Unsealed Fate

Chapter 39: Brewing Chaos

BREWING CHAOS

★★★★★

Time tensed by, day after day, until weeks passed and Zayn could hardly keep up with the events whatsoever. As you know, weekdays are typically not beautiful for someone whose spirit is unsettled, he sold his peace of mind a long time ago.

That evening, Zayn stood in the middle of their front yard. He watched as the sun reddened beneath the horizon, chirping birds took their last flight and even the gentle breeze that teased his skin didn't go unnoticed. Just like every other Friday, their family house was filled with visitors. What made that day different was the presence of his father, he was the soul of the family and with his presence, their home was alive and breathing.

Suddenly he heard footsteps and turned to see Ahmad strolling his way, accompanied by his son. He greeted Zayn with a smile and Zayn returned his gesture, striding back to meet them. He took in their view to see them dressed in white thobe similar to the black one he wore.

"Barka da Zuwa (welcome)"He extended a friendly hand to Ahmad. He had invited him over and that's why he stood outside waiting for him. They were supposed to go out with Omar but Ahmad didn't make it early enough. And Omar was on his way, he promised to join them shortly.

"It's been a while," Ahmad shook his hand, tight and warm. It had been three weeks since they last saw each other after the incident with Teslim. Their last conversation centered around Zayn explaining to Ahmad that his wife's pregnancy was a high-risk one so it had to be terminated, or else they would have lost both her and the life forming in her. "It feels good to see you again."

"I wasn't expecting to see you soon due to the nature of your job. But here we are," Zayn pointed out as he recollected how they had entered Teslim's private ward in gentle spirit with Ahmad hoping to fetch some answers from his wife as to why she had hidden something like that from everyone. But seeing her in that shape made him weak. She was lying on her back, pale-skinned, with weak amber eyes and dry lips.

"Alhamdulillah! (Allah be praised)"Ahmad released his hand. He let his mind stray to the moment when he sat on the hospital bed, looking at her left hand, where the catheter of the intravenous drip had been inserted in her vein. She looked at him and in those eyes, the colour of pure honey, Ahmad saw something remorseful that made him lose his train of thought. His resentment from the previous day suddenly dissolved into something less bitter. Zayn had recognized the tension between the couple and decided to excuse himself, giving them space to talk. Fortunately, there was nothing to talk about. For some genuine reasons, Ahmad understood why she had to keep everyone in the dark. Stigmatization was one of such reasons.

"Come let's take a walk."Zayn made a hand gesture in the direction he wanted to stride. He looked around and his eyes settled on the little man, Jaseem. The boy had his father's features, he took note of that and then waved a hand at him. He giggled, then waved back which made Zayn smile.

Ahmad then released the boy to wander off to play with the rest of the kids as they made their way to where Zayn was leading him. They walked side by side with slow steps, picking up each other's pace, unperceiving.

"So, how is the honeymoon?"Zayn asked, his lips curled into a coy smile. Ahmad smiled weakly, guessing that his dearest companion didn't know what was at stake. His relationship with Hanifah, he knew it was over and it never really began. Outraged, she was when he left her on the lurch at their wedding reception. His action, everyone thought ludicrous had caused quite a bit of trouble for both of their parents until they finally agreed to separate the couple.

"There was no honeymoon."Ahmad articulated, expressionless."We are getting a divorce," He spoke with his whole soul at the edge of his lip, thinking for the first time in his entire life, that he went against his father. This life he'd had could make a good man bad. So for once in his life, he'd like to have what he wanted.