Me and my brother rambled from school on the hot summer day. We didn't do as such physical activity in school yet everyday seemed to get more tiring than the previous. At school, matters have become more interesting as our teacher is teaching us the foreign language English! She has suggested us to learn the alphabets first because in her point of view writing them might be slightly difficult and to be honest, I am not looking forward to writing in English because I am sure of the fact that it will be an uphill struggle. I must say that English to me or maybe to all the native children is quite a peculiar language and it sounds nothing like our native language pushto, however; the rhyme sung by the teacher and the children as a group makes learning slightly more bearable. From the past few days I have been spending a lot of my time in companionship of the herbalist. After school ends, I rush towards the herbalists tent mainly to escape the misery of doing the chores and also because the herbalist is quite an interesting person to have a chat with. Unlike many other elderly women in the camp, the herbalist is quite different and unique. No one can compete to her creativeness and boldness.
You see, from the past few years due to certain situations I was forced to spend some quality time with my grandmother. My grandmother was a tall bony lady who enjoyed the luxury of sleeping all day long. At times when she was entrusted to babysit us, she would sleep in my siblings' bedroom under the fan or clean her dentures with a soapy corncob. You know what? Do me a favor. Do not imagine my grandmother cleaning her dentures with a corncob since its equally disturbing and disgusting. Despite such unfortunate events I have always supported my grandmother and have loved and respected her with all my heart.
When I and my brother had gotten near to the camping areas, we both departed and I headed towards the herbalists tent. It had become automatic for me to head in that direction. Without knocking or calling out, I abruptly set foot in the tent only to find out that the Herbalist was sleeping. Usually when I would visit her, she would either be drying her herbs or organizing her belongings. Her eyes were shut tightly while she had both of her hands resting on her chest. I didn't want to disturb her because she looked as if she had finally obtained peace. The wrinkles on her face had slightly eased and her lips shaped a slight smile. I decided to let the herbalist rest so, I tiptoed towards the opening.
That very afternoon was mainly spent doing my chores and visiting the natives near us to gather some supplies. Mother was usually occupied in putting things in proper order while the men of the family were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps father was attending the gathering as usual while my brothers would be off playing at the local playground. Mother had asked me to bring borrow some tea leaves from my aunties living in the other row of tents, therefore; I rushed there. From the past days I have noticed that we are running very low of supplies and father doesn't bring something once he gets home. My poor auntie's tent was in a terrible condition yet she has no children of her own. She and her husband accommodated themselves in their tent and due to that they had much space to live in. Apparently Auntie had been saving up on her supplies and surprisingly she willingly gave a portion of her tea leaves.
On my way back I was tempted to visit the herbalist yet I didn't because I knew that mother was expecting me to come back home quickly. As I got near the tent I could hear the voice of my father. But with covering some more pace I realized that he was yelling. White with terror, I didn't want to go in to find out therefore I stayed outside and kept an ear out for the conversation.
"You borrowed tea leaves?" Father yelled at my mother, "We are not beggars you fool! Why didn't you tell me before doing such a foolish act?"
"Well, you were not at home so-"
"Couldn't you possibly wait for me to come or were you craving so much for tea that you decided to get someone else's supplies!"
"I did not have the tea! You always want tea as you get back home therefore I sent Shireena."
"Oh don't you lie to me! You cant even wait for a few days to run the supplies and to work with it!"
"We have 3 children! All of them consume a lot of bread! And that is not only the case with us but with many of the natives!"
"Oh really? People have huge families and they learn to sustain themselves using small, stale pieces of bread!"
"And well where do you think they end up?" Mother snapped, "In the hospitals or with Allah. Besides, don't blame me. Consider yourself responsible for not being capable to earn a living for your own family!"
Father's face had gotten red with anger and stood up from the mattress facing my mother, "How dare you accuse me that way!"
"Sometimes, the truth is bitter yet you will have to swallow it."
Within those few minutes I could hear an exchange of terribly harsh words mainly spoken by my father. As it sounded, mother's voice sounded slightly shaky and scared. As far as I know mother she isn't afraid of anything, not even the dark! Yet, as she defended herself, her voice began to slow down. Was it that she was afraid of father yelling at her or was it really that she had done something wrong?
I didn't know.
All I knew was that many people had gathered around the tent and were concerned about mother and father inside. At that moment I decided that I couldn't take it anymore therefore I rushed inside.
"Stop it you two!" I said as pushed my father to one side of the tent, "Do not make a show! Everyone is hearing outside." Father pushed me aside in return/
"Shireena get out of here go find your brother." Mother persuaded.
"No! Not until you both stop quarrelling like wee babies!"
"Get yourself out of here darling please leave" Mother seemed concerned yet I didn't know the cause.
"You know what?" Father said, "You all were the biggest mistake of my entire life and I wish that I died right here so that I won't have you bear your burden on my shoulder." And with that he escaped the tent with a fury. Me and mother stood there trying to absorb what father had just said. Surely he wouldn't have meant it would he?
As father exited many trespassers entered and enquired if I and mother were alright. They were mainly the people who knew us very well. One thing that greatly bothered me is that mother was literally begging them not to spread the tale all around the camp. The people agreed and left me and my mother for some personal time to regain our composure.
"Why shouldn't they tell other people? Father needs to be taught a lesson that he is wrong! Why don't you understand?"
"Why don't you understand?" Mother seemed to be irritated by me although she should've been annoyed by father's attitude, "You never tell such things to other people! What happens in the family stays in the family!"
"Exactly stay quiet so the next day you will be accused for something more horrendous than this!"
"No!" She pointed her finger at me, "Listen, we keep this within this tent, we stay safe. We beg for help from others and we are homeless women. Trust me and do anything to keep your mouth shut. Kindly have the goodness not to tell this to anyone for your mother's sake darling please!" I couldn't help but notice the purple bump on my mothers forehead. Maybe, she is right after all. In order to stay safe and sound we really needed to keep this a secret.
"Alright, just rub some oil on the bump on your forehead. I'll ask for a balm from the herbalist tomorrow as soon as possible."
"Oh no! You don't need to do that if your father finds-"
"He wont! I'll hide it. For once please mother take care of yourself."
My brothers returned home just as the sun was about to set down and when the sky had almost turned pitch black. Without inquiring about the purple bump on mother's head, both of my ignorant, pin-brained brothers had their supper and went to deep sleep. Father hadn't returned yet but I was happy with that for it would only worsen the situation. One thing that bothered me the whole time when I was around my mother was that was it the first time this had happened or did my mother hid it from me from all these years? Was it because of my actions, because of me or just because my father is very ill-tempered?
Just at the time when we were about to sleep late at night, I could still see that mother was pale with fear and the bump on her forehead had swollen. It was quite brave of my mother to bear the blows of my father and to not even complain slightly. Was it brave or actually coward of her that she couldn't snap at her own husband accusing her for something that was right? Or was it sensible of her to stay put and to absorb all the harsh conversations. I didn't know nor did I want to think about it. Therefore; I cleared my mind and forced myself to a deep sleep for the night.
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1.1K VIEWS? OH MY DEAR GOODNESS....
I certainly dont know how to react! I never thought I could go this far but thanks to all of my wonderful readers and my mother who respected and supported the art of writing.
There is something that i wanted to discuss with you all that i consider very very important. You see the watty awards for 2015 are striking again. Basically they have several categories in which stories get nominated and the best one wins. I am definitely going to participate in it since i have gained alot of readers by now but i wanted one favor from you all. I want you to share this story with all of your friends and family (If possible offcourse) and voting is extremely crucial. If i can make it to the nominations, that would mean alot to me and everyone surely is aware of that. So again please give me feedback on my chapters and vote as much as possible!
And, how is Ramadan going for everyone? It gets really warm and dry usually while fasting.
Anyways, lots of love as usual;
Lizo Xx.