Belong Together

Through Thick & Thin

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Hania

Rain pounded heavily against the window, and I sat in the living room, curled up under a throw with my laptop on my lap, looking for jobs. I had decided that I was going to find work to support Hamza. Writing for the e-zine wasn't enough, and the bills for our flat must be sky high, and I wanted to lessen his burden by earning money.

I received a news alert on my phone, reminding me of the storm approaching from the Atlantic, which was expected to hit Britain with full force. It also reminded me of the awful day that Mama had gone missing. Ya Allah, keep us all under your protection. Ameen.

In fiction, storms seemed to be a metaphor for something bad that's about to occur in the characters' lives. I didn't believe in that, because it seemed kind of superstitious, but storms made me nervous nevertheless. Just imagining how helpless we were in the face of nature scared me. 

I paused searching and stared blankly out of the window. A flash of lightning passed through the grey skies, followed by a harsh growl of thunder. I set my laptop aside and walked over to the window. Subhan Allah! In this storm, even the strongest looking tree seems to be struggling to survive, and yet small plants seem to remain safe. I feel like that is another metaphor for life. The strong and the wealthy think they are invincible, but there's always a greater force that can shatter their misconception. And the weak think that they are helpless in this cruel world, but given the right circumstances, and with the protection of Allah, even they can survive the storm.

My phone started ringing and I headed back to the sofa to answer it. It was Hamza. "Assalam Alaikum, Hamza."

"Walaikum Assalam, Hania." He didn't sound very happy.

"What's wrong? You okay?" I asked, concerned.

"There was a problem in the business, and Papa had a little setback." He sighed. "To recover from the loss, he was going to have to put his house on sale, which I didn't want... so I offered for us to sell our flat instead."

This was the last thing that I'd been expecting.

"Our flat is worth close to his house, because of the location and the views." He explained. "And I said that I'd rather that we sell up our place and temporarily rent out a place until I find us another place."

"And you suddenly realised that the problem was this big?" It was a genuine question, because it didn't make sense to me.

"The problem had been ongoing, but we reached a solution today."

"Oh, okay." I replied.

"I'm sorry, Han. I know that you loved our flat, but I didn't want Papa to have to sell his house." He sounded like he was feeling guilty. "Papa refused to listen to me, but I insisted. He even said that we could go and stay at his place until we find another place, but..."

"I understand, Hamza." I said. "It's okay. My home is where you are, anyway. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together."

"I love you, Han. Thank you for understanding."

"I love you too. Don't worry about me. I'll adjust anywhere."

If only I had known how bad the situation really was. 

****

We were asleep, and it was the middle of the night when Hamza received a phone call.