Our Space

Chapter 17

"That's gross," Manahil said, looking at a nervous Sami chewing the drawstring of his hoodie.

"What?" He asked, biting down on it. Manahil pointed to the drawstring and Sami dropped it, feeling embarrassed. Sami, his mother and his sister were waiting for his father's arrival.

The past week had been an odd one after Sami's break down. On the outside, not much had really changed. There were a few attempts at bridging the gap between them all but it was going to take time. However, Sami felt a little calmer around his family. More calm than he had felt in a long time.

Yet, waiting for his father was making his usual nerves creep up on him. There was the typical discomfort seeing his father, yet the feeling of uneasiness would multiply with the knowledge that Sami was given a large sum by his father which he wasn't expected to pay back. He wished he could pay it but it would take a long time. The other problem was, he didn't want his father to feel insulted if Sami did try to pay back the money. And he had clearly said Sami didn't need to pay it back.

It was nearing evening when the doorbell rang and Sami's mother rushed to answer the door. Sami observed his mother. She was dressed up today and was wearing, what smelt like, expensive perfume. She walked back in with a big smile on her face and Sami rose along with Manahil.

"Your father's here," Sami's mother said, stepping aside letting the large man enter the room. "I'll take your coat and bring you some juice. You must be tired after your flight. Would you like to rest or should I make you tea? Or do you want a shower first?" She asked all in one go. Again, Sami felt sorry for his mother. She seemed almost desperate. Desperate to be loved. And all his father did was shrug his shoulders.

"I'll just have some water for now and sit here with the kids." Watching the exchange, Sami felt as if Manahil's severe dislike of their father was now seeping into him. Couldn't his father see the effort being put in by Sami's mother to welcome him and even impress him? This wasn't fair! Why hadn't Sami ever taken notice of this before? Probably because he was too busy thinking of himself. This treatment of his mother was unacceptable. Just over a week ago, he thought she was okay with it because she received a good amount of money and that's really what she wanted. It boggled Sami's mind realising how many things he was wrong about.

And it occurred to him, that he and his mother had a lot more in common than he thought they did. Both were craving love and affection, feeling as if they'd been denied it. Even Manahil must have felt the same way. All three, so desperate for affection and instead of fixing their relationships with each other, they sought solace with friends. Sami was no different to any of his family.

"We're not kids anymore. You kind of missed that," One of the two 'kids' said. Shocked eyes turned towards Sami and he froze. Surely that was something that Manahil would have said instead of him. He could feel the burning sensation of embarrassment creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. "I mean er... Nothing. I didn't mean anything." Sami put his drawstring back into his mouth and chewed furiously, hoping that would stop him from saying any more. He didn't see his father's face after the initial shock as the three of them sat down. His gaze was now focused on his hands which he was rubbing together to ease his nerves.

He felt a little nudge and he glanced sideways to see Manahil smiling approvingly at him.

"Hi, dad," She said in a sweet tone which was obviously fake.

"Hey," Their father replied. "So... what have you two been up to? It's been a long time since I've seen you. Especially you, Sami." When Sami didn't reply, Manahil spoke up.