Chapter 6

• For the next ten minutes, Malik had to sit right through Edna's explanation of her horrific nightmare.
• What makes it even worse is the fact that this isn't just a dream, it was something that happened in real life and it just remained stuck in her head for so long. Like a loop, each time she goes to sleep, it plays over and over again in her damn head. He was there, he knows.
• He wishes he had strangled his brother that day and ended it before it even started. How is it that his mother gave birth to someone as evil as Keith?
• " It doesn't have to bother you anymore," Malik says. His mood has been dampened by what he has heard. " I saved you that day."
• "Yes, you did. " She looks up and presses her index fingers against tej side of her eyes. A failed attempt to keep the tears where they are.
• "Don't tell me that Keith did get his way with you after that day." His eyes look hopeless. He knows. He is just holding to a thin thread of hope here.
• "What do you think?" She waves her hands. " I got married to the same person who wanted to rape me in high school and you thought he never did?"
• "Jesus Christ, Edna." Malik's eyes drop. " Why didn't you say anything?"
• She wipes the tears that are overflowing freely now. She grabs a tissue from a box lying in a corner and wipes her eyes.
• Malik raises his hand as if to comfort her, but he stops. He looks confused.
• "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me?" He asks her. He is trying to keep calm, but he is boiling on the inside of him.
• "Tell you what exactly? That your brother has been abusing me?" She sniffs. " This is my life and I have come to terms with it."
• She stands up to her feet and adjusts her dress. She is very adamant about not crying about this whole thing. She is so stubborn.
• Crying shows weakness and she doesn't want to appear to be weak, not in front of anyone.
• "I guess, I will have to speak to this lunatic called Keith and my Dad too." Malik drops his head.
• Edna can't help laughing. She is probably thinking
• He surely knows already, he knows that there isn't any happiness in her marriage, but the old man cares only about himself.
• Malik misinterprets her to laugh. He thinks she is rubbishing his attempt to help her.
• " You think this is funny?" He frowns. " You are being abused and I am trying to help you."
• "Well, I don't need your help, Malik." She tells him. " I can take very good care of myself."
• " Yeah. " He nods. " And that's why you have gotten bruises all over your face."
• Edna frowns at him. That's why she keeps everything to herself.
• " Can I have my drug back?" She asks calmly, with her hand stretched in front of her. " You agreed to give it back if I told you my dream and I have done that."
• "Oh, you mean this?" He dips his hand in and takes it out of his pocket and shows it to her.
• She looks at it with so much want. The bottle is in his hand and she wishes that she can snatch it away from him in a flash.
• "Please." She begs. " Give it to me."
• "You mean I should give it to you so that you would turn into a crackhead like my stupid brother? I care for you too much to let that happen to you."
• Her eyes begin to water and she doesn't even know why. Maybe because he has opened her eyes to the possibility of her becoming a crack head like her husband.
• "You know what? Fuck you, Malik!" She flips her finger at him.
• "Stop that, it doesn't fit you at all." He stands firm on his ground.
• His calmness makes rage flow through her like lava and she takes a step toward him and hits his chest with all her might.
• She gave it her best shot, but he hardly felt it and it is making her even angrier.
• She hits him again and again and he grabs her hands and restrains her like a dog.
• " You see, exactly what I was saying." He sighs.
• "Let go of me!" She screams at him.
• "Keep your voice down, Edna." He says in her ears. " You don't want to give the crew the wrong impression."
• He pushes her back, till she sits down on one of the couches.
• She feels pain in her arms since he won't let go of them and she won't stop struggling.
• " We better get you to a doctor as soon as we touch down in South Korea, we don't want you turning into crap."
• It's the way he keeps talking about her turning into a drug addict and she bursts into tears and falls with her head back against the chair.
• Malik feels bad for her. He didn't mean to hurt her with his words like that.
• If there is one thing that makes Malik different from Keith, it's the fact that he has a heart and won't hurt Edna, he loves her too much.
• "Hey, I'm sorry." He tells her. " I didn't mean it."
• She won't answer him so he pulls her close to him. He holds her hand softly, but she doesn't move away. With time she stops crying and just lays there against the chair.
• "I hate you." She says. " I hate you and your brother."
• That's a jab right through his heart, but he is going to take it. She is hurt, he totally gets it.
• "That's fine. " He nods. " I am sure you won't think like this forever."
• She curls up against him and immediately goes to sleep. He thinks she is awake, but when he turns to look at her, she is long gone already.
• He stays in that same position and is very still, not wanting to wake her up from her slumber.
• His eyes glance at her angelic face and wonder why his brother is treating her so terribly. She is such a delicate flower and he will relish her with tenderness and love if she ever was his.
• First of all, he thought it was just childish rivalry between his brother and the one girl who always beat him in class, but then he found them in the bathroom that day, with his brother tearing off her clothes.
• When there is a competition between two beings, the only way to show superiority was to enforce dominance and that was what his brother was doing.
• He thought it would end, but it didn't. How the fuck did his father convince the poor girl to marry Keith, he still doesn't know, but one thing is for sure, he is not going to let Keith hurt her anymore.
• .he lets her sleep some more before lifting her head off his shoulder and letting her stretch over the chair and sleep off.
• He goes to another seat so that he can give her all the comfort she can get and from there, he watches her sleep.
• He picks up his phone and dials his father's phone. His father doesn't pick up, but he keeps trying again and again.
• He keeps trying until he runs out of patience. He stops trying and throws the phone to his side.
• He leans back against the chair and sits with his eyes. He knows that the anger is going to pass soon and he won't be able to tell his father all the filthy things he has in mind.
• He picks up the phone and calls his brother. The jobless fool picks up at the first ring. Unlike everyone else in the fucking world, he doesn't have anything to do.
• "Hello, big brother." Keith grunts from the other side of the phone. It's plain, they are not best of friends. " Listen, can you call me later? I am kind of busy right now."
• Malik's ears pick up a sound. Someone is moaning at the other end, Keith is having sex with someone.
• His eyes darts to Edna, thank God she is still asleep. He gets to his feet and heads to the other cabin and shuts the door so that she wouldn't hear his conversation with his stupid brother.
• " Don't you dare hang up on me, else I am going to make you curse the very day your father ever thought of making you." Malik lashes out at his brother.
• "Please." Keith laughs. " You have called just to threaten me?"
• "This is not a threat and you know it."
• "Malik, what do you want?" Keith asks.
• "I want your brainless head and you can bet to fucking Christ that I am going to get it. " Malik clenches his teeth. " I saw what you did to Edna and you are not going to get away with this one."