iman | hakim ziyech

.3

please pray if you haven't already done so :)

—

[1315 words]

—

unfortunately for the pair, they had a hard time not to be spotted. and by the pair i mean hakim because iman was too out of it to notice. her head was still lulling off to the side while hakim carried her back to the venue the hakimi's had rented for the wedding.

he was just glad he had the strength to carry her and her 100kg dress that she decided to wear on purpose. how women carried these dresses by themselves was a mystery to him.

he finally spotted the back door where the women's section was and said his thank yous to Allah so that he could go back to the wedding and act like nothing strange just happened.

'alhamdulillah' he muttered as he formulated a plan to put her down somewhere in the room the door led to and call achraf or someone, anyone for help. and his luck was very quickly humbled when a man stopped him on his way, looking at him with wide eyes. hakim guessed it was not common practice to be carrying women in arms in morocco, or especially round these parts.

'Allah Allah, what kind of behaviour is this?' the man was quick to ask, and quite loudly. his tone told hakim everything he needed to know about just how bad this looked on their part. and it caught the attention of many people.

suddenly every man in about a 15 metre radius was asking questions, and crowding them, although mindful not to touch iman.

'astaghfirullah, is that abbas' daughter?'

'she's sneaking off with men on the day of her brothers wedding?'

the words, and many alike, were uttered by the circle that had formed.

hakim didn't answer their questions, because he didn't feel the need to. Allah knows he hadn't done anything wrong, and if he had made, he had done more right than wrong. the benefits of bringing iman back here where at least someone would check up on her were better than the costs of just leaving her there to rot on the floor of an alleyway.

suddenly, his tall friend came into view with a look of apprehension on his face. hakim had never been so happy to see achraf, and never been more thankful to God to be freed from this situation.

just before achraf reached the crowd though, a man foolishly decided to make a comment that would have both men furious.

'glad that her father didn't live to see this day. so shameless, arriving in another man's arms, from who knows where doing God knows what. tawba.'  (repentance) the man unhelpfully added.

'and who are you to be making claims on her fathers behalf?' hakim suddenly said, with a new expression on his face. he didn't know why iman was there either, but he knew enough that she wasn't the type of girl people were currently making her out to be either.

iman stirred in his arms, and clutched on to the suit that he wore. possibly from confusion. she didn't know why people were shouting, and why her head was throbbing so hard.

'who are you? her boyfriend?' someone added, wondering why he was getting so defensive.

'whoever i am shouldn't matter, you can't be making accusations on her character when she can't even defend herself! she could be your daughter, would you still be making such claims?' if he was angry before, then he certainly was enraged now.

'hakim! hakim! calm down! what's- iman?' achraf made his way through the group, trying to calm his friend down when his own heart rate sped up at the sight of his sister.

'no you listen to me! look at the state of her right now, instead of helping her out you're going to be announcing her character certificate? what kind of a man are you?' hakim didn't want to back down now. how could they be so insensitive? he knew achraf's uncle had died more than a decade ago, and thought it was disgusting that someone would bring the guy up from his grave to insult someone.

'hakim shut up! forget about them, what's wrong with iman? and what are you doing with her?' achraf dismissed the group, who respected his title of groom for the day enough to let hakim go down without a fight.

was it even a north african wedding if there wasn't a fight at some point?

achraf had taken over from hakim at this point, deciding to carry his sister back to the bridal room where amina came face to face with the trio.

'iman? ya rabbi what happened?' she quickly said, but didn't bother waiting for an answer as she was already fussing over her face, finding a water bottle to splash it onto her.

it seemed to have done the trick as iman's eyes darted open. 'the pictures! fahed! the bike!' iman suddenly shot up from her daze as if suddenly remembering the events of the night. her chest was heaving up and down and it seemed like she was hyperventilating.

'i don't know mama, but i think we might have to call an ambulance?' achraf was clearly concerned, and asked.

'no no no ambulance. the pictures. where are they?' everyone in the room looked at hakim, who shook his head absently. he didn't have any clue what the girl was talking about. iman's eyes were switching nervously around the room.

'iman,' achraf sat down beside his sister and cupped her face reassuringly. 'iman breath. tell me what happened? what pictures? what about fahed? did he harm you?'

'ah achraf you're bombarding her with questions. let her breath.' achraf nodded, trying not to let his curiosity outweigh this concern for his sister. amina patted her nieces face reassuringly, and handed her another glass of water which she gulped down.

'fahed? that bastard simply doesn't understand no does he?' achraf muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose wondering how long he was bothering his sister for without his knowledge.

hakim awkwardly stood in the room, feeling warm in the middle of december because he had gotten so angry at the man before. he looked away from iman, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

achraf looked at hakim and asked him to follow outside, wanting to ask him some questions. hakim breathed a sigh of relief because he didn't know what to do in that room.

achraf patted his arms and thanked him.

'what happened?'

'i don't know to be honest. i went outside for a bit of fresh air and i saw her running.' he let out a sigh, not having expected this much excitement from a little stroll in the evening. 'to be fair, i didn't recognise her at first.' hakim explained, running his hands through her hair.

'there was a guy though, i think he probably hit her. i don't know, i cant say much.' hakim honestly recounted.

achraf nodded his head, realising that only iman could answer their questions right now. the sound from inside the room had quietened down and he guessed iman had enough company.

'i'm sorry about all this.' achraf admitted, not wanting to have troubled his friend. he was referring to everything, and felt glad that his friend could so vehemently defend his sister.

hakim waved it off, 'it's okay. i'm sorry for causing a scene. let's just pray she gets better.' achraf simply nodded, before hakim walked off to the entrance of the venue, leaving achraf to tend to his sister.

—

to be clear, this is during the wedding. like the latter half of the wedding. the scenes from the book manal have already happened :)

how was it?

please comment and vote,

love you all,

author x