Chapter 20: "From the Sidelines"

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First written on: February 6, 2021

Salma fumbled with her fingers nervously. Her father shuffled through the files and papers on his desk. Glancing at his somber expressions once again, Salma braced herself.

"Dad?" she said quietly, but in the grim silence of his office, her voice sounded too loud. "Are you angry?"

Her father paused his movements and looked up. Salma felt her stomach twist into a painful knot.

"Are you upset with me over . . ." Salma trailed off, chewing on the inside of her lips, feeling anxious. "You know."

Her father let out a breath, leaning against his table. He looked exhausted. Salma's pressed her toes into his shoes.

"I wish I were," he said softly. "That would have been easier than what I feel right now, but I can't be mad."

Salma swallowed to ease the discomfort in her throat.

"I'm worried," he continued. "I'm scared sick of your need to help, to rescue, to protect."

"Aren't you doing the same all the time?" Salma replied, her voice thick with tears.

Her father sighed in exasperation, turning away from her. Salma felt her heart stab.

"It's my job, Sally!" he cried. "I do it because it's my job, and I'm worried because you won't let me do it."

Salma blinked back tears.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice quivering. She felt scared as well as embarrassed. "I didn't know what to do. Burak Kaka and Spogmae --"

"I understand your situation, which is exactly why I am not angry," her father said. "I know things went a certain way and you were forced to make decisions. And that's terrifying to think of. Not because you're not capable but because I want you safe and happy," her father said earnestly. "But next time, let me deal with it when I am in the room."

Salma chewed on her inner cheeks. So he was not mad that she had taken matter into her own hands when the situation asked for it but mad that she had not let him deal with the danger once he was back in the picture. Salma inhaled a deep breath. She did not quite feel so guilty about doing that. If her father wanted her to let him do the protecting, so did she. She did not want anyone getting hurt for her sake. However, understanding his agitation just because, Salma nodded her compliance.

"So what now?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Her father stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"I'm pulling strings in the Loya Jirga," he said. "This attack will be making headlines in the local papers tomorrow. The masses will be informed that Agha Gul threatened you with your brother's life to force you to marry his grandson, then, he humiliated you by making you ride with the guards."

"Will they believe it?" Salma asked.

Mr. Rahman shrugged.

"They might," he replied. "Thing is, with the people in our ranks raising the questions and hurling accusations, Agha Gul will be engaged in explaining himself to the public. They know he's been to the U.S. and cops down here are already giving statements on what happened on Summer street Avenue. With the media in Sthooriya covering these interlinked events, Agha Gul might have to reconsider his current strategy of open threats and blackmails."

Salma thought about her father's game plan. It seemed like a solid counter.

"What about the cops?" she asked, finding a problem.

"Zayn was clever enough to send an anonymous tip to the police," her father said.

Another knot twisted itself in Salma's gut. With her worrying over how upset her father might have been, Salma had, for a while, forgotten about her other problem, namely Zayn.

"So we're just feeding them information to lead them away from us," her father continued, unaware of her mental turmoil. "They'll be solving this case for a long time now. We'll let them know you're home safe and sound. A stranger is supposed to have managed to rescue you from the accident and foiled the kidnapping attempt. They have the car."

Salma nodded. Clever!

"So what am I to tell them when they come around to interrogate me?" Salma asked.

"We'll go over that soon," her father replied. "Once we can make sure whatever you're going to tell them is not going to create problems for us later, you'll know your story to quote."

A knock on the door alerted them.

"Come in!" the Green Coat called sharply. Salma was amazed how quick and starkly her father's voice and demeanor changed from fatherly to a figure of authority.

"Sir," a secretary said shuffling into the room with firm, soldier-like steps. "The recovered item."

Mr. Rahman nodded and the man placed a small package on the table. The man took his leave. Mr. Rahman reached for said 'recovered item'. He ripped it open and extended whatever was inside, to Salma

Salma frowned, reaching for it. Her eyebrows shot up in recognition.

"My phone?!" she said surprised.

"Yeah, they recovered it from Gul Nar, along with papers that the Tor Guls had forged for you," her father replied, tossing the empty package into the trash can.

"You guys went after her?"

"Of course," he said simply.

Salma blinked in confusion.

"See that's how the story went," Mr. Rahman explained. "The tech guys down here were tracking your phone. As it started heading towards the airport from the hospital while Toryal kept me busy over other things, I was pinged. Toryal left to attend to his business - to escort you with the other sandagaan to the airport. We split into two teams; one followed him, and the other headed to the airport. I went to the airport to rescue you, under the guise of seeing you off, only to find out you were not there. Gul Nar was taken into custody and searched. We found your phone. Ghamey coughed up what had happened long before I had raised my fist. Although a terrifying instant, the whole situation came in handy later. Catching them red-handed means I can aggressively reject Agha Gul's match as retaliation for how they had dishonored us and tormented you.

"Xama bachanggay o ghairat!" her father continued, sounding almost as angry as he might have been when he had found out Salma was not in the airport. "They know well not to mess with me after they have provoked me like that!"

Salma felt her heart picking up pace just hearing her dad explosive declaration. She knew she was safe so long as this shield of hers was intact.

"The other team," she began, "they found out about me?"

"A bit too late though," her father replied. "They had to follow at a distance and subtly so Toryal would not get suspicious. They were only keeping an eye on that kalankaar. They did not expect him to actually take over the task of escorting you. By the time they caught up with the fact that you were with him and told me, the drama down there was already happening. No one knew Zayn was going to hit it up like that."

While her stomach twisted in an anxious knot at the mention of his name, Salma thought she had imagined a small smile playing on her father's lips.

"What?" Her brow furrowed.

"Nothing," he said, still looking amused. "I'm just glad he did what he did. It knocked Toryal right off his --"

"Dad," Salma cut in. "He could have died!"

"As he found out himself," Mr. Rahman said. "And a lot of other things could have gone wrong too, but for now it didn't. It worked in our favor."

"Dad --"

"I will be having a very strong-worded discussion with him about it," he quickly reassured. "I'll be warning him against any such adventures in the future. As I warn you against it."

He looked at Salma pointedly, but she was suddenly very interested in the view outside the large window.

"However, you can't hold against me the fact that what I thought was a total mess-up, isn't so bad right now," he said. Salma turned to him, surprised. Her father held her gaze earnestly. "I wish I could have found a better man for you, Sally. Someone you liked and respected, but I am relieved that the one you have right now is giving you the protection you need and that he values you enough to let all hell break loose on earth when you're in trouble."

***

March 6, 2021

Salma walked through the corridors deep in thought.

"He values you enough to let all hell break loose on earth when you're in trouble."

Salma halted at the end of the corridor. Her eyes flicking left and right, wondering which way to go.

"He values you enough. . ."

Yes, he seemed to value her enough when she was in trouble, Salma thought, but every time the trouble was dealt with, he became the trouble.

Salma chose to turn right.

In the forest. After the car chase. And up on the roof that night, Salma casually counted the big events in which she had been in a life and death situation, and Zayn had helped to the point of risking his life, and then rewarded himself by taking privileges with her.

Salma shuddered and cringed.

He had treated her like an object. He owned it. So he protected it and once protected, he deemed it his absolute right to use it for his pleas--

"Ugh!" Salma grimaced, disgusted by her line of thoughts. "What are you thinking?!" she chastised the voice in her head. "I'm not an it! I can't be owned. Stop talking sh--"

Salma clamped her mouth shut to see a Green Coat hurrying in the opposite direction. The taunting voice in her head grabbed the opportunity to grate on her nerves.

But does he think the same?

The bundle of nerves in her gut gave a painful pang. Did he?

"Bachey," the passing Green Coat said with a smile and a quick nod of acknowledgement.

Salma snapped out of her mental discussion.

"Assalam o alaikom Kaka," Salma replied promptly, but the stranger was already gone with the wind.

Did he reply? Salma pursed her lips. Better yet, did he even hear me?

"He probably didn't," she muttered to herself.

She had just taken a few more steps when she heard voices and footsteps ahead. Salma figured more of her father's colleagues and subordinates were headed her way. Spogmae might be with them and, or Burak Kaka. May be she could ask them if either of them were stupid enough to misread her and tell her father she liked Zayn?

"No." Salma shook her head and swiftly turned on her heels in the opposite direction.

As if either Burak or Spogmae would be able to hear her thoughts if she met them, Salma hurried off to put as much distance between herself and the approaching Green Coats as possible. If they saw her, they would stop her.

Without realising, Salma had started racing towards the corridor that she had chosen to avoid earlier. It was only when she saw the nurses in their white coats did she realize she was in the health unit. The medical officials either muttered a quick salam to her in the passing, or nodded their acknowledgement with a smile as they passed each other by.

"May I help you?" a nurse grinned at her, looking thrilled to be of service. Salma realized she was the one who had helped her with her wrist braces.

"Yeah . . . I um. . .

Salma looked around, trying to think of a good enough reason why she was there.

Oh well, her stomach sank, nodding and smiling at another doctor who had made eye contact while attending a phone call. Can't turn around now . . .

"Is it your wrist brace?" the nurse asked, frowning at her bandaged hands with concern.

Salma followed her gaze.

"Oh no!" she quickly reassured her. "I am absolutely comfortable. The pain is barely there anymore. Thank you so much for your care."

The nurse kept looking at her expectantly.

"Right," Salma muttered, realising she was still waiting for a reason for her sudden visit to the Health Unit. How would 'I just fancy a stroll through these chlorine-stinking hallways' sound?

Probably wrong.

Her mouth talked before her brain could catch up.

"I wanted to pay Zayn a visit."

What?

"What's his room number again?"

Her brain facepalmed.

The rest of the body caught up with what she had said, and when it did, it was already too late. The nurse had told her the directions. Frozen to a shell-shocked still on the inside, Salma forced a smile to the nurse and pulled herself to turn around.

Her heart thudded like a complete maniac, pleading with her to walk out of the health unit. Her breathing became erratic and her skin crawled.

What was she thinking?

Salma realized she was still glued to the spot when a medic tried to pass by.

"Excuse me," his quiet voice reached her through the haze in her mind. The world was still spinning around her.

"Sorry," Salma barely muttered, stepping out of the way.

She had to move, she told herself. She did not want the nurse or anyone else to get suspicious of her mental state. Hyperventilating was not an option right now.

Taking in a deep breath, Salma tried to relax her painfully tensed muscles. She closed her eyes and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other in the direction of Zayn's room.

You had to do this anyway, she kept telling herself, fighting against the invisible force that was pushing her away from Zayn's room. You planned on visiting him to thank him for putting his butt on the line. Just get over with it.

Taking another breath, Salma turned the last corner. The corridor was dark, with only one room occupied. Her heart pulsed, shooting a net of anxiety around her body, catching her like a fish.

Light flooded through the window in Zayn's room. Salma figured he was awake as she neared his door. She heard voices. Halting, Salma stretched on her toes to take a peek into the room.

"You fool no one," Zayn said to someone she could not see. He seemed pale and weak due to the blood loss and annoyed because of --

A rumbling chuckle met her ears. Frowning, Salma craned her neck a little to see better.

"What on earth?" she whispered, surprised to see Burak Kaka standing next to the bedside table. He placed an empty glass on the table and turned around to face Zayn.

"With a fool already." He smirked. "What's left to fool?"

Zayn glared at him.

"However," Burak began as he paced towards the chair and perched on the back rest, keeping a foot on the seat, "I've encountered enough fools to know never to underestimate them." He fixed Zayn with a piercing stare. "I'll have you know, as a man called the 'Lightning Storm' if I find the slightest clue that you're just a well-placed tool from Toryal Gul's shed of trickery, you would not know what hit you!"

Zayn laughed.

"You're good," he said. "You almost have me convinced that I am the bad guy here." His glare returned. "Bee may fall for your mind games but you'll have to try a little harder with me, Mr. Storm."

"Are you calling her stupid?" Burak asked, his eyes narrowed.

"If her innocence is stupidity to you . . ?" Zayn shrugged.

"Her innocence is treasure to me," Burak replied promptly, "and I'll protect it at any cost!"

Zayn's demeanor changed. His body tensed and jaw clenched. Salma knew that posture. He had taken if often when she was around other men.

"Whatever you may think she means to you," Zayn seethed. "You have no idea how much I love her and what I'm willing to do for her."

It was Burak Kaka's turn to laugh. His was more impressive. It was a booming laugh that literally rumbled off the walls of the room.

"You really want to square off against me?" Burak Kaka quirked a brow. He raised his knee and tapped it twice. "Right here. She'd perch right here and I'd feed her with my hands. I've protected her when she couldn't even say her words right. My arms were her refuge when she was scared and lonely and my shoulders the pillow she dreamt on. She doesn't call me 'Kaka' for nothing. I earned it!"

Salma felt her heart swell with emotions for the Green Coat. Her eyes welled up. Sniffing, she blinked back the tears. If it were permissible, she would have given Burak Kaka a big bear hug for everything that he had done for her. He was so pure and selfless.

Salma could not remember most of it, but she knew Burak Kaka had protected her when she had no one else to take care of her. He had been her guardian angel since before she could remember.

"You've earned it, doesn't mean you won't sell it," Zayn returned. "You brought her back home when you knew she would be blackmailed into compliance."

"And therefore I am the traitor?" Burak Kaka scoffed. "Fair enough. We won't talk about the guy playing hero, jeopardising a safe rescue and risking her life with fatal accidents and flying bullets."

"Right, and I just got myself shot to be more believable."

"A conveniently non-fatal shot?" Burak shrugged.

"You can spin it anyway you want," Zayn returned, "But between the two of us, it's ample clear who wanted Bee safe, and who wanted her in that old fart's claws!"

"Mhm" Burak replied, amused. "You sound very passionate. Almost reminds me of another time when you had wanted her safe. It's a shame your definition of safe doesn't include safe from harassment and mental abuse."

Salma stiffened. Zayn, too, seemed to have become attentive to the meaning behind those words.

"It was you that night," he said quietly as if he had suspected it all along, his gaze firmly trained on Burak.

"Surprise, surprise!" Burak Kaka grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"You protect her."

"All the time," Burak returned, his jaw set, his tone hard. There was a bit of arrogance in his tone, a hint of pride that he was Salma's personal security guard.

Salma, on the other hand, was too shocked by the revelation to function that he was there that night. She just blinked.

"Almost all the time," Burak Kaka corrected himself, sounding annoyed. "I am horribly reminded of when I wrongly trusted someone else to do it in my stead!" His voice had taken a dangerous tone and his piercing eyes were shooting flames. "Do you remember?"

Zayn said nothing.

"You said you would keep her safe," Burak Kaka continued. "You fought by my side against those bastards. I trusted you to protect her that night!"

The night flashed before Salma's eyes. She backed away from the window, stunned. Burak Kaka was there that night? He was a witness to the attack. By the thugs? And Zayn? Salma let out a shaky breath. A ripple shook her to the core. She shifted her gaze back to the Green Coat.

"You!" He breathed the word out, like a dragon breath fire. "Are a living, breathing example of one of my mistakes!"

That deep, rumbling tone jogged her memory. Salma knew she had heard it that night. She was blindfolded, gaged and tied but there was no mistaking it. She remembered it clearly.

"Quick! Take her away!" He had yelled at Zayn after picking her up so she wouldn't get trampled on and pushed her towards him.

Salma shook her head. How was she stupid enough to think his voice was familiar because she had heard him in her childhood?

"I trusted you with her," Burak Kaka continued, "and what did you do when I let you take her away?"

"He disarmed the two men within seconds before taking them down," Zayn had told her on the roof that night. "He told me to take you away when I tried to help him out."

"You fell upon her like a wild beast the first chance you got, and now you have the nerve to question my loyalties!" his voice shook due to the rage he was trying to suppress.

"If you care for her so much!" Zayn returned, equally angrily. "Why didn't you intervene?! Where were you when I was 'falling upon her like a wild beast'? Standing by door? Feeding off of our pain?"

"I give two shits about your pain," Burak Kaka was quick to correct him. "Hers I would kill for. You're lucky I was stupid enough to trust you to keep her safe and left to deal with the bodies. Had I had an inkling of your predatory, perverted ass, I would have packed you with them in the trunk of my car."

Salma took in a shaky breath. How different would things have been had Burak Kaka not trusted Zayn with her safety.

"I made a mistake," Zayn replied. "I let my fears consume me and made the gravest mistake of my life. If I have to, I'll spend the rest of my life correcting the wrong that I committed, and if it includes me acting as a shield against any hound that wants her harm, then I will. I hope for her sake that you aren't the one I have square off against. She trusts you."

Burak Kaka smiled.

"Her trust. . . A privilege that you don't have," he taunted Zayn. "I'm surprised Atif Lala went with you for Salma. Had he followed my advice, you'd be rotting in a very tiny cell at best."

Salma's brow furrowed. So it wasn't him who had told her father that she liked Zayn. In fact, it seemed like he was strongly against the idea. Why would her father go for Zayn then? Could Spogmae have misreported? Or some other Green Coat?

Or was Toryal telling the truth about your father playing you for a pawn? Her snarky subconscious suggested.

Salma quickly dismissed that obscene suggestion.

"You must be pretty miserable right now," Zayn retorted.

"For whatever reason that Atif Lala chose you for her," Burak continued, ignoring Zayn's jibe, "I hope you prove his judgment about you right. Because otherwise, a word from her is all it'll take and I'll give you that V.I.P treatment that I'm having a hard time holding myself against."

He got up from his seat.

"Be careful," he advised. "I would not want to a pick fight with me."

Flashing Zayn another smile, he raised his hand in a wave and headed towards the door. Before Salma could choose between booking herself out and acting like she had just arrived, Burak Kaka stepped out of the room. He stilled in his step upon seeing her there.

Author's Note

There you go. One mystery resolved. Burak was the guy that helped protect Salma the night she was attacked.

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