The Secret Wall - S01 E09

Story 4 months ago

The Secret Wall - S01 E09

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 9

Episode 9: The Secret Wall

The room was as silent as a grave. The only sound was the low, scary whispering of Joe into his secret phone. He was standing by the red brick wall. He thought he was alone. He thought the darkness was his friend. He thought his wife, Amina, was fast asleep in the bedroom. But he was very wrong. Amina was standing right behind him in the shadows. Her heart was beating very fast. She was breathing very softly. She felt a mix of anger and sadness. She looked at the man she had loved for many years. Now, he looked like a total stranger. He looked like a thief in the night.

With one quick motion, Amina moved her hand. She flipped the light switch on the wall.

The living room exploded with bright light. It was so bright that it hurt the eyes. The yellow bulbs in the ceiling filled every corner of the room. There was no more darkness to hide the secrets. There were no more shadows to protect the lies. The light was like a giant hand pulling away a curtain.

Joe jumped. He was so scared that his whole body shook. He made a small gasping sound. His hands were wet with sweat, and the small black phone slipped from his fingers. It fell to the floor with a loud thud. Joe turned around very fast. His face was no longer the face of a happy husband. His face was turning as pale as a white sheet. He looked like he had seen a ghost. His eyes were wide with terror.

Joe tried to move his body. He tried to stand in front of the hole in the wall. He wanted to hide the bricks he had moved. He wanted to hide the secret place behind the mountain picture. But it was too late. The light showed everything. The picture was swinging to the side. The hole was open. The secret was out in the open for everyone to see.

Amina did not stay in the hallway. She walked into the middle of the room. She was not crying anymore. She was not shaking anymore. She looked very strong. She was standing tall and straight. In her left hand, she was holding a thick blue folder. Inside that folder were her own papers. She had been busy too. While Joe was planning his wicked tricks, Amina was getting ready for a fight.

She walked past Joe. He smelled like fear. She did not look at his face. She looked down at the floor. She saw the secret phone lying there. The blue light was still blinking. The call with Lawyer Brown was still open. Amina reached down and picked up the phone. Her hand was very steady. She looked at the screen. She saw the name of the lawyer.

Then, she pressed the play button on the recording she had heard before.

Joe’s own voice filled the room. It was a loud and cold voice. It was the voice of a man talking about a wicked plan. The recording played the part where Joe said he was going to sell the house. It played the part where he said Amina would have nowhere to go. It played the part where he said he would take all the money and leave the country. The words echoed off the red bricks. They sounded like a heavy hammer hitting a nail.

Joe heard his own words. He looked at the phone in Amina's hand. He realized that she had heard everything. He realized that his mask was gone forever. He could not pretend to be a good man anymore. He could not pretend to be praying at the wall. The recording proved that he was a liar. It proved that he was a greedy man who did not care about his wife.

Suddenly, all the strength went out of Joe’s legs. He could not stand up anymore. He fell to his knees on the hard wood floor. His hands were shaking like leaves in the wind. He looked up at Amina. His eyes were full of tears, but they were not tears of love. They were tears of a man who got caught.

"Amina, please!" Joe cried out. His voice was shaking. "Please, listen to me! It is not what you think. It is all a big mistake. I was in a lot of trouble. I had some bad people asking me for money. I did not want to hurt you. I only did it because I was scared. I was trying to protect us in a strange way. Please, forgive me. I love you, Amina. We can fix this."

Joe reached out his hand to touch her dress. He started to beg. He said he would change. He said he would never touch the wall again. He said he would throw the secret phone away. He told lie after lie. He was trying to find a way to escape. He wanted Amina to feel sorry for him. He wanted her to be the quiet and easy fool she used to be.

But Amina did not want to hear his lies anymore. She had heard enough lies to last a lifetime. Every word he said felt like a dirty stone being thrown at her. She stepped back so he could not touch her. She looked down at him on the floor. He looked very small. He did not look like a big, strong husband anymore. He looked like a broken toy.

"Stop talking, Joe," Amina said. Her voice was as cold as ice. "I do not believe a single word you say. You did not do this because you were in trouble. You did it because you are greedy. You did it because you wanted to leave me with nothing. You sat at the table and ate the food I cooked, while you were planning to make me homeless. You gave me flowers while you were talking to a lawyer about selling my home. You are a wicked man."

Joe started to cry harder. He put his head on the floor. "Please, Amina. Do not do this. What are you going to do? We are a family."

Amina opened the blue folder in her hand. She took out a stack of papers. These were the original papers from when they bought the house five years ago. She held them out so Joe could see them.

"I have already been busy, Joe," she said. "I did not just sit here and wait for you to ruin me. I called the police an hour ago. They are on their way to this house right now. I also called a lawyer of my own. A real lawyer. Not a man like your Mr. Brown."

Joe’s face turned even paler. "The police? Why would you call the police?"

"Because what you were doing is a crime, Joe," Amina replied. "You were trying to steal. You were trying to forge my name on papers. But look at these documents. I went to the bank. I went to the land office. These papers prove that this house belongs to both of us. My name is right there next to yours. You cannot sell this house alone. You cannot sign any papers without me. Your meeting tonight was for nothing. Your lawyer cannot help you because you do not own this house by yourself."

Joe looked at the papers. He saw the gold seal of the government. He saw Amina’s signature in bright blue ink. He realized that she had blocked his path. He realized that all his months of whispering and hiding were for nothing. He had spent so much time being sneaky, but Amina had been smarter. She had protected herself. She had saved her home.

The sound of a siren could be heard in the distance. It was a faint sound at first, but it was getting louder. Wee-woo, wee-woo. The police were coming. The bright blue and red lights were flashing against the trees outside the window. The neighbor's dogs began to bark. The whole street was waking up.

Joe looked up at Amina one last time. He was still on his knees. He looked for a sign of kindness. He looked for a sign that she might change her mind. He wanted her to say that it was okay. He wanted her to tell the police to go away. He wanted her to give him one more chance to be a husband.

But when Joe looked into Amina’s eyes, he saw no mercy. He saw no love. He saw a woman who was finished with him. He saw a woman who was done with the secrets. He saw a woman who was finally free.

The front door opened. Two police officers walked into the living room. They looked at the hole in the wall. They looked at the secret phone on the floor. They looked at Joe on his knees. Amina handed them the phone and the recording. She handed them her folder of papers. She told them everything.

Joe did not even try to run. He did not try to fight. He just sat there on the floor. He looked at the red brick wall. The wall that he thought was his secret friend had become his enemy. The wall had hidden his lies, but the light had brought the truth.

As the police put the metal handcuffs on Joe’s wrists, he looked very old. He looked very tired. He had lost everything. He had lost his wife. He had lost his home. He had lost his freedom. He looked at Amina as they led him toward the door, but she turned her back on him. She walked over to the mountain picture and straightened it on the wall. She was going to fix her house. She was going to start a new life.

Joe looked at the floor as he was walked out into the night. The light in the living room was still very bright. It showed every crack in the floor. It showed every bit of dust. It showed the truth.

Joe was finished.

Amina was very brave to face Joe alone. Do you think she did the right thing by calling the police instead of giving him a second chance?

Joe claimed he was "in trouble" and that's why he did it. Do you believe him, or was he just making another lie to save himself?

How do you think Amina managed to get all those papers and call a lawyer without Joe noticing?

Now that Joe is gone, what should Amina do with the secret wall? Should she cover it up or leave it as a reminder?

The wall has been broken and the truth is finally out! Amina has won the battle, but is this really the end of the story? What will happen to the house now?