the ordeal of being known
: Chapter 26

Layla

When everyone gathered in her room, Celia showed her the poll that was gaining rapid attention and a lot of votes on Twitter.

It was asking why do you think they keep ending up in the hospital?

1 – one of them is a secret drug addict.

2- they’re looking for a medical way to get Jess to speak again.

3- one or all of them are involved in something shady and scary.

4- Celia or Layla is pregnant.

A lot of people were replying and saying that the tweet was disgusting, but those replies were also helping it reach a wider range of people.

Kione was not looking Jess in the eye. Jess had mentioned that Kione had always felt guilty over what happened that day, after all. Jess had gotten shot while he was frantically looking for his best friend.

Layla wanted to scream at every one of them, the details of the shooting were not a secret but when Jess got recruited to the team, and when people learned of his inability to speak they had done some digging, then refocused the light back on that horrible day. Paparazzi harassed Jess for weeks after, trying to get him to talk about it.

Jess looked like the whole week had drained him. Layla moved closer to his seat. She was wearing a jacket, so she took his hand in hers and intertwined them and hid it inside the pocket of her jacket. His eyes softened.

“Well, it’s safe to say people aren’t very nice, but at least I’m not the reason for the controversy this time?” Mateo said.

In seconds, a good number of pillows were thrown at him.

Nabi chuckled. She and Celia were supposed to have been ‘talking business’ when Celia had gotten the call and saw the picture and was flooded with concern. Layla held back from pointing out that Celia was supposed to host Nabi months ago but, the K-pop idol had refused for some reason.

She sensed that this whole thing was going to be a late night topic for their next girl meeting.

Nabi had insisted she come with Celia, and it was coincidentally similar to what had happened the first time they were all in the hospital.

They end up spending a pleasant time together. Layla liked Nabi. She was a calming presence, easy to talk to.

The flight was a few hours later, but Layla had one more thing to do. It was something she should have done a long time ago.

“I want to go visit my grandparents. Will you come with me?” Seeing a protective gleam spark in his eyes, she rushed to their defense. “They’re not like my mom. In fact, I think I’m the one who messed up here. I should have visited them, talked to them. They were always so kind. I could have had a good parental figure if I wasn’t too wary to trust them. I wasted so much time.”

His eyes softened. She loved his eyes, loved how different the look in his eyes was when it was set on her.

The drive was fast. Layla had texted and let them know she’ll be coming with a friend and she knew the house would be empty.

She held on to Jess’s hands the whole way there. Everyone had already gone to the airport, so she couldn’t stay for long.

When they got there, they didn’t have to knock. Her grandfather was already opening the door. Layla rushed to him. It was something she wished she’d done so many years ago.

“Alsalam aleikom,” he said, laughing while she held on to him. She looked up. Her grandmother had a bowl resting on one hip and her hand on the other.

“I,” she replied, letting him go. She was a little taller than him now, her grandmother’s height. It was strange. Everything seemed so much smaller.

Her grandfather stared at Jess with an attempt at distaste, but he was a huge fun of the Lakers. “You’ve been amazing this season,” he reluctantly admitted.

His wife rolled her eyes. “I made food, let’s eat.”

The table was set, Layla missed her grandmother’s fatoush more than anyone could ever imagine, so she dived right in. Jess loved the food as well. Nothing made a middle-eastern grandmother happier than kids with a big appetite. The more they fed you, the more pleased they were.

Her grandfather chattered happily. He talked about her art while his wife watched the redness on Layla’s skin with so much anger. She was always the more reserved one. Layla had never seen anger on her face.

“What happened?” she asked. Layla cleaned the table while she spoke. She explained many things about the mistreatment, about her mother’s abuse and her father letting things happen, about how she pretty much raised Samira, about how she left home. It had always been hard to talk about. She forced the words out of her. She was done hiding how horrible they’d been. She just needed to let everything out, to let it go and move on. She planned to have another talk with Celia and Mateo, but now she needed to tell the people who waited for her and the person she wanted to be with.

“He is no son of mine,” her grandmother said quietly, with a determined look in her eyes. “I thought he’d replace his way back, but I was wrong. I promise you, I’ll try to keep Samira away from them until she goes for college.”

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Layla excused herself to the bathroom. They had to leave in a few minutes, but she had promised to visit more often and they had promised to visit her and meet the rest of her friends; she wasn’t very happy about her grandfather being so eager to meet Kione, but she couldn’t do much about it.

As soon as Layla left, her grandfather turned to Jess with a serious look and asked, “How well do you know my granddaughter?”

“Well enough to know she’s going to be my wife someday,” Jess wrote down. “Ever since I laid eyes on her, I could not see a future where I didn’t love her, need her. Her trust is the most important thing to me. It’s been a long process gaining it. I won’t risk losing it, I promise you this.”

Layla’s grandfather stared at the paper. He looked up at his wife with a smirk; he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed lightly.

“See how poetry is everywhere? Layla got herself a modern Qais, Layla’s got herself a majnun,” he laughed. It was warm.

“We have to get going,” Layla said, walking back in.

“Who is Qais?” Jess signed. Layla rolled her eyes and stared at her grandfather.

“You haven’t changed,” she said fondly.

“Go, I suspect you have a story to tell to your Qais.”

“Don’t bring bad luck to the kids. Layla and Qais have a tragic story.”

Layla spent the ride back telling Jess about the story of the lovers who could not be together. When they arrived a crowd had formed to take pictures of their friends. By the time they got on the plane, Jess had decided what he wanted Layla to tattoo him.

“How much do I owe you for the plane ticket?” Layla suddenly remembered to ask. They had business tickets, and Jess had taken care of it without telling her.

“Nothing.”

“Come on, Jess.”

“Shut up, Layla.”

“Just tell me.”

“I won’t. You’re not supposed to spend your own money. You’re supposed to spend mine.” She opened her mouth, but he pointed at the figure standing.

Jess got up to give Mateo his seat. They obviously needed to talk, so he gladly switched for the duration of the conversation. Mateo sat and cleared his throat.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, gesturing at her neck and arms.

“I’m o—”

“I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell me,” he blurted. “I know I haven’t been the best these last few months, but I never want you to feel like you can’t talk to me.”

“Oh Matty, that’s not what happened. I convinced myself I didn’t have to tell anyone. I just wanted to forget it, but then I met you guys and then Jess, even Kione and Onika, and I kept thinking about how I felt like I was hiding something, you know? At times, I felt like I wanted to vent about so many things, but I didn’t want to feel like I was holding on to a horrible time of my life. I thought ignoring it is how I let it go. I wanted to be honest, but I was scared you would feel only pity for me.”

“We would never. You can vent and maybe during Halloween we can put a spell on your mom.”

“Why Halloween?” she laughed “We can do it when we get back.”

“Pfft! Everyone knows Halloween is the perfect night for something like that.”

“Alright then, I guess we have a plan for Halloween.”

“Yea, Trick or Treating, replaceing a calm party, nothing too crazy, and then going back home and placing a curse on your parents. Deal?”

“Deal.”