Through The Dark (Al-Ameen Family #1)- An Islamic Love Story

Yeezus

“The car’s here” Bhabhi pops her head into my room.

“I’m ready” I tell her and tighten my ponytail. I slip on my glasses and head downstairs. The house is quiet, only the mum’s awake since it is still 7am.

“Morning Safiyana” Omar bhai greets me as I stumble down the steps half asleep.

“Morning bhai”

“Would you like a cuppa?” he holds out a cup of Starbucks. I give him a thankful smile an mutter angel before diving in.

“Let’s go guys. We need to get there before the wedding” Zayed mutters sarcastically. Us brother and sister were not the best morning people.

“Call us when you reach there” Nifisa khala tells us.

“Ji khala. Allahafiz” I give her a small hug and one to mum and bhabhi as well and then walk towards the door as the boys say their goodbyes.  

We get into the Cadillac Abu arranged for us. I slip into the backseat and claim the entire space for my legs and purse. Zayed frowns at me but slips in without argument into the front seat. Omar bhai gets in too and once we’re all settled, we take off.

“Saf, you okay babe?”

“All ace bhai, just gonna go to sleep for a bit”

“Okay. See you in two hours” he stretches before settling into the seat to get comfortable. I close my eyes and plug in my headphone to drown the world out.

Minutes pass but I’m still awake. I look at my phone and half an hour has passed. I turn on music to see if that helps but nothing.

Instead my thoughts trail to the jail visit yesterday. All the prisoners there were so different than what I expected. Except one.

Enzo Muccetti. Defense leader of the Italian mob.

Just thinking about him made me shiver in discomfort.

“Are you cold?” I open my eyes to see Zayed looking at me over his seat.

“No, I was thinking about yesterday” I sit up and rest my head on my arm over the top of the seat. “We interviewed a couple prisoners but one of them actually freaked me out”

“Safiyana scared? This guy must’ve been Freddie blooming Kruger”

“He might be. He’s part of the Italian mob and was arrested in Sheffield in the middle of a cocaine deal. We weren’t allowed to even look his way but the way he was staring at us….. It was weird” I frown.

“Be careful. If you piss him off, the big bad cocaine Mafioso might just get you”

“Shut up mate, I’m already freaked” I whack his arm.

“So mum spoke to me about that girl again” he says after a minute of silence.

“Yeah? Any news?”

“She just asked me to consider it because Abu wants an answer. But I overheard the adults talking and they’ve decided on a girl for him. Like done-deal decided” he whispers the last part.

“No way? Done-deal decided?”

“KitKat swear man. She’s the daughter of some big telecommunications CEO in Dubai. Omar’s only seen her picture but Kareem Mama is set on her. She’s becoming a doctor of something”

“Holy shit, that’s rough”

“I mean she sounds nice enough. And you know how Omar is; he’ll treat her well no matter what”

“That’s true. God knows what I’d do in his situation”

“Cry like a baby” he snickers.

I scowl and lean back in my seat, suddenly feeling like a nap is time worthy.

“Ji amee, we’ve settled in. Mehnaz apaa is right here, one second” Zayed hands the phone to our older cousin.

“Asalamualaikum” Mehnaz apaa walks away with the phone tucked in between her ear and shoulder and her hands mixing a bowl of batter.

“Wash up guys. Lunch is served” Mehnaz’s sister-in-law tells us.

“Thank god, I’m starving”

“As usual” Zayed mutters.

“Which one is it?”

“The hall on the right” Omar says, reading the little sign that pointed to either weddings. We make our way to the right hall and find our seats. The hall is overflowing with people and loud and as Ali put it, “live.”

My dress had a very high neck so I threw my hair up into a bun but it already seemed to be loosening up. Damn it.

The bride’s father, also known as Arjun uncle-Abu’s accountant, comes over to us. He chats and tells us to get appetizers and the whole formality bit before moving on to the next table.

“Wanna get drunk?” Omar mutters in total boredom.

“So bad right now” I grumble. He chuckles, twirling his straw. “So who’s the lucky girl?”

“How’d you know?”

“I know everything. I’m Yeezus”

“Her name’s Alia”

“She sounds spectacular”

“I guess….” He sighs. He sighs. And not just any sigh. A desperate sigh.

“Spill.”

“Spill what?”

“You know what” I keep my voice low. “Spill now or your sister will hear the beginning of a battle you can’t win”

“You women are awful”

“It’s a sixth sense” I wink. “Now tell me what’s wrong”

“There’s another g-”

“No fuc-” he throws his hand over my mouth. “Let’s go outside” I tell him and excuse us. Mehnaz apaa looks up curiously but I drag us both out before she can stop us.

“Who is it?” I practically jump in my 4 inch heels out of excitement.

“Sit down and calm down. It’s unnerving to see you so…. alive”

“Screw you. What’s her name?”

“Zinat”

“That’s a pretty name. Where’d you meet her?”

“At school. She was doing some classes on the campus and we bumped into each other by mistake. She ended up being in two of my classes and by the time I finished school, I liked her. She finished a year after me and I saw her a couple of times because she’s Aleena’s sister-in-law-”

“-Ew” I interject. Aleena was not my favourite cousin.

“So I go over with any excuse”

“You’re such a romantic. More guys need to be like you”

“No guy should be like me. I’m in love with someone I’ll never have. If Abu said I’m marrying Alia, then I’m marrying Alia. Zinat is out of the question”

“Is she?” a strong, mellow voice comes from behind us. We both turn around to a tall, statuesque girl with hair to her waist and a pink dress that made her fair skin glow.

And beside her stood the one and only. Ayaan.