𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐍 - rewritten | ✓

TWO

Maham was the bastard of the Agha family. Her mother, a Muslim, fell in love with a man with no religion.

She was sent to the UK to study with her brothers and fell in love with an English man. They fell in love and married.

Everyone was against the marriage. It was not religiously lawful. She was a Muslim and he didn't worship any god.

Everyone kept quiet. They attended the wedding and faked blessings in hopes of never seeing the false-hearted woman. The two newlyweds went back to the UK to live their lives until a year after their baby girl was born.

Maham's father was killed in a car accident, leaving her mother, Naira, a single mother. For 2 years, she adjusted and worked hard until she could not.

So she came back to Pakistan, thinking they'd accept her. They did. Maham's mother was a beautiful woman. She was pale, with green eyes, and hair dark like the night.

They accepted her for their selfishness.

A friend of her elder brother's, Arafat had a friend. A wealthy businessman who was looking for a bride. Arafat and his wife planned on keeping and raising Maham as their own while marrying Naira off to a wealthy man.

Marrying his sister off to a wealthy man will set the lives of his two children. He could send them to a bigger more expensive school.

But Naira refused. She screamed and shouted that she would never do such a thing. She was abused, both verbally and emotionally.

Got called names like 'whore' and 'disbeliever' because she "married" a man who wasn't a Muslim.

Naira had fallen sick. She was diagnosed with cancer and after a few months, she also left her baby girl all alone at the hands of the cruel world.

Maham grew up with abuse. Abuse that permanently traumatized her heart. Abuse that left her insecure, ashamed of herself, and hating herself.

She didn't know what was her religion. She would see her cousins and uncles leaving for the masjid while the ladies prayed in the house.

She would watch confused. They fasted for Ramadhan and celebrated Eid, excluding her. She would sneak food to eat during Ramadhan because she wouldn't fast.

But thanks to the Islamic studies classes she took in school. She found her religion at the age of 10. She learned how to pray, how to read the Quran, and started to fast at 12.

Her peace was her religion. She suffered through hardships but she always calmed her feelings by telling herself that God gave His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.

When she was 15, her eldest cousin Zayan who was 19 at the time left for the UK to continue his studies. She never talked to him much. But he was also the one person who was never mean to her.

He was mean but never defensive. Whenever he saw his mother or aunt abusing her, he would stare and then swallow the lump in his throat walking away.

He would hear screams of 'Let me out!' From the storage room whenever he stood up to unlock the door one glare from his mother would have him standing still.

He, himself, was the part of the injustice. He didn't inflict any pain, but he stood and watched while it was being inflicted.

And not just him. His sister and cousins included. Osman and Aaima were 2 years younger than him but 2 years older than Maham. Zafeera is the youngest of them all, one year younger than Maham.

They all kept quiet, going blind and deaf at the sight of the young girl's sobs and cries. They never talked to her. Never played with her. Never studied with her.

"Ammi kehti hain ke yeh manhoos hai. Iske paida hone se pehle iske dono maa baap about healthy the. Yeh jab duniya mai toh dono mar gaye," Aaima said.
(My mom said she is cursed. Both of her parents were healthy before she came into the world. And after she came both of them died.)

The girl with doe green eyes, honey-tanned skin, and hair dark like her mother's watched her while sitting next to her.

"Haan meri ammi bhi yehi kehti hain," Zafeera said.
(My mom says the same.)

Maham looked at her innocently. She knew they were talking bad about her. She was so young, she didn't know how to react.

"Tum log kitne badtameez ho. Uske samne hi uski buriyan kar rahe ho?" Osman laughed.
(You guys are so rude. You are talking bad in front of her.)

Aaima rolled her eyes. "Mujhe iske saath nahi bhetna chalo yaha se," Aaima said getting up and walking away with Zafeera. Osman sighed and stood up as well.
(I don't want to sit with here, let's go)

"Inki baaton pe dehaan mat dena, theek hai?" Zayan said. Maham stared at him, tears filling her eyes at the unfamiliar kindness.
(Don't listen to them, ok?)

"Chalo Zayan!" Aaima yelled.
(Lets go, Zayan)

Zayan leaned forward to wipe a tear that dropped but Maham flinched and backed away. Zayan looked down, sad and then he stood up walking away.