Khaani Reboot

A Loophole

Hamza is pacing the living room, and Momina is sitting on the couch, looking at him, worried for both him and Hadi.

"Hamza baith jaao kuchh khaa lo, please."

"Momina, I appreciate your concern. Lekin I really need to think of a way out. Hamare pass time nahi hai."

"Subah ke 3 baj rahe hain Hamza. Aur- tum subah kuchh influential logon se baat toh karne waale ho."

"Tum samajh nahi rahi, even though we pull all the strings, the court might still go through with the execution."

"But why? Agar asli gunahgaar ka pata chal gaya hai, and we have proof, then how?"

"Every official will face a lot of public backlash. Tumhein yaad hai Sanam ka fiancee yeh sab public tak le gaya. Aur issi wajah se every one is focused on this case. Aur agar Hadi ki sazaa ruk gayi toh the public will be roaring with anger since they still think he's the killer and the Mirs manipulated their way out of it."

"But we can show the public-"

"-We can't. Woh video confidential evidence hai."

"Okay, then we won't show it to the public!" Momina raises her eyebrows and her eyes are still gleaming with hope.

"What are you thinking?"

"Videos like this get leaked all the time Hamza. And did you forget I'm the tech expert? No trail of video origins."

Hamza laughs, Momina really is the smartest woman he ever met.

He still needs a backup, because the video can't be released until after the court hears the appeal and makes a decision. And if they make a decision against Hadi, then it might again be too late to save him. He needs something else to convince the officials, to make them think twice before rejecting his appeal.

"Momina I still need something else. Hum iklaute evidence ko aise public mein release nahi kar sakte jab tak court appeal par koi decision nahi deta." He states disappointedly and Momina agrees.

"Hamza, Officer Ahmed ne jo documents diye woh dikhana zara?"

Hamza hands her the bundle containing all legal documents, and Hadi's documents.

"You need to put atleast 2 pieces of ID in this. Yahan Hadi ki aik hi ID hai."

"Achha main Passport-" He stops abruptly while making his way to Hadi's room.

"Kya hua?"

"Passport."

"Huh?"

"Momina!"

"Bolo bhi Hamza!"

"Passport. Hadi has 2 passports!"

Momina's eyes widen.

"He's a citizen of another country?" She stands up and goes towards him.

"USA! Wow, main itna bevakoof kaise ho sakta hun."

"I didn't know ke woh 2 countries ka citizen hai. Agar mujhe pata hota toh, he has rights Hamza, we can do something, a lot of things now!"

"Thanks Momina! I love you!" He hugs her in excitement, as she's the one who initiated that led to this realization.

Momina blushes when they pull apart, unable to respond. This is the first time Hamza had said 'I love you' to her. But she knows it probably doesn't mean something on his end because he is just excited.

Hamza goes and gets Hadi's USA passport from his room. He has smiled genuinely after ages. He takes a deep breath and shows it to Momina, who shakes her head in relief. He cannot wait for the sun to rise and for all this to finally come to an end. He still has a sinking feeling somewhere deep in his heart. They only have tomorrow. Day after tomorrow, early morning, Hadi is supposed to be executed.