Chapter Twenty-Six

Abdur Rehman was a good boy. He stayed out of trouble and he kept his mother happy, but there was one instance in his youth that put him in deep trouble.

He and Mahad had taken Mahad's dad's car out for a joy ride—it was merely supposed to be within the neighborhood—and had crashed it into a pole.

Abdur Rehman had phoned his sister then. "I have to tell you something," he had whispered.

Pulling into Yahya's house now, Abdur Rehman couldn't help but wonder what trouble Yahya had put himself in.

"Is this some secret ploy to make me clean my room or something?" Rafa asked, getting out of the car at the same time as Yahya was closing the car garage.

"Ha ha," he only said, which was another red flag that worried Rafa. Yahya never missed a chance to tease her about her mess-making habits. She exchanged glances with her husband, asking him if he saw what she did.

What's going on with him? She eyed.

Beats me. Maybe work's tough? Abdur Rehman shrugged.

I doubt it. How hard could it be to teach a bunch of middle schoolers?

The smell of the house she had made her most beautiful memories in hit her as soon as she walked in. It erupted flashbacks of her life with her family. This was the place she was born, she was gifted with the unconditional love of her parents and when they were away, Yahya took care of her just the same. Sometimes much more.

When she first fell from her bicycle, Yahya had sneaked ice cream to her room to stop her from crying. He was the one who held her hand and walked with her to the class on her first day of school. He was a master in consoling her tantrums. Oh! How much she loved him.

Rafa grinned to herself, not only was she the sweetheart of her family and friends, but she was also happily spoiled.

"Make yourself at home," Yahya offered, watching Rafa plop herself on the living room couch and taking off her socks. "Abdur Rehman, do you want soda or anything?"

"I'm fine." He sat down next to his wife, calmly waiting to be told why they were invited over out of the blue. What crisis was going to be revealed to them?

Yahya took his time, rising their curiosities to the brink. Leisurely he retrieved pomegranate juice from the fridge, poured himself a cup, and then returned to the couple.

"Where do I start?" He asked out loud, looking at the couple one by one.

"Have you landed yourself in thousands of dollars worth of debt, and narrowly missed having your license revoked?" Abdur Rehman asked.

Yahya gave him a questioning look. "No...and that sounds suspiciously too specific. Let's have a conversation about your driving history later in private." He turned to Rafa.

"You accidentally kicked a kid at school?" She proposed.

"How in the world could that happen?"

"Well, kids are small and hard to see sometimes. I'm imagining it wouldn't be difficult to mistake one as—"

"No."

"Well, if it's not what Abdur Rehman suggested, and definitely not what I suggested...what is it? What happened? What did you do?" Rafa wondered, edging to the end of the seat to stare at him intently.

"I have been robbed of my heart," he said in all seriousness as he leaned deeper into the armchair and stared at them.

"What?" Rafa exchanged looks with her husband. "Yahya...if this is some elaborate joke, I have places to be." She started to rise.

By places, she meant the kitchen because she was getting hungry again. But Yahya thought otherwise.

"No, wait, wait, I'm serious." Yahya rose with her, stopping her. It made Rafa begrudgingly obey him.

"Then you better know my tolerance level is below the bar today."

"Why? What happened?" he questioned, a slight worry in his tone.

"I won't guarantee what will happen if you stop this act and tell us what's been bothering you," Rafa gritted her teeth as her hands flew in a gesture of strangling his neck.

Yahya eyed her hands in the air - a few inches away from his neck. "It's about Anjum."

"What about her? What made you so upset, huh?" Rafa asked, withdrawing her hands and wiping her forehead off of sweat, "She loves him, she even told me that," she blabbered to herself.

"Her father-" Yahya stopped, gulping. The mention of Anjum's father made the other two heads tilt in Yahya's direction. For a second he didn't say anything, his blue eyes intently looked at Rafa's. Her blue iris almost turned gray, her pupils dilating.

"Yahya, my jaan," She exclaimed, taking a seat next to him, wrapping her hands around his hand, "I am so sorry."

"I never thought about her father. I thought he would be very pleased to give her hand to you but-," Rafa spoke in a hurry, "Don't worry, I will talk to Jesima, have her speak to him. Or else I will speak to him," Rafa turned in the other direction, "What did he not see in you, you are no less than her. You're smart and dedicated, and you are a local celebrity." She whipped her head to look at Abdur Rehman, urging him to say something too.

"I agree with Rafa...Yahya, there's no reason you should let rejection affect you like this."

"Yahya! Listen to me." She grabbed his chin, directing his face towards her. "Don't lose heart. I know how sensitive you are...especially when it comes to Anjum..."

For a second Yahya wondered what was wrong with Rafa. She seemed different, her emotions were on the edge. One time she is all smiling and the other instance, she is dramatically emotional. "Both of you," he called out.

When she didn't stop blabbering, "Rafa," he called out again.

"What?" Rafa asked, her eyes welled up.

Before he could speak, she expressed, "You don't worry, okay? I won't let this ship sink."

"You don't worry, Rafa. The ship never sank."

"Whaaat?" She dragged.

"Yes," Yahya said, his hand running through his hair, "That's what I cannot believe. Mr. Ahamed agreed."

"Guess my wife isn't the only dramatic one in the family," Abdur Rehman said sarcastically, looking from one to the other.

Both the siblings turned towards him in unison.

"Abdur Rehman..." Rafa started, rolling her eyes, but he stopped her midway, "Why aren't you celebrating bro?"

"Celeb-" It finally registered on Yahya's brain cells, his hand flying to his mouth in disbelief.

"Oh my god! Yes!" Rafa threw her arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. "You got the girl, boy!"

"I thought he was going to cry!" Rafa chattered, excitement pouring out of her as Abdur Rehman walked hand in hand with her to the front door. "I haven't seen him that happy in ages!"

"I'm happy for him too," he said, drawing a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. He pushed the gym bag with his soccer uniform further up his shoulder so that it wouldn't drop.

"Listen, do you think it's because of us?" The empty plastic boxes that contained their snacks from earlier rattled in the bag hanging off her arm.

"How so?"

"We have been his supporters from the sideline! We encouraged him! Abdur Rehman, we made him go and get his girl!" She bounced.

Abdur Rehman suppressed a laugh, taking out his set of house keys to unlock the door. "Now that you say it like that, I think it was us."

"We should be movie writers! We plot a perfect romance."

This time he laughed, before shushing himself and her. "It's dark inside, so Mama must already be asleep. Let's be quiet."

Rafa clutched his arm, squeezing it in excitement and suppressed joy. It was like she could start flying if he didn't hold her down.

Where was she getting all this energy from? She had been saying she was hungry as soon as they had left Yahya's house. Did starvation drive her mad? He would have to remember that for future reference. Even after months of marriage, he was discovering things about her every day, things that made him love her more and more.

He caressed her arm, feeling love for her overwhelm him for the umpteenth time that day.

A yawn emitted from her as they crossed the threshold of the house. "Come, I will put you to bed," he said gently as if he was dealing with a child.

Hearing that, Rafa shook her head. "I don't think I can sleep with an empty stomach."

He waited, watching her finish with yet another yawn. "Sure? I can carry you in my arms and rock you," his tone grew to tease. Every time they visited Yahya, he saw firsthand Rafa turn into a little girl.

"I told you, I feel hungry," she protested, carefully peeling off her shoes to tiptoe to the kitchen.

Abdur Rehman nodded. "Do you want me to make you something?"

"No, it's okay. I will grab some milk from the fridge," she withdrew her hand from his elbow, "You are already tired, go upstairs. I will follow."

"Sure you won't miss me down here?" He asked once again, moving closer to her in the dark, his fingers touching her cheek.

Rafa took his palm and kissed his knuckles, "Yes, now go."

After her husband went up, she slowly made her way into the kitchen. On the way, she saw Tayyaba's room door open, in order not to wake her up, Rafa didn't switch on the light. She tried her best to not make noise opening the fridge door and grabbing a glass in the dark.

"You people finally decide to come back home?"

Rafa's fingers clutched the glass in fear, the shrill voice of her mother-in-law in the silence of the night had caused it.

"You scared me!"

"I am sorry, I didn't know football matches take midnight to end," Tayyaba said sarcastically but her voice without a hint of it. She was hurt by all the quick changes in her life. No matter how hard she tried to keep up her patience, her daughter-in-law knew the perfect ways to break her resilience.

Her son never rejected her from taking her to the farmer's market but that morning, he did. Only to clean the dishes his wife had made dirty.

"Oh! Abdur Rehman didn't tell you?" Rafa asked innocently, not knowing she was putting more fuel to the already lit fire.

Tayyaba's nerve in the forehead ticked and her silence prodded Rafa to answer his own question. "He-he must have forgotten! We went to Yahya's place after the match."

"To rest? Of course! You must be tired after enjoying yourself on the bleachers."

Rafa opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't when her mother-in-law kept going on, "If you wanted to rest, you could have gone alone. Why take my son with you?" The last part was a whisper, but in the quietness of the night, Rafa heard it clearly. "You have blinded his sight completely. He doesn't see me anymore."

That's not true...is it?

"I was home alone the entire day, with no news from him," she ranted, not realizing that Rafa had tuned her out already. The damage had been done, and Tayyaba's criticism echoed in her head, revolving like a menacing smell that clogged all good in her head.

Rafa didn't realize when Tayyaba walked out of the kitchen, but she heard the shutting of the bedroom door. All while she stood rooted to the ground, unable to move. Her heart wasn't hammering in her chest, rather it was throbbing in a dull, wounded manner.

A fat teardrop fell on her cheek, the place where Abdur Rehman's fingers rested a few moments back.

She didn't wipe it away, for it was a testament that she felt her heart broken on the same day on which she planned to celebrate the joy of her brother's heart getting taken.

What just happened?