From Aliya to Hafiz

Sixteen.

Hafiz.

It was so fucking awkward I could die.

My eyes moved from the two grandfathers to the uncles and then back. Father met my gaze midway and I swore he was fucking gloating at my predicament. I could see the 'serves you right' oozing off of him.

The bastard...

"Do you mind taking a stroll around the front yard?" Ashraf called and I was on my feet before he could blink. He chuckled as he followed suit, motioning to Muazu as he did.

Anwar was in the yard, sitting on the cement porch while keeping an eye on the children running around.

"You must think you're so smart, running off with the kids like that," Muazu sat beside him, nudging his shoulder.

"You know I'm awkward with crowds," he scratched his head. I took a seat some feet away from them, wanting to put some distance between myself and these people from an entirely different world.

Ashraf though obviously didn't understand that because he plopped down between Anwar and me, closing the little space I left. Yusuf followed suit and sat beside me so now I was trapped between them.

I sighed.

"They aren't crowds, they're your family," Ashraf said, leaning back with his arms stretched behind him and palms splayed on the ground.

Anwar mimicked his actions with a grimace. "I know."

I could never get over how alike they looked. They looked more like twins than cousins.

"Oh yeah, how did you settle your fan?" Yusuf snickered.

Muazu groaned. "Don't even remind me."

"He already did, what happened?" Ashraf laughed.

"Mstchwww, how did you think? I deactivated my social media accounts and moved. I'm staying near Mama's house now."

Anwar gasped in what I took to be shock. "Are you serious?"

"You could have just informed the police, are you stupid or something? Moving houses all of a sudden?" Yusuf chided.

"What would they do? Give a restraining order? Like they can be that functional."

"They can detain her though," Anwar said.

"I think she's into you," Ashraf snickered. 

"Gee, you don't say," Muazu dryly replied.

"Speaking of into people, what about that your colleague? Husna, was it?" Yusuf asked.

"You just like being this way don't you?" Ashraf scowled.

"What way?" He blinked innocently.

"Salma came to the office with Khadija and chewed her out," Ashraf grimaced, looking helpless and indulgent.

"Wow, my sis-in-law did? But she looks so short!" Yusuf gasped.

"Aisha is short, and she's scary when she's mad," Muazu pointed out.

"She's pretty scary isn't she?" He shuddered. "But my sis-in-law is so gentle! It's like a dung beetle eating chicken and ignoring shit, weird!"

Ashraf slapped his head making him yelp. "Don't compare my wife to a dung beetle! What are you, an idiot!?"

"And it's not Salma; she didn't do anything. It's Khadija that did the chewing out," Anwar cleared his throat.

"Aha, that makes so much more sense. Dija is so...expressive," Yusuf snapped his fingers while rubbing his hit head.