I shook my head, fighting for breath. Then Tshabina’s hand clutched mine, warm and steady. I looked at her, and with sudden force she pulled me up.
She gave me what I’d begged for.
We ran.
It’s okay to be tired. It’s alright to rest, Zioh. Because when you’re weary, I’ll be the strong one. I’ll carry you, and we’ll walk forward together.Red. 32.
Hand in hand, we fled. Out of the dining room. Out of this hell.
I glanced back, Zaeem’s eyes tracking Tshabina and me, then Cindy screaming my name. Tsabinu’s gaze was heavywith meaning as he watched us go. Cindy tore free of Zeraiah and lunged after us, but she stumbled.
Zaeem. He’d tripped her.
His glare burned into her, dark and threatening, promising dire consequences. Cindy screamed louder, her voice carrying even as we fled. “You’ve got power, Zaeem! You could destroy me, but you don’t. Why?! Because you know I have both of your brothers’ keys. Upset me, and I’ll ruin them both—”
Zaeem cursed.
Her voice rose higher, shrieking after us. “Tshabina, you’re a fucking slag! You’ll regret it. You all will regret it!!!”
48
Tshabina
Driving us further away, I put as much distance as possible between his house and the chaos we’d left behind.
I pulled Zioh into his car and drove around Jakarta’s streets with no destination in mind. My eyes darted to him, but he sat like a statue, eyes blank as he stared straight ahead.
I had no idea where to go. Neither of us had spoken a word, and my thoughts scattered in every direction.
Cindy was a shadow of old rumors, a name linked to Zioh years ago. But after what I’d seen—the way they all acted around her, the bracelet on her wrist—I knew something had happened.
I wanted to ask Zioh to tell me. But every time I turned, I found his empty stare, as though the real Zioh wasn’t there anymore, leaving just a hollow shell in his place.
My heart pounded in a way that didn’t feel right, and heat stung my eyes. A quiet war raged inside me until I couldn’t tell which was stronger.
My fear for him, or the pain that was clawing back up in me.
I had seen her wearing something of ours. Heard her speak of the promises Zioh once had given me. I wanted to scream, to claw my way out of this pit of misery, but then I turned and met his eyes.
And in that moment, I knew… I couldn’t leave him.
I remembered how Zioh stayed by my side. When I was sick, when I was alone, he was willing to stay, to be there for me, to look after me, to take care of me.
Even when he sent me that text earlier—wasn’t that the reason I was still here? That his wreckage and his words from the paststillmeant something.
That my Zioh… was still there.
The silence finally broke when his hoarse voice cracked the air. “I don’t know, Tshabina,” he rasped.
I turned to him, but his eyes remained fixed forward. “I don’t know if it’s true,” he whispered, interlocking his fingers and squeezing them until his knuckles turned white.
His hollow eyes finally met mine, and the ache in my chest deepened a thousandfold. “What should I do?” His voice trembled, and he shook his head. “I… can’t… I…” Zioh paused. “I don’t know what’s real and what’s fake, Tshabina…”
What did that mean?
What happened to you, Zioh…?
I wanted to ask the question, but instead, I sat, forcing myself to calm down. Letting him speak, letting him lean on me. Even as my own tears slipped down my cheeks.
