LEFTOVER KHICHRI

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

It was an old routine, something she'd seen from as early as she could remember. On Sunday their father would pray fajr at the masjid and then visit his older brother. The siblings knew better than to disrupt his routine. But as the years progressed and their father's energy decreased, some days he wouldn't make it to the masjid before jammat. On those days he would pray fajr at home and then go to the cemetery.

On such a Sunday, Shasmeen walked into the living room after praying her fard, and found her father closing his mush'af after reading his regular juz.

"Baba, are you going soon?" She asked, approaching him.

"Yes." He patted her head lovingly. "Do you want to come with?"

She shook her head then nodded right after. "No to the graveyard, but I want to drive with you. Can I drop you off and get coffee for myself?"

"I don't see why not." He grinned at her. "You have five minutes to change, if you'd like."

She looked down at her gray prayer jilbab then shook her head. "I'll just do drive-thru."

She didn't care for coffee enough to drive for it at six am, but she wanted an opportunity to talk to her father in seclusion. She wanted to inform him about her decision about Abdullah, and that he would be reaching out soon.

"What are the father and daughter conspiring to do at this hour?" Her mother asked, unpinning her khimar and letting loose her freshly washed hair. She had been folded on the prayer mat only a few feet away.

"Do you want to come with us, Mama?"

Seven minutes later the trio sat in the warm car, cruising down the deserted early morning streets. Seatbelt extended to its maximum, Shasmeen sat at the edge of the backseat with her head in the middle of the open space. Growing up, that spot was always reserved for Talha, because he needed to be on a car seat and he didn't have enough speech to argue for the window seat. In recent years when they traveled without Aaliyah, Shasmeen would volunteer to take the middle seat because her brothers were too tall to easily squeeze into the middle.

"So are you guys having a pleasant morning so far?" She asked, trying to build up the courage to say what she had to.

Her parents exchanged knowing smiles, well aware of how awkward she got when she was about to ask for something.

"It's going very well, thank you," her father said, "how's yours going?"

"Alhumdulillah." She bit her lips, trying to find her words. "So. . .guys, you know how I'm. . .I'm talking to that guy, the one Rahma khala set up?"

Her mother turned to glance at her. "Yes?"

"So. . .um, we've texted and had a call."

"Yes, we're aware. Talha keeps us in the loop."

Shasmeen's face burned under her mother's face. "Have you guys seen the texts too?"

"No, we trust you enough to not pry."

"Right, well, in that case, I'd like to tell you that we're getting along well." She smiled this time, a shy, hesitant smile.

"Shasmeen beta, where are we going with this?" Her father asked, urging her to get to the point. He looked at her through the rearview mirror.

She gulped. "I feel like he and I are compatible." She waited a moment, then said, "I want to marry him."

There was a pungent silence in the small space of the car. Shasmeen waited for either of her parents to slice through it, because she didn't have the courage to.