Pervade and Faint

Chapter 29

I literally searched around in the room for Tyrese when I woke up. But it took me less than a second to realize that I wasn't in the university. I changed my shirt and went straight into the kitchen. It was the hunger which had led me. Dad wasn't in the kitchen. I checked for him in the living room. He wasn't even in there.
When I reentered the kitchen, I caught my eye on a light green sticky note, which was loosely attached on the fridge door.

Will be back at 7.Food is in the microwave .Call if you need anything.

After reading the small, succinct note, I opened the microwave and took out a plate, brimful of food. I warmed it in the microwave for half a minute and ate in the living room.
There was a strong silence in the house, which lasted for a long time.
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The day passed. Dad had arrived just before the last light of the sun. He sat in the living room for awhile.
"Are you okay?" I asked, as I sensed that he was frizzled.
"Can you get me a glass of water?" he asked and I stood up to get him some water. He drank in it three short gulps. I asked him if he wanted more, but he shook his head imperceptibly.
"Did you eat anything?" he asked and wiped his lips with a knuckle.
"There was food in the microwave", I answered.
Dad told me that we were going to go to uncle Qurashi's house for dinner. He went there for dinner, every day since mom had passed away, but only for dinner. He liked to have breakfast at home. So auntie Shama held the responsibility of bringing him his breakfast.

Dad and I went to uncle Qurashi's house. Uncle Qurashi opened the door for us and we sat in the dining room. I heard the sound of dishes and spoons in the kitchen. Thats when I realized that I hadn't met auntie Shama. And all of a sudden, my urge to meet her increased. I walked into the kitchen, leaving dad and uncle Qurashi in the living room. I told dad that I was going to help her. He nodded. And understood.
I slowly walked into the kitchen, paying attention to the wooden furniture. Auntie Shama was standing in front of the stove with a black spatula in her right hand. I thought that she was wearing a white apron, but I when I took a careful look, it was her coat. Doctors coat.
I cleared my throat, to pull her attention. She looked back. A unexpected brightness reflected from her eyes as soon as she saw me. She walked towards me quickly. Almost as if she was running. She closed me in a warm and comforting embrace. It felt like she was waiting for me, and for a long time. When she broke the hug, I saw tears in her eyes. She was crying.
"I'm sorry", she said and embraced me again. She held me like that for a minute or so, crying in my chest. On hearing a sound of something burning on the frying pan, she quickly looked back, towards the stove.
"Let me just _ "
"Yeah, it's okay", I said, as I knew that she was busy cooking. I stood there for a while, looking at her cook. She worked dexterously, despite practicing as a doctor. When I noticed that my hands were in my pocket, I instantaneously withdrew them. Sophia once advised me not to put my hands in my pocket. She told me that it was not a good social behavior, at least not for a decent man like me. That's what she said. I had remembered.

I confronted another mysterious silence in the dining room. The only sound in the living room was of the spoons hitting against the plates. It was getting awkward to a large extent. The house offered a sad loneliness in the absence of Sophia. I wanted to know about her whereabouts. Where she was, how she was, and most importantly, who she was with. The urge compelled me to ask. And I did.
"How's Sophia?" I asked, nervously and lifted my head from my plate. There was a bite in the air after my question, as if I had asked something amiss. I looked at auntie Shama.
"She's good", answered uncle Qurashi. All eyes shifted towards him.
"She's good", he reiterated and smiled enigmatically. Once again, there was silence, but there was something in that silence, something wrong. I looked at auntie Shama. She clenched her jaws with so much force that I feared her jaws might break.
"With whom?" I asked, furiously, because I knew from deep down that she couldn't have been happy without me, due to which I didn't believe uncle Qurashi. Uncle Qurashi laughed, in very rude way. I looked at auntie Shama once again. She shut her eyes for a second. I doubted witnessing a tear in her eye. Unexpectedly, she aggressively threw her spoon on her plate, heaving a foreboding to the fore. She stood up and marched off. My mouth dropped open, in fact, remained open. I was dead sure that something was definitely wrong. And I had been unaware of it for too long. I stood up and headed home. And so did dad.
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Dad took the keys out of his pocket.
"What was that all about?" I asked.
He opened the door and gestured me to sit in the living room. We sat on the same sofa.
"What was what about?" he asked.
"You know what I'm talking about", I said, taking a seat beside him.
Dad sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He mostly did that when he was extremely tensed.
"You won't understand", he simply answered.
I looked at him for a while. I nodded, and I didn't even know why.

"What time does auntie Shama come?" I asked, calmly.
"What?" he counter-questioned.
"For bringing breakfast", I answered, irritated.
"Eight thirty", answered dad, looking at his watch as if it was eight thirty.
I marched off to my room and locked the door, even though I knew that nobody was going to come. It was a hard night for me. My head hurt, because of the turbulent tense and stretching suspense. I wondered what was going on. I was worried about Sophia, in particular.
I set an alarm and closed my eyes, allowing the cascade of suspense to hit me