Affianced By Force

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - A Trick Sucessful

Umamah was surprised to see Faisal. It felt like forever since she had last seen him at home before Isha'. It felt like he wasn't meant to be in that space at that time.

She mumbled her tasleem and ran after Abdullah.

Abdullah was crying in the restroom when she entered his room.

She waited patiently by the door until she ran out of patience, so she knocked.

"Are you coming out, or do I come in?" She asked gently.

Abdullah, who had no idea his sister had been out there, listening to him weeping, made a fuss about flushing the toilet, poured water over his head and came out.

He tried to hide it, but he wasn't as good as Farid. It was clear even from the puffiness of his eyes, what he was trying to hide.

"Did you want something?" He asked in a constrained voice.

"Yes. I want to talk about.... you know who."

"That is it!" He snapped.
Umamah widened her eyes in innocent question.. "What?"

"That attitude." She isn't just some "you-know-who-Voldemort of Harry Potter. She is our mother."

He walked into the room, picked his towel and began to dab his head and face.

"I mean, don't you want to see her again? Even if it's to ask her why she left...?"

"I think we both know why she left Abdullah. Look, I know you can't recall, because you were just 2, but let me help you refresh"

She went to him, drew him to the bed and sat on it with him.

"Surayyah Abbas had no empathy. Not motherly or even humanly for that matter. She does not want us in her life. She Left her three children and husband without as much as a second glance. Come on, If she wanted to, she could have found us... It's been 13 years, Abdullah. She would have reached out..."

"What if she did or tried to?"

"When, exactly? We lived with Papa in the same old house until just three years ago., Have you forgotten?" Umamah's pitch was rising now. Why did Abdullah want to live in false hopes?

She took a deep breath. "Look, I know you miss her, and especially today when you saw so many kids with their parents. But we are not kids anymore. You are 15 Abdullah. Golden 15. When she left, Papa's health deteriorated. He cried every night in Tahajjud. Asked Allah to bring her back and even asked Allah to protect her, even if she didn't want to be back... You didn't see Dad in that state. I did. And I recall everything too vividly. If not for...." She stopped, because she remembered it was Abdul and his father that had been of great comfort to her then. "If not for Allah's mercy, we would have lost more than just Papa."

She turned his palm over and robbed it. "Do you remember when you were 5? You had an appendix operation. All you were screaming for was Mama, Mama. We ran around for the money and couldn't get it. That was how Papa met Uncle Faisal. At the hospital. Allah sent him us, at that time. And then, Farid caught a dangerous cholera from a spoilt food he couldn't afford to throw out... We went through all of that... Alone. That's what families do.

"Don't let me forget the day you ran out of the house shouting her name and almost got hit but a car. If Allah hadn't put a break to the car at the time, it would have been a disaster. That was all us, Abdullah. Alone."

"I know she didn't do right by us, Umams. I know... But I still can't help wanting to see her. What if... She is no more? What if..."

Umamah took a step towards him, and unexpectedly, pulled him into her arm.