Clueless Love

“Where is Fatima?” I ask the maid who opens the door for me. I got to Fatima’s in half the time it normally takes, that is how fast I was driving. Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) I arrived in one piece.

“She is upstairs, Miss Umit,” the maid replies.

“Thank you,” I say, rushing in and taking the stairs two at a time.

Everything makes sense to me. Why she sent the video and did not want me to come over to her house. She sent it to me so if anything happens to her, I will know.

I arrive at Fatima’s room; I quickly open the door praying dearly I am not too late. I look inside, but Fatima is nowhere to be seen. Am I too late? Did my best friend already risk her life for her sister’s? I have to be sure, so I check the bathroom. I knock on the bathroom a few times but no answer. I open it, but there is no one inside. I check her closet and she is not there either. Ya Allah, I can’t believe I came too late. I don’t even have my phone to call her and stop her. Maybe she has not gone. If she went out, the maid surely wouldn’t have said she was upstairs; let me check around the house.

I walk out of her room to ask someone else if they know if she has gone out or not. I take the stairs down and meet her mom at the bottom.

“As salamu alaykum, aunt,” I say to Fatima’s mom trying my best to sound neutral, not wanting to make her notice how nervous I am right now.

“Wa alaykumu salam. What are you doing back here, dear? Did you forget something?” she asks.

“Yes, there was something I forgot to tell Fatima. Do you know where she is?” I ask looking around, checking if Fatima is still here.

“Fatima is in the garden. Do you need something? You look like you are looking for something,” Aisha says noticing my behavior.

“Nothing, I am fine. I will go and meet Fatima now.” I quickly walk toward the garden.

I walk through the back door to get to the gardens. Their garden is beautiful. It has a lot of lovely flowers, from pink lilies to red roses and so much more. Once I arrive at the bottom of the garden, I see Fatima. Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) I am not too late, thank you, Allah. Fatima has her back to me, so she does not know I am here. She is standing by the lilacs.

“Fatima.” I call walking toward her.

“Umit, you are here,” Fatima sighs sounding like she was expecting me.

“You were expecting me?”

“We knew you would get here sooner or later.” Udar says coming from the other end of the garden. I did not know he was here. Why were they expecting me? I am feeling very confused right now.

“What is going on here?” I ask them.

“Ismail called me and told me what Fatima was planning to do so, I rushed here and was able to stop Fatima,” Udar replies, which explains why they were expecting me. He must have been close by and that’s why he got here before me. I am also certain his car is parked out front but because I was such in a hurry to get inside I didn’t really take notice.

“Oh, Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) you got here on time, and Fatima don’t worry. We will figure out a way of getting Abeela back without putting your life in danger.” I say, trying to comfort my friend.

“In Shaa Allah, we will, and Udar already called the Detective. He should be here any minute, and hopefully we will be able to find Abeela soon,” Fatima says trying to sound hopeful.

“Ameen,” I say praying this time with the information we have, we will be able to find Abeela.

The detective arrives a few minutes later. Fatima shows him the video on her phone. The police come up with a good plan to get Abeela back. They will not be able to trace the video back to a location where Abeela might be held, because whoever sent it, sent it from Fatima’s house. The video that was sent to Fatima was sent from inside her own house, making us realize how unsafe it is for Fatima. If Liz can sneak in here to send the video…, that woman is smarter than we anticipated. But hopefully, the plan the police have made won’t be something she would anticipate. The plan is going down tonight; we don’t want Abeela to spend another dreadful day in the hands of that woman.

When the sun sets and the night is pitch black, that is when we set the plan in motion. We prayed Isha, making sure to make a lot of dua (supplication) for the success of our plan, before getting on the road to try and get Abeela back. I am driving Fatima to meet Liz. After driving for about one hour, we finally arrive at the location Liz sent to Fatima.

The area looks dead and abandoned. I can clearly understand why she wants to meet here. There are not many cars or people around, only a few who are passing by in the distance. In Shaa Allah, I pray everything will go as planned tonight.

Fatima and I wait for a while before another car finally arrives. We had no way to contact Liz, to let her know we were here. We just had to wait till she showed up. The car is parked opposite where we are parked, and we can’t really see inside the car. Fatima steps out of the car to let whoever it is, know we are here. Someone steps out of the car seconds later, but I can’t really see who it is. The streetlights here are not too bright, and the moon is hidden behind clouds. The person stands in front of their car while the headlights come on. I am blinded and I shield my eyes allowing them to adjust to the brightness. The person standing there is none other than Liz herself, smiling victoriously like she just won. I don’t like this woman one bit, the pain she has caused Fatima and Udar is enough for me to dislike her.

“Good evening Fatima,” Liz says, smiling with an evil glint in her eyes.

“You know why I am here so let’s just get straight to the point. Where is my sister?” Fatima says sounding strong, but with a hint of anger in her voice. I clearly understand why Fatima would feel angry right now. Liz has caused Fatima more pain than anyone could bear in a lifetime.

“I see someone is in a bad mood tonight,” Liz mocks.

“Bad mood?!” Fatima says while faking a laugh. “The only reason I am not strangling your neck right now for all the pain you have caused me and my family, is because of two reasons,” Fatima replies angrily.

“And what might they be?” Liz says in the same mocking tone.

“For the sake of Allah and because you have my sister,” Fatima growls.

“That’s good! And I like the fact that you know I am in control of what happens to your sister. And if you don’t drop the attitude, I might not be so nice when handling your sister,” Liz threatens, her facial expression one of disgust.

“Fine. Please, can I have my sister back,” Fatima says trying her best to suppress her anger while speaking, but I can clearly see Fatima is getting more annoyed by the minute.

“That’s much better. Bring the girl out.” Liz says to someone. The person steps out of the car, opens the back door, and brings out Abeela. Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), I have never been happier to see Abeela. She doesn’t seem to be injured in any way. She just looks tired, but other than that she looks fine. I am so happy they did not hurt her in any way.

Abeela lifts her head and sees Fatima, her whole face lights up once she sees her sister. Abeela runs towards Fatima, pulling her into a deep hug.

“Fatima is it really you?” Abeela says smiling while shedding tears of joy.

“Yes, it’s really me. How are you doing kiddo?” Fatima asks, also crying and smiling at the same time.

“I am fine Fatima, am I going home?” Abeela asks hopefully, like she has been waiting for this day for so long.

“Yes, you are going home. Do you trust me?” Fatima asks, while Abeela nods her head.

“Now, I want you to run to that car and go with Umit, quickly!” Fatima orders.

“Alright, but Fatima what about you?” Abeela asks, noticing her sister is not coming with her.

“Don’t worry about me and just go to the car.”

“No, why won’t you come with me?” Abeela begs.

“Abeela, do you trust me?” Fatima implores in a determined voice.

“I do, Fatima.”

“Then go to the car and leave with Umit,” Fatima says leaving no room for argument.

“Alright, I will,” Abeela replies and walks towards the car.

I quickly come out of the car and meet her halfway, pulling her into a hug.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) you are safe and back to us.” I smile while checking her to make sure she has not been harmed.

“Umit, I am fine; you don’t have to check. They did not harm me in any way.” Abeela states. She is such a strong girl.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) for that, now come on let’s leave this place.” I say walking her towards the car.

“Umit, what about Fatima? Why is she not coming with us?” Abeela asks.

“I can’t explain now, but I need to get you somewhere safe.” I say placing her in the passenger seat. I am taking Abeela far away from here in case Liz tries anything that could put her in danger once she realizes our plan.

I turn around to walk to the driver seat but freeze when I see what is unfolding in front of me. Liz has a gun pointed at Fatima. Without wasting any more time, the police emerge from their hiding spots. The plan tonight was for Fatima to pretend to exchange herself for Abeela, and once Abeela was in safe hands, have Liz arrested. We did not think of the possibility that Liz would want to kill Fatima right here. No one moves not wanting to make Liz take a shot at Fatima.

“Miss Elizabeth, you are surrounded. Drop your weapon and surrender.” the police yells at Liz.

“You people are funny; I would never surrender. Either she dies, or we both die. You see, I knew this was going to happen. That is why I made a plan of my own. Kill you on the spot so…, goodbye Fatima,” Liz says, pulling the trigger releasing a loud bang into the atmosphere.

I don’t move an inch as I watch everything happen in a flash of seconds. I don’t even know I am crying until I use my hands to cover my mouth from releasing a scream. I can’t believe this happened.

“NO!” Fatima says, screaming while Udar falls to the ground in front of her. Fatima was not shot, but Udar was. I don’t even know how or when it happened. The only thing I can remember is hearing a gunshot and seeing blood flowing through his chest. Udar ran in front of Fatima a split second before Liz fired the gun.

“Udar, you can’t leave me, please don’t die. Ya Allah, please save Udar. Somebody help him.” Fatima screams with tears rolling down her face, while she is trying to put pressure on his wound.

A police-officer kneels beside Fatima and tells her that an ambulance has been dispatched. He helps her put pressure on the wound while Fatima cradles Udar’s head in her lap. “Fatima do-nnnn’t cr-r-y-yy,” Udar says coughing up blood.

“Udar, stop talking. In Shaa Allah, everything is going to be okay. Safe your strength, help will be here very soon,” Fatima says, trying her best to sound hopeful.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Fa-ti-ma if I die today, I want you to be hap-ppy and live life t-to th-he fu-ullest,” Udar says coughing more blood from his mouth.

“Don’t say things like that, you are going to live. In Shaa Allah.” Fatima cries.

“I want you to know I always loved you. Goodbye my love.” Udar says and mutters the Shahadah before taking his last breath, closing his eyes.

“No, you can’t leave me. Open your eyes, Udar.” Fatima says shaking his unresponsive body.

“Where is the ambulance?” Fatima screams with so much pain in her voice.