CHAPTER 12

I glanced at my watch; 5 minutes left for the period to be over.

I wasn't concentrating on what the teacher was saying, all that

I did was to glance at my watch. I didn't understand as to why

I was so scared. I couldn't calm myself down. The bell rang

earlier than I thought. The teacher walked out and we all

stood up out of respect.

I waited for 2 minutes and walked out, the guard outside

looked at me questioningly. I sighed. "I am going to meet

officer Badr Al- Din, he called me." he looked confused and

then he nodded.

I ascended the stairs and fixed my Hijab. And then I saw her

walking towards the corridor allotted for kindergarten. I

walked behind her. She goes inside one of the empty rooms

and closed the door. I stopped just outside the door. I could

hear some noises, she was crying and shouting at someone. I

moved my hand towards the door knob and then suddenly I

stopped remembering all those scary encounters with her. I

started walking backwards. Suddenly the door opened and she

came out. I froze in my place. I wanted to run away. Officer

Badr Al- Din's office was right next to this corridor. I wanted

to go to him. She looked at me for a second and then burst

into sobs.

"What the hell? Why is she crying? Tears of remorse? Maybe

she is actually feeling guilty. Maybe she wants to confess her

crime. Maybe I should talk to her."

"Aqsa, are you alright?" I started calmly, though the memories

of the previous encounters and the stich on my wrist was

begging me to run away.

When she didn't reply I walked towards her. I stopped a few

inches away from her. She stopped crying. I gently place my

hand on her shoulder. Suddenly she took hold of my hand

harshly and dragged me inside the classroom. She was like

that character 'Flash'. I didn't even understand what

happened.

She harshly dragged me inside the classroom and closed the

door. She pushed me on the ground. I fell on my left side

bumped my injured wrist on the edge of a wooden table. The

edges of that wood were broken and I had bumped my wrist

on those sharp wood spikes. The stich was torn and blood was

oozing out of it again.

I winced. It hurt a little bit. But I was angry more than I was

hurt.

"What the hell did you do? What do you want from me?" I was

surprised at this tone of mine; it was very loud. I didn't know I

could be so violent. She looked unfazed. I got up and walked

towards her. She opened the door and closed it before I could

reach her. I think she locked it.

I twisted the door handle. It wouldn't budge. I frowned. As far

as I know our classrooms doors cannot be locked and even if

they could the keys would probably be with the HM. I twisted

the handle again.

"Ahhhh..." I screamed out of my frustration and banged the

door.

"First her and now this bloody door. Why the hell is life so

hard on me these days."

I banged the door very harshly. My wound hurt but I didn't

care about it at the moment.

"Open the door. Can someone hear me. Open the door." I

screamed loudly whilst banging.

"Please." I whispered and broke into sobs. All my anger had

vanished away, I was tired now. I banged one more time

before I heard footsteps.

"Please, open the door."

"Madaam." I heard someone's voice. It was probably a guard.

"Please move aside, we have to break the door. It seems

jammed."

I quickly moved aside and fixed my hijab.

"I have moved aside."

"Alright."

I heard some whispers and shifting from the other side and

then I heard loud bangs. A minute later I saw the side of the

door breaking, where the lock was located. The door opened

and I saw two guards, one of them was carrying a crowbar.

And Then I saw officer Badr Al- Din, he rushed inside.

I was still crying whilst clutching my left arm.

"What happened, Fatima?" he looked down at my arm.

I didn't reply. He sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his

nose.

"Jamal, take her to the infirmary. I will be there shortly." he

commanded to one of them and moved aside. I quietly

followed the guard to the infirmary.

The guard left me alone inside the infirmary informing me

that a nurse will be here shortly. I sat down on a chair that

was probably for kids. It was so tiny. I looked around and

realized that it was a kid's infirmary. A nurse walked in along

with officer Badr Al- Din. I was about to stand up when he

motioned me to remain seated. The nurse took out sterile

gauzes and started working on my wound.

I looked around. There were paintings of cartoon like images

of kids on the walls. One of them was a little kid dressed as a

police officer. I was a little shocked. The uniform was same as

that of officer Badr Al- Din's. The boy was wearing the same

black cap and his uniform had almost the same badges.

Involuntarily a little laugh escaped my mouth. I looked at him

and then looked back at the wall. He followed my gaze and

looked at the wall. He shook his head whilst looking down. I

smiled a little too when I felt a sharp pain on my wrist. I

winced and looked at the wound. The nurse was taking out the

wood spikes from it. I saw her taking out an anesthetic

injection. She inserted the needle inside my skin. It didn't

hurt. Injection never scared me. But then she took out a

surgical needle and a thread. My eyes widened in shock. This

wasn't going to hurt because of the anesthetic obviously but,

watching your skin get stitched was slightly disturbing. I

didn't want this.

"No, please." I whispered in a small voice and retreated my

hand.

The nurse frowned and tugged my wrist almost angrily. I tried

to pull it back. She tugged it towards her again.

I watched as she inserted the needle inside my skin.

"Don't look at it."

I looked up.

'Huh?'

"Don't look at the wound. Distract yourself. Look over there."

he pointed towards the little boy dressed as a police officer.

I looked back at my wrist. I was watching my wrist getting

stitched like those clothes that my mom would stich with great

passion. It was her favorite hobby. Something that I thought

was boring.

"I asked you not to look there." I heard his deep voice. I

looked at him. He was leaning against the wall. His hands

were stuffed into his pockets. He looked calm. I glanced back

at the wall trying to find a cartoon version of myself. I

couldn't. The wall was painted with the images of boys only.

"The person who painted this wall must be chauvinist, a

prejudiced jerk." I thought and looked away angrily.

The nurse was done stitching my wound and she got up to put

the first-aid kit away. I was looking at my wrist when I heard

him say something to the nurse in Arabic. After a while his

shoes entered my vision and I looked up. He sat on the chair

in front of me. I rested my eyes on his watch.

"Are you prone to troubles or something, miss?"

I shook my head.

"And why don't you ever look at me, are you hiding

something?"

I accidently bobbed my head up and down. Shocked from my

own stupidity I looked up at him shocked. He almost glared at

me angrily. He sighed deeply and looked away.

"You should know better than to hide things from me,

Fatima."

"Sir, I...." I began but I was cut off by a loud knock on the

door.

"Sayid" a guard came rushing inside.

"What is it, Jamal?" Officer Badr Al- Din seemed very

frustrated.

The guard spoke in Arabic and officer Badr Al- Din rushed out

with him.

I looked at my hand.

"Do you plan to stay here all day?" the asked me annoyingly.

I shook my head. I got up and rushed out.

"Very rude." I thought before ascending the stairs. I was about

to climb the stairs when I heard several noises behind me. I

turned around.

Several guards along with officer Badr Al- Din were standing

near the gate. Officer Badr looked very tensed. Suddenly he

looked at me and gestured me to go back. I nodded and

walked back upstairs.

It was our dispersal time now. I hadn't been able to give my

statement yet again. I knew what the delay meant. The delay

meant that the culprit would roam around freely and that the

culprit could harm others too. I still wasn't able to digest the

fact that Aqsa had murdered someone. Forget Aqsa I still

hadn't been able to digest the fact that such a heinous crime

had taken place in our school. I had only heard murder

incidents in the news and always thought it wouldn't happen

where I live. Oh, how delusional I was. And as if this wasn't

enough, I was the sole witness of the incident. I didn't want to

be involved in such matters. I hadn't even given the statement

yet and Aqsa had hurt me. I wonder what she would do if I

would actually give my statement.

I was wearing a heavily embellished emerald green Jalabiya. A

pretty heavy emerald necklace adorning my neck and a

forehead jewelry adorned with emerald jewels. My long black

hair was cascading down my back. My eyes looked pretty

different, lined with kohl.

The room was dimly lit. A large mirror presenting my

reflection.

I looked beautiful?

I heard a click and the door opened. Officer Badr al- Din

walked inside. He was in his uniform. He walked towards me

slowly. I smiled. He smiled too. He came to stand in front me

and took my hand in his large one. He raised it to his lips and

placed a chaste kiss on it. I giggled lightly.

"You look beautiful, Habibti." he whispered.

"You look ravishing too, Badr." I whispered back.

Suddenly his smile turned wicked and he gripped my hair

harshly. Darkness enveloped us.

"What happened, Badr?" I asked him whilst trying to free my

hair from his harsh grip.

"What did you think, huh? That you would commit such a

heinous crime and get away with it."

"I did not do it. Please trust me." I sobbed.

"Tsk." he clicked his tongue.

"What is the use of shedding tears now, huh? It is the time for

you to pay for your crime." he yelled loudly.

He pushed me onto the ground.

"Pl..Please, I didn't do it, please believe me."

I stood up and grabbed his forearm; he stilled and turned to

look at me.

"Believe me, please."

He stared at me for a second then he pushed me again. I hit

my head on a hard surface. He came in front of me and

captured my wrist. I tried to free it from his grip but his grip

was stronger than mine. He raised a pair of pliers and

suddenly he pulled my nail from my index finger. I screamed

loudly but he didn't give me the time to recover and pulled

another nail then another one. After 10 minutes I was sitting

there with my hands on my lap and my nails scattered around

me. I stared at my reflection. My eyes red from the continuous

crying, my face pale and the hands which I once considered to

be pretty were now bloody. I looked ugly. He was gone and so

was my freedom.

I woke up feeling terrified. This dream was different than the

others that I had. It didn't have Aqsa in it. It was Officer Badr

Al- Din.

As if Aqsa wasn't enough now, I'll have to deal with officer

Badr Al Din too. I thought.