Serpent in the Garden

Chapter 7 - Summer of 2020

In the summer of 2020, Parveen's cousins Amir and Maryam came to stay at her place for a week. Parveen was excited about their visit, and so was her family. Abdul Wahhab bought meats, snacks and fruits, stuffing the refrigerator and pantry to the brim. Halima slaved away in the kitchen making delectable and complicated dishes. 

Within a few days, it became clear to Parveen that the siblings were not equally enthusiastic about staying at Uncle Wahhab's place. Amir and Maryam were utterly disappointed at how boring Parveen's household was. Abdul Wahhab only switched on the wifi when he was home, to save on electricity bills. The TV was not Smart, the laptop did not have any recent movies and Halima used a cell with a number pad.

"How do you live here? It is so boring" whined Maryam.

"I watch TV" replied Parveen. Or we could at least talk to each other, she wanted to say, but she kept that thought to herself. 

Maryam rolled her eyes at the reply. She did not want to be mean to her cousin, but she could barely contain her displeasure at being forced to stay at Parveen's place.

Maryam was caught sneaking out to see a movie with her brother and his friends while their parents went to work. So visiting Parveen was what her government worker mother would call a 'punishment transfer'. Maryam was to learn how to be a good, grateful, pious girl from Parveen.

Amir on the other hand hated to be seen in a company solely composed of girls and he scoffed at the idea of just 'talking' to spend time. He suggested they play a game, and that was how they ended up on the avenue looking for twigs to play Nooramkol.

They met with Sam on the road by chance. After playing at his house till sundown, the gang parted ways with him, promising to return the next day. Sam was like a missing piece of the puzzle in their gang. Maryam forgot her grudge, Amir started to look forward to the next day of activities.

Parveen was the most surprised by herself. She started missing her prayers, she freely talked to Sam even though he was a strange boy. The video games were full of death and gore but it was all so much fun.

A week went by, and Amir and Maryam extended their vacation at her place. They extended the next week as well, and once more, until it was decided that they would spend the whole vacation at her place.

They played indoors when the sun was hot and went outdoors in the evening. They went to the marshes to fish, but could not catch any. Instead, they spotted many turtles and other weird creatures. They played tag in the empty lots near the football ground. Amir was hesitant to join at first because he was older, but soon, he dropped the act.

Amir and Maryam were partners in crime. They had no qualms throwing stones at mango trees in the neighbourhood while Sam and Parveen looked at each other worriedly, holding the loot - green, unripe mangoes oozing resin. If anyone spotted them, they would bolt to the safety of Sam's home.

The siblings took over Sam's kitchen, taking out all the ingredients to make the forbidden mango salad. They cut the green mangoes, then coated them in copious amounts of coconut oil, salt, and chilli powder and tossed them together. Afterwards, all four children would sit on the steps of the verandah by the kitchen, munching on the forbidden salad, eyes and mouths puckering shut from the sourness of the mangoes. Sam's housemaid clicked her tongue at them, shaking her head while she cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.

Most of the time, they just huddled together in the upper living playing video games. The girls watched intently, supplying directions while the boys played with the two controllers. They started playing Tekken as two teams, with Amir cheered by Maryam on one side and Sam cheered by Parveen on the other. Amir was slow to pick up at first but he became on par with Sam eventually.