"Hello, salam alaykum, hello" Nadia muttered looking down at her phone, she just received a call and the person at the other end wasn't saying anything,

"walaykum salam, hello Nadia" the person finally replied, "it's Idris, don't say anything just answer me with a yes or no" he declared. Nadia peeked at Abdallah who was seating on the sofa opposite her engrossed in typing on his laptop. She pressed the phone tightly to her ears, so he wouldn't hear the conversation, "are you at home" Idris asked,

"yes" she replied,

"is your husband with you?" he asked,

"yes",

"OK I want you to give him an excuse, so you can go out, I'll be waiting for you at the barricade close to your house. Reply yes if you agree",

"yes..." she contemplated before replying,

"I'll be waiting, your husband is not who you think he's" Idris said before the call went off.

Nadia fiddled with the pillow sitting on her lap, she scratched her neck nervously not knowing how to take an excuse from Abdallah,

"err hm I want to go out" she said causing Abdallah to raise a brow in her direction,

"where are you going to?" he asked closing his laptop, he folded his arm on his chest, so he'll have his full attention on her,

"I'm going out to see..." she chuckled nervously scratching her head, "no I mean I'm going to my house, Basma just called that Baba wants to see me" she said,

"ohh I'll take you then" he said standing from the sofa he was seating.

Nadia quickly jumped from her seat,

"no, no need I can go by myself" she screamed, she covered her mouth on impulse when she heard how loud her voice came. "Don't worry I can go alone" she declared releasing a little giggle to make the air less awkward,

"OK?" Abdallah said, but it was more like a question, "OK don't stay long" he said,

"I won't insha Allah" she replied with a small smile on her face. He pecked her forehead before she left out of the house.

Nadia heaved a sigh of relief when she got out of the house, she held her knees as she breathed in and out to calm her nerves a little. She had no idea why Idris asked her to see him, neither does she know what he meant by, 'he's not who you think he is'. She just prays he gives her the proper answer to her questions.

Nadia walked out of the gate towards the barricades Idris was talking about, the place was just some few metres away from her house. She covered her face with the blue veil that was wrapped on her head to avoid being recognized by anyone.

She could see a red car close to the barricades after walking a little.

She knocked on the tinted glass of the car when she got to the side, the glass rolled down revealing Idris, that was when she uncovered her face, "Nadia" Idris called out surprised, he got out of the car swiftly to open the door to the passenger side, "get in". Nadia got in confused, he drove off without saying anything to her.

****

"Ya Idris you're not saying anything" Nadia said when they got into the compound of a house, she got down from the car sauntering towards his direction, she didn't know why he wasn't looking at her, "ya Idris" she touched his shoulder, so he would at least face her. Nadia's face etched in worry when he raised his head up, "is something wrong?" she asked worriedly,

Idris looked down again before turning his face to her, "Nadia..." he sighed, "I don't know how I will break this to you" his said with sadness swirling in his eyes, "yo-, don't worry let's go inside".

Idris led Nadia towards the interior of the house, he pushed a button on the wall in the living room, causing it to part open. Nadia left her mouth agape watching how concrete wall turned into a passageway. She was using her mind to walk as they ambulated down the stairs because the place was pitch dark. They got to a door which Idris pushed open revealing a room with different electronic gadget. Nadia watched the room in admiration, "what is this place" she mouthed,

Idris drew a seat for her and himself, "I don't know how to start this" he said when they were both seated, "Abdallah isn't who you think he's" he intertwined his fingers bringing it between his laps,

"which Abdallah, who?" she scrunched her face confused, Idris sighed shaking his head before he continued,

"I've been working on finding those who ended our family, I think I've found the person, the main person" he palmed his face raising his cheeks up, Nadia remained silent, she didn't like where the conversation was heading to, "Abdallah your husband-" he declared gauging her reaction, "he ended our family, he did it" Idris cried,

"what are you talking about" Nadia shook her head in denial, "no, no, that's not possible, there must be a mistake somewhere" she refuted standing from the chair she was seated causing it to fall back with a loud thud, "I can't believe that" she quavered, "I know Abdallah wasn't that good at first, but he can never, never!" she screamed, "there must be a mistake somewhere" she turned her gaze towards Idris, "recheck it" she said holding Idris arms tightly "please",

"Nadia" he called out, "get a grip of yourself" he held her body shaking her, "there's nothing to recheck Nadia, that's the truth" he declared pitifully. He hated the state his sister was in, he would have hidden it from her if it's possible, but this was just too much that it can't be kept a secret. "I'm sorry this had to happen"

"ya Idris I promise you Abdallah can't do that, there must be a mistake" she cried getting on her knees,

"I'm sorry Nadia, but I've handed the case over to the police, I'm sorry you have to suffer like this" he crouched down to embrace her sobbing figure,

"can you show me at least an evidence that shows Abdallah did that?" she asked gesturing with her index finger,

"okay I'll" Idris said standing from his position. He switched one of the computers on, he used the mouse to flick through files before stopping at a particular one, "come and see this",

Nadia dusted her hands together before going over to his direction, she pressed her eyes on the screen. It was a video of the gate of a house, but wait that was their house, the house she lived in before the incident. She pressed her face more when she saw a man approaching the gate. He wore a red shirt and a black trouser. Idris paused the video when the man looked up, he zoomed it in to see the man more clearly, and right there standing in the video was no one other than Abdallah.

Nadia eyes widened in horror as she stared at him, she shook her head in dismay. Idris unpaused the video, Abdallah looked up one last time before jumping the fence of the house, then the video ended.

"This video was taken some minutes before the bomb exploded" Idris declared, "Abdallah was the last person to enter the house, after he did the bomb exploded" Idris placed his hands on the table arching his back, "he's alive, and every other person burnt down. A pistol was found in front of the house, when forensics did research on it, the fingerprint it carried was that of Abdallah".

Even though the evidence she has just seen was enough for her to believe Abdallah was the killer, but her mind just couldn't believe it. She has full trust that everything is a mistake, or maybe there is more to it, she knows Abdallah can never hurt any human, so he must not be punished for what he didn't do.

"The police might arrest him tomorrow" Idris said jerking Nadia out of her thought, "mum, dad and Noor will finally get justice",

Assuming she heard Abdallah did something like this 2 to 3 weeks back, she'd have believed immediately without doubt, but now she can't, she's so sure of what Abdallah could do, she needed to talk to him as soon as possible, "can you please take me back home" she turned to Idris,

"okay" he replied, "be careful".

She didn't reply because she knew Abdallah can never do anything to hurt her.

@zinat Abdulkadir ✍️