CURTAINS OF THE PAST

AN UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE

"Sister-in-law..." Ghali exclaimed when he met Toni who was standing while wailing on the outskirts of the City Park. It looked tangled and pathetic, that was the image of her sister-in-law back then.

"Damn..." Toni faced Ghali who tried to run towards him. "Ghali, your brother is not here... He disappeared somewhere. He promised to wait for me on that bench." Toni panicked. The worry that haunted his feelings at that time, made him look frustrated.

"Sister-in-law is calm..." Ghali tried to calm Toni.

"How can I calm down Ghali? Your sister, my wife, she's missing... He should have been there. But when I came back he was no longer there. I tried to call his phone, but it wasn't active at all. I tried to find him, but I did not find him, Ghali. I shouldn't have left him alone. It's all my fault. I was wrong..." Toni's getting frustrated. His eyes and face were red. He seemed to have lost his mind at that moment.

"Calm down brother-in-law. My brother must be fine. Believe that..." Ghali again. At that time he was just trying to entertain himself. He didn't even know what would happen to his brother and nephew.

"Let's go see Brother Iffah, Sister-in-law." Take Ghali as he steps back towards his parked motorcycle.

"You know where Iffah is now, Ghali?" Toni's question stopped Ghali's footsteps. He turned back to face Toni who was slightly left behind by him.

"Actually, the one who brought Brother Iffah was my mother, Sister-in-law." Vibrant talk. His body began to shiver instantly. The memory of how cruel his mother was back dancing in his memory. All he knew was that his mother's only purpose was to harm his stepbrother. Especially since their father died.

Toni gasps. "W-Do you know where, Ghali?" Toni asked as she approached her sister-in-law slowly.

"Mothers... My mother has brought Brother Iffah, sister-in-law." Reveal Ghali while dropping down in the position where he stood.

Deg.

Toni's heart beats. Ghali's story about his mother's attachment to Iffah again ringed in his eardrum.

Tony quickly regained his consciousness. He knew that even Ghali was more shaken and frightened at the time. Because Ghali himself witnessed how cruel his birth mother was to Iffah.

"You said you know where Iffah is now, right? Let's go there, Ghali." Ask Toni to try to calm her sister-in-law.

Ghali. Quickly, Ghali reached into his pants pocket and pulled the phone out of it.

"Hallo. Police station? ... … …" Clear liquid just flowed down Ghali's cheek.

"Ghali...?" Toni did not think through with the actions of her sister-in-law. Something that was very contrary to Ghali's heart.

"Now I just feel sorry, why did I let my mother get away with it, Sister-in-law." Ghali. He looked dazed at that moment.

Somehow the feelings of Ghali are broken. He himself had reported his birth mother to the police station.

"Come Ghali. Before late. Come with me, you're not good right now." Take Toni while pulling the arm of her sister-in-law. Ghali.

*****

Iffah continued to look at her husband's back which was getting further and further away from her sight.

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman came and stood right in front of him. Iffah's eyes are round. He got up from the park bench he was sitting on. His face looked frightened and paled when he found someone he knew before.

His feet are going backwards. His eyes were unceasingly staring fixedly at the woman before him at that moment.

"How are you, Iffah?" A grinning smile adorned his sneaky face.

"Ja-don't try to get close, mother." Hardik Iffah with his voice that sounded vibrating. The phone that was in his grasp was made to contact Ghali.

"Ghalis... Mum..." Quickly, the middle-aged woman grabbed Iffah's phone and disconnected her connection. He deactivated Iffah's phone immediately.

"Don't try yelling, or..." The middle-aged woman opened her eyes to a car that was ready to lead and harm Antoninya.

Iffah surprised. He swallowed his saliva roughly. Toni's anxiety leads her to succumb to the trap of a middle-aged woman who is none other than her stepmother, Ghali's biological mother.

He had never expected before, that his stepmother would reappear and continue to try to harm him.

I don't know what kind of hatred was ingrained in Ms. Ghali's heart towards Iffah, so she never let Iffah feel happy at all.

He just keeps messing with the happiness Iffah feels. Even after making Arjuna not once.

"My mouth..." His stepmother orders him while pulling the rough arm of Iffah.

Don't be afraid, honey. We'll be fine...~ Mumbled Iffah trying to calm himself. His hand held his belly. Shaking, his feet stepped and followed his stepmother.

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