Chapter Six

Many a time, we all go out seeking for help, but the truth is the only one who is able to help us is us. Yes, you’re the only one who can help yourself.

- Grace Chanbee

[Justin’s POV]

Unusually, Arroyo Grande was bubbling with so much excitement and glee. Why was it unusual? Simply put, Arroyo Grande was one of the most boring places on earth. Why then was today different? Well, it was that time of the year when we had our local fair which sparked heartwarming fun and brought happiness to all the natives and foreigners who came to attend and experience the most unique local fair of all times.

Not to brag, but Arroyo Grande’s special fair was even enlisted in the great walls of history as one of the fun events to attend in California. This was the only time I enjoyed being a native of Arroyo Grande. I may never leave for the big city but at least, days like this made staying in the backward society of mine worth it after all.

“Uncle Justin,” I heard what was undeniably Danielle’s voice say.

I turned around and saw little Danielle running to meet me.

I picked her up and took her in my arms.

“It’s been so freaking long. What are you doing here?” I asked, tickling her as she tried to break free, squealing like a rat with an amusing laughter.

Danielle was my four years old niece whom I hadn’t seen since last Christmas when she had come visiting with Nelly, my only sibling and her mum, along with her twin brother and sister, Adrian and Katie.

“Won’t you say something?” I asked.

“How do I say something when you won’t stop tickling me?” She asked between laughs.

I stopped tickling her and stared into her green eyes, the only feature she had gotten from our lineage. Other than that, she looked exactly like her father with her brown hair and pale skin but notwithstanding, she was a beautiful little girl.

“We came for the fair,” She said.

“Oh, I should have known. Where’s your mum?” I asked.

“She’s in the living room. Granny asked me to come get you,” She said.

I heaved a deep sigh wiping away my sweat with the back of my hand.

“Let us go then,” I said.

“Granny said you should wash your hands before coming back inside,” She said.

“She’s got the whole world thinking I’m dirty,” I muttered inaudibly.

“What is it, uncle?” She asked.

“Nothing, sweetheart. I’ll be right there,” I said, putting her down.

“Okay then, don’t keep us waiting,” She said in an authoritative tone and walked away like a boss.

I chuckled as I watched her go. She acted just like Nelly did when she was younger and it was so cute.

I was at the backyard in our small garden trimming and watering the plants and I stank of sweat. The garden belonged to Grams even though I was the one who did all the work on it, it was with the flowers and vegetables she made a living. It was funny though because I paid all the bills in the house so I presumed she saved her little amount of money somewhere which I was pretty sure she intended on giving to me when I got admitted into the community college.

I washed my hands with soap and water then dried them on a cotton napkin Amber had sewed just the other day. It was as though she really took a great interest in fashion as she wouldn’t stop stitching old materials together and making them look beautiful. Even the way she combined Nelly’s clothes that had been abandoned because they seemed old-fashioned certified her fashion sense.

I went into the house through the back door and met a full house consisting of Amber, Grams, Nelly and her three kids. We rarely had visitors cause ours was a small house and Grams and I were reserved people.

“Hey sis,” I said upon seeing Nelly sitting on the couch which also served as my bed. Nelly was twenty-three and even though she was had given birth to three children at such a young age and was also saddled with the responsibility of looking after them, she still looked pretty and a stranger would believe her if she said she was unmarried.

“Hey kiddo,” She said, gesturing me over to sit with her.

I sat beside her and she hugged me tightly, the clear fragrance of her vanilla perfume wafting through the air, enveloping my being.

“I’ve missed you,” She said.

“And I, you,” I responded.

“What’s with you looking all gloomy? I’m not here to ask for any silk or cotton materials, cross my heart,” She said, with a sweet smile.

“I won’t even give you if you wanted it. You still owe me, remember?” I told her.

She chortled. “You can’t possibly be angry because I’m owing you. Wait a minute, is it because I called you kiddo?” She asked.

I rolled my eyes. “I keep on telling you I’m 18. I’m no longer a kid.”

“You look so cute getting worked up over that little thing, shows how much of a child you still are. Irrespective of anything though, you’ll forever remain my kid brother. Do you know I used to sing you to sleep when you were much younger?”

I gruntled. “ Please, stop trying to get on my nerves for goodness sake!” I said, almost raising my voice.

“Don’t talk that way to your elder sister,” Grams cautioned.

“Whatever,” I muttered.

“He’s such a kid, don’t pay him any attention,” Nelly pleaded with Grams.

Nelly pushed back the hair in her face, revealing a red scar on her forehead, then hurriedly put it back there.

“What’s that?” I asked.

She gave a nervous chuckle. “Oh, it’s nothing. I…ummm…. I fell……’

“Let me see,” I said, pulling her head gently to face mine.

“Justin, it’s…. it’s nothing really……” She said, trying to stop me from looking at the scar.

I ignored her struggles then pushed away the blonde hair covering her face, revealing a big terrible scar that I guessed correctly where she could have gotten it from.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” I asked, my teeth clenched.

“Let’s go in,” Grams said to Nelly’s kids.

“Why, granny?” They chorused.

“Your mum and your uncle have to discuss,” Grams responded.

“Can the dog come with us?” Danielle asked.

“The dog has a name, it’s Sally. Justin will get mad if you don’t call her by her name,” Amber said, flashing me a smile which was kind of weird because she had barely said a word to me since about a week ago when she had collapsed.

“Why are you smiling all of a sudden? What do you want from me?” I asked, really not in that friendly mood.

“Let’s all just go in,” Grams said.

Danielle took Sally in her arms and she with her siblings and Grams went to the only bedroom there was in our stick-built house.

Amber grinned at me and I motioned towards the bedroom’s direction, a silent instruction that she should go in.

“Fine then, I’m leaving. I made you toast by the way,” She said, winked and went into the bedroom like the others.

I sighed then turned to look at my sister who couldn’t even look me in the eye for whatever reason; probably because of shame.

A pregnant silence as though we were in a graveyard fell upon us as we didn’t say a word to each other.

After what seemed like ages, she finally summoned courage to open her mouth but what came out of it was a nervous chuckle.

“A lot of things have changed for you guys. I always knew you were a pet kind of person even though you are used to acting really tough. Sally is a really nice name for a dog,” She commented.

I didn’t say a word. My anger fueled up and it was like I was boiling and was likely to lose control any moment from then.

“Grams already informed me about Amber prior to now. Like you, I don’t like rich people because of what happened to our parents, but I think letting her stay here is really commendable,” Nelly said.

I still didn’t say anything. She knew I was really angry and was only beating about the bush and saying irrelevant things just to lessen the tension in the room and probably make me forget what I had just seen, but that was totally impossible.

“Justin, are you even listening to me at all?” She asked.

I swallowed hard and decided it was time for me to speak up.

“You were the cheerleader, you had a cheerleading scholarship at that school in Colombia, you were young, slim and beautiful. Nelly, you practically had a bright future at your fingertips, what happened to you? Why did you throw your life away for a good-for-nothing who knows only how to inflict scars on your beautiful body?” I asked in a calm tone.

A drop of tear slid down her face. “He’s not a good-for-nothing,” She said, shaking her head in negativity.

“This isn’t the first time he’s doing this to you and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” I said.

“How can you be so sure about that? You don’t know him that well. He loves me, okay?”

“Someone who loves you can never be comfortable seeing you in pain, let alone being the one causing you pain,” I said.

“It was my fault. I didn’t cook on time, I’m the one who pushed him. He didn’t want to do it, I should have cooked earlier, it wasn’t his fault,” Nelly said, tears streaming down her face.

“You sitting here, defending him is disgusting. No woman on earth deserves to be beaten up. For crying out loud, you’re not an animal. What the hell am I even saying? Even animals are treated better than this,” I yelled.

“The kids….. Please, don’t raise your voice,” She said.

“Like you care about them,” I hissed.

“What are you saying? Are you insinuating that I don’t love my own kids?” She asked.

“I’m not insinuating anything, I’m speaking the honest truth. What sort of children do you think you’re raising? They’ll someday grow up to see the kind of monster they have as a father and will either follow his footsteps or be comfortable in toxic environments like their mother,” I said.

“Justin Al-Hassan!” She yelled.

“Now, who’s screaming? The truth is bitter, Nelly. You’re lucky your kids are still small with no knowledge of what is really happening. You have the time now to run for your own life and go to the court of law asking for an issuance of a restraining order with enough evidence to prove the kind of animal he is,” I advised, with a tinge of mockery in my voice.

I continued, “You know I’d have gone to the court even if you didn’t want me to, but the last time I called the social welfare to your house, you denied going through domestic abuse and threatened to disown me as your brother if I ever did that again. I’ve tried to help you but it seems as though you don’t want to be helped and in all sincerity, you’re the only one capable of helping yourself,” I shrugged.

She wiped her tears with the back of her palm. “I know you always have my best interests at heart, but I’m an adult and I’m going to do what I think is best for me,” I said.

“Whatever, I have to have my bath and eat the toast Amber prepared for me. I wonder why she’s so cheerful today and strangely nice,” I said, standing.

“Oh, she just wants you to take her to the fair. That’s why Grandmother asked her to behave so sweetly with you,” Nelly disclosed.

“That means she was just pretending to be happy with me just so I could take her to the fair with me?”

“I’m sure you do not have problems with hearing,” Nelly retorted, sarcastically.

“Well, I don’t have any intention of taking her there,” I said, biting my lip involuntarily.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Nelly said, bringing out her nail file from her black purse which had been resting on the table.

“What do you mean by that?” I retorted.

“You only bite your lower lip when you’re lying. It seems as if your heart even leaped for joy on discovering that Amber wants to go to the local fair with you,” She said, already filing her nails.

“That’s not true,” I said, biting my lip again.

“You were saying?” Nelly asked rhetorically with a knowing smile.

“Fine then, you win. I wanna take Amber to the fair,” I said.

“Then do,” She shrugged and went back to filing her nails.

“Nelly, can I ask for a favour?” I asked, after an awful moment of silence.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you said you care about Amber and that you’d really love to take her to the local fair as that’s the only excuse you can have to be alone with her,” Nelly said.

“That’s not exactly how I had said it, but thanks,” I said.

“You’re always welcome, kiddo,” She said.

I had my objections to her calling me that but I decided to let it slide in case she changed her mind about keeping her mouth shut.

I therefore ignored her annoying statement and went to the kitchen to get the toast after which I was to have my bath then take Amber to the fair.

For whatever reason, it felt pretty much exciting.

[Amber’s POV]

Justin was dressed in a navy blue hoodie and a pair of black leather trousers with a pair of black converse shoes. To be honest, he looked really cute and handsome.

I walked to the location of the fair with him and people just stared at us either with envy or admiration. I felt like the happiest person in the world for walking beside such a good-looking guy.

It was such an honour even though I didn't look bad myself. I wore a sleeveless skye-blue polkadot dress which was really short with black knee-length boots and wore my hair in a ponytail.

Justin had gotten me the boots a few days ago. I knew it was because he wanted to apologise for being a jerk the other day even though he argued it was because his grandmother had asked him to. Unknown to him, I asked his grandmother who denied asking him to do so.

I felt Justin was a really nice guy with a kind of sad past which made him act all high and mighty. I had overheard his conversation with his sister today and the likeness I had for him suddenly rose from level zero to level ten.

It was also sweet to hear that he cared genuinely for me and I had ended up learning something about him; he bites his lip when he is lying. Now, I could tell when he was lying which was sort of an achievement for me.

I felt compassion for his sister though, she was so young and beautiful to be going through a tough marriage and it was worse that she was enduring it all by herself, without wanting help from anyone.

"Have you ever been to a fair?" Justin asked.

"Even if I had, will I remember?" I retorted.

He chuckled. "I knew you were going to say that, crazy girl," He said.

"Are we there already?" I asked, seeing clowns dressed differently with little children surrounding them.

"Apparently," He replied.

Justin then took me by the hand and pulled me forward, making my steps hasty.

"What's a fair anyway?" I asked, following him like a puppy, not withdrawing from his hold.

"It's just something we do every summer where varieties of talent competitions are held, magic shows are done, games are played and so on. Merchants come with their goods and there are various animals for sightseeing as well. It happens for a week and today's the first day it's taking place," Justin said.

"So you all get to have fun?" I asked.

"Definitely," He replied.

We got closer and saw colourful decorations with people performing acrobatics, there was a certain magician who brought out a butterfly from a previously empty box and a scary woman with bulgy dark eyes who appeared to be skilled in reading minds and telling the future.

"I don't think I've experienced something like this before," I said, looking around in awe.

"Rich folks don't do this sort of thing," Justin said.

I swallowed and continued to look around.

"Come," He said, leading me by pulling my hand again.

"Where are you taking me to?" I asked.

"Let's ride the Ferris wheel," He said, pointing at a circular stuff that was so high with enough spaces for people to sit on.

"Hell no," I said, trying to break free from his grasp.

"Are you scared? Even babies ride that thing," He said, chuckling.

"I can't. What if I fall?"

"You won't fall, I promise," Justin said.

I shook my head relunctantly, feeling really scared of the huge thing.

"Hey, Justin," I heard a sweet female voice say.

I felt Justin's hands drape over my shoulders and I looked up to see him smiling sheepishly.

"What's....."

"Hi Rosalyn," He said.

I looked towards the direction his gaze rested on and saw a pretty girl who was taller than I was by a whole lot of inches, staring down at me and sizing me up with her eyes.

"It's been a while, Justin," The so-called Rosalyn said.

"Yes, it has," Justin acknowledged.

"And who is this?" She asked, gesturing at me.

"This is my girlfriend, Amber. She's a fashion pro, she could give you some fashion tips," Justin said.

I would've said I wasn't his girlfriend, but I didn't want to make him angry and I actually loved being referred to as his girlfriend.

"Oh, can she? She looks pretty much like a dumb blonde to me," Rosalyn said.

"Hey, watch it," Justin said, his tone becoming harsh.

"Why? I'm only telling the truth," Rosalyn said.

"You're attending a fun event. You ended up putting on all black like you're attending a funeral. Apart from that, your fashion sense is really dead because not only did you look like you're going to bid your lost loved one adieu, you ended up wearing flip-flops under a corporate outfit. Who does that? If you're not cray cray, I actually don't know what else will push you into putting on something so ridiculous," I said, really pissed off.

"That's enough, babe. You should be paid to teach fashion and not to teach it to a dullard who wouldn't even get it," Justin said.

"I hate you," Rosalyn said through gritted teeth and began storming off.

"Hey, Rosalyn, there's a gum stuck at the back of your skirt," Justin said.

She stood transfixed and tried to crane her neck to see the supposed gum.

Justin wrapped his hand around my waist and then, we started walking away, in front of her while she struggled with her skirt.

"Rosalyn, there's nothing there. I just tricked you because I should do the walking out and not you," Justin screamed over his shoulders as we walked off.

I felt someone's gaze upon me which made me feel unsettled and I had been having the weird feeling that I was being watched even during the short interaction with Rosalyn.

"Thanks for pretending to be my girlfriend, I owe you one," Justin said.

"It's fine, I enjoyed doing it," I said, then immediately regretted saying it.

Justin removed his hand from my waist and just kept on walking by my side.

"You don't need to feel uneasy. I enjoyed acting like your girlfriend because it really made that rude girl hurt, nothing more," I lied.

"That rude girl's my ex," He said.

"Ohh. Do you still like her?" I asked.

Justin didn't say a word but stared in the left direction at something.

"Did you hear me? I said....."

"Sssssh!" He ordered and my mouth promptly went shut.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

"Turn towards the direction I'm facing now but slowly and unnoticeably,* He said in a low tone.

I did what he asked me to.

"Can you see that man putting on a yellow shirt?" He asked.

My eyes searched around for a man in a yellow shirt and immediately they found him, I understood why Justin wanted me to check him out.

His face was fresh in my memory and I understood now why I had felt like someone was watching me all along.

"Is that....."

"Yes, that is the same man from the other day," I responded even before Justin could complete his sentence.

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Much love .