"I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
It's Chaand Raat already. The eve of Eid-Ul-Azha. To say that I'm still upset over Areeb's gifts is an understatement. I can't stop thinking about his rejection, and his words on the day he destroyed me. Maybe it's a tad bit melodramatic, but I seem to be incapable of getting over that particular hurt.
It really is all about firsts....
Do you remember the first man who landed on the moon? Neil Armstrong of course. Now, do you remember the second guy? or the third guy? Unless you're a big NASA fan, you wouldn't know about it. Nobody would expect you to know about it.
Areeb is my Armstrong, and a girl always remembers the first boy who broke her heart.
So, try as I might, I can't simply erase his memory, his hurt from my mind. I wordlessly handed over the cake to Shazia Auntie (Shehzer's Aunt) next door, making up some excuse that it was a Pre-Eid cake. I couldn't throw away his note and other things though. I had slipped them inside a handbag of mine, unwilling to stare too long at them.
I think Shehzer knows something is up. He isn't out rightly saying anything, but he had subtly asked me about my subdued mood during our phone talks. For now, the wedding+Eid fatigue is working as an excuse. However, his arrival today (along with a dozen other family members) from Lahore, makes it a little difficult to pretend normalcy.
......
Adiba and Ali are out of the house doing last minute grocery shopping and chores for Eid. We had shot down Ali's idea to get a sacrificial animal for our home, opting for a communal sacrifice at a Masjid. This eliminated the blood and gore from our place, and actually helped the Masjid's finances. Both Shehzer and Ali had loudly protested this, obsessed with animal rearing that these two are, but we managed to win this round.
"There are plenty of animals in our neighborhood, why don't you go feed them, and pet them, and snuggle with them if you're so desperate." Adiba huffed at Ali.
"But...but...it's just not the same!" he wailed back like a little boy. I swear this Eid was designed for the pleasure of the male species.
"No duh, it isn't the same! we won't be smelling goat poop from as near now." she snorted back.
I was ironing out the clothes for tomorrow when my cell-phone buzzed with a text.
Shehzer: Roof. Now.
My stomach dropped at this. Does he know?
Mina: Why?
Shehzer: Just come yaar, have to show you something.
Mina: Mom said not to be alone with you before the wedding. Ha.
Shehzer: *Sigh* I'll call my cousins too. Just come.
Mina: It's not an animal is it? I'm not a big fan of Non-feline animals.
Shehzer: LOL. No it's not.
Mina: Ok. Five minutes.
I stepped up on my roof to find Shehzer, Devil Spawn, and a couple of teen-aged girls on their side of the roof, staring up at the darkening sky for something.
"Hey!" I called out.
Shehzer grinned widely as he sprang the ledge separating us. I felt my heart stutter as he drew near. In his form-fitting T-shirt, and old jeans, he looked relaxed and happy, not to mention utterly gorgeous. I saw his eyes flash back to my hands, to his ring, before his smile turned even softer.
"You look cute." He chuckled at my current hobo attire. I had tied off my hair with a red silk polka dotted bandanna, my loose Wolverine T-shirt was paired with a shalwar, so I knew cute wasn't even part of the equation.
"Yeah well, that's what you get when you bother a girl on Chaand raat." I shrugged. "You wanted to show me something?"
"The moon just came out. The proper Eid moon! I haven't even looked up yet."He gestures towards the sky. "I wanted you to see it with me."
Heart. Quit melting. NOW.
"Okay! where is it?" I squint up, trying to catch sight of the thin crescent.
We spend some minutes searching for the moon, while Shehzer introduced me to his cousins, Asma and Aimen. They were sweet girls, totally excited about the wedding and Eid tomorrow. I gushed over their Henna designs and tried not to stick my tongue out at Devil Spawn, who loudly proclaimed that his chicken family needed some exercise. I warily cast a glance towards the chicken coop resting on a far-corner. Shehzer was scouting out both the roofs, trying to figure out where the moon was.
"So did you really paint that?" Asma pointed to the 3-D room painting on my roof. I tried to keep my voice steady when I told them yes. That painting was my pain. I rarely looked at it.
"OMG! Super Cool! I totally have to take a selfie with it." They climbed over to my place and figured out selfie and portrait angles. If only they knew....
"I FOUND IT!" Shehzer yells from the other roof. He helps me climb over the ledge to a higher up part of Shazia Auntie's roof.
"Wow." I breath, at the tiny sliver of moon that winks back from the sky. "Do you recall the dua (prayer) we're supposed to say when we see it?"
He rattles off the Arabic from memory, and I repeat after him. The kids are also pretty excited about the moon sighting.
"You do know that this eid doesn't really require a moon sighting for the Chaand raat (Moon Night)? I mean this is the 10th of the month, the moon is seen before the first...." I whisper to him, unwilling to burst the kids' excitement.
"I know." He smirks back. " I just like the moon hunt before both the Eids...and I wanted to see you of course." his smile turns serious. "Are you okay?"
I smile back as wide as possible, "Yep. I'm awesome."
"The wedding preparations aren't fatiguing you too much are they?" He asks worriedly, "We can always elope you know."
I smacked him on the arm, "No I don't want to elope! Imagine the disgrace on my family!" His questions were worrying me, was he really that attuned to my moods? How on earth could he feel the difference?
"Oh! I almost forgot! Someone wanted to talk to you really badly....Wait I'll bring my cell phone up." He sprinted off towards the staircase, leaving me to chat with his cousins.
"Why do you hate my chickens? They are friendly." Devil Spawn interrogates me.
"Because I'm scared of them. Unless they are lying dead on my plate, chickens are super scary." I narrowed my eyes at the evil glint in his eyes.
"Maybe if you got to know them, they wouldn't be this scary." He grins his sadistic grin before leisurely sprinting back to the chicken coop.
Oh, HELL NO!
"DON'T YOU DARE OPEN THAT CAGE, YOU LITTLE TWERP!" I yell, scrambling for the safety of the own roof. I barely made it back before a dozen chickens came squacking out their nests. The Spawn reminded me of Tom Riddle releasing the Basilisk on poor Harry, him, with his evil smirk, and devilish intentions.
"SHEEHZEERR!!!" I wailed in horror. Thank God he made it upstairs in time.
"What the-?" His blank stare turned confused. "Salman did you release the chickens? At night?"
"She asked me to open it." He points at me.
"You little liar!" I gritted furiously. "Can we push him off the roof? Please? We'll make it look like an accident." I beseech Shehzer, who is grinning over this fiasco.
"Why do you hate chickens so much?" he asked curiously.
"I got pecked by a man-eating parrot years ago." I shuddered at the memory, "He grabbed hold of my finger, and just won't let go...I hate all alive birds since then...IT'S NOT FUNNY!" I scowl at my laughing fiance.
"It is HILARIOUS!" The Spawn crows from his side of the roof, gently nudging a rooster in my direction. Chicken Demon.
"They are so weird! with all the clucking, clacking and the pecking about. It scares me...I mean look at what those two are doing. What the hell!" I point towards a corner where a rooster and a chicken were loudly flapping around and clucking.
"Oh, that's nothing. They do it every night. That's how they play y'know." The Spawn states matter-of-factly. Shehzer has doubled over in his laughter at this point.
"We...Salman...You...Uh....you should really keep them inside the coop now." He wheezed out, and surpringly, the Spawn walks away to do as told.
"They weren't playing anything." Shehzer snickers at me.
No. Way.
NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo!
"Did I just witness Chicken Porn?" I whisper to him, His howls got louder at my words.
"It-It-sounds like an entree name, when you put it like that." Shehzer wipes away tears from his eyes.
How is this funny? My mind has been polluted with images that are now burned on my retinas. I feel violated.
My mood only got slightly better when Shehzer handed me his phone.
"Minnnaaa! Eid Mubarak!" my favorite kitten yells at me.
"Rania! Eid Mubarak to you too baby, how are you?" I exclaim back as excitedly as I can.
"I am so pretty, Minnna!" She gushes back. Adorable!
"Of course you're pretty, kitten! the prettiest ever."
"Minna, are you going to be my sister? Mama says you'll come to MaymayLand!"
Shehzer's eyes are full of something so pure at this moment, I can barely stand to look at him.
"Yes kitten. I'll be your sister soon." I try not to blush unsuccessfully, as her brother grins proudly at me. Jerk. "Are you happy about it? Is it okay if I marry your brother, Princess? Do I have the royal approval?" I tease back.
"YESS!! DO IT! AND TAKE PICTURES OF IT!!" Her excited reply makes me giggle.
"Sure thing your majesty!"
She hands off the phone to her Mom, and I have a lovely (yet incredibly formal) conversation with my future-mother-in-law. She is alternately ecstatic and sad over this wedding. She desperately wanted to be here, but Rania's health appointments don't allow travel again so soon. Her entire focus is the Valima reception she is planning for us in Maryland.
"How does royal blue sound to you dear? for the color scheme?" She asks me.
"It sounds lovely!" I reply, unwilling to dwell too much on the thought.
........
Eid was a blur of guests, food, henna, dresses, bangles, and meat. Lots of meat. We gave it away, almost as fast as we received it. It was like currency at the moment.
Adiba and I had managed to put together a decent spread for the day;
Kebabs, Biryani, Stew, sandwiches and pasta.
I was kind of nervous about meeting Shehzer's family, but they were such loving people it was hard to stay awkward at all. They gushed over everything, from my pretty silver dress, to the steaks I had prepared.
"This is why women should stick to studying humanities. Brilliant cooking, my dear!" His grandfather Nana Abba boomed out after dinner.
Adiba and I looked dumbstruck at each other as Shehzer choked on his steak bite.
'Sorry' He mouthed back.
EMV is rather difficult to contain, 'I'm sure women like Marie Curie and Christine Lagarde cook horribly with those Non-humanities degrees. I'm sure their husbands complained about it, "Honey, can you stop fiddling with the radium? We need to talk about your roti, and the fact that it isn't round." Hmmph!'
But I suppose Nana redeemed himself by giving me a hefty Eidi money.
"Thank You Nana! But people don't give Eidis on Bakra Eid (Eid-ul-Azha)" I tried to control my glee over this, because I love getting Eidi, it's like a remnant of childhood tradition that I'm incredibly partial to.
"Be a smart girl, child! When someone willingly hands you a present; you keep it. No questions asked! Understood?" He pats my head gruffly.
Shehzer winks at me from behind his back, and I shrug back as I accept it.
On the third day of Eid; Adiba, Ali and I were invited to Adiba's home for a family dinner. I refused by pleading fatigue because I wanted to let them hang out alone for a while. I actually was pretty tired out, and movie with Instant Noodles sounded heavenly after the meaty excess of this occassion.
I had just settled in to watch The Dead Poet's Society when my cell phone rang.
Unknown number. I frown at it, trying to recognize it, before hitting receive.
"Hello?" I ask.
"Hello, is this Miss Mina Amin?" A strange female voice asked.
"Yes, this is she." I reply curiously.
"Ma'am, are you related to a Mr. Areeb Tariq?"
"We are acquainted, yes." My stomach is rolling with anticipation. What Now?
"Can you come into South City Hospital Please? This is an emergency. He has no family here..."
I was barely aware of the hot noodle water scalding my hands, let alone the medical jargon she was spewing at me.
He did it again.
A/N:
Ummm, nothing to say.
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