A Cry For Help

Chapter 3 - And then...

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." Rabia was chanting in her head, still crying profusely.
"Hey, it's okay. They're gone, and they're not coming back." Ahmed said, coming to Rabia and pulling her into a one armed hug, his mother on his other side.
Ya Allah, thank you for saving us. Rabia silently thanked the Lord. Ahmed started walking out of the room. Rabia followed him with Miriam just behind her. They first went to Miriam's room.

There were clothes lying all over the floor, having being emptied from the cupboards. The draws from the dressing table were out and upturned, their contents strewn across the floor. The mattress from the bed was upside down and the sheets were in a ball in a corner of the room. To say it was a mess would have been an understatement.

Rabia didn't even want to go and look at the state her room might be in. She quickly glanced at Mariam and Ahmed. She saw Mariam's shocked look as she took in her surroundings. Ahmed had his fists clenched and his eyes were in slits. Rabia couldn't begin to imagine what this might be like for Mariam and Ahmed. To have your house violated like this. They walked into the main bathroom, and saw one of the windows open and the burglar bar broken off. As they continued down the passage, they saw the laundry door that leads outside open and the Trellidor broken. It's a wonder how they didn't hear them come in.

"We should call the police." Rabia croaked. She cleared her throat and repeated herself.
"Probably." Ahmed replied and together, they walked to the lounge.

Rabia went straight to the phone and dialled 10111. The phone rang and rang.
"Pathetic!" she muttered and redialled. It continued to ring and ring so she slammed the phone down angrily, "absolutely freakin' pathetic. That's South African police for you, I tell you!"
"Rabs, calm down. Come to the kitchen and let Ammi make some sugar water for us. It will calm the nerves." Ahmed softly said to her, taking her arm and leading her to the kitchen through the connecting door.

"Chul, Rabia beti. Ye pile." Miriam told her, and handed her the mug of sugar water. Rabia took a sip and sank into one of the chairs. How could this have happened to them? Rabia was so sure she read the protection prayer just before she slept. What if she forgot? All this would be her fault then. Why did she not make sure she read the prayer before she slept?

After silently drinking the sugar water, Miriam picked up the phone and dialled the emergency S.A.P number. This time they got through.

"They'll be here in twenty minutes." Miriam told them, after hanging up.

So they waited.
Five Minutes...
Ten Minutes...
Fifteen Minutes...
Twenty Minutes...

Nothing...

Twenty-Five Minutes...
Thirty Minutes...
Thirty-Five Minutes...
Forty Minutes.

Finally there came a hoot at their gate. Ahmed got up, got the keys and walked out the door. Miriam and Rabia followed him. They led the police officers in and they sat around the kitchen table. There was a male and female officer.

"Good morning. I'm Officer Tshabalala and this is Officer Mokgosi." The male said, pointing to himself then to the woman. He got out a piece of paper and asked a few questions. Then he told Ahmed to tell him what happened. Officer Mokgosi couldn't have looked more disinterested. She was chewing her gum and popping it like a little poppa in high school. Rabia thought to herself, "she's supposed to be here to help us, not chew her gum and pretend to look interested."
When he was done, the officers stood up and asked Miriam to show them how the thieves got in. Miriam took them to the main bathroom and showed them the bathroom window.

"They broke off the burglar bar and one of them probably came in. Then he probably walked to the laundry," she started, then led them to the laundry, "and opened the door and broke the gate. The laundry door is the only door we keep the key in." the officers nodded.

"The fingerprint guys will be here later on in the morning, leave everything as is and don't touch anything." Officer Tshabalala said, as he and Officer Mokgosi walked to their car. Ahmed nodded and opened the gate for them.

When he came back inside, they walked through the rooms and looked at the state in which their house was in.

"I can't believe this happened to us." Ahmed muttered angrily.

"Relax, beta. It can happen to anyone. If it didn't happen now, it would have surely happened later on in the future." Miriam told him sadly, embracing him in a hug. After releasing him, she picked up the phone again and called her cousin from up the road. Rabia listened to Miriam tell Fatima briefly what happened.

"Fatima and Mehmood are coming now." Miriam told them. Ahmed nodded and turned to Rabia.

"You should get some sleep, Rabs." he told her.

"No, I won't be able to sleep." she told him. He nodded at her. The gate bell rang and Miriam went to open the gate for Fatima and Mehmood.

Fatima was in an abaya, and was probably still in her pyjama’s. The moment she saw Rabia, she pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Rabia finally let her cooped up tears loose and started sobbing. She knew she was soaking Fatima's abaya but she didn't care. Fatima just stood there, letting Rabia cry and rubbing her back soothingly. She was talking to Miriam and the rumble of her voice was calming Rabia down. She let Rabia go after a while.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us, Miriam." Mehmood said.

"Jazakallah, we'll be sure to call you if we need anything." Miriam told him. She saw them out and came back in.

*

"Okay, thank you, bye." Mariam said, ushering the fingerprint guys and police officers out.

She walked back into the lounge and collapsed onto a couch. It was just past eleven in the morning and they had to give statements to officers and recount the story so many times, Rabia felt she would burst. Rabia walked with Miriam back to the main room. There were black marks everywhere from where the fingerprint men did their work. Rabia knew that all this was futile and that the police would never catch the bastards that did this, but deep down, Rabia wished they would catch the menaces and give them what they deserved.

They spent the rest of the morning cleaning the rooms, and checking what else was stolen. Rabia was extremely heart-sore to see her home violated in such a way. All her things were lying everywhere. After clearing everything up, Rabia went and sat in the lounge.

She knew that in time, she would get over this. She should use this as a learning experience and make the best out of it. She thought about how lucky they were to be alive and not lying dead in a pool of blood. They didn't lift a finger on them and for that, she was grateful.

Rabia knew that even though she would get over this, she would never forget the day her home became a house.

"When you can tell the story and it doesn't bring up any pain and tears, then you are healed" - Lyania Vanzant

--The End--