Not Deadly

Chapter two

Zainab's POV
Neither me nor Abdul have ever been to granny's house. Every time we asked if we could go there, Mama would vehemently refuse. So standing in front of her very huge house today felt very weird.
There were lots of sleek cars parked in front of her house and people kept going in and out of them. Baba was a well known business man in Istanbul. He owned three big shops which sold fabrics and hijabs. He had a lot of friends and clients who sometimes came to the house to dine with us. Notable amongst all these people was Uncle Harry who was Baba's best friend. He and Baba grew up together and even went to the same college. Sadly, they had to part ways when Baba had ran away from home. He dropped by the house one time when Baba was still alive, since then, I have never seen him again.

As we neared the main entrance of the house, we came face to face with Uncle Yusuf, Baba's elder brother. He stared at Mama with relief and happiness all over and with just one close look, one could see tears glistening his eyes. He placed the mat which was in his armpit down gently on the floor and knelt at Mama's feet. "Aliya, I am so sorry, please find it in your heart to forgive me. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I thought you knew about this," he had regret and sadness written all over his face. His eyes darted between Abdul and me as he tried to see any resemblance between us.
Mama glared at him and walked away, completely ignoring him.
He stared dumbfounded at Mama's retreating figure and I had to swallow to prevent myself from laughing, this was too funny.

Mama entered the big hall without even bothering to say 'salam', me and Abdul exchanged worried looks and followed her inside. The hall was very big with a large white center table which had coffee snacks, and a Holy Quran sitting on it.
There were about twenty people in the room and they all were dressed in hijabs and long veils. In the middle of the room was a very old lady, dressed in a black abaya and a long chador. By the way she glared at Mama, I knew she was granny.
Mama, not bothering to greet the people in the room stormed directly towards her and pointed her finger accusingly at her face. "You!" She screamed and the people gasped. "How dare you?" "How dare you take my husband's body away without my permission, who gave you the right to do that?!" She began shaking and I knew she wasn't going to last long.
At this point, me and Abdul crept up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She turned her head sharply to look at us and turned it back to granny, completely ignoring us. "All these years I have been very quiet about the way you have treated me and my family, because of what? We aren't Turkish? That's why?!"
"Aliya!" One lady who was sitting beside granny shouted pointing her index finger at Mama. Mama shot her a fierce look but the woman instead of looking afraid rather looked unnerved. "Don't you dare raise your voice at her, she is your mother-in-law for Allah's sake!" She banged her hand on the couch's shoulder and turned her head to the other side.
I looked around the room and some of the elders were nodding their heads in agreement. "This wasn't good," I thought to myself. "Who is my mother-in-law Aunt Aisha? This woman right here?" She shook her head and laughed. "I don't think so," she shot granny another fierce look and granny just sat there unfazed. "This woman who never accepted me nor my children as hers is my mother-in-law? No Aunt, please revise your terms on who a mother-in-law is because this one right here, doesn't fit inside that definition," she turned to granny who had a deep frown on her face. "How could you? What have I ever done to you?" Mama was now whispering, she was at the verge of tears. Granny cocked her head to he side and gave Mama a quizzical look. "Are you seriously asking me this?" She asked quietly in a very rich and thick Turkish accent. "Because of you, my son went against me. Because of you, my son abandoned me, not even once did he come to visit me or even call me. And now that he is gone, you are denying me the only chance I have to see my son again? Why are you so heartless?!" She screamed and started coughing. Aunt Aisha passed a bottle of water which she accepted graciously. She opened the bottle and sipped the water then cleared her throat. After cooling her throat, she turned to Mama again to lash out. "Yes," she continued. "I have never accepted you as my daughter-in-law and I will NEVER accept you as my daughter-in-law. You are a big disgrace and so are these two things you call your children. They are not and will never be my grandchildren!" She deadpanned just as silence fell in the room. Mama stood shocked and stunned whereas Abdul had tears running down his face. I looked around me and saw a pair of nineteen eyes staring at us, wide opened. I felt nothing at all, I have never known her. All my twenty years of life, she has never been present so I didn't really care what she said. My biggest worry now was Mama. She blinked her tears away and nodded her head. "Okay," she said quietly. "Thank you very much. I pray Allah rewards you with everything you have ever asked for in this dunya. I won't be the one to punish you or do anything. Allah will do it for me. From today onwards, me and my children are no longer related to you. We are not your family and don't ever call upon us when you need help. We won't help you," she pointed her finger at her and granny snorted. "As if!" Mama turned her attention to me and Abdul and gestured to us to stand up. "You will regret everything. I pray Allah gives you your befitting punishment," she held both me and Abdul's hands and together we left the room, not turning back.

Back outside, Mama stood beside a wall staring into space. Abdul also stood beside her trying to grab her attention but she wasn't budging. He turned to me and mouthed 'help' and I sighed and walked towards her. "Mama come on, let's go," I tugged her arm but she remained stoic. I shook my head at Abdul with a defeated sigh and began walking away when, a very rough and deep voice called Mama's name. The relief which was written on my face was so visible that you could see it written on my forehead. I run to Uncle Harry and threw my arms around him. He returned the gesture and bent down to kiss Abdul's forehead. "How have you been habibi?" He asked me kissing my forehead as well. "Not so well," I replied and he frowned. "Why?" He asked and I nodded at Mama. He darted his eyes between her and us, contemplating whether he should go to her or not. He finally decided to go to her and when he approached her, Mama quickly dried her eyes. "Oh Harry," she cleared her throat and gave him a forced smile.
"What is wrong with you Aliya? You don't look good," he said quietly and she shook her head. "I am fine, what brings you here?" She asked quietly and Uncle Harry after noticing the change in topic decided to let it go. She clearly didn't want to talk about it. "First of all, I want to give you my deepest condolences. I have been very absent for a while and I couldn't even be here for you guys or my best friend at his final resting place. Please forgive me," he hang his head in shame and Mama sighed. "Stop it Harry, you can always make duas for him. That's what he needs now," she said and Harry nodded. "Thank you Aliya, you have always been kind and generous," Mama smiled. "So, you know your father has been constructing a very big house in the USA right?" He fixed his eyes on Abdul and I and we nodded with confused expressions. "Well, the house is complete and I just came to ask you guys if you would like to move to the USA," he rubbed his hands nervously as he waited for our reply. Me and Abdul exchanged looks which included shock, surprise and happiness. We were finally going to the USA! This was a dream come true. Well, that was if Mama agreed.
"Do you want to live in the USA Mama?" I asked with hopeful eyes and she nodded unsurely. Me and Abdul screamed with happiness and shs shot us one of her fierce looks. We kept quiet. Uncle Harry clapped and whispered 'mashAllah'.
"That's amazing, glory be to Allah. I will arrange your papers and everything. You will leave in two weeks time In Sha Allah," he nodded at Mama and waved at us before disappearing in his black car.