Tawakkul

Chapter 16

Sultan had taken out all of his old files to find a reference number and had left without putting it all back into his suitcase. Fatima was currently sitting in the middle of the disorganised sheets whilst her mother attempted to place them into folders. Her little hands grabbed anything that seemed of interest, A hard covered book was her next victim. She spotted it on the bed from the corner of her eye and retrieved it before her mother noticed. She then sat with her back against the wall and knees bent. She opened the book and gaped at what she saw.

The white pages were occupied by sketches of various sorts. Some were in colour whilst others were in black and white. A sketch of Big Ben, one of the ferris wheel and a coloured piece of the city lit up by nightlights. She flipped through the pages seeing them come to life infront of her. The book led onto sketches of people, labelled "pedestrians" Fatima gave up on understanding what the word meant, instead admired the detail of each sketch. The eyes held a beauty she couldn't explain and they drew her in.

She flipped a few more pages and saw a drawing of a pair of eyes. The eyes were soft and creased by the sides. They were round with long dark lashes, Fatima recognised the pair and looked up over the page to her mother who was busy in her own world. Fatima giggled to herself and her eyes flicked to the other pages. A sharp nose which resembled Greek statues and thin lips that were slightly downturned. Fatima once again looked over the book to Aaliyah and compared the features. She had to admit that her father perfectly captured the essence of her mother's face. She looked at the book now puzzled seeing that the other pages were the same. No page held an entire photo of her mother and she began to wonder why. Fatima placed the question in her head reminding herself to ask Sultan when he comes home.

That evening Fatima woke up half-asleep and heard her father shaving his beard in the bathroom, she took the sketchbook to Sultan's room and sat cross legged on the bed waiting for him to come out. He walked out preoccupied with his thoughts, a towel resting on his shoulders, Aaliyah had gone downstairs to make him some food. He jumped out of his skin seeing Fatima sitting on his bed. Her pyjamas were a light pink colour with white stars on them.

"You scared me"

Fatima giggled and opened the sketch book as he sat down next to her fixing her bed-hair.

"Papa, why haven't you drawn mama in full?" She looked at him with that boba eye stare and he chuckled softly kissing her nose. Sultan debated for a second how to reply. How could he explain to her, that he couldn't draw Aaliyah even though he wanted to? That he knew her too well to be satisfied by anything that he created. That she was too beautiful to draw perfectly. He remembered the screwed up pieces of paper and the bin that was full to the brim of pages where he had tried. He had memorised every inch of her face and had watched as it changed, yet he could not draw her, he was unable to.

He no longer drew people. Aaliyah was his last attempt, now if he found the time he would work on calligraphy instead.

"Your mother is just too pretty, just like you"

Sultan ruffled Fatima's hair and kissed her soft cheek.

"How did you find my sketchbook anyway?"

Fatima shrugged and passed the book to Sultan, then yawned. She resembled a lion. He picked her up and took her back to her bed tucking her in.

"I want to be able to draw like you papa"

Sultan nodded, moving a piece of her curly hair away from her face.

"You'll be able to draw better than me Fatima, don't you worry"

Fatima gave a 'Yeay!' before falling fast asleep. Aaliyah whispered Sultan's name from the stairs thinking Fatima had been asleep the entire time and Sultan laughed to himself making his way downstairs.

***********

"Mama"

Fatima snuggled up against Aaliyah as she stroked her hair.

"Gee baby?"

"How did you and papa get married?"

"It was an arranged marriage"

Fatima looked at Aaliyah with her big doe eyes.

"So you didn't know papa before"

Aaliyah shook her head.

"I didn't even see a photo of him before we got married"

"Really?" Fatima was intrigued.

"Yes, but If I could choose I would've chosen your papa anyway, there's noone better than him you know and Allah's plan is always the best".

Fatima giggled nodding. Sultan stood in the doorframe listening, he smiled to himself and walked over getting in the bed.

"Papa!" Fatima turned and snuggled into Sultan instead and he laughed holding her, one of his hands fixed around fatima and the other was holding Aaliyah's.

"Fatima darling, would you like a little sibling"

"Sultan" Aaliyah gave him a look, knowing Fatima would start rambling on in excitement of how she'd love to have a sibling. Fatima shouted a yes hugging Sultan like a koala. He scrunched his nose to Aaliyah and blew her a kiss and she shook her head in dismay.

***********

Aaliyah was cleaning upstairs and heard the door open, she looked up like a meerkat ,knowing Sultan was home. It reminded her of what Mr and Mrs Rajah used to say.

"Sultan, should I make roti for you?"

Aaliyah abandoned the hoover at the top of the stairs and came down to Sultan. She turned the corner and her jaw dropped. On the table were a multitude of bakery items, from different loafs to croissants, pecans pastries, cinnamon rolls and donuts.

"Sultan"

She looked at him eyes wide open at a loss for words. He looked like a puppy who'd been caught in the rain.

"Wheres the receipt?"

Aaliyah watched as he hid the receipt in his pocket. She walked over to him and he ran to the other side of the dinner table.

"Sultan, show me the reciept"

She ran towards him and he ran away they continued to run in circles, a contagious laughter springing from the both of them. They both began to run out of stamina.

"Forget about the price, you said you like bakery so I bought bakery"

"Sultan, I didn't mean buy the entire aisle"

Sultan opened the packet with the pecan pastry.

"Atleast try it"

He tore of a piece and fed it to her. He watched as her expression changed. Stars entered her eyes and they creased at the sides from her smile.

Fatima had been watching TV in the living room glued to the sofa but had now entered the kitchen waddling towards her parents. Sultan froze, his hand still at Aaliyah's mouth, Fatima opened her mouth pouting.

"Me too!" She gestured towards herself and Sultan chuckled. He picked her up, placing her on the table and broke off a piece of the pastry feeding it to her. Fatima's face lit up and she munched happily, smiling with her little rosy cheeks.

"Don't put her on the table" Aaliyah spoke fixing Fatimas outfit. Aaliyah always dressed Fatima as if she were a model. In the cutest clothes , today she was wearing a cream coloured frilly top with a plaid skirt and leggings underneath. Her hair was cut short and her bangs covered her forehead.

"Yes ma'am"

Sultan picked fatima up and placed her on his shoulders instead he then gave her a donut for her to enjoy.