I always thought that the rain could hide my tears . But that night , even the sky seemed to cry with me or maybe it was my mama who became the sky and weeped bitterly as she watched my life , the one she helped made crumpled before her eyes.
As the rain poured aggressively I cried more . Hearing the thunderous roar, my whole body shivered but I still held onto the broken umbrella with my trembling hands. One side bent, the other dripping . I held it tightly even though the water still slipped down my face mixing with the tears I swore I wouldn't let out . My shoes had been soaked by the rain, my heart aching with pain too heavy for my chest to carry .
Only if my mama was still alive . She might have helped me handled it all . She was the bravest of us . She would have told me not to give up . She always said suffering makes one strongger but she didn't live long enough to prove it. She left me with her soft smile and a sickness I didn't yet know was sleeping in side of me, waiting to wake .
Now it's just me , my Papa's debts and a marriage I never wanted. I wanted to run farther but no where to go or hide .
I touched the folded paper in my pocket. A wedding invitation. My name was written there, neat and bold, as if this cruel destiny had always been mine. I hadn't said yes. I hadn't even spoken a word. My father had spoken for me. My silence was bought with the threat of death not for me but for him and my little brothers.
" You will marry him or your father and brothers pays the price." That was what Jibril had said slipping the paper into my pocket . " The deal it's done Elena. Can't you see ! " He screamed with his hands opened in the air like he was asking for help . Yes it was above him and me . He had said it before that they were dangerous men but he also planned with me to elope but on the same night he changed . Like I 'd never knew him before my best friend. I thought he loved me . That he would do anything for me . He said he cared for me . But that was before not now not anymore. " I can't do this ." He said calmly as he saw my eyes filled with tears . I was holding it . Trying to hide it but he saw them . " And you can't let your brothers and you dad die just like that will you ? " He studied me then . " Your mom won't like that would she?" No it wasn't a question. He knew my mom that she 'd stay never run but stay till the end. The tears finally fell. He stepped back.
" I have my family . My mom too you know I can't put them in danger ." He finally turned and walked away . Every step I hear him take tore my heart until he was out of sight and the night swallowed him did I let my broken heart fall. I weeped loudly but no one to comfort me even the heavens weeped with me.
The sound of tires on wet asphalt made me lift my head. Headlights blinded me for a moment, cutting through the darkness. A long black car stopped right in front of me. My chest tightened. My throat went dry.
The door opened. And a male figure stepped out.
A tall man in a black suit, untouched by the storm, as if even the rain didn't dare touch him. His hair was dark, slicked back, his face carved with sharp lines that looked too perfect to be real. But it was his eyes that froze me cold, unreadable, like a deep ocean that could drown anyone who dared to stare too long.
I felt my legs weaken. My fingers clutched the broken umbrella harder, though it could never protect me from him.
I swallowed, trying to find my voice, though it cracked like glass.
"Are you… the man I'm supposed to marry?"
For a long moment, he said nothing but quiet. He only looked at me, as if measuring how much I was worth, how long before I would break. Then, slowly, his lips curved. Not into a smile. No warmth. Just a sharp, dangerous line that made my heart stutter.
"I don't remember giving you a choice," he said.
The rain roared louder in my ears, but it was nothing compared to the storm that had just begun inside me.
His words kept ringing inside of me.
My breath caught, my chest rising and falling too quickly. I wanted to run, but my legs were frozen. It felt like the ground itself wouldn't let me move.
He didn't look at me again. He simply turned and walked back to the car, his steps steady, confident, almost cruel. One of his men appeared out of nowhere, an umbrella in his hand, shielding him from the storm. For me no one moved . No one cared not even Jibril.
He must had told him about me trying to run away . He must have told him where he 'd find me . Because he worked for this same Stranger that's about to take me away from my life. Or did he threatened Jibril. I wonder too about my Papa and my brother's . Did they know too that I was about to leave them to die . At that moment I felt like the most cruel person . If they know will they forgive me .
Finally, I whispered, my voice shaking.
"Why me?" Yeah why had he chose to take me . Why hasn't he taken any of my brother's and at least make one work for him in his business or something. Most especially why hasn't he taken the man who truly owe him.
His head turned slightly, just enough for me to see his sharp profile. His eyes didn't soften.
"Because your family owes me."