Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

7

SEVEN

February 1996

The mid-afternoon was cold and wet as Hâroon exited the college doors among the rest of the students and made his way to the parking lot. He reached the secondhand pickup truck he drove and got in, starting up the car and then the heater. As he waited for the car to warm up, he pulled his pager out of his pocket. It had gone off right before class ended and he hadn’t had a chance to check it.

When he glanced at the small screen, his parents’ home phone number caught his attention. Though it wasn’t the first time his parents called him when he was away from Elm Creek, they never called when he was in classes unless it was extremely important. He needed to find a payphone and find out what was going on.

As soon as the car was warmed up enough, he pulled out of his parking space and left the parking lot. He drove to the closest payphone and parked. As he entered the booth, he dug into his pockets for change and then pushed a coin into the slot, dialing the memorized phone number of his childhood residene.

It was picked up on the third ring. “Scott residence,” his brother’s voice came over the phone.

“Assalâmu ’alaykum,” Hâroon said. “It’s Hâroon. I think Mom or Dad paged me earlier.”

“Wa’alaykumus salâm. Lila went into labor,” Ya’qoob said matter-of-factly, his tone much calmer than Hâroon thought the circumstance required—but it wasn’t his brother’s wife or children involved. “Mom and Dad took her to the hospital. They’re waiting for you there.”

Lila was in the middle of her seventh month. Though the aim had been to reach almost the end of eight months, the full-term for a twin pregnancy, Lila and ’Alîyâ had already been warned that it might not be possible since most twins were born before then. It seemed that she’d be delivering earlier than they’d hoped after all.

“I’m going,” Hâroon told his brother. With a quick salâm, he hung up before Ya’qoob had the chance to reply.

He hurried to his pickup and drove off in the direction of the hospital. Though he’d never escorted Lila—because she always refused when he offered—he knew where his parents would take her. Pear Orchards General Hospital was the only hospital in the area with a maternity ward. This time, whether she wanted him there or not, he was going to be. They were his children, too.

When he arrived, he pulled into the first parking space he found, switched off the truck, and jumped out. Then he hurried inside. He found Yahyâ in the waiting room. Since his mother wasn’t in sight, he assumed she was with Lila. A part of him felt it was his responsibility rather than his mother’s to be with her, but he knew she wouldn’t want him there.

Though she’d been nicer in the last few months, his hopes of rekindling any kind of affection or relationship had come to nothing. He wasn’t even given much of a chance to be involved in the pregnancy. With the exception of what she relayed to him from doctor’s appointments or what his mother told him, it was as if he didn’t exist and played no important role. Lila never wanted him to be the one to take her to the appointments and wasn’t inclined to speak of what had happened except for the basics afterward. It was disheartening and hurtful.

He made his way over to his father, who was seated on one of the hard waiting chairs and staring into space, and he dropped beside him. “Assalâmu ’alaykum. I came as soon as I heard. Any news?”

“Wa’alaykumus salâm,” Yahyâ replied as he turned his attention to Hâroon. “Not yet. Your mother is with her. She’ll let us know as soon as there’s something, I’m sure.”