The Girl In Black [On Hold Till Further Notice]

Preying. Being preyed upon. And the other way round.

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It was unusual. Adel Jamal had called. How did he get her number? Amma (mother) must have given it to him. She found him so adorable. Puh- lease! Give it a rest! ‘Just what was adorable in him’, she wondered. Absolutely nothing! Another unusual thing was that he thought she was in Bangalore. That was quite a relieving thought, though. Last night when she was thinking of calling it a day, and slipping into her cozy blankets, a phone call roused her from her sleepiness. Anyone who knew that it was almost midnight over here, wouldn’t even think of calling at such an unworldly hour. In addition to that, the number flashing on her screen was quite unknown to her.

She had an old fear of unknown calls because of an incident that happened when she was thirteen years old. She had a sweet voice. And when she had picked up a call once and said Salam to whoever was on the other side of the phone, that freaky guy had asked her name, a little too lovingly. Being just an innocent kid at that time, she had told him asking him why, and what he replied was horrible. Whatever he had said, she still couldn’t say it out loud, not even to herself.

Well, nevertheless, she picked it up, but out of fear, she couldn’t bring herself to say even a ‘hello’ into the phone. And the voice that rang out from the other side, made a chill run down her spine, it was so unnerving. She had recognized it the instant he spoke. “Hey Zahra, how are you?” Adel Jamal asked, in a voice that clearly sounded sure, as if he was telling her that he had finally won the game. “H…how did you get my number?” she forced herself to ask, just to show him that there was still a long way to go for him to reach her. “Oh that. Well, I asked it out of your dear mommy. Was it wrong on my part?” he asked, and she could imagine him turning out his lower lip into a fake pout.

“No. I guess not” Zahra said, and sighed. “Why are you calling me?” “Why? Is there a problem? I just wanted to ask you how you were doing in Bangalore. We are gonna get married at some point of time, aren’t we? You still can’t take it that a guy like me, who is so handsome, cares for a girl like you, right?” he replied, irritated. ‘Handsome…my foot! Who told him anything about marriage? Oh well! My dear parents must have done the deed, probably a little too happily. Wait. He thought she was in Bangalore. Ahhh! That was soo relieving. Amma and Abba (Urdu for parents) weren’t fools, they knew how to handle things. Besides, the Jamal’s had made it all too clear to keep me in India and not let me run out of the country’ she thought.

“Hey! You still there?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts. “What? Uh…oh. Yeah” she replied, uncertainly. “Getting nervous, are you? Just pre-wedding jitters, I believe. You’ll be fine, once you’re with me” he said, smilingly. Eww. She with him! Even the thought was too gross. His confidence irked her to no measure. “Look, I’m a bit busy right now, and it would be very nice of you if you just don’t call me again” she said, and instantly cut the call. When she was finally starting to doze off into a nice deep sleep, her phone rang, once again. She was about to reject the call when she saw Amma’s number flash on the screen. She picked it up, wondering what exactly was the matter, so important that it couldn’t wait till morning. “Zahra, what am I hearing now? Oh! What have you done? Why can’t you grow a bit more mature?” she asked her in a tone laced with sadness.

“That’s exactly what I want to ask you Amma, what have I done?” Zahra replied, puzzled. “Don’t be so childish. The nice boy was only asking how you were and you just cut his phone call, without even politely answering his question. When will you learn how to behave, I don’t know” her mother said, sounding fed up. “Did he just call you to say that I had misbehaved with him? Oh! How manly of him! You know what, he needs to grow up, not me. And please stop bothering me about these petty things, mom. It’s almost midnight over here, and I have to go to work tomorrow. So if you will excuse me, I’m going to sleep.” And saying thus, Zahra cut the call shoving her phone under the pillow, and fell asleep.