Peer-e-kamil

Chapter 1(last part)

Javeria and Rabia could hardly sleep that night: they were gripped by fear. What if she did not return? The question loomed like a menace. They could see their careers smashed and they knew what the reaction of their families would be-they would be maligned and criticized for colluding with Imama, for not telling her father the truth about her and for hiding the facts from the warden.

They had not figured what the reaction of Hashim Mubeen and his family would be when they were faced with the truth-how would they judge the role of these two friends. The other girls in the hostel would talk about them and if this became a police case, they would be accused of conspiring in the crime. When they thought of these repercussions, their hair stood on end.

Once more the question arose: where on earth was Imama? Where had she gone and why? They were trying to analyze her past behavior. She had undergone such a change in the last one year: she'd stopped going out with them and used to be worried and irritable; she'd lost her enthusiasm for studies and had become withdrawn.

"Remember when she refused to go shopping with us and then took off somewhere else? She's gone to the same place, I'm sure-and like fools, we believed whatever she said," recalled Rabia.

"But Imama was not like this-I've known her since childhood. She was never like this." Javeria still did not suspect her.

"It doesn't take long to change-a person just needs to have a weak character." Rabia's suspicions were getting the better of her.

"Rabia, she got engaged of her own choice-she and Asjad are very fond of each other-so why would she do such a thing." Javeria tried to defend her friend.

"Then you tell me where she is? I've not turned her into a fly and stuck her on a wall. Her father comes here to meet her and he has come from his home, so obviously she's not there-and she told us she's going home." There was helplessness in Rabia's voice.

"It could be that she met with an accident...that she did not get home..."

"Whenever she goes home, she always calls up to tell them that her brother should pick her up from the bus stop. Had she called up this time too, they would not be sitting complacently if she hadn't reached home-they would have called the hostel. From her father's attitude, it seemed that she had no plans for going home this weekend." Rabia stopped Javeria in her musings.

"Yes, she never goes home twice in a month, but this time she decided to...the very next week. In fact, she took special permission from the warden. There's definitely something wrong somewhere." Javeria's fears were aroused again.

"We're going to be in deep trouble along with her. We really made a grave mistake in covering up-we should have been honest with her father that she's not here; he could have done what he wanted to...it would be his problem. At least we would not have been in this mess."Rabia went on muttering.

"Anyway, what can we do now? Let's wait and see till morning-if she does not turn up then we have to tell the warden." Javeria was pacing around the room.

They spent the entire night talking, worrying-they had not slept a wink. The next day they did not attend classes-there was no point in going in their sorry state. Imama used to get back by nine on Saturdays when she went home for the weekend, but there was no sign of her.

Rabia and Javeria were at the end of their wits-it was two thirty and she hadn't returned. Ashen-faced and trembling, they left their room to see the warden, making up their statements.

They were a short distance from the warden's room when they saw Imama entering, calm and collected. Bag slung over her shoulder and folder in hand, she was certainly returning from college. Javeria and Rabia felt as if the ground slipping away from beneath their feet had suddenly become firm. Their stilled breath was restored and the headlines that seemed to be screaming at them from the next day's papers miraculously evaporated. All these fears were replaced by the anger that was aroused in them by the sight of Imama.