"Sometimes laughing in your most depressing times makes things more bearable, even if it is just a little bit."
{S Y E D A}
I ring the door bell and the next thing i know is that door is open and Adnaan is at the door, in a terrible yet funny state. He has oil stains on his shirt, flour stuck in his hair, his hands dripping with water, sleeves rolled up and a plate with one, single paratha (really crispy roti) on it.
My mouth hangs open. He gives me an irritated look and runs a watery hand through his floury hair.
"What you lookin' at?" he says giving me a glare.
I close my mouth but end up opening it again, a laugh escaping from it.
Adnaan rolls his eyes while watching me laughing my heart out.
"Just-just to make o-one para-paratha you get this-this messy," i laugh, clutching my stomach and wiping off a tear beginning to come out my eye.
I place a hand onto the concrete wall, trying to hold in my laugh and control it.
"If your done being psychotic, please, come in," he say, both his hands, well one hand the other has a plate with a paratha, leading into the house, his back bent slightly, an absolute fake and silly smile plastered on his pink face and his voice tinted with irritation and annoyance.
"Why yes, sir," i say, dipping into a curtsy, fuelling the fire blazing in his eyes.
I walk in, taking the plate in his hand, heading to the kitchen.
"Oi Syeda, give it back! Do have any idea how much time that took me to make?!" he says, running after me.
"Exactly why you need so much help from the one and only me," i say, placing the plate on the kitchen counter.
Gosh! The kitchen is even messier than him.
I shake away my thoughts and start to order him around.
"You clean the kitchen, whilst i make the parathas but first i need to get changed and wash my hands," i say, throwing him a mop, which he catches effortlessly.
"Yes, mam," he says, saluting me.
"Oh, shut up," i say, rolling my eyes, strolling out of the kitchen and into my room.
~After cleaning the kitchen, making a batch of parathas and praying~
Adnaan somehow made the kitchen squeaky clean, Osman is too busy setting up the table, making sure everything is perfect. What i mean by perfect is that all the plate must in line, all the glasses must be in line, all the utensils must me in line, the tissue box must be perfectly in the middle and all the chairs must have equal space, at times i think this guy has OCD but really he is just a perfectionist.
I just placed the last paratha onto the stack of four, now five, when the door bell rang. Adnaan, already finished cleaning, dried his hands and went to open the door. A few seconds later, i hear my mums angelical voice.
"Assalamualyakum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu."
"Wa' alaykumus salam wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu," me, in the kitchen, Osman in the dining room and Adnaan probably next to Ammi managed to say in unison.
I dry my hands with a cloth and take the plate of parathas into the dining room. Osman already there, takes the plate from me and puts it in a place, again trying to make it look perfect.
What a perfectionist.
I roll my eyes and go to my mum. She embraces me, her sweet vanilla scent wafting up my nose. I enhale it in before breaking the embrace and giving her a toothy grin.
"What is this lovely smell?" she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Parathas which i made, definitely not Adnaan," i say.
"Exuse me, i still made one."
"Yeah but it wasn't even cooked properly so i had to put it back on the stove."
"Okay then, Ammi if you walk into the kitchen and see it shinier than Syedas future, then know that your favourite son, Adnaan, cleaned it."
"Excuse m-" i get cut off by Osman.
"Uhh hello it seems that you have forgotten Adnaan l, I am Ammi's favourite child. Also, Ammi i made the dining table look pretty and beautiful."
Osman comes and hugs Ammi, giving her a toothy grin.
"Ya Allah, what did i do to deserve such kids," she says grinning.
"By the way, none of you are my favourite. I love you all equally. Also Adnaan if the kitchen is as clean as you claim, that'll be your new chore, Osman if the dining room is as pretty as you say, then you may do the table every day and Syeda, if the parathas are yummier than mine..." my mum pauses, wiggling her eyebrows, her filled with amusement and mischeif, "... i'm finding you a husband."
Adnaan and Osman snickers and my cheeks tint into a bright red as i roll my eyes.
"Ammi, if that's the case then let me tell you, I've already know someone perfect for her," says Adnaan, smirking.
"Ooooooooh, so who's the UN-lucky guy," says Osman.
"Look at you three already planning to send me away. I am soooo sorry to break your happy bubble but I am not getting married anytime soon, i am only 16 for God's sake and you..." i say looking at Adnaan, pointing my finger at him,"...Whoever this 'perfect guy' is, let him know to go find someone else."
I glare at him, crossing my arm with a huff. Ammi and Osman laugh, wiping away none existing tears.
"Umm..who said he even wanted to marry you?" he says, squinting his eyes, his lips curling up into a smirk.
This time Osman ends up rolling onto the floor and Ammi has to grip onto the sofa.
"Umm...should we go and eat or are you two planning on laughing for the rest of the day," says Adnaan, glaring at me.
We get into a glaring contest.
"Should we go and eat or are you two planning on glaring at each other for the rest of the day," say Osman, quoting Adnaan's words.
We turn to glare at him.
"Okay sorry, sorry. Can we just go and eat, i am really hungry," says Osman, holding up his hands.
~After eating~
I go upstsairs, flopping onto my bed. There's like 30 minutes left until Isha, so i open Pinterest, looking at a bunch of pictures of roses.
Maher Zain: Close to you starts blaring from my phone. I literally have to cover my mouth to stop from screaming and start fumbling with my phone, trying to put my phone on silent.
"Oi Syeda, close the music," screams Adnaan from the other room.
I successfully do it, looking the name ID, which ruined my sweet and peaceful time.
🍲Foodie🍲, 👼Angel👼 and 💕Simba💕 are calling.
"Oi Adnaan, Humayrah is calling. Want to talk to her?" i say, smirking.
Silence.
"Absolutely not," he screams back.
I can literally hear the embarrassment in his voice.
I accept the call and my friends beautiful faces come onto my screen.
"So how's the Queen doin," says Humayrah.
"I was absolutely fine until some people ruined my peace."
"If that's the case, i might as well just kick you out of the call," says Humayrah.
"Oh my Allah! I was joking!"
"So how's Uncle doing?" asks Nadia.
"Alhamdulillah, he's getting better but the doctors said that he would probably need 1 to 2 weeks to fully recover," i say, my eyes turning glossing.
They all mutter Alhamdulillah.
"Wallahi Syeda, if a tear falls out of your eye, i don't care what time it is, the next thing you know i'm at your front doorstep," says Humayrah.
I rub at my eyes, remembering how i spilled the beans two days ago.
~Start of Flashback~
I walk into the classroom, my eyes having big dark circles underneath them. I couldn't sleep, again. I sit down in my seat, there's 5 minutes until the bell rings.
Humayrah, Nadia and Simra all share a worried look.
"Hey are you okay? You look like a panda," say Nadia.
"I'm fine."
"WHAT THE HELL, SYEDA! YOU NEED TO STOP LYING, I CAN'T SEE MY BESTIE CRUMBLING EVERY SINGLE DAY!" screams Humayrah.
All heads turn to us and she glares at everyone.
I close my eyes, fighting back the tears but failed as a single tear rolls down my cheek. My eyes instantly flare up, stinging from all the times i cried.
Nadia hugs me, Simra puts a hand on my shoulder, while Humayrah brushes off the tear.
"You need to tell us. Don't take this toll by yourself. If there's a problem, we take it on together. If someone hurts you, they've hurt us. If you cry, we cry. If you laugh, we laugh. Your pain, is our pain. Your problem, is our problem. So please, tell us. Don't go through this alone," says Humayrah, this time more softly.
I end up telling them.
Everything, from what happened to my Abu, the way he looked so lifeless on the hospital bed and our financial crisis.
Once i was done, they all gave me a hug. The bell rings and my cousin, sorry my form teacher, walks in.
I feel much more lighter, the deep sadness beginning to loosen up.
~End of Flashback~
"So how successful was you job hunt," says Simra.
"Actually very successful, i got a job at a café called Sweet and Bitter."
Humayrah smirks.
"What?"
"If your working at Sweet and Bitter, you'll probably be seeing Husnain like three times a week. It's his favourite place to get coffee."
I roll my eyes and give her a dirty look.
Oh please, i know that look way too well.
Nadia and Simra start grinning like maniacs and i end the call.
They call me again but i cut the call.
They call me again like three more time and i still cut the call.
The fifth time they call, i answer it.
"Will you lot let me go do my whudu, i need to pray my Isha!" i say, cutting the call.