days, I miss those days really" He began as we walked towards a kebab stand. " Oh, I never really went out back in Palembang, I only went to school and home. It was like a daily routine, school and home, when I got home after school, my grandfather always helped me learn the holy Qur'an, even though I was mute, I still learnt it and became a Hafizah, cool right?" I answered and he nodded as we got to the kebab stand. " give us some beef kebab, with really hot sauce and spices" Khalid ordered as he stood in front of the man selling the kebab. " I want three spits, with extra hot sauce" I said as I looked at the beauty of meat in front of me. " Are you sure, it's hot sauce we're talking about here" Khalid asked and I used my finger to stop him from saying more. " Add some onion rings too" I added and watched Khalid smirk. " You want to kill yourself?" Khalid asked and I smiled at him. " Nah, I'm fine" I answered as the man handed me three spits of beef. It looked so good.

I took a bite and the taste alongside the hot sauce almost made me cut my tongue out. It was really hot and spicy and, delicious. " water" I coughed as I heard Khalid laugh. " Oh my goodness, water" I cried as I kept the spits on the plate. " Get us some cold water please" Khalid managed to say between laughs.

I gulped down the whole bottle and felt at ease for a little while. Indonesian hot sauce wasn't this hot, my goodness. " I didn't think it was going to be this hot" I managed to say from the heat emitting from my tongue. " I warned you, sir give us two spits please, no hot sauce, just spices" Khalid said and he prepared them.

" Thank you" I said as he handed it to me with an apologetic smile. " Lets go to the swing" Khalid said as he pulled me towards it. I had to finish my kebabs before getting on the swing. It looked fun.

I swung back and forth with Khalid in front of me. It was a two seated swing it was going really fast. I screamed with happiness as it went on back on forth. The smile on both our faces was wider than ever. After the slide, we went to the slide and see-saw. I never got to experience this back then and I was happy I was now, most especially, with my husband. We got some Ice cream and cotton candy and enjoyed our company. My love for him grew bigger as the kid in him revealed himself. He was so free and pretty much lively. The kind of person I loved to be with.

We got home few minutes before Asr and Khalid decided to do a little work while I prayed and recited my Qur'an.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with my husband as he prepared for the grand launch of the new textile. I made it easier for him as I gave him more ideas.

The whole family ate dinner peacefully and after my Isha, I took a bath and changed into my night gown. I let my dark soft hair go flay and revised my notes a little and updated my thesis.

An Idea crossed my mind. I was nervous but anxious to. I needed to find out about my parents. Khalid said his fathers name was David Myles, or Salman. I decided to look it up on google, if I had no luck there, I was going to check Facebook or Instagram.

I found a couple of results before finding a photo of him. He was an engineer. He walked for a building agency. He was the head civil engineer. He prospered after everything that happened to him. I took down his office address. I needed to see him personally.

I heard a small knock on my door and instantly logged out of the page and turned my laptop off. " Faryah can I come in?" it was Khalid. " Yes" I answered as I got up from my chair and packed up from where I was reading.

He slowly opened the door as I dropped my phone on my bedside drawer. " It's 10:00pm, why aren't you asleep?" Khalid asked as he walked in. He was wearing a white short sleeved body hug shirt and blue shorts with his black slippers. " I was studying, but I'm done now, I'm about to sleep" I answered as I pulled my sheets over and turned my back to him. I suddenly felt him grab me by my waist and pull me closer to him as he buried his head in my neck. " What are you doing?" I asked as I giggled a little. His breath was tickling my skin. " I don't want to sleep alone, I want to sleep here, beside you, if you don't mind, Habibaty" He said as I turned to face him. I couldn't say No with the puppy eyes he was sending my way. Besides, I had to get used to all this, he was my husband. " Sure, I hope you don't snore" I answered and laughed a little as he pulled me closer to him, locking our eyes together. " I don't snore, I hope you don't" He said and smirked at me, not planning to let go of his hold around my waist. " I don't" I answered and found him staring at my lips.

" I want you" He whispered as he brushed his lips against mine and I closed my eyes tight. I felt my heart beat faster as I felt his hands move round my back as he placed small kisses on my neck. I had never felt anything like this before, it was all so new again, but I didn't want him to stop at all. My clutched the back of his shirt tighter with my eyes tight shut with a small smile on my lips.