A Sea Of Brown

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1
The moment i opened my eyes it all came to me that it was Eid day.
Ramadan had really ended, i was missing it already. I could smell my mums cooking from my room, every Eid it smells the same but its different, unlike any other day.
I told myself i had to get out of bed and go help my mum and finally moved. I brought out my phone and i had three Eid messages. I hardly ever read them really, i only bother to read those from very few people.
I freshened up and went down to the kitchen.
'Morning Maama' i said, 'Eid Mubarak' and i kissed her on the cheek.
'Eid mubarak' she replied, 'up already?'
'The food just kept calling to me' i joked, 'Safiyya! Safiyya! Come eat me...' I laughed
'You will have to wait a bit though'
'You want anything done?'
'Just help me set the table before your father and brother get back'
I had forgotten they were out already and have gone for the Eid prayer. On Eid day we have our Eid feast in the morning, just us at the table and mums amazing food.
While i was setting the table i remembered sumayya my younger sister told me to wake her up before Abbu gets home.
'Maama do you know if Sum is up?'
'I havent seen her'
I went up to her room and found her awake already.
'When are you coming down?' I asked
'In a few minutes' she answered, 'i'm trying to reply as many messages as i can'
'Take my advice and ignore them' i said, closing the door and leaving.
When Abbu and Ahmad got home everything was ready and we all sat down to eat. Abbu was in such a good mood and Ahmad my younger brother was trying really hard not to ruin his new white kandora. That beautiful Eid feeling was in the air, everything was just perfect, like nothing could ever go wrong.
'My friend kabeer invited us to dinner' Abbu spoke up
'When is it' maama asked
'Later, tonight' he replied, 'told him we'll be there inshaAllah. So you should all get ready on time, we'll be going after magrib'
Dinners always made me nervous. I know nothing is expected of me other than to keep smiling and be polite but the thought of it still makes me nervous. Uncle Kabeer is Abbu's very close friend and his wife, Umm'Ali, is my mums friend too. They have five children, only the last two are females, and i have hardly ever had a complete conversation with the boys so its going to be a very quiet dinner on my part.

We pulled up outside uncle kabeers house and Abbu knocked. Uncle kabeer opened the door with his usual wide smile.
'Come in, come in' he ushered us in
Greetings were exchanged and we were told the ladies were in the next room so i, Sum and maama went in. Umm'Ali is a very pleasant person, always smiling just like her husband. Unlike her really tall husband, she had a small frame and always looked like she could do with some few more pounds.
She hugged us all and told us to make ourselves comfortable. She and my mum started off a conversation i was paying no attention to. My mind was already on my phone and i was chatting with aisha. My best friend. My only friend in short.
They too were hosting a dinner which she had invited me to earlier but i obviously couldnt go after Abbu announced this one, i couldnt even imagine asking Abbu to let me go to Aisha's instead.
Uncle kabeer came in and told us they were going to pray isha' and would be back in few minutes.
'We should go pray too then' umm'Ali said, 'and we'll meet up with them in the dinning room'
We all got up and followed her. Thank God i still had my wudu' so i prayed first and found my way to the dinning room alone. I was checkin my chat with aisha when i walked into the room, no, walked into someone actually.
'Bismillah!' he said, holding his hands up, hitting my nose with unusually long fingers and he took a step back. He startled me and my phone slipped out of my hands.
My phone! It was a tiled floor! My heart started racing and i snatched it up immediately hoping, praying the screen was fine. After going over every inch of the phone and confirming it was ok, i looked up and realised he was still there, just staring at me.
Well i'm still not sure if he was recovering from the fright i gave him or he was waiting for an appology, he was just standing there looking at me.
'I'm so sorry i wasnt looking' i said, or at least i thought i said, i could feel my face turning red, he was still just staring. I quickly turned and went back where i came from though i thought i heard him saying something but i didnt turn.
Where he hit me still hurt and he should have been the one to say sorry but then i wasnt looking where i was going. Thats me. Always making a complete idiot of myself. These dinners are so not worth the nerves.
I waited for maama and Sum and we went to the dinning room together. The rest were back already so we sat down and the serving began. I looked round the table and i didnt go far before i found those same big brown eyes looking at me. I looked down and tried hard to concentrate on my plate.
'Ali you've changed so much i bearly recognise you' said maama
So thats who it is! I thought i knew the face but i just wasnt sure. Umm'Ali's Ali. Of course. He has been away for a while. Even when he was here i dont think i ever exchanged a three word sentence with him. He always kept to his room when we came visiting.
My thoughts were interrupted when i heard my name being spoken.
'Safiyya you remember Ali right?' Maama said
'Uhm' i mumbled, without looking up
'When did you get back?' maama asked
'About two weeks ago' Ali replied,
'Ahh... So you spent the last two weeks of ramadan here.' Abbu joined in, 'such contrast, ramadan in afganistan and ramadan in london. I bet Eid in Fayzabad last year was a lot better than this one'
'Eid back in Fayzabad can not be compared to Eid anywhere else' uncle Kabeer added
'True', Ali said 'but Eid is best where your family is' and i looked up and saw him smiling at his mum.
Ali has been in Afganistan for the past year. I have no idea what he went there for but i made a mental note to ask maama when we get home. I've been to Afganistan three times before, the first time i was too young to remember and the last was about two years ago. My family is from Maymana in northern Afganistan and uncle kabeer's family is from fayzabad more to the east. I and my siblings were all born in England and my parents have been here for the past twenty one years. Uncle Kabeer and his family go to Afganistan more often and I envy them for that, I've always wished we went more often too.
The rest of the evening went quite well, I mostly just listened to the conversation and said little myself. By the time we got home it was late and I went straight to sleep.

***************