Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Papers were scattered around her as she sat on the bed reading one by one the letters on the paper she was holding. Rakia sighed loudly and lowered the list from her face by shaking it roughly.

“Why are there so many guests?” she muttered then looked at the papers scattered around her and shuffled them with stress. He went to her laptop. Typing in the names she could remember from her life and from the list she had read.

“It’s just a charade wedding between me and Dashtan why should I invite so many people? He must not have invited many people either,” Rakia grumbled as her fingers nimbly typed on her laptop keyboard. Then her other self said something that made her stop typing.

“But they believe that if you get married, you and Dashtan will really get married, for them this is not an act.”

Upon hearing that Rakia hit her desk rather hard then got up and said, “That’s enough!” she snapped at the sentence she had just heard from her mind. She grabbed her cardigan from the hanger, put it on and headed out. She descended the stairs with noisy steps making Adeline who had just entered from the side garden frown.

“Where are you going?” asked Adeline

“Get some air,” Rakia said shortly, heading to the key cabinet at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ma, borrow you’re car,” she said as she held the car keys in front of her face towards Adeline, she nodded with a confused face but didn’t want to ask. Rakia went at lightning speed like a flash mutant to her mother’s car. She checked the dashboard and found a fifty dollar bill there. Rakia nodded as she closed the dashboard and started the engine then left the garage.

She thought of a place, but she didn’t know where, sosheactivated the car’s GPS. But she still didn’t know where she was going, the office allowed her to be off work for a week, starting from today for her wedding. But she felt stressed by the vacation. Like today, she finally decided to buy some drinks and snacks. After buying drinks and snacks, she drove her car to Merlion Park and parked somewhere. She intended to get out but after thinking about it, she decided to hang out in the car by just opening the windshield where she was sitting and adjusting the seat to the most comfortable position possible. She grabbed the boba milk tea drink she bought, tore off the paper straw wrapper and unconsciously threw it out of the car window. She smiled at the delicious taste of the drink, after her throat was wet enough and her brain cool enough from the drink, she put it in the drink holder near the gearshift and moved on to the snacks she bought. A grilled sausage and a large mozzarella corndog. Rakia ate while nodding because the food tasted good. I don’t know how long she brooded in the car with all her thoughts. She just wanted some time alone before starting this crazy wedding. After finishing her corndog and devouring half of her grilled sausage she was startled by someone suddenly standing next to her car door.

“Good Morning, Miss, I gave you a ticket,” said the man who was a policeman, Rakia was surprised, she wiped her hands with a tissue and took a few straws from her corndog.

“What did I do wrong, sir?” asked Rakia confused. The man then bent down and picked up the straw wrapper that he had thrown away carelessly. Rakia tapped her forehead with her eyes closed and a deep sense of guilt.

“Really? Oh, God... No new problems,” Rakia muttered in her mind. She stared at the straw wrapper with a gloomy look. The policeman quickly wrote out the ticket and gave it to Rakia. When the woman read the fine, she was shocked again. The amount of 300 dollars gave her an adrenaline rush.

“I also noted that your parking time is almost two hours. You can pay it all at once and come to the police station to report that you have paid the fine, don’t forget to bring your proof of payment,” explained the policeman, Rakia immediately panicked. Her savings would run out to pay for parking and fines.

“But, sir, can’t I get a waiver? My trash is also small, so the fine can be cheaper.” Rakia broke all the sinews of shame inside her to say that. The policeman frowned briefly while looking at Rakia then sighed loudly.

“Sorry, Miss, this is the rule in this country, no matter how big or small your trash is, you still have to pay a certain amount of fine.”

Rakia’s heart sank. She turned away from the policeman and opened the dashboard of the car, only ten dollars remained there. Her face grew grim.

“What’s going on, sir?” asked someone who immediately turned Rakia’s attention to the situation outside her car. Dashtan was standing by the policeman’s side.

“Sorry, sir, this lady is in violation for littering and has not paid the parking fee.”

Dashtan glanced at Rakia who stared at her for a moment then looked down in shame, the woman buried her face into the car.

“Well, sir, I’ll accompany her to take care of the fine,” Dashtan said finally then the policeman left after politely saying goodbye. Dashtan walked over to Rakia’s open windshield. She was staring half-empty at the steering wheel of her car biting her lower lip, a look of shame and regret on her face.

“Where’s the ticket?” asked Dashtan, waking Rakia from her self-pity. The woman handed the paper to Dashtan without looking at the man’s face.

“You better go home, we need to talk I’ll settle this first and also your parking fee,” Dashtan said looking at Rakia with a sympathetic look then walked away to her car. Rakia let out a long sigh her face became even more sullen she hit the steering wheel of the car hard several times to vent the emotions that embraced her at this time. After feeling somewhat calm, she obeyed Dashtan’s wish to go home immediately.

Upon arriving home, he first finished his half-eaten grilled sausage before getting out of the car and drinking his boba milk tea. After that he got out of the car with all his trash and threw it into the trash can near the entrance of the house.

“Where have you been? Dashtan came here to pick you up,” Adeline snapped with a worried frown on her face. Rakia looked down and sighed loudly.

“I’m from-“

“Well, it’s Dashtan,” said Adeline, who looked toward the main door of her house and found Dashtan there. Rakia immediately turned to the figure who had just arrived. The woman closed her eyes and tried not to look grim and cold.

“You guys talk,” Adeline said then left the two people who were initially silent.

“We have somewhere to be,” said Dashtan who was currently standing behind Rakia. The woman only gave a small nod.

“I’m going to change my clothes,” Rakia muttered then left Dashtan who looked confused by her attitude. She leaned against the closed door of her room and stared at the papers that were still scattered on her bed. She looked down and wanted to cry but she held it back, she remembered Dashtan waiting for her to go somewhere. After changing her clothes she rushed downstairs and met Dashtan.

They were silent on the way. Dashtan occasionally turned to Rakia who was staring at the highway through the window beside her.

“Everything okay?” Dashtan broke the silence between them. Rakia nodded without turning to the man. The man knew something was wrong with the woman, and he sighed loudly, indicating he was getting impatient with Rakia’s silence.

“Rakia... Don’t keep your problems to yourself, it can-“

“Tell me about yourself,” Rakia cut in quickly which made Dashtan surprised at the topic of discussion that the woman raised.

“Why do you want to know?” asked Dashtan with his gaze half focused on the highway and half on his mind.

“In the agreement we don’t have to tell each other-“

“I know,” Rakia cut in quickly, again. She fell silent again and Dashtan felt the atmosphere between them was ominous. It made her a little depressed but she couldn’t decide to continue their conversation. She didn’t want to cross any lines.