Qurban

•13• Peculiar / عجیب

Zainab was in her room reading a book she found in her father's library and randomly swift through the pages. It was about law and order and stuff like that. Books like those didn't interest her, but she was so bored she needed to do something. So here she was reading the thick heavy book while the words barely registered in her mind. After a few more attempts at actually understanding the book, she finally shut it down and kept it on the bed side table.

It's been two or three day after she went to the orphanage. Nothing extraordinary occured in her life except for that encounter with Basit that day. She didn't know why he even bothered to show up there, but his father and her's were working together. It was quite possible her father told him to visit her there. She knew what the game here was. Her father had been going crazy these days. With his campaign coming up, he's been super busy preparing for rally and speeches. All that basic political stuff.

She never liked politics.

What's the point of holding promises when you're never going to implement on them.

Why these politicians even go through the notion of curating false hopes when they're only goal is to rule unjustly. Some might call her naive or stupid because that's how world works. But she was adamant on her point of view. Life could be so much easier if there was no injustice.

But that's life. Nothing exactly works your way.

She sighed and decided to go downstairs. As soon as she went down, she heard several voices coming from the study. His father had held a meeting and it had been going on for over three hours. She ignored the growing pair of voices and ventured inside the kitchen where Jaweria was cooking. The aroma of dum qeema wafted past her nostrils making her mouth water.

"Wow that smells delicious!"

Jaweria passed her a smile from the back of her shoulder and said

"Here, taste it."

Scooping a little portion in her fingers, she took a bite and the flavors bursted on her tongue. Chewing slowly, she said to her

"You have to teach me this recipe. It's so amazing."

She couldn't help taking another bite while Jaweria chuckled.

"As you wish, love."

Zainab's lips curled up at the corners. Jaweria was such a kind woman. She couldn't have children of her but accepted Zainab as her own. She never treated her ill. Zainab didn't have memories of her mother. She was only a toddler when she died. It was only the photos that she had, offering some kind of a closure to her. Her mother had been a beautiful young lady. Her eyes were the same as Zainab. Honeyed pools of brown while her face was as soft as a rose. She was ethereal. And Zainab wished to have met her and remembered her better.

Looking at Jaweria now, she was so grateful she had her with her. Although, she's closer with Narmeen, Jaweria never failed to make her smile. Never failed to feel her any less important. She was an angel and Zainab didn't know what she would do without her.

Staring into her sad eyes now, she realized she needed to do something about the drift between her and her father. Zainab knew her father loved her mother a lot and he had never been able to move on from her completely. Her grandmother told her that Jaweria made peace with the fact, but obviously her father was failing at keeping her happy. She deserved all the love she could get. And that's how Zainab knew she had to intervene.

"Is everything fine between you and my father?"

Jaweria's hand stopped stirring the pot for a nanosecond before she resumed her work. Zainab felt a bit scared, hoping she didn't cross any boundaries. Thankfully, Jaweria turned and her smile calmed her down a bit.