•Bilal

Tonight we set our sights on Morocco. I get to clear my name and I can go back to my peaceful life. That is all I pray for everyday—will Bilan let that happen though?

I can't stop thinking about her. Cliché but true. I keep dreaming of the night she decided she was leaving. It always starts well—the barbecue at her parents house, her parents speech—we go back home and everything goes blank. I never make it inside the door after she goes in.

Next thing, I'm sweaty and breathing fast, eyes wide open as if I saw a ghost and never am I ever able to go back. I thought of speaking to a therapist but I weighed it down me to being traumatized with the divorce and having to raise kids. Kauthar was already getting her period and it was hard talking to her about it.

Bushra's clock is ticking, her soon to be hated sister of monthly visits knocks in a few years and I hope they'll have a mother to help me take care of them. Afaf and I have been speaking since that day I left her uncle's house and I pray she'll be able to fill the gaping hole in my chest.

One by one, everyone is trooping in and setting their bags seat by seat in front and behind me. Inspector Leke is yet to arrive, only his team has made it to the airport. Rayyan and Bashir just came in through the doors dragging travelling bags and typing with reckless abandon as they moved to find chairs apart from one another. Like a train they parted ways as soon as they reached the last chair available to my right.

Both men sat on two different aisles and inserted the earpiece to their phones to listen to whatever it was they were going to watch or listen to while I remained the light house waiting to send a distress signal as soon it was time for us to leave.

With Baba Imran's help, we wrote a letter to the Nigerian embassy in Morocco for a plea to help with Basma's case but I hadn't gotten the chance to tell anyone yet. I was waiting till we reached there before I gave them the good news.

"Attention, flight...is ready to board."

"Attention, flight...is ready to board."

"Attention, flight...is ready to board."

People begin to drag their luggage, those who came with family are trying to awaken the sleepy ones to join the herd boarding the plane,  husbands are packing their wives hand luggage with theirs and mother held the tiny hands of their kids, so they don't get trampled upon in the crowd.

Still, the inspector hasn't appeared. His men start to leave until it is only me, Rayyan and Bashir. We begin to march down the aisle with our bags while the officers went the opposite direction. From afar I notice inspector Leke standing with his left hand pointing at his wristwatch in the air.

Tick tock.

There he was staring till we would soon disappear from our lines of view with a dark smile on his face. Who was I kidding? It wasn't dark, he's already black. It was a sinister grin that just told me he'd been bought by the highest bidder.

I want to say if you know, you know but who was I deceiving? Nobody knew and I sure as hell know who it is but Rayyan and Bashir have no idea that we're going to war alone. I appreciate the little decency the inspector had to let us leave without any interference.

Somehow, I believe that inside that subvert heart of the one they call Inpector Leke, that there's a chance that he still has some good in him. He may have taken the money to look the other way but he's still letting us take care of this mess ourselves.

I'm not even shocked. Truth is, I saw it coming. The police force has always been corrupt so one man can't make them turn over a new leaf for night when he can make averagely the millions multiplied by his meager salary by protecting a villain.

Not to fear, Cupid league (Bashir, Rayyan) and I will save the day!

I wait till I board the plane to get the attention of the ignorant men I came with to drop the bombshell on them. They'd left me behind and found their way to the plane long before I got in so I follow the rows of sits till I find them while also looking for my sit that was coincidentally in the same row as the theirs. I was to occupy the middle sit while Rayyan and Bashir filled the ones on either of my sides.

I was the buffer to this manly disposition of unruly devotedness to Basma. If steam could blow from the top of these grown men's heads I'm sure the whole plane would've choked to death. No one was ready to speak and I had a lot to tell them.

"Bashir?"

"Rayyan?"

Sigh.

I looked at both men and none were ready to listen—or maybe they just couldn't hear me. I tap Bashir's shoulder first then Rayyan. None made a move to say anything and that was when I realized that they could hear me from the start.

"I hope you're fine with ambushing Jameel Rufai yourselves because the police has abandoned us."

They roughly pull out the earpiece from their ears, puzzled.

"What?..." They start and keep quiet once they notice that they're about to ask the same question.

"Yes. The moment you disappeared, they went back too. I think he has settled them so we have to do it on our own now."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rayyan hissés and plugs in his earpiece back.

Bashir does the same and doesn't say anything until the air hostesses ask for our orders and tell us the what was available in the food stock. We eat and all doze off until it's time to land.

"Let's try and get settled so we can survey the area before we can attack." Rayyan says for the first time since the trip began and we agree with tired nods as we enter the taxi that would take us to our hotel.

We arrive the hotel in about an hour and end up sleeping for 4 hours straight. It's 06:00pm when I wake up and that's because Bashir is at my door knocking.

I open the door, "Wa Alyakumusalam Bashir." I say sarcastically. "Why are you knocking so loudly?"

"Sorry. I just woke up as well and was hungry so I decided we could have dinner and discuss what to do next." He scratches the back of his head before dropping it into the pocket of his sweatpants.

"Without Rayyan?"

"Oh." He pauses, with a wave of his hand. "He doesn't need to be here."

"He actually does. See, I don't know what issue both of you have but if we're going to do this you're both going to have to put it on a pause for the time being till we've found Basma."

"Fine, but I won't speak to him."

"You have to."

"Whatever. If he doesn't talk to me I won't talk to him then."

"Don't worry he'll talk to you."

"Won't you invite me inside your room?"

"Right. Sorry, come in and wait there while I text Rayyan and sort some things out."

Bilal: We're having a meeting in my room soon. Be here in 10.

Rayyan: typing...

His reply doesn't come in until a few moments later when I'm brushing my teeth.

Rayyan: Will Bashir be there?

Bilal: Yes. Any problem?

Rayyan: Not at all.

Bilal: I know you both have an issue. Table it till we're done here and back to Nigeria.

He doesn't reply. I'm hoping he's on his way since it was almost magribh time so we could pray together before we order room service and start.

While I'm performing ablution, a knock resounds from the door and I ask Bashir to get it. Rayyan walks in and greets Bashir with a light handshake before sitting down. I guess he took my words to heart.

I join them quickly and sit to talk while we wait for the adhan.

"So what is our first move?"

"Calling the embassy to tell them we've arrived so they can support us with police escort."

"How?" Rayyan questions, confused.

"I spoke to the Nigerian embassy here before our trip so that they could help us. It was sort of my plan when the police started interrogating me. I wanted to find her and clear my name but then they betrayed us and now here we are."

"Let me get this straight, all we have the police here? How do we contact them?" Bashir asks.

"I have been given a number to call. That will signal them to gather their troops for us and we can find them."

"We still need to have a contingency plan." Rayyan adds.

Bashir and I seem to agree with what Rayyan has said but no one has anything else to add so we're silent for a bit too long then I just get up to go and buy us food from somewhere because the hotel food seemed pricy from the menu that was left on the bedside table.

"I'll be heading out to get us something to it. Why don't you guys try bonding while I'm gone."

That was also the plan—to leave so that they can try conversing to fix their problems while I'm gone. I hope it works out because I'll need their help for the entire time here.

I'm outside the door now and I see a man in the corridor with an arm across his chest  smoking by another door. He looked suspicious, his eyes roamed the halls and he never even pretended to not be watching me as I passed him.

He swiftly takes something from his pocket and tries to blow a white powder to my face but I'm quick to cover my nose with a handkerchief before throwing a punch that lands on his nose, leaving him bloody and for some reason, incapacitated.

I message the guys to lock the door and not answer if anyone knocks until I'm back. I rush out to a nearby deli shop to buy us sandwiches and drinks before rushing back quickly to find the most bizarre and unexpected scene.

Bashir was knocked out on the floor and Rayyan was above, standing as he was making a phone call. I walked in and on instinct I blamed him, thinking he had had a brawl with Bashir and ended up knocking him out but there was no blood or traces of landed blows on his face or body but my entire room was trashed and that could only mean one thing.

Jameel knows we're in Morocco.

Rayyan is pacing back and forth. He hasn't seen me yet. So I close the door which gets his attention. He hangs up looking worried and was saying that he called the police and they said they'd be here in an hour or so which was useless because if Bashir was going to die he would've died now.

I checked his wrist and found a pulse. He's still breathing which means he's probably sleeping. We lift him to the bed and start clearing the floor and ridding it of broken wood and shattered glass and picture frames of paintings that must've been expensive.

We eat our share of sandwiches and continue cleaning till Bashir wakes up and explains what really happened.

"Someone was knocking and I thought it was you so I went to open it. The man came with someone and they were both smoking. Next thing I know he's blowing powder from his hands to my face and everything went black."

What did I tell you mr man?

"Do you remember his face?"

"No."

"Rayyan did they take anything? What happened after?"

"I went to the door after I heard footsteps coming in and I saw running towards me to pin me down but we ended up fighting and then the other dragged his friend out. You just missed them. How didn't you see them outside?"

"I didn't notice anyone. Only one man in front of another room with a cigarette lit too. What was he wearing?"

"A leather jacket and black jeans."

"Same guy I some outside."

"Let's leave this night to another hotel. Bilal try and make that call now so that we can start tracking them this night." Bashir advices.

"I agree, let's get our things and meet in the hallway." Rayyan said.

They all leave and I gather my clothes and other things into my box and drop some money off on the bed for the hotel to use and fix the broken chairs and pictures.

I meet Bashir in the corridor and we stand there waiting for Rayyan while eating his sandwich. Rayyan shows up soon enough and we leave call an Uber immediately to take us to another hotel Rayyan suggests for us.

In the taxi, I call the agent I was asked to contact who also suggested a more discreet location for us to stay at.

"No 4. blue avenue, off Hafiz Saleem way."

"Thank you."

"We'll keep in touch."

A car crashes into our taxi and it flips over tumultuously—we hear an explosion close by and I don't think any one of us can tell if the next morning sun would graze our faces.
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~Aisha SafiyanuXO💚

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