Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

19

NINETEEN

June 2000

As it was nearing four o’clock in the morning, Hâroon slept alone in the double bed of his bedroom, attired in a gray tank-top and shorts to serve as pajamas. On the mahogany nightstand that matched the bed was a baby monitor to alert him of any sounds or movements in the twins’ bedroom as well as an alarm clock to rouse him early.

The peaceful silence in the bedroom was broken by the shrill scream of the alarm clock, set off to rouse him to pray Tahajjud. A generally light sleeper, Hâroon woke up almost immediately. Turning toward the sound, he stretched out a long, muscular arm and hit the alarm’s off button. A relieving silence blanketed the room instantly.

With a slight stretch of his long, broad frame, he slowly sat up. His eyes accustomed to the dark after hours of sleep, he easily pinpointed the location of the lamp on his dresser and clicked it on. Light flooded the room and his eyes winced at the unexpected brightness for a few moments before they adjusted to it.

After reciting the du’â required of one to say when waking up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, his bare feet touching the hardwood floor. He slipped his feet into his gray house slippers and wiped the sleep from his leaf-green eyes as he stepped out into the hall.

The hall was dark and still. The children were probably still asleep and Lila definitely was. In the last two months since they’d returned home after Ibrâhîm’s test and diagnosis, she had been going out with friends as soon as he returned home and returning late more frequently than before, usually after he and the twins had gone to bed. His protests and warnings were ignored.

He had no idea what she could be doing while out that late, but it probably wasn’t something good. Her habits were reminding him of her old party-girl behavior from high school. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to know what it was that she was doing, but he had a responsibility to check up behind her and keep her in line if she was disobeying Allâh and His messenger.

He wasn’t sure when she’d returned home this time. She had been picked up by her friend Monica Tyler’s car shortly after he’d returned home from work, leaving him alone with the children. She hadn’t returned while he was awake. He had even called her a few times to ask when she’d be returning and if she required a ride, to which she’d replied in the negative, so he had finally given up. The children had been put to bed at eight, and he’d gone to sleep around ten-thirty. When he woke up around twelve, she still hadn’t been home. He’d checked her bedroom, though she didn’t want him in there, and had confirmed it. Around two o’clock he’d checked again and found her in bed and asleep. He’d left her then. The conversation about appropriate behavior would have to wait for a later time.

He flicked on a switch, flooding the hall with light. He only gave Lila’s bedroom door a casual passing glance as he walked by and continued on to the hallway bathroom that he shared with the twins. As he was walking by the children’s bedroom door, which was cracked open slightly, he paused and glanced in to check on them. The room was dark and silent, and when he opened the door just enough to allow some light in, he could make them out curled up in their beds, bundled beneath the covers.

Satisfied they were both asleep and he wouldn’t have to worry about them for a while, he closed the door and then continued on to the bathroom. He entered with his left foot and recited the du’â for entering the bathroom.

After he’d relieved himself, washed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face, he performed wûdhû for the nâfil prayer he intended to perform. As he finished and left the bathroom, he said the appropriate du’â.