The Different Shades of Life

13. Question and Messenger

Allah does not judge you on how bad you have been in the past, but rather how good you strive to be now.

-Yasir Qadhi

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"You won't believe. She added baby oil in my shampoo and se did it so well that I didn't even notice it by looking at it. When I was washing my hair, I was kinda sleepy and noticed it after almost I washed half of my hair and I was like "Yuck!". I immediately told Mom about it and Haya got a lot of scolding but at the end, Mom laughed too." She ended with a huff.

"Haya's pranks... are awesome... It doesn't fail to amaze me." I said in between my laughs.

"You are laughing?! My hair is so oily now. I'm literally sitting with plastic on my head. You should be the victim and then you will know how annoying it is." Humaira said the last part in one breath.

"Take a chill pill, girl! Haya is just a kid." I replied.

"Yes. She's just a kid and her pranks are so annoying. Imagine how her pranks will be when she will grow up." She said, horrified.

"It will be more interesting stories."

"Inayaaa!!!" Her voice was so loud I had to pull the phone away from ear.

I laughed when I heard her say, "What kind of friend are you?"

We talked for another three minutes before hanging up. It's been four days since the mall incident. We didn't talk about it after that night. Our house is more cheerful now that Phuphi and Nawal are here. We get to eat new dishes made by Phuphi and Mamma almost every day and I have to say, they are so good.

Though Nawal is four years younger than me, we bond well, Alhamdulillah. She would tell me about her school friends 'cause she doesn't like talking about school and I would tell her about my group of friends and the things we did.

Whenever I'm busy or doing some chores, I would hear Adyaan and Nawal bickering. They don't even need the topic to argue about. As their arguments aren't serious, which I am thankful for, it ends without anyone being hurt.

I walked to Naeema Phuphi's room where she was combing her thick straight hair. Her hair were long that ended at her waist. Despite her age, she was beautiful. Her delicate and fragile features adding to her beauty. She was slim with medium height and the most important thing is her inner beauty that is way more beautiful than her outer one.

Whenever Rihana Phuphi would ignore me and love my other cousins, Naeema Phuphi would come to me and make me happy. She would love me like her own daughter.

She lifted her gaze and smiled at me.

"Masha Allah, Phuphi! You have so nice hair." I commented.

She thanked with a smile and Jazakillah to which I replied.

"But Rihana Aapi's hair is much better." She said.

"Yes. I remember."

The silence fell upon us. She continued braiding her hair but her fingers paused when I asked her,

"Does she hate me even now?"

This question was always in the back of my mind. I want to know, no, I need to know if she hates me or not. Why did she even hate me, just because of luck? Is there even a thing called luck? Everything is fate. It was meant to be.

She didn't like me from ever since. It was visible in her actions when she would love and talk to my other cousins. She didn't scold me or anything but she behaved like I wasn't even there. But after dad's death, she said those words which I hardly think I could forget. She blamed my father's death on me. I was just a 12 year old and the silly 12 year old me started believing that was the truth after hearing Phuphi's taunts for almost one month.