The Dawn Is On Us

C H A P T E R 3 3

"Sahab Raees sahab agai hai," a maid knocked on the door, breaking their intense eye contact.
"Theek hai hum arahay hai," Mustafa replied.
He wheeled himself over to their bedrooms door, turning his neck at an ninety degree angle, to ensure that she was following him. Having assurance that she was, he began to wheel himself out of the house. Stopping at the step that led to the porch.

Raees noticed Mustafa stopping, and understanding his predicament, he left the car. Rushing over to help him.
"Assalamualikum bhabi," Raees greeted her, turning to his friend in need.
"Waalikumassalam," she replied, fixing her duppata.
She had laid it across her delicate shoulders, bunching it one side and letting it fall from the other. The embroidered flowers, swaying with the gentle breeze.

In her hands, Hoor held a white purse. Carrying money that she had collected as a part of her salami. She walked behind the two friends, eyeing how in sync the two were. Raees led Mustafa to the passenger seat of his Porsche.
"Bhabi ap ko peechay akela bethna paray ga!" He smiled at her, his eyes showing a hint of his infamous naughty behaviour she had been hearing about.
"Koi baat nahi!" She smiled back at him.
For sitting alone would save her from the awkwardness of sitting with Mustafa.

Once all of them had seated in their respective seats, Raees played his loud Punjabi music play-list. With songs that talked about the bravery of how they handled their enemies, etc. The car rolled out of the home, and they entered the main roads of Defence. That were, as expected, very crowded. Everyone was out and about. Ready to begin the start of a new decade. For as long as she could remember, people had been talking about 2020. From news anchors to politicians. Everyone seemed to have a bigger and better plan.

Horns sounded from all directions, as cars seemed to refuse to move anytime the signal turned green. Everyone was frustrated. It seemed that dinner would not be possible if they still wanted to make it to the fireworks show in Bahria. Raees was frustrated. His constant slamming on the steering wheel, a dead giveaway of how he was feeling.

"Mustafa bhai yahan par tou kharay kharay saari raat guzar jaani hai. Batain keh kia karun?" He consulted the man he trusted just as much as his father, if not more.
"Yaar dekh lo. It seems we can only do one thing tonight. Its either dinner or fireworks. You and I both know all high end restaurants will be crowded so it is going to take more than two hours. And then by the looks of the traffic, it will take us about an hour and a half just to reach MM Alam road. And you would s have to drive to Bahria," Mustafa gave an educated answer, causing Raees to hum.
Hoor had understood nothing after the first sentence. It made her feel ashamed. The language that rolled out of Mustafa's tongue so effortlessly was foreign to her. And so were many other things that he did.

Just this afternoon, she had seen Rumaisa use a thing to straighten her hair while Munazza used another to curl hers. She did not know what those devices were called. From where she came from, a lot of young girls would use a clothing iron to straighten their hair.

"Bhai aisa karte hai, keh ring road sai Bahria chaltay hai. Wahan par hi kuch kha bhi lei gai. Is tarah kamazkam kaam tou dono ho jain gai," Raees gave a suggestion.
"Han yahi karte hai". Mustafa told him.
Raising the volume as his favourite song began to play.

It seemed that the two men had forgotten about the woman who sat in complete silence. Ever since they got on the highway, they would talk to each other. Making Hoor feel left out. Tears clouded her eyes, choking her throat. She felt as if all her fears were coming to life. It was so easy for Mustafa to ignore her once he was with a friend. She thought to herself if he would ignore her every time they went out. Considering they had no similarities and their interests were the complete opposite of each other. Like the North pole and equator.

Forty minutes after they had gotten on the ring road, they finally reached their exit. Driving another fifteen minutes to enter the gates of Bahria. Raees stopped the car infront of a barbecue place. Zakir Tikka, was famous all over the city for its food. And eating barbecue was the perfect thing to do at eight-thirty in the night, on new years eve, when a cold breeze was blowing.

He helped Mustafa get into the wheelchair, finally noticing Hoor get out of the car, her shoulder wrapped in a pashmina shawl. Hoor was glad that she had grabbed it one her way out. She could in no way have survived without it in this chilly weather.
"B-bhabi aajain," he gestured for her to move ahead of them.
Raess felt guilty. It was the first time she had come out with them and they had done nothing but make her feel like an outsider. A third wheel.

Mustafa felt his heart clench. What had he done? He had been promising her these past few days to never let her feel left out. And then he had gone and ignored her the first time she came out with them. He had invited Raees for he needed his help. He had no intentions of making Hoor feel like a third wheel. Already the night that should have been a romantic night between the two, had turned into a friends gathering. He could not help but curse himself in his heart.

"Aain sahab bethain," a waiter led them to a table for four. Eventhough it was an outdoor seating, the area was clean with no sign of stray cats. For which, Hoor was glad.
"Bhabi ap kia lei gi?" Raees asked her once the menu's had been handed out. He handed her one of the brochures, waiting for her to choose. Not realising how bad it made Hoor feel. She looked at the writing on the paper, which looked like gibberish to her. Even the urdu translations that had been added were of no help. She had never gone to school, never held an urdu qaida much less an english one, so how did they expect her to read? The only thing she could read were the words in the Holy Quran, which an ulema had taught her. But because her parents could not afford to pay her, she had paid no attention on helping her with her basics. So she could only read the words out of memory. It was impossible to read anything else.

"Umm... pata nahi," she replied after staring at the words for too long.
Mustafa noticed the hesitation on her face. He wanted to kill Raees then and there. Thankfully he was sitting next to Hoor, so he grabbed the paper, reading out the menu to her in a soft whisper.
"Leg piece, malai boti, chicken tikka, beef kebab...." and the list went on.
"Pata nahi," Hoor shrugged.
She had never had a choice. Only times they would have takeout was Eid and it was Ali who went and got stuff for all of them.
"Ali aisai karo 2 plate beef kebab karlo aur 4 plate chicken tikka," Mustafa told Raees.
Raees who had been engrossed his phone, and not noticed the exchange between the husband wife, nodded his head. Having not the slightest idea of how badly Mustafa was planning his murder.

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