Edited
Published: Wednesday August 12th 2015 2:35 pm
Ayah:
July 18th
Beep beep beep beep
At the sound of a very annoying noise, I sat up in the bed with a yawn. I didn't realize how tired I was until now. And when I looked to the left of me I knew I wasn't the most exhausted. Jafar was sound asleep next to me, slightly snoring with his mouth partly opened. The last time I saw him look like this was after we came back from a camping trip gone wrong. Let's just say that we should have checked the weather.
Beep beep beep beep
As the alarm continued to go off, I looked around the room for it and came up empty until I saw a light coming from under the covers.
On top of Jafar's stomach. Great.
Taking a very huge gulp, I pulled the covers back, doing a slight happy dance in my mind when I saw he didn't sleep shirtless like the cliches always say. But I couldn't help that small part of me that felt disappointed that he wasn't.
Weird, right?
There his phone sat in his hand going off, yet he hadn't waken up yet. If this was me, I would have screamed myself awake. For the next five minutes I sat there debating whether or not to turn the alarm off. It stopped every couple minutes, but then continued again. If I didn't see his chest moving up and down, I would think he was dead because he hasn't recognized the annoying rooster going off.
Okay this is ridiculous. The more I sit here and debate whether or not to shut off the alarm, the more time I'm wasting for us to get ready for fajr. I lifted my hand slowly, easing over towards the phone. I placed my index finger and thumb on the sides of the phone and began to pull it up when he stirred in his sleep. I jumped a little and pulled my hand back as I saw he curled up with the phone, not even bothering to turn the alarm off.
Letting out a chuckle at what I just witnessed, I sat there staring rather creepily at him to see if he noticed the vibrating chicken of a phone in his hand, when there was a knock at the door. Realizing it could only be Annie or Safeer, I stood up and walked towards the door.
"Good morning," Safeer smiled at me, looking as happy as ever while I'm stood trying to get the crust out of my eyes. I must look a sight.
"You look horrible in the morning," Safeer commented and shook his head in amusement. If I wasn't tired and a little in shock at what I just witnessed with Jafar, I would have a comeback or lift my hand to playfully slap him, but I'm too tired for both. I'm not a morning person.
"Good to see you too, Safeer. Did you need something?"
"It's fajr," He told me like I was oblivious. "I came to get Jafar so we could go to the masjid."
I looked over at his sleeping form and sighed. "You can try all you want, but as you can see, an annoying rooster can't get the job done."
Safeer smirked at me and gestured for me to let him in the room. "Be my guest," I said and moved out of the way so he could walk in the room.
Once Safeer got to the side of the bed, he bent down, cocking his head to the side as he studied Jafar, no doubt wondering how he was going to execute his plan. Not wanting to stand around and witness what my dear cousin is about to do, I turned and made my way towards the bathroom. After cleaning my face up and tying my hair up, I made my wudhu and went back into the room Jafar and I stayed in and grabbed my scarf and Abaya, not even paying attention to whatever Safeer told Jafar. And judging by the shock on his face, it couldn't be anything good.
After praying, I made my way towards the kitchen for some food.
I never really noticed their house when we first came in. It's a one story ranch house with about four to five rooms, a normal sized front room with a L-shaped couch and love seat and glass coffee table in the middle. They have a dining room that connects to the kitchen, and might I say the kitchen is beautiful. As I walked inside to see the island counter in the middle, I was hooked. More than anything I like to cook, but a nice kitchen is what I've always wanted.
Since it was only Mama and I for the longest time, we never needed much. All the appliances we have we've had since before I was born, and they work perfectly fine so there was no need for new ones. Sometimes Mama would tell me that we deserved better and that we shouldn't have to live the life that we did, but we never changed it because that's what we were used to after a while. It wasn't the normal family house, but it was comfortable--ours.
After my father passed, my uncles on both sides would step in and take care of us, especially after Mama's condition got worse. I was young and confused as to why her mood would go up and down so much that I had to stay with Safeer and his parents for days and weeks at a time. Until I was about fifteen I didn't understand why they kept me away from her when she had her 'moods' as they would say. But I ended up understanding when certain incidents happened that shouldn't of.
I love Mama more than anyone, don't get me wrong, but I never understood why they didn't get her real help. I still don't.
"Salaam," Annie yawned on her way into the kitchen and straight for the fridge. "If you need to make salaah, you can make it in the salaah room," She yawned and lazily pointed her finger in the direction of the room.
Shaking my head, I laughed and went over to help her with breakfast. It wasn't even light outside yet, but you can't always gage when you're hungry.
"I already prayed," I assured her and took out the eggs and got ready to whisk them. "We haven't talked at all before," I commented and she nodded.
"No, we haven't."
Annie stopped what she was doing to smile lightly at me. "Were you and Safeer close as kids."
"Close?" I scoffed. "He was more of my brother than cousin. Neither of us really had other family members our age to hang around, so we would always be drawn to each other." I lowered my voice and my head. "Especially after my father passed."
"I'm sorry," She told me, and I couldn't help but smile at how nice she was. On her wedding day I thought she was a little, well, full of herself by how she acted towards everyone. I guess I was wrong.
"I was very young at the time, I didn't really know him," I said simply. I was trying to show her I was fine but she took that as a sign to look even sadder towards me.
"What are we going to cook?" I changed the subject. Annie smiled at me, most likely thankful that I made the situation less awkward and came by my side.
"We can either cook omelettes, bagels or waffles..."
"Ayah?!"
We heard from the hallway. Both of us stopped in our tracks to look at each other in confusion. Why is Jafar yelling my name?
"Ayah?!"
"In the kitchen," I called, the whole time stifling a laugh at the sight of him. His hair was a mess, his shirt wrinkled from yesterday and a confused expression on his features. As he found us in the kitchen and stared at me in horror, we both turned to see Safeer in the background who was trying to stifle his laughter as well.
What did he do...?
"Is it true?" Jafar asked me. His voice cracked slightly as he stared at me, well my stomach in horror and shock.
"Is what true?" I asked in confusion. I looked at Annie who is mirroring my confused expression.
Jafar walked over to me and hesitantly put a hand on my stomach. What...?
"Are you..." He cleared his throat and leaned forward, his hand still on my stomach.
"Oh..." Annie chuckled from beside me. She looked back to stare at Safeer in amazement.
"Are you expecting?"
My face made an 'O' as I realized what he was going on about. He thought I was pregnant.
I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my mouth as I looked up at Jafar, tears springing my eyes. If it wasn't for the way he looks right now, or is acting about what Safeer most likely told him, I wouldn't be laughing.
"Safeer, why would you do that?"
By this time Safeer was stood by Annie, smiling slightly as he tasted the eggs she made.
"He wouldn't get up," He shrugged. "Trust me, I tried everything. Even that stupid bird couldn't wake him up."
"You were just playing?" Jafar asked, and I couldn't help but notice the look of relief on his face.
"Yes," Safeer laughed. "It was meant as a joke, but I wasn't expecting your reaction."
"It was a joke," Jafar breathed a laugh. He placed his hands on the back of his head as he processes Safeer's joke. "Okay. That was very cruel and strangely creative though."
Safeer walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, smirking. Meanwhile I'm stood here in shock at what both of them did.
"Time to go pray."
-*-
I don't know why, but after what happened this morning with the whole 'baby' incident, I couldn't help replaying Jafar's expression. He was relieved that we weren't going to have a family. I'm not going to lie, I always wanted a family, but we never discussed it because of everything that's been going on.
I know I've thought about it a couple of times since he left, and before, but I've never brought it up. The timing was always wrong.
It is now a quarter to noon and Jafar and I and getting ready to head back home.
"Are you sure you can't come for a little bit? Shopping with Kareema is something nobody has experienced before." Annie told me, mentioning her sister.
Giving her a faint smile, I shook my head.
"As fun as that sounds, it's time for us to be heading back."
Annie sighed and came around the couch to give me a hug. Jafar and Safeer were outside having their talk. I just hope that he didn't say I'm really a guy or something. That would have been fun to explain.
"You have to come back soon, okay?" She asked and I nodded.
"I'll be sure too. Either that or you guys could visit."
"I've always wanted to see the infamous Riverside--home of hollywoods Muslim golden voice."
"Yeah," I smiled and turned to the door that Safeer and Jafar just came through. At least neither of them are bleeding.
"You ready to go, Ayah."
"Yeah."
I walked over to Safeer and playfully narrowed my eyes at him.
"I said I was sorry," He whined and raised his hands in the air. "I told him over and over that you have nothing cooking."
It was still cruel to the both of us," I pointed out and he lowered his head in guilt. "But I forgive you," I sighed.
Safeer looked up at me and gave me that innocent smile that he would always sport when we were younger.
After saying our final goodbyes and Safeer telling Jafar, and I quote his exact words 'do it again and I won't hesitate to dent you in', we left.
To say that left everyone speechless is an understatement. As we rode in the car in silence, like we usually do, my mind wondered to my earlier thoughts in the kitchen. Did I want to start a family now? We are finally in a good place, but there's no telling what could happen in the future. Adding a baby to our drama isn't exactly something either of us should want to do.
"What are you thinking about?" Jafar smiled at me.
I sighed and slouched in my seat. "Any and everything I suppose. Just life itself."
"Life is a tricky thing. I usually think about doing the side job I wanted to do when I was six."
I raised my eyebrows at him. "You still want to be a power ranger?"
"They're still my favorite 'til this day. Those shows really did something for my mind."
"Writing was always what I wanted to do. I watched more than enough princess shows to be healthy, but I doubt being Cinderella is my calling."
Jafar laughed. "True. But I could always be your Prince Charming."
I scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself."
The rest of the ride back was us talking about our childhood memories and strange obsessions. When we finally made it back to Riverside and my house, I was sad to see him leave.
"I guess I'll se you later?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Is the fair still in town?" I suddenly heard myself say.
Jafar looked at me strangely and nodded.
"Yeah, it is," His faint voice told me. "Did you want to go?"
I smiled at him and nodded. When we passed by the edge of town for our 'date' and saw them setting up, I was already very nervous for our outing that I basically said no. I wonder what changed.
"Yeah. I'm sure Tehreem would want a night in to relax without the kids."
"She has been wanting to see you," He told me.
"Tehreem, Jamila and I need an outing ourselves to be honest."
I looked over at my house and saw the light on. Mama must be inside.
"Did you want to stay a while?" I blurted out.
Jafar looked at me with guilt.
"I really would, but I have to meet up with someone."
Nodding my head, I did another thing that was out of the blue.
I kissed his cheek with a smile. Jafar looked over me with wide eyes and I chuckled. "I'll see you later."
As I walked inside my house, Mama was sat at the table reading over some mail. I took the seat beside her.
"Lately I think that all the mailman delivers is bills."
"It seems so," I agreed and picked up a light bill before putting it back in the pile of many bills.
Mama looked at me through her reading glasses before smiling smugly at me.
"I see you spent the night."
I blushed under her gaze and nodded.
"Should I be expecting any grandkids soon?"
"Mama!"
"What?" She asked innocently. "I have been waiting over a year."
I scoffed and went to look over the mail when suddenly a piece stuck out.
Hattie Moore Writing Academy
My mouth fell open as I ripped open the envelope. I didn't think I would get any news back. I applied over four months ago!
"What is it?"
As I read the first line I sighed. "A miracle."
Mama rolled her eyes at me.
"You have to explain this miracle a little better."
As I finished reading the letter, a smile rose to my lips.
"I've been accepted."
Mama looked at me in confusion. "To what?"
"The Hattie Moore Writing Academy," I smiled. "I submitted one of my stories for a scholarship out of curiosity, not knowing if they would accept me, but they did."
As I thought about what I just said in my head, I realized two important problems.
1. The academy is in New York
2. I would be leaving for the first semester in a couple of weeks.
"If this is such great news, why the long face?"
"It's in New York," I whispered. "I would be doing the same thing Jafar did to me."
"Oh, Ayah..."
"I can't do that to him," I told her. "That would be selfish."
"Sweetie, you have to start thinking of you," Mama told me softly. "Jafar went out to live his dream, but what about yours? When do you get a shot?"
"I don't know," I told her truthfully. "All I know is that I'm not going to be a hypocrite."
-*-
Jafar walked into the restaurant, glancing around for the person he was there to meet. He knew that doing this was a gamble in itself, but he couldn't just leave like he did last time. Something had to give with this situation. And if he did leave, he would change some things.
Once he spotted who he was coming here to see, he strolled over to the table and sat down.
"I'm glad you arranged for us to talk," The man told Jafar smugly and took a sip of his drink ever so slowly.
Jafar bit his tongue from saying anything, knowing that he had to show some type of cooperation for what he's about to do to work. Plus, he knew he was only acting this way because he's in business mode. The real person behind the suit is a nice guy who only tries to do the right thing. Acting this way gives him more respect.
"It wasn't my intention in the beginning, but some things need to be said and done."
The man nodded, arrogance oozing from his behavior. "I agree. But are you sure you're not going to back out of our little agreement? Because I have better things to do..."
"I'm not," Jafar cut him off through gritted teeth. "We've had our problems in the past, but I'm willing to put that aside to deal with the problem at hand."
"Okay," The man leaned forward, tilting his head to make himself look intimidating, but the anger and stress Jafar was under had him stand his ground without batting an eyelid. Jafar leaned back in his seat, looking at the man with a bored expression.
"There is just one thing I need you to do before we do anything."
Jafar raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
"Get rid of Allen."
-*-
Who do you think he's talking to?
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