Partners In Crime

•Hashim•

It was nothing short of a miracle that Alex was allowed to perform for the Hashims' wedding. Marina's friend, the bride, had parents with 'traditional' values. Alex's band was nervy, contrarian rock. They were only approved because one of the aunties was one of the cool ones who breathed rock out of her soul.

The guest list was engorged. Marina sat beside some people she hardly knew. One of them was called Erin, she was pretty sure. She cursed Solana for not coming to the wedding, because her only other friend was busy ruining it. And she had no one to talk to. She would've asked Theo to come along, but it was only about two months into their relationship, which would've been bad timing.

The couple were locked into marriage now. She had to watch the ceremony, something called Katb Al-Kitaab, with Alex on the other side of the hall with all the men. The Hashims were already growing suspicious about weddings going wrong when Alex and Marina were both invited.

She stared off into the distance, her vision blurring under the dark, thinking about the bride and groom, and how their faces were screaming at her to save them. But Alex and Marina swore to each other they weren't gonna ruin another wedding. They had a long track record already of weddings they fucked up, both on accident or on purpose. The best they had was to piss off all the older people in the Hashim family who forced them to marry each other.

She saw him and the band, Jamie, Nick and Matt, to the side of the stage, sorting out their equipment while the DJ was playing some dance music. Somehow, he noticed her under his shaggy fringe. He mouthed some words under the commotion.

'Bored,' he said. She nodded.

'Me too.' She couldn't get drunk at this one. Still, she got as buzzed as she possibly could beforehand. The kind where she could be mistaken for a functioning person. Jesus, she wondered what that said about her.

A while later, Alex and the band took over from the DJ, making everyone flock to the dance floor and replace every older person retreating back to their chairs. The bride had gone up to her friends, leaving the groom behind to sit. Away from him, she could enjoy the night with her friends before she was bound for eternity.

Marina danced as well with the girl that sat next to her. She could dance with anyone at any time.

So entrenched in this temporary joy, she barely noticed when someone staggered onto the stage in the middle of Alex's performance, grabbing the mic away from him and tapping it so loudly it let out a screech across the room.

Alex looked at the woman who stole the mic from him gobsmacked, and quickly he and Marina knew it was time when they spotted each other again.

"I object! I object, object I object..." the woman slurred, her eyelids drooping. She gripped the stand like it was the last stick in the cliff stopping her from falling into a volcano.

The music was abruptly replaced with light muttering. The woman was familiar, maybe a friend of the family?

"You will do no such thing!" came a loud, ignited voice from behind the crowd.

Erin, hers and everyone's head around her swivelled around. The bride's father. His bushy eyebrows were a white grey and arched to the high heavens as he hobbled forward in a tux and cane. How he managed to speak loudly enough for everyone to hear, Marina didn't know.

"Or what, Salim?" the woman shouted back. "I object, just so everyone is clear, I object! Fuck your outdated traditions. Bet they don't say shit about who can love who."

The woman brushed a limp hand through her hair, shoving Alex back when he tried to grab ahold of the mic again. Marina tried her best to hold back a laugh when he looked back at her again like he couldn't quite believe she'd done such a thing.