CHAPTER 5

The ringing in her ears made her yawn. She wiped her eyes, but frowned when she saw the smear of blood at the back of her hands. What happened? She tried to recall. The picture of her dad screaming at Nadi, seemed to answer the question as the memory came flooding in.

She hissed. That explained the reason why she was lying down on the floor and not in the comfort of her bed. She must have cried herself to sleep after Nadi had pushed her or something. Her world was spinning too, and it was almost difficult to distinguish the past from the present.

At least the argument had ended without a fight.

Bella stood amid the pain in her elbow. There was a tender lump too, just at the back of her head. She had smashed the table with her head during the fall. Even though the metallic taste of blood still covered her taste bud, she was glad that there was no visible injury aside from her elbow. An injury to the head would mean shaving off her hair. Since she has waited so long to get her hair to shoulder length, it would sadden her greatly if she has to start over, all because of some random injury.

Well, be glad you didn't get a brain tumor or brain damage. A voice seemed to mock. Bella did not pay any mind to it, even though she was overwhelmed with guilt. Deep down she knew she was the one that had stretched the argument. If she had taken Nadi for his words and had allowed him to have his way, nor of this would have happened. They would have had a peaceful breakfast as a family, at least for the first time in their family history. But now she had screwed everything. And to fix it, she needed to find Nadi. She needed to be at his side. The world has rejected him. It would be inhuman if she also rebukes him. He has been through a lot. They've all been through a lot. But in Nadi's case…

Bella shook her head. She was not the thinking type, at least, not while her thoughts and her actions could win any argument. She was the master of her mind and knows when to act. Yeah, that must be the reason why she always messed things up.

She hissed and tried to stand. Her feet wobbled for some time, but did not give in to fatigue or the ache in her thigh. She was going to fix this. She was going to bring peace into their family. However impossible it seems, she was going to try.

Taking a deep breath in, Bella's almond eyes did a quick scan of the living room. Iyella was nowhere in sight and the spluttered water and shreds of the broken cup were all the evidence Bella needed. Her mother was possibly in two places; at the shoreline with her father or in the garden beside their house. She was a woman of few words, who also act without thinking. A trait that Bella had amplified.

Bella picked the scarf off the floor and walked out of the house. The sun was high above the world now, and its heat was beginning to bash the earth with its radiance. But notwithstanding, Bella was determined to set things right. She was going to find her brother and try to convince him to return home.

But where will he be?

Garni's brothel. The name formed in her head even before she could think of them. And the stench, too. Bella rubbed her nose as she rounded the red scarf on her head and hurried towards Allen street. The Garni's brothel was a world of its own. A city residing in the four walls of a building. It was not just a brothel for pleasure, but an abode for gangsters, flies, and flees of the society. A citadel of immorality, perhaps the home of the devil himself.

The thought sent an icy chill down Bella's spine as she crossed the next street and hurried into the narrow road. The Garni's brothel has many tales that were itching to the ear. But currently, it was known to harbor the Jangos. The most feared and most dangerous group in the village and in Mali at large. While most people saw them as bundles of criminals, some others saw them as freedom fighters. They were the only group that is bold enough to challenge the government and the state. Even about two years ago, they had threatened to wipe out every government official if they failed to build adequate schools for each community in Mali. To Bella, she held the Jangos with a mixed feeling. It was easy to see their ulterior motives if one looked close enough. She knew it was just a matter of time. The devil will not continue to disguise himself as an angel of light. Not while the truth has refused to be clothed.

As expected, half-naked men and women stood at the entrance of the brothel. Smoking and drinking as though eating and drinking were all there is to life. Such early hours should have left these people in bed or in the shoreline, working for their daily bread, as other people in the village. But instead, the ostentation of pride that was supposed to be their shame swerved around the area, almost like the nectar of a flower, waiting patiently to satisfy the desires of their prey.

Bella hurried towards the entrance, holding her breath half of the time, to keep away the stench of tobacco and Indian hemp. This was the last place she would ever dream of coming. But for Nadi's sake and the peace of her family, she wouldn't mind walking through fire, if that's all she needed to do.

"Hello babe," Came a deep voice

Bella bit her under lips and held down her red scarf, trying to ignore the man who was blinking lustfully at her. These men were old enough to be her grandfather and their potbellies and rotten teeth made Bella wonder why some people even care. There was nothing sexy about these men. Was it their horrible English or the nasty rings that lined their navel and mustache? The nausea was already driving Bella nuts.

"Just looking for my brother," she said when the man obstructed her.

"I see." The man forced the smile that never reached his eyes. He was salivating, too, almost like a stray dog waiting to pounce on rotten meat. Like the rest, his unshaved beard held three golden rings, and his skin glowed like the dark scale of a shark. He also held a bottle of dry gin in one hand and a stick of Indian hemp in the other.

Bella shook her head with pity. She could have understood the man's misery if the weather had been cold. But taking a dry gin and smoking under a scorching sun was hell on earth.

"Will your brother help you with that," the man pointed towards her legs and burst with hot laughter.

His friends also laughed, and for the passing moment, Bella felt like yanking each of them by the chin and screaming sense into their ears.

"I don't want any trouble."

"Trouble," the man chuckled and sucked his Indian hemp, letting the smoke hover in his mouth for some time before breathing them out. "I don't want trouble either. This is no place for trouble makers. It's a place for...you know."

Bella shoved the man aside and walked toward the blue door. It was a bold move, and she had expected the man to pull her back or say something revolting in return. But instead, the man just laughed. His friends also laughed. But for once, Bella could not place a hand on what was actually funny. They probably were laughing at their ignorance and foolishness.

Bella turned the knob of the door and walked into the small house. She had covered her ears, bracing herself for the loud music that would hit her. But to her utmost surprise, the silence was the only word that spoke. The brothel was near empty. There was no Dj, or strippers, or gangsters. It was just calm, with the feel of an empty warehouse.

There sign of Nadi too. The only person in the hall was a young girl, no older than sixteen, wiping the counter and cleaning some of the wine bottles.

"Excuse me," Bella said as she walked up towards the girl, "I am looking for Nadi."

The girl studied Bella for some time before averting her gaze to the counter. Like the rest of the people in the entrance, she held gold earrings, nose rings, and lip rings. Despite the scar under her left eye, she was extremely beautiful. With long natural eyelashes and beige skin, contrasting the deep dark hair that dangled in a cascade behind.

"Always Nadi." The girl said.

Bella could not say for sure, but the jealousy in the girl's tone made her resist the urge to laugh. The girl was not hostile like the rest in the entrance, and laughing at her would not be polite. Especially since she seems to know where Nadi was.

"There," the girl pointed.

Bella's eyes followed the smooth, slender fingers, and her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw him, sitting at the far end, with his back turned to her.