Chapter Nine

It had been three days since the incident with Fred and Amanda, and both had consciously avoided each other in the house, making excuses to be apart. On this particular day, the whole family was at home, relaxing in the living room, while Amanda prepared a bowl of salad in the kitchen. Fred tried to act as if everything was fine, especially in front of Sophie, who had deliberately been ignoring him since the incident.

Suddenly, Sophie stood up from the living room and quickly ran to her room. A few minutes later, she returned, dressed up and ready to announce that it was time for her piano lesson.

“Oh! I almost forgot about that,” Anna said, glancing at the wall clock.

“I’m ready, Mom. Please, can we go now?” Sophie asked.

“I thought you always preferred for your dad to take you,” Anna replied.

“Not today, I want you to take me, please,” Sophie insisted, deliberately ignoring her father.

“Oh, honey, I am so tired right now. Why don’t you let dad take you?” Anna suggested.

“No,” Sophie snapped.

Anna looked sharply at her.

“I’m sorry,” Sophie quickly apologized, avoiding the intense gaze from her father.

“Please, Mom, please,” she pleaded, reaching for her mother’s hands.

Anna inhaled deeply and glanced at her husband, who nodded in agreement. “Alright, then,” Anna said, surprised by her daughter’s sudden stubbornness. “I’m right behind you.”

Sophie walked quickly out of the house to wait by the car.

“What has come over this young lady these past few days?” Anna asked her husband, turning to him in confusion, unable to comprehend Sophie’s sudden change in attitude.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but you should hurry so you can get a good parking space,” Fred replied with a forced smile.

“Alright then. See you soon.” Anna turned to leave when, suddenly, Anthony and Alex ran after her.

“Oh boys, you have to stay here with Daddy,” she said as she walked to the door, but they began to cry, clinging to her.

“Come here, boys,” Fred called, but they refused to let go of their mother.

Anna sighed. “I’ll just take them with me. We can go shopping after I drop Sophie off at her practice instead of coming right back home. Or we could stay at the park for a while.” She went off to grab the baby bag.

“Are you sure?” Fred asked.

“It’s okay,” she smiled at him. “Would you like to come with us?”

“No, I have a game to watch in half an hour,” he replied, settling back on the couch.

“Have fun then,” Anna said as she took the boys out of the house.

Fred waited until he heard Anna’s car back out of the driveway before he made his way to the kitchen. He stood there, staring at her, unaware that she had not noticed his presence.

“I need to talk to you,” he blurted out, making her turn to face him.

Amanda glanced behind him, looking for her sister. “Where is everyone?”

“They’ve all gone out,” he replied.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” she asked, taking a bite of her salad, trying to feign disinterest.

He swallowed hard. “You need to know that this is a tough decision for me, but I have to do what’s best for my family,” he said quietly, watching her take another mouthful of salad. “What we had was a mistake—a terrible mistake,” he continued slowly. “If we keep this up, we’re going to hurt the people we care about…”

He paused, searching her face for a reaction, but it remained expressionless. “I’ve thought about this for days, and I want you to understand that this decision hasn’t been easy for me,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to lose my family… please, Amanda…” He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “We can’t continue like this; we have to stop…”

Amanda’s phone beeped, and she picked it up to check her messages without looking at Fred. She smiled as she read the text, quickly replied, and then set the phone back down on the table.

Fred was taken aback. It felt as if she didn’t care about what he was saying. “I know how disappointing this is for you, but this is the best decision, Amanda. We both have to pretend nothing ever happened between us and put this behind us. We need to put a stop to this.” By this time, Amanda was staring back at him, but her expression was blank.

“Please, let’s go back to the way we were before all this started so we can both move on with our lives. I don’t want to destroy my marriage; I want to do the right thing….”

Just then, her phone interrupted again—it rang. Without hesitation, she answered it.

“Hello.” Amanda smiled brightly. “Okay, give me ten minutes. See you soon. Bye.” She stood up suddenly.

She looked at Fred with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, are we done?”

Fred was dumbfounded.

“Are you done?” she asked again.

Fred stared at her, completely surprised. Amanda had always been the one who wanted this relationship at any cost, but her reaction left him baffled. She put her bowl in the sink and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving him standing there alone. 

Fred returned to the living room, utterly confounded and baffled by Amanda’s reaction. Normally, she would have clung to him in tears, expressing how much she loved him and how she could not live without him. But today, her response was new and confusing. A few minutes later, Amanda walked back into the living room and then out the door without saying a word.

Fred stood up to look through the window and saw a car parked right in front of the house, with a man standing beside it. His eyes burned with anger as he watched them exchange a quick hug. Amanda let out a loud laugh, climbed into the car, and drove away.

In that moment, intense anger erupted within him. Was she seeing someone all along? Had he been used to fulfill her desires, only to be tossed aside? He couldn’t understand if he had been played for a fool or if she was simply trying to get back at him. Whatever her motives were, they were definitely getting to him.

Chapter Ten

Pat was in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon, cleaning and tidying up. For the past few days, Mama had been sick with a cold, which had quieted things down around the house. Pat felt a mix of pity and concern for her, as the constant coughing and fever were challenging for her health. Nevertheless, Pat made sure to provide the best care possible, putting aside their usual arguments and disagreements.

As Pat was putting the dishes away, Rachael walked into the kitchen, her expression sad. 

“Mum!” Rachael called out. 

“Yes?” Pat replied, turning to look at her. 

Rachael’s eyes were red from crying. “I need your help,” she said in a low voice. 

Pat focused entirely on her daughter. No matter how angry she felt toward Rachael, her love and support were unwavering. She recalled their recent conversation regarding the pregnancy kit, where she expressed her disapproval. 

“What is it, dear?” Pat asked, drying her hands with a towel. 

“Mom, please, you have to help me. I’ve been trying to call Aamilah for days, but she hasn’t answered. She wasn’t in school on Friday, and when I checked her house, no one was home.” Tears welled in Rachael’s eyes. “I went back this morning and saw their cars in the driveway, but nobody answered the door. I’m worried, Mom. I’m scared.” She struggled to hold back her tears. “I think something is wrong, Mum. Something is terribly wrong…” The tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Pat inhaled deeply. “We shouldn’t assume that something is wrong,” she said, moving to her side.

“Mom, I know Aamilah. She wouldn’t just leave without talking to me, and she wouldn’t ignore my calls,” Rachael replied, her voice filled with fear.

Pat took a moment to gather her thoughts. “What would you like me to do?” she asked.

“I want us to go to her place and maybe ask her parents to see if everything is okay. Just to be sure,” Rachael urged.

“I thought you said she hasn’t told them yet?” Pat questioned.

“No, she hasn’t. She was going to ask her aunt to talk to her parents on her behalf, but that won’t happen until next week. Please, Mom…” Rachael’s urgency was clear in her voice. “I can feel it—something is definitely wrong.”

Pat sighed. “Okay, give me five minutes.” She tried to hide her worry as she went upstairs to tell her husband that she needed to run some errands. A few moments later, she met Rachael waiting outside by the car. Pat attempted to reassure her that everything would be fine, but Rachael, with tears in her eyes, remained unconvinced.

Minutes later, they arrived at the Usman residence. As Rachael had said, the Usmans’ cars were in the driveway, so they proceeded to knock on the door. This time, Mrs. Usman answered.

“Hello, Mrs. Usman,” Pat greeted with a smile.

Ms. Usman appeared surprised to see Pat at her doorstep, even though they had met several times before. Their daughters had been friends since childhood, which meant many sleepovers and school runs together.

“Hello,” Mrs. Usman replied nervously. Her eyes were red, and she looked pale.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but Rachael wanted to check on Aamilah,” Pat said, forcing a smile as she noted Mrs. Usman’s unsettled demeanor. “Is everything all right?”

“What!” Mrs. Usman shuddered. “Yes, everything is fine.”

They stood in silence for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity.

“Oh, please do come in.” Reluctantly, she opened the door wider.

“Thank you,” Pat said as she stepped inside the house, with Rachael following closely behind.

As they entered, they noticed Aamilah’s father sitting in the living room.

“Hello!” Pat greeted him, but he shot them an angry look. At that moment, she began to doubt whether coming was a good idea.

“I’m so sorry to trouble you,” she cleared her throat and continued, “but Rachael has been worried about Aamilah. She insisted I come with her. She mentioned that Aamilah wasn’t at school yesterday and hasn’t been answering her phone.” Pat tried to smile, but the couple’s expressions remained stone-faced.

“Aamilah is not here,” Mrs. Usman said from behind them.

“Oh!” Pat smiled nervously.

“She traveled with her grandmother over the weekend,” Mrs. Usman added.

Rachael quickly went to her mother and whispered something in her ear. She recalled Aamilah mentioning that her grandmother had gone to Pakistan two weeks ago to visit some family members, so she was certain Aamilah couldn’t have gone with her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Pat stammered. The atmosphere in the room grew tense as the couples’ piercing gazes bore down on them. “Is everything alright?” she asked.

Just then, Aamilah’s father stood up in anger. “What exactly are you implying?” he shouted furiously. “That we did something to our daughter?”

Pat and her daughter jolted. “Oh no, you’ve misunderstood. We were just worried about her,” Pat said.

“Why are you worried about a child who has brought disgrace to her family?” he exclaimed, while his wife began to cry. “Do you need to call the police to see if we have killed and buried her somewhere in our backyard?”

Pat gasped in disbelief.

Realizing they were aware that Aamilah was pregnant, Pat understood how distressing such news could be for parents. “Mr. Usman, I understand your anger, but I am only here to help you,” Pat tried to reassure them.

“I know your profession,” he shouted. “Aren’t you a social worker? Isn’t this the kind of thing you get excited about- the headlines?” He stared at her in disgust. “An unwed Muslim girl from a Pakistan background gets pregnant and then killed by her parents; isn’t that what makes a great case and story to you all?”

“What!” Pat gasped. Her profession had nothing to do with this. She was concerned for Aamilah, and seeing her daughter worried about her best friend was the reason why she had come. “I am a parent like you, and I can only imagine what you are going through.” She looked at both couples. “I have only come to help Mr Usman, nothing more than to help,” she said gently.

“Help! Isn’t your daughter well aware of this? Or maybe she can tell us where Aamilah is?” He looked furiously at Rachael, who stood behind her mother.

“I do not know where she is.” Rachael whimpered.

“Damn right, but you know who impregnated her?” he shouted. Rachael trembled at his voice. She sobbed.

“You caused this,” He shouted at Rachael. “You led her to all these. I have always told my daughter to move with her kind, our people, those who understood our beliefs and culture, the values, what we stand for, but she wouldn’t listen to me, you would not listen to me.” He pointed at his wife. “Let her be social, move with diverse people, you say to me.” He looked hard at his wife. “Now, the social and diverse culture has brought this shame to our family, this abomination!” He pointed at Rachael with the red poker of anger busting through his eyes.

Rachael burst into more tears as she held onto her mother.

“Enough,” Pat shouted angrily. “I will not have you speak to my daughter this way, Mr. Usman.” She raised her voice at him. “We are all concerned about your daughter and just want everything and everyone to be all right.”

“We do not know where she is.” Mrs Usman cried out. “We found out about this on Thursday night and could not find her the next morning.”

Pat was shocked. She saw the fear in her eyes.

“Have you called the police?” Pat asked.

“Yes, we did, but they say she might just be a runaway.” She answered.

“Listen, everyone,” Mr. Usman shouted to get their attention. “I will not have anyone dragging our names through the mud. It’s already enough that she has brought this disgrace upon our family.” He looked sternly at them all. “She was already engaged to be married, for goodness’ sake.” He threw his hands up in frustration. “She knows the consequences this disgrace will bring us, the community, and the whole family.” Disappointment marked his face. “I’ve had enough of this. I don’t care what happens to her; alive or dead, it makes no difference to me. We no longer have a daughter!” He walked towards the front door and threw it open wide.

Pat took her daughter’s hand and hurried out of the house. They got into their car, and Rachael began to wail.

“What are we going to do?” Rachael asked her mother.

Pat inhaled deeply, feeling confused and distressed.

“Mum, what are we going to do?”

Pat embraced her daughter tightly. “We will find her, dear. We will,” she reassured her, holding her close as tears streamed down her own face.