Media video - please watch it!
Celebrating New Years is not part of Islam x
Over 140 comments on the last chapter! Let's beat it for this chapter 😝
- KING'S POV -
"There was a reason as to why I organised this dinner." My dad finally spoke and at this point, my heart hammered in my chest as I felt A'ishah tense right beside me.
. . .
"What is it?" I asked, the frustration I felt coming through in my voice. I couldn't handle the silence any longer.
After stating that there was in fact a reason as to why he had invited A'ishah and I to this dinner, which I hadn't doubted for a second since the beginning, he had zipped his mouth.
I knew there had to be a reason behind all of this. There was absolutely no way my dad had a change of heart.
He stared at the ground, his jaw clenched tightly and I felt like punching him to get him to speak. He was making me feel on edge, and I couldn't control the erratic beating of my heart.
"Go on." Nadia coaxed him and after a deep clearing of his throat, he began speaking. Finally.
"Almost a month ago, someone approached me at work. She insisted she had very important documents to show me and I blew her off and told her to get an appointment. An hour later my receptionist said there was someone adamant on seeing me and when I realised it was her, I got security to escort her out. Two weeks ago, she came with an appointment this time. Once I let her into my room, she took out a letter. A letter that her mother had written." He said, before pausing and shaking his head slightly. At this point, I assumed I knew what he was going to say and I held my breath, waiting for the words to come out of his mouth. "It claimed that I was her father."
My blood ran cold and my grip on A'ishah's hand loosened as I stared at him, lips parted, eyes wide.
No way.
Surely there had to be a mistake.
"I laughed in her face and told her thar it was clearly a lie. She screamed and said she wasn't lying. When she caused a commotion, I made security escort her out again, but she dropped her number on a piece of paper in my office before they did. The guilt was eating at me and a week ago I messaged her to come to the GP so she could give a blood sample." He paused, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. "I just had to know." He explained, making me throw my head back to look at the ceiling.
It was true. It must have been. There was no other reason why he would be explaining this to me right now, unless it had already been confirmed.
"We did the DNA test and it was a match." He muttered, making me look back at him.
I had no idea what to even say.
There were so many different thoughts and emotions coursing through my mind and body right now that I couldn't keep up with any of them.
All these years I had always had a small inkling of a doubt in my mind that perhaps somewhere out there I had a sibling, but once I had turned 16 I stopped entertaining the idea. I could barely get by myself, let alone having the burden of a sibling on my shoulders as well.
Turns out, all this time, I did have one.
Well, she wasn't really a sibling. She was the child of my father and a woman who he had cheated on my mother with. Why should I care about their child?
I looked up at him. "How old is she?" I asked.
"Eighteen." He answered.
"When...Was it one night?" I asked him, feeling slightly uncomfortable having this conversation with my father in front of someone as pure as A'ishah, but I knew she wouldn't be judging my family dynamic right now. That was probably the last thing on her mind.
A'ishah probably felt the exact same way as I did.
"It was during a business meeting interstate. I saw her for the entire week that I was there but we never exchanged contact details. The girl moved here a year ago."
I was surprised at the fact that he was being so open about it.
It still didn't add up though. His change of heart still didn't make sense. Why would him finding out he had another child lead to him apologising to A'ishah? Or inviting us for dinner?
"Where's the mum now?" A'ishah had the courage to ask. I looked from her to my dad, also wanting to know the answer.
He cleared his throat. "She OD'ed." He muttered. "She was a drug addict when I'd seen her too. She had been a drug addict her whole life, according to Beth."
"Beth?" I asked.
He nodded. "Your sister. Elizabeth Dawn Patterson."
"She's not my sister." I told him immediately, narrowing my eyes.
Elizabeth Dawn Patterson.
This was too much.
I couldn't even describe how I was feeling. I think I was in shock, because normally, I would have already been shouting and screaming at how he could let this happen, but I wasn't.
I was silent. I was numb.
Whether I should be angry or sad...or even happy.
Deep down, I felt like my heart had already grown fond of the idea of having a sister.
I wanted to see her, but I also wanted nothing to do with her.
She was my blood, yet she was a stranger.
I stood up, feeling my stomach churn.
A'ishah stood after me and held my forearm, probably thinking I was going to attack my father.
I was close.
"What does this have to do with you apologising to A'ishah?" I asked him. He could have simply called me to the office to tell me this.
"I-..." He stammered, clenching his jaw shut as he realised he was stuttering. He never stuttered.
Nadia decided to intervene instead.
"I think her coming here to find him and accuse him of being a horrible person straight to his face put a lot of things into perspective for your father." Nadia spoke as she looked at me. She frowned before speaking once again and making my heart feel like it had stopped beating finally. After all this stress and anguish, all this drama and all these problems that have been arising lately - it had given up.
"Beth wants nothing to do with your father, King, but she wants to get in touch with you." She spoke.
Me?
Why would she want me?
"W-what?" I stammered.
Nadia simply nodded. "She initially went to the firm looking for you once she saw your name as co-owner on the website. When the staff told her you don't come in to the firm, and once they declined giving her your contact information, she approached your father out of necessity."
"Why would she want to meet me?" I asked.
I sure as hell didn't want to meet her.
Sure you don't, a voice taunted in my mind.
"You'll have to ask her that yourself." My dad spoke, making me look back at him. "She hates me, but for some reason she must have felt a connection to you." He mumbled with a slow shrug, running a hand through his hair. "I thought you'd want nothing to do with her, but I know A'ishah is kind-hearted and compassionate." He said, looking at A'ishah instead.
Was this man having a mid-life crisis?
The amount of shock waves he was sending throughout me tonight could not be healthy.
"No matter how much I put you through, you never showed any disrespect towards me." He began talking directly to A'ishah. "Your parents have raised you much better than I was able to do with my son." He admitted.
I scoffed. That's not even the start of it.
He looked back at me again. "I didn't know whether you would want to meet Beth, but I knew if A'ishah was here, she would be too kind to let you ignore this. I know she would force you to look out for your sister. It may not feel like it, King, but she is in fact your sister. She's had a tough life." He mumbled. I heard the distress in his voice and my heart beat quickened at his words.
What could have happened to her?
She was eighteen. Only recently a young adult. What could have happened in such a short time span for her to have had a tough life?
My dad stood up and for the first time in my entire life, I saw his eyes well up with tears. "Take care of her, King. She doesn't have anyone else." He told me, his voice cracking at the end as he walked past me and out of the room, leaving A'ishah, Nadia and I alone while I battled with my thoughts.
————
As we got home, I went straight to our room, taking out fresh clothes to have a shower. Once I was dried and dressed in my sleepwear, I went back into the room and saw A'ishah sitting on her side of the bed. "Hey, you okay?" She asked carefully.
I saw down beside her and shrugged. "I don't even know how to feel. I just feel like there's so much going on with my mum, with work, this whole Sulayman thing, Ayman and Aleena, Ahmad and Hanifa...I can't deal with this right now." I stressed, rubbing my hand over my beard.
"You don't have to rush into anything, King. Take your time."
"What do you think he meant by a tough life?" I asked her, wondering what she was assuming.
She shrugged. "Perhaps her mother being addicted to drugs." She guessed, causing a painful tug at my heart for reasons unknown to me. I had a feeling it was more than that. She must've noticed my reaction and she frowned. "I'm sure it's nothing very bad, King." She comforted, but it was to no avail.
I had a strong feeling it was definitely something much worse than her mother being a drug addict. "Yeah, probably." I mumbled instead of sharing my actual thoughts with her.
"It's going to be okay, King. Trust me." She coaxed, placing her head on my shoulder and running her hand up and down my forearm.
I stayed silent, appreciating her support. I took in a deep breath and reached into my pocket to take out the piece of paper with the number scribbled on it that Nadia had given me when we were leaving.
I held A'ishah's hand and placed the paper into her palm, feeling her tense.
"Can you contact her for me?" I trailed off, making her look at me once again. "I'm not ready to meet her. Not with my mum being in the state that she's in right now, but I just want to know what sort of life she's in. Where she's staying. Who she's with..."
"Of course, King." She spoke with a firm nod. "I'll call her tomorrow."
I groaned aloud holding my head in my hands and releasing my frustration.
"Calm down, King. Allah swt will grant you ease. There's no point stressing over this when Allah swt already has a plan for you about it." She paused before asking me a question. "Haven't you always wanted a sibling?"
"Not like this!" I bursted, getting off the bad and turning to look at her with narrowed eyes.
She wasn't my sibling.
A'ishah gasped silently, her eyes widening at my outburst. "Why are you getting mad at me?" She asked quickly, her nerves showing in her voice.
"No one wants to be siblings with someone who's the result of your father's affair with another woman!" I yelled. "Supporting her would be like selling out my own mother!"
"What!?" A'ishah sputtered. "King, are you listening to yourself? Your sister ha..."
"She's not my sister, A'ishah!" I yelled, cutting her off.
"Okay, okay." She quickly spoke, eyes wide as she moved away from me.
Did she think I was going to hurt her?
"Beth," She corrected herself at my wish softly. "Has no fault in this. She didn't make your dad cheat on your mother. She didn't make her mother sleep with a married man. I am trying to understand where you're coming from, and I know that you need time, but it's unfair of you to have prejudice against her. If there's anyone who is innocent in this scenario, it's her and according to your dad, she needs you." She spoke carefully, looking straight at me, her gaze unwavering. "It's your duty to look out for her when you're ready."
I shook my head, annoyed by her constant nagging. "Just," I began. "Quiet, okay? Stop nagging me. I'm done with this conversation." I muttered, walking away from her and out of the room, unfortunately hearing her footsteps follow me out.
"Nagging? I am not nagging you, King. I am telling you to take your time, but in the meantime, do not think badly of her."
For God's sake. I stopped walking at the end of the hall and turned to look at her, making her stop walking also. "I understand, A'ishah!" I stressed. "Just do what I told you to do, please, and stay out of everything else, okay?"
Her eyes widened at my words before slowly nodded and broke eye contact. With a shake of her head, she muttered 'okay' under her breath and walked back into the bedroom.
I watched as she shut the door behind her and sighed, running my hand over my beard, I walked into the living room and sat on the couch, turning on the TV to turn on a lecture and calm myself down.
I was in so much stress recently and I knew I was having outbursts where I would take my frustration out on A'ishah, but it was something I couldn't control. I hated myself for that, but I didn't know how else to deal with it.
All these pent up things; the anger I felt towards my dad, the shock of having a sibling, the stress of my mothers health, the reality of my father's affair, the entire Sulayman situation....it was all too much.
While scrolling through some lectures, I saw one that seemed to resonate with my thoughts.
'The reality of life'
And maybe all of this was just that...life.
Allah swt hadn't created this life so that we could be happy. He didn't create it because he wanted us to live a life with no problems.
That life was only to be found in Jannah.
What would the purpose of Jannah be if not to be rewarded for being patient during times of difficulty in the dunya?
We had to hold on firmly and stick to the right path. We had to worship our Lord in the best way in order to attain a life free of worries. That was the ultimate goal.
I clicked on the video and with a loud sigh, leaned back to listen.
"Bismillah, in the name of Allah. Innal hamda lillahi. Verily, all praise is due to Allah. Nahmaduhu wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastighfiruh. We praise him, we seek him and we ask for his forgiveness. Wa na'oodhu billahi min shuroori anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil consequences of our actions. Man yahdihillahu fala mudilla lah, wa man yudlilhu fa la hadiya lah. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide and whomsoever Allah leaves to stray none can guide him. Inna afdal al hadeethi kitabullah, wa afdalil hady hadya Muhammad, wa afdalil hady hadya muhammad. The best of speech is the Book of Allah and (after this) the best of guidance/ways is that of Muhammad. Wa sharral umoori muhdasaatu haa, wa kullah muhdasatin bid'ah, wa kulla bid'atin dalalah, wa kulla dalalatin finnar. And the worst of affairs are the newly invented matters and every newly invented matter is a bid'ah, every bid'ah is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. Ash hadu anna la ilaha illa allah, wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan rasoolullah.
I testify there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah."
"In today's day and age, when we look around at our community, what do we see? We see fighting, we see war, terror, divorce, abuse, murder, arguments...we see negativity in general. People in the dunya are suffering. Families are falling apart. People are getting killed. This is the reality of life. This is the reality of the dunya. Yet, still, despite all of this negativity, we love the dunya. Astaghfirullah."
"We all love the Dunya. We love all the glamour it contains, from its cars, to its houses, to its wealth and all the luxuries it has to offer. We desire its riches, its comforts and the sparks of happiness it brings. We love it. It's a fact none of us can deny. But we will never find contentment. The Prophet Muhammad said "Nothing will suffice the belly of the children of Adam, except for dirt (meaning death)".
"The fact of the matter is, as much as we love this world, it will never love us back and only ever run away from us. The truth is, this world will only ever tempt you, tease you and eventually break your heart."
"You see, no matter how much of the world's treasures you acquire it will never satisfy your desires. It will never make you content and you will almost always wish for more. For almost every time the world offers you something of value, it will quickly divert your attention to the next best thing. It will make you long for the next bigger house, the next faster car, the next phone, the next pay rise or job promotion. It absorbs you into a rat race that will never end. Until it consumes you and takes over your life and you quickly realise that no matter what you do, you will never find true happiness. True happiness does not exist in the dunya. It is not something that is possible to gain from material things."
"Perhaps we experience true happiness when we marry and finally find our soul mate, but even then, we argue, we hurt each other, we fight and we realise, this isn't true happiness, because true happiness is ever lasting. Maybe we experience true happiness when we finally hold our child in our arms, but even then, our child grows up, makes bad decisions, treats us badly and that same source of happiness can be the source of your pain. True happiness never becomes pain. As Allah swt says in the Quran, And what is this world except the enjoyment of delusion."
"Our spouses, our parents, our offspring will only bring us painless, unconditional happiness when we are in Jannah/paradise inshaaAllah. Once we are reunited with our families in Heaven, that is when there will be no such thing as heartache or hurt. No pain."
"The Prophet Muhammad promised us that this entire world was as worthless as the price of a defected goat that was dead. Imam Al Shafii said he wouldn't purchase this world for a loaf of bread. So why are we infatuated with this temporary home that we know we must eventually leave."
"If you want happiness, if you want joy, if you want true fulfilment. I make an oath by Allah that there is no other way to find it except through Him, Allah. The creator of the Heavens and the Earth. You see, Allah is the one who created love and happiness and has made it only possible through Him. When he says explicitly in the Quran "Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."
"Truly, we were granted this life to be tested which of us would remain steadfast in the dhikr (remembrance) and shukr (gratitude) of Allah, the Sublime. Living in a landmine where every step you take can lead to your possible destruction, and not destruction of the body but rather of the soul, we see people being annihilated every single day."
"Brothers and sisters, the first thing we need to do when we look at the reality of life is to look at our purpose. What is our purpose?"
"وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ"
"Verse 56 of Dhariyat. Allah swt says, And I [Allah] did not create the Jinns and the human beings except for the purpose that they should worship Me."
"Our soul purpose in this life is to worship Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. What is the best way to do this? To look at the way the Prophet Muhammed pbuh worshipped Allah swt, for no doubt, he was the best of Muslims."
"When we look at what the Prophet pbuh did in his daily life, one thing that always strikes me is his asking for forgiveness from the Lord."
"Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said in Bukhari, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "I swear by Allah that I seek Allah's Pardon and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day." And in another narration found in Muslim which was reported by Al-Agharr Al-Muzani it states 'more than one hundred times a day'."
"We know, because it is stated in verse 79 of suratul Nisa' where Allah swt says, Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allaah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself. And We have sent you (O Muhammad) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allaah is Sufficient as a Witness"
"From this we understand that in order to protect ourselves from even more calamity, we should always do istighfar like the Prophet did over 70 times a day. Get your tongue used to the word 'Astaghfirullah' and do your adhkar at every chance you get, make it a habit to pray salat al-Tawbah."
"Not only that, but another way to focus on our true reality, our true meaning for being on this dunya, is to pray our five daily prayers and not only pray them, but use our prophet's advice and pray them how?"
"صَلَاتِكَ فَصَلِّ صَلَاةَ مُوَدِّعٍ"
"Pray as if you are saying farewell. This Hadith is in sunan ibn Majah, Abu Ayyub reported: A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said, "O Messenger of Allah, teach me and make it concise." The Prophet said, "When you stand for your prayer, pray as if you are saying farewell. Do not say anything for which you must apologize, and give up any desire to acquire what people have."
"This means that we have to pray every single salah as though it is our last prayer. Do not rush your prayers. Imagine rushing your salah and then dying an hour later. Audhubillah."
"Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy upon him, had some wise words concerning the dunya when he said: So beware of this land (the dunya) that is falling down and is misleading and deceiving, being decorated by its deceit and having eluded (others) by its delusion, and having killed its people with its hopes. It looks forward with anticipation towards the one who proposes to it for marriage. Hence it becomes like the unveiled bride - all the eyes are looking towards it, and the souls are in love with it, and the hearts are captivated by it." [Related by Abu Nu'aym in al-Hilyah (2/135-136)"
"The Prophet pbuh said: The dunya is cursed. Cursed is all that is in it except for the remembrance of Allah, and that which resembles it, a scholar, and a student (of knowledge)." [Related by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Bayhaqi. The wording is taken from Shaykh al-Albani's Sahih at-Targhib wat-Tarhib (1/34)]"
'Ali, bin abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Verily the dunya is coming to an end, and the akhirah is coming to a beginning and they both have children. So be children of the akhirah and don't be children of the dunya. For verily today there is action with no account and tomorrow there's account with no action." [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Da' wad-Dawa Fasl 15]
"We must not focus on the negativities of this life. We have to stop hurting people for the sake of this world. So many siblings cut ties with each other because they are trying to attain their deceased parents wealth. Audhibullah. May Allah protect us from being of those who love the dunya so much that we hurt our own family for its adornments. We must realise that every trial and tribulation is a test from Allah swt. We have to hold on tighter to the rope of Allah swt."
"I would like to end this lecture with this prayer. May Allah make us of those people who benefit from admonition and of those who when they are given, are thankful, when tested, are patient, and when they sin, are repenting, as these, brothers and sisters, are the keys to success in this dunya and the akhirah. Ameen."
The video came to an end and I turned the TV off, feeling my heart get lighter already. I got up and went to the bathroom to have wudhu, wanting to spend some time with myself and my Lord, and for the next two hours, I prayed nawafil salah and read a juz of Qur'an, alhamdulillah.
The next morning...
Rubbing my eyes, I yawned, stretching my arms above my head and turning around to face A'ishah's side of the bed, only realising that she wasn't in bed. Throwing the blanket off my body, I sat up in bed and recited the waking up du'a before making my way to the bathroom.
After getting done, I walked out of the room and heard moving about in the kitchen. "Good morning, love." I spoke, walking close to her and leaning over to kiss her temple.
"Morning, King." She said, leaning into me slightly before pulling away again. She was chopping up strawberries on the chopping board, a bowl of oats and yoghurt sitting beside it.
"Sorry about last night." I apologised as I opened the fridge and took out the orange juice, unscrewing the cap.
"It's okay. You were stressed." She shrugged. She didn't seem genuine in her dismissal, but I had just found out I had a 'sibling' after 24 years. I knew that she would be understanding of my little outburst.
I tipped the bottle up and drank the juice from the carton.
"For God's sake, King. Stop drinking it from the carton." She groaned, making me grin and state straight at her while I continued drinking from it, seeing her roll her eyes. "You're annoying." She muttered, turning back around and scraping the strawberries off the board and into her bowl.
"Can you make me a bowl, too?" I asked her and she nodded simply, bending over to take out a second, bigger, bowl.
She finished both of them and I filled her a cup of orange juice as we sat at the table and began eating in silence.
"Should we go to the hospital after breakfast?" I asked her, chewing on my oats as she did the same while scrolling through her Instagram feed.
"Oh, Aleena actually messaged me earlier." She spoke, looking up from her phone. "She said we should meet up if I'm free."
"Oh, okay. Yeah, sure, go. Is she going to pick you up?" I asked her and she nodded.
"Tell Lisa I said hi." She said with a smile and I told her I would.
After I washed and dried both bowls, I put them away and made my way to the room to get changed.
"Are you okay?" I asked A'ishah once I walked back into the living room, seeing her sitting on the couch cross legged while Qur'an was being recited on the TV.
"Yes, alhamdulillah. Are you leaving?" She asked me and I nodded.
"Are you...you know, going to call..."
She smiled, reaching out to hold my hand. "Yes, King. I'm going to call Beth."
I sighed and nodded. "Thank you, baby." I pressed a kiss to her forehead before telling her to stay safe and leaving her to herself.
As I got into my car, my phone rang in my pocket right as I started up the engine. I answered it and held the phone to my ear, seeing it was an unrecognised number.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Am I speaking to King Patterson?" A female voice spoke and I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering who it could have been.
"Yes, you are. Who's this?"
"Senior constable Polly Hudson. I'm calling you from Greenvale Reserve Police Station regarding a certain Sulayman Tariq."
"Yes, yes." I quickly answered. "He's been arrested I assume?"
"He was." She spoke, making me tense. "We had an anonymous tip earlier this week and we found him unconscious. After he was treated at the hospital, we did take him in for questioning. He stayed with us over night, but we released him a short while ago." She explained, making me get angry.
"What the hell for!? He abused my wife!"
I was aware that his crime wasn't murder or arson. I knew he didn't do anything that deserved life, but him being let go this way made me uneasy.
"Sir, calm down. We are aware of his offence." She tried speaking slowly, not that it did anything to my raging nerves. "We follow strict protocol. This was his first offence. He does not have a criminal history. He will be undergoing community service for a month, but his crime was not indictable any further. I am aware he verbally abused your wife and groped her without her permission, as per the witnesses which have come forward, but besides this, we are unable to charge him with anything further." She explained, making me sigh.
This was a mess.
"Okay." I muttered, having nothing else to say to her.
"If you have any other questions, I will gladly answer them for you." She said finally but I simply thanked her before hanging up and dropping my phone on the passenger seat.
I just prayed that he didn't come looking for A'ishah for vengeance of some sort.
- A'ISHAH'S POV -
"I don't believe you!" She laughed, fanning her face as she shook her head, making me grin beneath my niqab.
I had come with Aleena to join her for lunch at a brunch bar for some coffee and cake. Alhamdulillah, she had opened up to me and she was so so sweet, the complete opposite of how she was when I had first ran into her. Clearly, she was used to keeping her distance from people she first met. I guess it was her Qadr and the events she had lived through that made her this way.
It was quite normal. A survival instinct of sorts. She didn't trust easily and didn't grow attached to people unnecessarily.
"I said wallah like three times already, sis." I chuckled, lifting my niqab to take another sip of my caramel macchiato.
"Ugh, you're so annoying." She muttered with a roll of her eyes, taking another forkful of her tiramisu cake and putting it into her mouth.
"I already told you that he is completely infatuated with you and he was pleased with your first meeting, I don't know what else you want to hear."
"I don't know, sis. This is just the first time ever that I have felt so so compatible with someone. That first meeting went above and beyond my expectations, you know?" She shrugged shyly, although a blush didn't grow at all. She was quite confident in her personality.
"I know." I agreed, grinning at her. "I wasn't expecting it to go that smoothly either. I mean, I thought you were compatible, but I had no clue that you'd both have that much chemistry." I told her, sharing my thoughts with her.
Even King and I had debriefed their first meeting and he had said the exact same thing. I guess, in a way, we were both comparing their first, to ours and Allah knows best how horrific ours was with all the awkward silences, the stuttering and the one-word answers.
My phone began ringing and I looked at the screen, seeing King's contact calling through FaceTime.
"Hubs, ring emoji, love heart emoji? How absolutely corny." Aleena laughed. I blushed and told her to be quiet with a small smile as I answered and held the phone up.
"Assalamu alaykum, baby." He spoke.
"Wa alaykum assalam." I responded.
"Sorry, I know I'm interrupting your lunch date, but my mum wanted to see you. She wouldn't take no for an answer." He chuckled, making me laugh.
"That's okay. Where is she?" I asked, making King turn the phone until Lisa's face came into view. She looked solemn as she stared at me. "Hey, Lisa." I spoke cheerily. "How are you?"
"Pretty A'ishah." She mumbled softly, referring back to the time that she had called me that name when I had first met her in niqab. Whenever I went to see her and didn't take my niqab off, she would call me 'pretty A'ishah'.
It was adorable and I loved it.
I chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I'm outside right now, so I can't take it off. Are you feeling okay?" I asked, making her nod. "Did you eat your lunch yet?" I then asked her, but she shook her head no.
"She's adamant on starving herself because the server didn't allow her to get three desserts." King cut in from the back with a disappointed tone directed towards his mother.
"Lisa," I chastised. "You have to eat. You can't starve yourself. One dessert is plenty." I told her.
King cut in once again. "No actually, she managed to get two. She just wanted the third as well." He muttered.
I held in my laugh. "Lisa, how about you eat your food today and then tomorrow I'll see if I can convince the doctor to let you have more dessert with your meal, okay?"
She thought about it and breathed out, avoiding eye contact with me as she nodded begrudgingly. "Fine." She muttered, making me laugh. "I don't want to talk to her anymore." She told King while pulling the table towards herself and opening her tray. Alhamdulillah.
King turned the phone back to him. "You are amazing." He mumbled gratefully. "You don't know how long I've been trying to get her to eat." He groaned.
"You'll learn eventually." I winked at him, making him roll his eyes.
"Anyways," He laughed. "I'll leave you. Give my salam to sister Aleena." He spoke, making me look up at her. She smiled, voicing her greeting back loud enough for him to hear.
"Okay, well goodbye then." I sang.
"Bye, love. Stay safe." He said and I nodded, saying inshaaAllah before ending the call and apologising to Aleena who shook her head with a grin and asked me about 'pretty A'ishah', and so, I began explaining King and I's story all the way from the beginning, up until his mother's condition now.
————
After thanking the female Uber driver and paying the fee, I stepped out of the vehicle and walked straight inside the house, taking a seat on the couch.
I took the piece of paper out of my purse, holding that in one hand, and my phone in the other, taking deep breaths in and releasing steadily to calm myself.
Bismillah.
I dialed the number and crumpled the paper in my palm as I pressed call, taking the phone to my ear, hearing the ringing sounds echo through my mind.
I hated speaking to new people. This was a given. In any other scenario, I would have passed up the task onto King, but in this case, I didn't have a choice. I had to do this for King, no matter how difficult it was for me.
"Yo." Her voice answered, sounding rather deep and groggy despite the loud noise in the background.
I should have planned what to say before I called.
"Who's this?" She then asked, her voice already seemingly frustrated at my silence.
Here goes nothing.
"My name's A'ishah." I spoke softly, waiting for her response, only when she did, it was not what I was expecting.
"Who the **** is A'ishah? I don't know any A'ishah's, bro. Wrong number." She muttered before a flatline beep was heard, indicating that she had hung up the phone.
Great.
I imagined King asking me if I spoke to Beth.
Yeah, and she hung up because I'm incompetent and couldn't even speak to her like a human being.
Suck it up, A'ishah. I took in a deep breath and calmed my beating heart before pressing call again and taking the phone to my ear.
"Yo, I don't know who the **** this is,
but you gotta stop calling me."
"You're Beth, right?" I asked, making her go silent. I heard hushed whispers and I barely made out a male voice in the background saying 'maybe it's the feds.'
"King Patterson." I spoke quickly, not giving her an opportunity to hang up on my face yet again. I didn't know what she could have been apart of that would make the man in the background think I was the police. I couldn't lie...it slightly worried me.
I immediately heard rustling until she clearly moved to a quiet place, away from whoever she was with.
"Who the **** is this?" Her voice sounded angry and I found myself already getting nervous.
"King Patterson is my husband." I spoke rather confidently compared to the beating of my heart, clearing my throat and waiting for her response. It seemed like it would never come and I didn't blame her.
Perhaps she had assumed he would never try to contact her in any way. She must've been in shock.
"How did you get my number?" She asked, her tone interrogating.
"Your father, my father in law, recently approached me and told me about you." I spoke into the phone. I didn't want to tell her that King also knew about her.
Perhaps this was a lie, but unless she outright asked me, I wouldn't tell her that King's dad had actually told the both of us. I didn't want her getting upset at King's stance over the entire situation.
"He's not my ****** father, ****." She cussed at me, making me widen my eyes. I froze, not knowing how to react to the word. I had never been called such a word in my life.
"Where's King? I want to speak to him." She said after a few moments of silence.
I cleared my throat yet again, taking a breath in. "King is going through some things at the moment. My father in law and I thought it'd be better if you and I could meet up first, before you and King meet."
"What the **** for?"
"Are you free at all tomorrow?" I asked instead, not letting her entertain the idea of constantly asking me unnecessary questions.
She stayed silent for quite a while, the only sound coming through was some muffled music and her deep breathing.
I didn't even know if it was safe to be meeting her alone seeing as though I had just heard a male voice suggest I was the police.
Was she a part of a gang?
"I'll text you a time and place." She muttered finally and the line was cut before I could get in another word.
I placed my phone onto the coffee table before throwing my head back to look at the ceiling.
Was it safe to meet her?
I knew that if I had told King what I had heard, there was absolutely no way he would let me go to meet her alone, but I didn't want him to worry further.
I had to do this.
I just had to make sure we met in a public place and in broad daylight and inshaaAllah I would be fine.
Evidently, King wasn't home yet. His car wasn't here. I assumed that he'd be at the masjid by now and probably come home after that.
After changing into a pair of jeans and a sleeveless yellow summer top, I tied my hair into a ponytail and walked into the kitchen to start cooking, deciding that I'd make the pasta that I never got to make for King the day we had had the horrendous argument.
I was almost finished when I heard the front door unlock. King walked through looking tired as ever as he kicked his shoes off, shutting the door behind him.
"Assalamu alaykum." He spoke, throwing himself on the couch and extending his legs onto the coffee table in front of him.
I raised my brows. After returning his greeting, I asked him if everything was alright.
"Yeah, just feel really tired for some reason. It feels like I haven't slept in days." He mumbled, shutting his eyes as he leaned his head onto the back of the couch.
"Are you getting sick?" I asked him, frowning as I put the pasta into two plates and put them onto the table before walking over and placing my hand onto his forehead.
"Oh my." I shrieked. "King, you're burning up. Take off your jumper." I told him, withdrawing my hand as he listened to what I said while I sat beside him. "You're obviously getting sick, King. Should we go to the GP?"
He shook his head in dismissal. "I'll be fine. Just a fever." He muttered. "Can you bring me cold water?" He asked, blinking his eyes open as he turned his head to look at me.
I nodded, getting off the couch and filling a cup with water from the refrigerated water jug. "Come, drink it here. Have dinner." I said, putting the cup onto the table beside his pasta.
"I don't feel like eating." He mumbled, making me roll my eyes.
"Don't be such a baby, come on." I sat down myself, hearing him groan as he pushed himself up, coming to the table and sitting down in his usual seat.
"Ooh, it's some of that fire pasta." He commented, drinking his water first, finishing the entire contents in two seconds.
"Do you want some more?" I asked him and he nodded, mumbling a soft please. I got back up to get the water jug.
His eyes watched me and roamed my outfit as he smiled. "You look nice today, baby." He complimented kindly, making me smile.
I thanked him while filling up his cup once more, leaving the jug on the table this time as we both began eating.
He finished before I did and walked to the kitchen with his bowl and cup in hand. "Just leave them in the sink. I'll wash them." I told him before asking if he was going to go to bed.
"Yeah, I feel terrible. Some sleep will do me good." He muttered.
"Are you going to go to see your mum tomorrow?" I asked him but he shook his head quickly.
"It won't be good to go near her when I'm sick." He said and I nodded, agreeing with him. "I'll pray and then sleep." He mumbled softly, running his fingers through his hair as his eyes lost their shine.
I frowned. This was the first time King had gotten sick since we had been married and I didn't like it. I wasn't used to him being so quiet and low.
"I'm okay, baby." He smiled, coming close and kissing the top of my head.
"If you need anything..."
"I will. I promise." He cut me off. I gave him a small smile and he walked out of the living room.
I cleaned up the rest of the table and began to wash the dishes before putting them away and then turning off the kitchen light, I decided to read some Quran on my phone so I didn't disturb King by going into the room to get my mushaf.
As I unlocked my phone, I saw a message from Beth.
Ratz Bar & Bistro. 8pm.
Oh God. I rubbed my forehead and groaned.
It had just clicked that this girl has no clue that King was Muslim. Not only Muslim, but a strict, practicing Muslim, alhamdulillah, and now I had to somehow tell her to meet somewhere else.
Can we meet during the day somewhere else?
She read my message instantly and replied with 12pm and the name of a cafe, thank God.
I smiled and got off the messages screen, opening my Qur'an app instead as I leaned back into the couch and began reciting from where I had last left off and making dua that the meeting tomorrow would go well.
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Source for the first half of the lecture: https://www.onepathnetwork.com/the-reality-of-this-world/
Question of the chapter:
What are three goals that you hope to achieve in the next ten years if Allah wills?
What did you think of King's sibling situation? 👀
Don't forget to vote x
Assalamu alaykum. ❤️