MY HUSBAND’S BROTHER

CAN YOU PLEASE EAT?

The clouds are arranged in a neat and orderly formation, scattering across the blue sky, contentedly drifting wherever they please. Although the morning sun has the potential to bring another hot day like yesterday, these beautiful, fluffy white clouds reflect the heat out into space. The air feels more relaxed than before, and the colors of the surroundings are less vibrant, but there is no sign of rain.

Maizah sits alone in the living room, lost in deep thoughts and staring at the space around her. She hears footsteps approaching from behind, but she's too bored to look at the person. Maizah has been sitting alone for a while now, watching people come and go, ignoring her presence. While she enjoys the quiet and solitude, she feels useless and unsure of what to do next. She's uncomfortable with change and doesn't know where to go or what to do next.

The only thing keeping her insane is creating fake scenarios in her head.

Amare clears his throat to get Maizah's attention. She slowly turns to his side, looking at him with the corner of her eye. He has a tray in his hand; he puts it on the table beside her.

"I made you some snacks. Well, the chef made it, but I decided to bring it to you since I was already heading this way." He explains, but Maizah looks at him confused.

"The chef says you didn't eat dinner, so he made you this." He says, gesturing at the tray. It's a burger with sweet potato tots on the side, and one of the toppings on the burger is sliced dill pickles. Maizah hates pickles; it doesn't matter what sauce it is dipped into, she hates it.

"Thank you. But when I'm hungry, I will make something to eat by myself."

"There's no need. The food is already here." He says, pushing the tray towards Maizah.

Maizah pushes it back to him, "I don't want it. You can eat it yourself." She says, fixating her eyes back where she was looking, but she could still feel Amare's presence behind her; she couldn't focus on thinking about the fight she had on her mind as an assassin before Amare interrupted her, and damn, she was winning the battle.

"Can you please eat?." Says Amare, almost sounding like he's begging.

Yes, he's begging; one of the things he noticed is that his dear wife isn't eating well. At first, he thought it was because she was in a new place and maybe she was not comfortable, but as weeks passed, his dear wife still hadn't changed her eating habits,

The poor man is worried about waking up one day with a corpse beside him due to starvation.

"No." Maizah stands by her decision.

"Why?"

"I don't like pickles." She mutters, and only her aunt can be blamed for that.

Her Aunt would slice cucumbers, mix them in a jar with water, vinegar, and seasonings, and let them sit until they tasted pickled! But they never did; the taste was awful for Maizah, so she stopped eating them ever since.

"You don't like what?" Amare asks

"I don't like pickles." She answers softly but loud enough for Amare to hear him.

"I didn't know you were a picky eater. Otherwise, if I knew, I wouldn't have bothered myself by making this." Amare replied while positioning the burger in his mouth before taking an angry big bite.

"You said the chef made it."

"I lied." He replies, huffing and chewing the burger that he spent his precious time preparing for someone who didn't even act like she would eat it or show signs that she was at least grateful to him for being so thoughtful.

Like two witches, Rebecca and Fatima are both snooping at Amare and Maizah's conversations, but they can't hear what they are saying.

Rebecca knows it's not going well for his son; he cannot keep the farm girl busy, and how long will it take for her to start snooping her nose where it doesn't belong?

Fatima is watching Rebecca's reaction with an amused smile on her face.

Fatima chuckles, "You seem quite interested in your son's marriage. Is there something you want to share with me?" She says, making a puppy face.

Rebecca ignores her reaction, "I'm just worried about him; it's nothing much. Don't break your brain trying to come up with wrong assumptions." she replies, silently greeting her teeth in fury.

Fatima scoffs, not buying her answer, "Mm, I wasn't thinking about anything other than inviting my nephew-in-law for tea in the garden." She replies, smirking at Rebecca's confused face.

"What do you want with her?"

"I just want to give her marriage advice, nothing much; you're welcome to join."

Rebecca inhales deeply. Just the thought of Fatima conversing with Maizah makes her uneasy; what will they be talking about? She wants to be there, yet at the same time, she doesn't want to seem like she's keeping an eye on Maizah.

"I will pass. Why do you want to give her marriage advice?" Rebecca asks.

Fatima smiles brightly. "Because I know about marriage more than you, why shouldn't it be me?"

Rebecca looks at Fatima from head to toe, "Fatima, you have been married twice, wait, no..three times, and I'm sure you're on your fourth marriage, so what advice can you give her when you can't keep your marriage(s)?"

Fatima forces a smile that doesn't reflect her genuine emotions. She's hurt but she doesn't want to give the witch the satisfaction of seeing her hurt by her words.

They have been playing this cat-and-mouse game for as long as they can remember, and it's Rebecca's fault for thinking she's better than everyone. Well, she knows she's better than anyone.

"Just because your parents were able to tie my brother forcefully to you doesn't mean anyone else would have accepted that, so you know nothing about marriage, you controlling freak," Fatima replies.

Rebecca scoffs, "Says a woman whose husband(s) divorced her because she's a crazy and controlling freak." her response is filled with anger as she glares at Fatima."

Fatima's face turns red, and her body posture becomes tense. "At least once, I was exactly what they wanted; sadly, I can't say the same for you. Even if you were a p********e, you would have starved to death."

Rebecca's eyes twitch with anger as she thinks of a comeback, but before she can say anything, her assistant shows up with a bright smile, holding an iPad. But the assistant stops in her tracks as both of the women glare at her.

Rebecca walks away in a huff, with her assistant following closely behind.

Fatima walks over to where Maizah and Amare are seated in silence.

"isn't such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Says Fatima, initiating a conversation.

Maizah looks up at her and then looks outside. Yes, it's a beautiful day, but Maizah doesn't know whether to answer her or let Amare do the talking since Fatima will probably just laugh at her...again.

Thankfully, Amare responds, "Yes, it is."

"Amare, my love, can you please lend me Maizah for a few minutes... No, for an hour at most."

Amare gazes at Maizah, who meets his eyes with a look of terror.

Amare grins, "You don't have to ask me, Auntie. I am certain that Maizah is capable of speaking up for herself."

Fatima chuckles, "Don't you remember the last time when you didn't see her for a few hours? You ordered everyone in this house to search for your non-missing wife. I don't want that to happen again."

Amare groans in response. He was worried, and anyone in his position would have also been anxious, right?

Fatima focuses her attention on Maizah, "Maizah, would you be a dear and help me with cleansing?"

Puzzlement writes itself across Maizah's face. "I'm..sure... I would love to." She hesitantly answers.

Fatima claps her hands in excitement. "Great, let's go." She says, waiting for Maizah to get up, and a few seconds later, they both disappear upstairs into Fatima's room.

Amare is left snickering behind. He knows Fatima doesn't mean harm to Maizah since he once helped his aunt, but Maizah will have to endure the harmful effects of excessive smoke from Fatima's room, and that smoke can not be taken lightly. It can cause severe irritation to the lungs, nose, throat, and eyes, making breathing difficult and functioning normally.

She will undoubtedly feel lost, confused, and disoriented, as if her mind is inexplicably transported to a different dimension. She won't be able to control her tears and will cry as if her life depended on it.

She will also be in and out of consciousness and slowly loses her mind as Fatima keeps on chanting incantations like she's summoning an actual demon, but at least Amare didn't die. So, it is inevitable that Maizah will also survive.

"Aura cleansing is a process that requires strength and determination." Those were Fatima's words when Amare cried during the cleansing.