Deviant Fixation

by Valencia Carmelita

  "Sanam madam! Help me ! Please help!!" Khalil shouts in despair as he hastily enters the lounge from the kitchen.

  His clothes are a tattered mess and he's suffering from a black eye. As he gets closer to me, he falls at my feet. There are cigarette burn marks trailing his arms.

  Promptly I reach down and pull him to his feet. "Khalil what's wrong ? Who did this to you ?"

  "There he is ! Get the bastard."

  I glance up to see Yasir and one of his fellow gang friends headed our way. Swiftly I shove Khalil behind me as I muster the courage to face the culprits.

  "Move aside darling." Yasir drawls as he comes to a halt infront of me.

  "Get the fūck outta the way." Imran sneers at me.

  I frantically look at all the other party goers. None of them are showing me any sympathy.

  "What has Khalil done to deserve such horrendous treatment?" I demand through a shaky voice.

  "We're just havin some fun with em." Yasir replies as he lights a cigarette.

  "Well your sick fun is over !" I spat irately.

  "The fuck did you say ?!" Imran shoved his girlfriend away from his lap and jumped to his feet. He brings his hand up ready to slap me across the face.

  I gasp and close my eyes. Yet seconds elapse without any occurrence.

  I reopen my eyes to witness Yasir has taken ahold of Imran's arm in midair.

  "Never fuckin touch her." Yasir seethes as his eyes stare daggers at Imran who begins to cower away.

  He drops his arm and then fixes me with his gaze.

  "Let's go upstairs Sanam." Yasir orders. "I won't harm Khalil if you come upstairs with me, darling."

  My eyes widen in realization of what he's alluding to. I narrow my gaze at him. "I'm not such a girl, Mister Yasir. You can let out your sexual frustrations on any other ones here. I'm sure someone besides myself would gladly oblige."

  He stares at me amusedly for a few seconds, breaking into peals of laughter. He begins to say in between. "I just want to have a sincere talk that's all."

  "You can have your talk here." I state miffedly, crossing my arms over my chest.

  He inches closer to me and whispers. "I'll fuck up Khalil if you don't get upstairs with me now."

  Dread grips me as I glance behind myself. Khalil is whimpering in pain. I inhale deeply and manage to agree in a trembling voice. "Fine..but no funny business."

  "Ofcourse..no funny business." He cackles like a hyena.

  I cringe at his laughter and brush past him towards the stairs before he starts trailing along.

  As I bound up the steps in haste, I try and formulate a plan in mind to escape him.

  I could jump out through my bedroom window, grasp one of the tree branches and maneuver my way onto the ground.

  Or better yet I could climb down from the towering trellises filled with vines under my window.

  I step into my room and glance back, he hasn't caught upto me yet. He's just made it up from the last step of the stair.

  I fling open the door and frantically search around. There on one of the bedside tables, I spot the hair spray sample that came in handy once before.

  I grab ahold of it and conceal it behind my back as I await him at the open entrance of the door.

  "Oh boy, you're one quick girl." Yasir breathes, arriving to a halt infront of me. "I enjoyed the sight of your sexy figure."

  I grimace inwardly at his crude statement. I am dressed modestly, I don't understand how he can see my figure.

  But the thought leaves me just as quick as it had entered when he begans to lean closer. He's puckering his lips to kiss me.

  "You lied." I declare through clenched teeth.

  "That I did." He smiles creepily, inching closer.

  Now was my cue.

  I promptly brandish the spray bottle upto his eyes. I press on the nozzle firmly. Before I know it, he's howling in pain as he staggers backwards.

  Immediately, I slam the door shut. Bolting it from the inside, i toss the spray bottle in my large duffle bag.

  I fling open the wardrobe and snatch all my casual clothes and hijabs. Frantically, I stuff them into the duffel bag along with anything else while leaving behind the stuff I couldn't take with me.

  I sling the bag over my shoulder. With shaky hands, I slide open the window and peer down. I'm on the second floor, yet it looks as if I'm ten floors high. Perhaps my anxiety and fear is making it out to be much worse than it appears.

  Bangings against my door snaps me out of hesitancy. I didn't want Yasir or Imran to get ahold of me. I knew what I had to do and where to go, it was after all the only one option left according to Mister Mirza.

  With a deep inhale and recitation of prayer, I muster the courage and place one of my legs out of the window. My foot finds the top of the trellis, I stomp on it and find it sturdy enough.

  I try to calm my trembling as I turn my back facing the outside. I place my other leg over the ledge.

  Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down.

  Within minutes, I step onto the grassy ground and exhale in relief. Adrenaline still pumping into my blood.

  I reach into the front pocket of my duffel and produce out a crumpled up piece of paper. It's the directions to Nielsen enterprise headquarters of the Gold Coast.

  In case of an emergency occurrence while he is away, Mister Mirza had provided me yesterday with this information along with a couple of hundred dollar bills and some change for public transportation.

  I dart out towards the pedestrian pathway which is deserted at this time of the night. I glance at my frayed leather strapped wrist watch-1:02am.

  I need to find someone who can dial the police for for Khalil whom I'm leaving behind.

  As I'm sprinting forward, I hear the starting ignition of someone's car from behind me.

  I glance back, and recognise it's one of those food delivery cars from baba's restaurants.

  Elation washes over me along with major relief.

  Baba was here.

  I stop running and stand there waiting as the car pulls upto me.

  ◆◆◆

  Glossary:

  Burq Al Nar(Arabic): Lightning of fire.

  Chapter 7

  As the vehicle approaches closer, I squint my eyes hard, focusing on the obscure figure behind the wheel.

  The shape of the dark silhouette appears to have a bob cut around the head.

  Hmm looks like a lady ...

  Something isn't quite right...why would baba opt out of driving his personal car to fetch me?

  In all my four months of spending time at his home, I had never witnessed him in any other vehicle but his own.

  He's hired employees to drive the delivery cars. So it was incomprehensible why he would need to get behind the wheels of one.

  An unsettling sensation crawls over me. I begin retreating backwards slowly without breaking my eye contact on the car.

  My grip tightens on the duffel straps slung against my shoulder.

  A couple of seconds later my eyes distend in extreme alarm. Accosted by none other than Hamdard’s bulging neckless face.

  This was baba's favorite employee whom he had selected as a potential suitor for me to marry. I had rejected Hamdard's abhorring shameless manners. Baba had desired for me to marry him but Naheed ended up with the final decision.

  I didn't understand why he was here.

  He rakes his gaze over me as his toothy wicked grin broadens knowingly.

  "Must have read my unrequited love letter!" He rasps with a nod, his bob cut hair swings back and forth while a sheen of sweat glistens atop his half bald head. "Knew you'd come to your senses real quick-here you are ready with your luggage for an escape with me, my love."

  Huh? What the fudge ?!!

  So he's the author behind the defectively written note ?

  It's official, this guy is nuts.

  Suddenly my mind receives flashbacks of the diabolical deed he was ready to commit against me a month ago. He had
nearly sexually assaulted me when baba had left him alone at home.

  My stomach churns with the horrid memory. I feel the urge to vomit in the mere presence of him.

  Without offering him a reply, I whip around with lightening speed and sprint off into the opposite direction, away from him.

  "Hey ! Get back here!!" His thundering roar from behind doesn't halt me. "You were promised to me! Get back here!"

  The activation noise of his car ignition only fuels my own adrenaline to further kick in. I start speeding away.

  He's following me, that slimeball pervert!

  I switch over away from the cemented pedestrian path onto grassy patches of people's front yards.

  I needed to find bushes, or trees to conceal behind till he drives past. My eyes have a difficult time in the dark with street lamps barely emitting enough luminance.

  A few homes on this block with lights on flickering visible in the one or two windows. The rest shrouded in darkness while the residents asleep for the night.

  I prevent myself the deep urge to awaken the somber block with my screams of plight. But Mister Mirza's grave warnings claw at my mind along with obvious trepidation.

  He's made it clear the results of my discovery without Rachael's protection would only garner me my perdition at the hands of Imran and his gang friends or Hamdard now.

  I continuously recite prayer under my breath as I dart through the clearing between two sprawling homes and enter the next block.

  I can hear Hamdard's car screeching and swivelling. He's obviously at the curb on the block I left behind and now entering into the one with my presence.

  My eyes fall upon neatly trimmed rows of flowery bushes. Leaping behind them, I manage to land on my duffel saving me from scraping my hands and face against the side front porch of the home.

  The fragrance of the flowers is overpowering as I breath in raggedly from my run. The only other sounds audible are of crickets chirping, my erratic heartbeat and the approaching hum of Hamdards car.

  The speed of his car has gradually slowed. He's probably stopped his drive a couple of feet away from where I'm hiding.

  There is a loud bang of the car door slamming shut. The clicks of his shoes against the cement path slowly draw down towards my hiding place.

  I scoot into the greenery further, my nose making contact with the flowers and the leaves. Albeit the fragrance is nice, it's causing me a deep need to sneeze.

  My face seems to prickle from the contact. I'm beginning to suspect an onslaught of allergies.

  Panic stricken, I pinch my nose and hold my breath as I hear Hamdard's shoes crunching against the grass nearing me.

  Promptly he arrives to a halt a few steps infront of the bushes I'm concealed behind. I freeze, my eyes glistening like a water fall as my skin grows more hotter and itchier.

  I don't think I can hold myself here any longer!

  My allergic reaction will get worse. I needed to get out soon otherwise I will acquire a swollen face and hands.

  Thankfully after what seems like a long while but was probably only two minutes, I hear him retreat.

  The slam of the car door shut and the screech of it driving past, allows me a breath of relief.

  With urgent haste I leap out from behind the bushes and dart forward into the night.

  After a mind tormenting ten minutes I am greeted by the view of the familiar busier section of town which I remembered from my last stroll weeks ago.

  Although this late, there are very few people out. Those visible during these late hours, appear sinister types.

  I walk past a scantily dressed dyed blue haired woman standing outside a closed convenience store. She turns out to have an extremely masculine voice.

  "Hey baby girl, lookin for a good time?" He or she-winks at me.

  The horrified look on my face only makes him/her cackle with glee. I rapidly sprint away.

  I slow down as I approach nearer what appears to be a homeless and haggardly dressed guy busy digging into a public trash bin near the curb.

  Quite suddenly he produces out a plastic bottle. He opens his mouth in a triumphant toothless smile as he swings the bottle up in his hand.

  "Yippee!" He rumbles. "Found me a dollar worth!"

  Within a flash of a second a looming figure appears out of the shadows in between nearby alleyway,dressed in an equally shabby outfit as him.

  A hand shoots out and snatches the bottle from the grips of the homeless guy #1.

  The toothless grin and cheery squinted eyes vanish into a glower."Gimme back me dollars worth! found it first"

  He hops onto the looming homeless guy #2.

  What ensues is a crazy scuffle as they fall to the pavement, rolling about over a bottle.

  Inwardly I feel guilt wash over me, surely I could spare some money for these men.

  I reach into my duffel front pockets and fish out two crisp 100 dollar bills.

  I didn't have change to spare for them since I needed that for a phone call from a pay phone. I doubt it would harm me to spare two hundred dollars.

  I very much hoped that would have been the case, but alas the sympathetic gesture of mine nearly did harm me. Out of major greed, the two scruffy looking men demanded I provide them with more.

  Their grimy hands almost got to prying away my duffel straps from my shoulder. But I manage to duck in time and sprint ahead from their reach.

  Yet they chase after me for a while till I lose sight of them.

  Rounding a corner, I am accosted with a dreadful sight. Three cars filled with familiar menacing faces of none other than Burq Al Nar gang members.

  It's too late, they have seen me as I skid to an astonishingly sharp halt.

  "There she is !" Yells one of them pointing in my direction.

  "Come on! Get her!" A couple of the men jump out of the vehicle advancing towards me in wide angry strides.

  I whirl around and rapidly run back into the direction I had arrived from. My legs have grown sore by now, beads of sweat trail down my temples as my lungs sear from the ragged gulps of breath I inhale.

  I don't know how long I can last. Tears of defeat brim my eyes, blurring my vision.

  I can hear them gaining speed, their voices nearing as my legs involuntarily began to slow no matter how much I force them onwards.

  My heart feels as if it's ready to burst any moment.

  In the distance, I spot an hazy image of another car zooming it's way down dangerously.

  Oh no! I'm surrounded !!

  Its gotten near enough that it's headlights aim directly on me. Midstep, I end up pressing my back against the wall of a closed store behind me.