Growing up, I loathed every part of my body. I would stare at myself in the mirror and complain about my body features. But, Rasheedah had always been the prettier sister- the one that turned heads when we walked into a gathering.
Everyone chose her over
me. It affected my esteem so much that I believed no one would be interested in
a lady with stubby legs and a large nose years later. But then, I met Ridwan, a
tall and brown-skinned man with a great sense of humour. After that, I thought
I had found the one who would love me despite my imperfections.
But I was wrong. The
moment Ridwan set eyes on Rasheedah, he compared her looks with mine. And that
was what ended our short-lived relationship.
Then I decided to love
myself and appreciate how ALlaah Has perfectly molded me in the best form. So I
started to see myself as being beautiful and worthy of love.
And I couldn’t change
anything. Rasheedah would always be the charming sister who stole hearts with
her looks and vibrancy. And that wouldn’t stop me from loving her.
As I sat on sofa and
watched as everyone looked despondent and hopeless, I remembered my last
encounter with Rasheedah.
It was the previous
night when I sat at the verandah and thought about my future with Farouk. Munir
and I had just finished chatting when someone hugged me from behind. I had
whipped my head up to see Rasheedah grinning at me.
“How did it go?” she
said with a smirk.
“I really like Farouk,”
I smiled as I lowered my eyes.
Rasheedah chuckled as
she joined me on the wooden chair. “Yes, you do. And you’d make a perfect
couple. I am looking forward to seeing our celebrity-in-law tomorrow,” she said
as she sighed deeply and stared at the sky. “I am nervous and excited about my
wedding…”
“Rafiah,” Dad called,
and I drifted back to reality.
“Yes?” I said as I
stared at Dad.
His eyes were red and
swollen, and it broke my heart to see him that way. He was supposed to be
smiling joyously because of his daughter’s wedding. Instead, he was trying to
wrap his head around his daughter’s sudden disappearance.
“Let’s talk in
private,” he said as he started walking towards his room.
I tailed him, and we
entered the room and closed the door behind us.
“I am trying to stay
calm…but I’m terrified. These kidnappers are up to no good. They are not ready
to negotiate with us. They captured her, on her wedding day, for a purpose,”
Dad said as he watched me with curious eyes. “I have informed the police. They
would be coming later this morning, but I don’t trust that they will find
Rasheedah and apprehend the kidnappers. I believe this has something to do with
the letter that was sent weeks ago.”
“Yes, I believe so. I honestly
wasn’t convinced with what Khalid’s parents said,” I stated, and he nodded in
agreement.
“Me too.”
“Capturing Rasheedah on
her wedding day is intentional. These people know what they’re doing. I promise
to get to the root of this. I will find these criminals…” I was saying when a
sharp cry disrupted me.
Dad and I hurried to
the living room to see Mom pouncing on Aunt Idayah, one of my paternal aunts. Dad
broke into their middle and shoved Mom away. “What happened? Why are you
beating her?”
“Aunt Idayah said that
Rasheedah might have been killed. That we can’t be too sure she was kidnapped,”
Zainab explained.
“Imagine what came out
of your sister’s mouth, ehn? What is this?
I’m tired,” Mom sighed loudly as she lowered her head and walked out of the
living room.
With tears streaming
down my face, I held her hands and assisted her to the room. “Thank you,
Rafiah. I don’t know what to say…or think…it feels like I’m losing my mind. Am I
okay?” Mom prattled in tears as she rested on the pillow.
“Yes, it is perfectly
normal. We all feel the same way. And I’m sorry this is happening.”
“I need to try and
sleep. Maybe when I wake up, Rasheedah will be sitting beside me on this bed,
tapping my arm and urging me to dress up for her wedding,” she cried loudly.
“Rasheedah will be home
soon. I believe that,” I said as I placed a hand over her face.
“Okay. You can go now. I
need to find sleep,” Mom closed her eyes, and I silently walked out of the room
and sat at the verandah, staring at the road ahead and searching for any tall
and fair-complexioned lady.
Maybe this was a prank.
Rasheedah could be at the wedding venue waiting eagerly for her family members…or
perhaps this was all a dream. My phone chimed with a notification, and I swiftly
picked it up to see if it was from Rasheedah.
Hey.
Can we talk?
-
Farouk.
I
guess so.
-
Rafiah.
Farouk’s call came in
immediately, and I picked at the first ring. “Asalamu ‘alaykum, Rafiah. How are
you holding up?”
I let out deep breaths
and stared at the ceiling. “Wa’alaykumu salam. I don’t know…so confused.”
“I’m so sorry. How are
your parents?”
“As confused as I am. I
just hope that Rasheedah is safe wherever she is,” I said with a scrunched-up
face, recalling the letters of threats we’d received over the past few weeks.
“I’m already on your
street. Can you come downstairs?”
“Yes,” I replied.
A few minutes later, I was
seated beside Farouk in his black Toyota Corolla, bawling my eyes out as Farouk
watched me with pitiful eyes.
“Let it all out. Just…let
it out. I am really sorry, Rafiah. And I
promise to assist you in finding your sister,” he said.
I grabbed the
handkerchief he handed to me and cleaned my wet eyes. “Thank you, Farouk.”
“It’s my pleasure. And I
got you this,” Farouk said, bringing up a huge flask from a red bag. “You must
be famished. Who would be able to eat after learning of their sister’s disappearance?
I know you have no appetite or desire to taste anything, but you need to fill
your stomach. You can’t find your sister looking starved and malnourished,” he
chuckled as I opened the flash and gasped in surprise.
The flask contained
steamy spaghetti with smoked fish and scrambled eggs. “How can I eat this
alone? Thank you so much, Farouk.”
“It’s nothing. Now eat,”
Farouk ordered, and I grabbed a fork and started to devour the food.
“Oh, wow. This is so
delicious. Did you prepare it?”
Farouk smiled. “I did. Do
you love it?”
“I joj jsss,” I said incoherent words with a mouth full of
spaghetti. I laughed hard as I swallowed and responded correctly. “I love it!”
Farouk laughed as he
glanced at me. “We need to find out who did this? What do they stand to gain
from capturing Rasheedah on her wedding day?”
“Khalid’s parents
talked about a rival who was desperate to win the election,” I explained.
“But why would this
rival be after the fiancée of his opponent’s son? It doesn’t make sense. It has
to be someone who doesn’t want this wedding to hold,” Farouk placed a hand over
his head as he stared at the red bag, deep in thought.
“Rasheedah had once
talked about Khalid’s ex, Mutmainah Mahmud. She’s a popular Instagram
influencer, and her father is also a notable politician. From what I heard,
Khalid called off their engagement, and it took a while for Mutmainah to get
over it. However, Rasheedah believed Mutmainah still wants Khalid.”
Farouk bobbed his head.
“That should be our first suspect. Let’s find out everything about Mutmainah. We’ll
do some stalking,” Farouk grinned at me and laughed loudly.
“What?” I glared at
him.
“You have dry mucus on
your face. There!” he pointed at my left cheek.
“Oh my gosh!” I muttered
in disbelief as I cleaned my face with the handkerchief and joined him.
We spent the next few
minutes laughing our lungs out because we knew the worst was yet to come.
Rasheedah was still missing, and we’d find her by all means possible.
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