Urooj (Pakistani Short Stories)

Raqs|III|

"Uh uh. That's a foul." Sunehri shook her head, a grimace settling on her lips.

"You're just saying that because you know you're going to lose." Nameer, Hadeed's youngest cousin and the baby of the family, leaned back and crossed his arms.

Sunehri swung a strand of long hair behind her as she narrowed her eyes. "Kisko bewaqoof bana rahe ho? You can't kill me because I have both of my pieces on this spot."

It was a very sunny day nearly a week after Sunehri's wedding and the first weekend to follow. Bright and early that Saturday morning, Hadeed's extended family trickled in for brunch held in honor of the newly weds. However, Sunehri hadn't seen her husband since last night. When she'd awoken, he was gone.

Nameer shook his head, leaning over to steal a pretzel from Zarwa who angrily signed something . Sunehri wasn't familiar with sign and so she had placed a pen and notepad between her and younger girl.

Now she looked dumbly between them.

"She's saying that you're wrong and that I do get to kill both of yours."

Zarwa smacked Nameer.

"I don't think that's what she said."

"You don't know anything . Shut it." He flicked Zarwa who smacked him one more time.

She picked up the pen and notepad and the wrote something down, handing it back to Sunehri.

He's lying. You're safe.

Sunehri triumphantly grabbed the dice, ready to roll again.

"Nuh uh! Go back home!" Nameer snatched dice away from her.

"Hey! It's my turn!"

"Stop pestering my wife." Hadeed ruffled Nameer's hair as he took a seat between them.

Sunehri smiled at him. "What have you been up to?"

Hadeed's gaze perused her form appreciatively. "Nothing much. Just went out to check the construction site. You know after last night."

She nodded, touching his arm. Last night there'd been a fight amongst the construction workers and they'd taken to some old fashioned breaking and entering.

"Everything good?" She whispered softly. He smiled at her, squeezing her hand in the palm of his own.

"Of course, sweetness. Now what is that I keep hearing about her going back home? You can't kill a double."

Nameer groaned, handing Sunehri the dice. "Fine!"

She grinned victoriously as she rolled the dice and one of her pieces officially went home. "One more left and then I win."

"You wish." Nameer shook his head with a vengeance, taking the dice from her.

Hadeed whispered in Sunehri's ear the moves he thought were best and sure enough, by the end, she was not only a winner, but very flushed. His proximity, his cologne invading her senses, his warmth.

He was slowly becoming a constant in her life. He sat near her throughout brunch, his hand stilling her leg from shaking. When his cousins proposed going out for the day, he bent down to tie the straps of her sandals.

Oh God. She hadn't felt this way before. She hadn't known this is what it could be like.

///

Hadeed held Sunehri's waist as the ride spun around, her laughter endless, her long hair blowing in the wind. The ride was simple, shaped like a bowl with no restraints except a metal bar near the shoulders as it spun viciously in circles. He would never have agreed to getting on it but the look of excitement on his wife's face was enough to get him to agree. His cousins, especially the twins, wouldn't stop passing him astonished looks.