The Perfect Storm (A Muslim Story)

Chapter Two: Helping my Annoying brother.

After Fajr I put on a warm sweater over my PJ's and headed downstairs. I could hear mum and dad talking. This was their usual 'get together time' as dad was rarely in the house during the day as he was busy with his work. He ran his own law firm, which was quite popular around the globe. Anyway instead of making way to get my usual hot chocolate cup I walked over to the shoe rack and wore my blue sneaker.

I looked at the niqab hung on the hook and decided to go without it as the surrounding acres of land were my dad's so there was almost 99% chances of not meeting anyone. I made way through the tall trees and bushes towards the garden. Mum had wanted to cut the trees, bushes and vines out side the garden. I had given her my best puppy eyes and after a lot of persuasion she had finally agreed on keeping it but she had a condition too.

The condition was that I don't mess with the garden. I smiled to my self as I remembered how possessive she was of the garden. Sometimes Nuh would complain saying that mum loved the garden more than him.

I opened the doors of the garden and took in the amazing view as I said subhan Allah. The roses, orchids and tulips varied in colour, I liked the tulips best though.

I walked over to the area with the tulips and sat down on the bench. This was my favourite bench from the whole garden. Whenever I needed to be alone this was the place I would come to. I hadn't been here for a while though, almost a month. Instead of sitting here I had sat outside the garden near the tall apple tree.

Nuh and I had tried a lot to pick apples but the results weren't good. Whenever we tried one of us would get something broken. I was 8 years and Nuh was 4 years, even then he would follow me around. He was the best step brother one could ask for, Alhamdhullilah. I was never going to admit that to his face though. We had our ups and downs but we had worked out everything that came our way so far.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, startled I looked to see who it was. Speak of the devil and he arrives I thought to myself.
"Ah Salaam Alaikum warah mathuhllahi wa barakaathuh akhi" I say looking at the innocent face of his which was way too innocent to be true which meant that he was planning something or needed my help.

He replied as he sat down next to me, "Wa Alaikumuh salaam warah mathuhllahi wa barakaathuh ukhty! You know that you are my favourite ukht from the whole family right?"

Now I was 50 percent sure that he was up to something. "Oh yes darling. No one can resist Me you know!" I smirked.

"Of course, No one can. With your sweet talks and beautiful personality and your lovely looks, any would be a fool to ignore you... If only... " He sighed and looked away. Yep, he needed me for something. I shook my head sideways and said," Get to the point already, Na. We know that you don't love me that much"

He looked back with a hurt expression and put his hands on his chest and said," How could you doubt my love for you and that I need your help.. Oh my Allah, I have failed on my duties as a brother!"

I looked at him with a grin and replied," Surely you didn't think that, that would work on me.. did you?" He shook his head and said," I kinda need your help.. will you? "

See I knew it, he is so predictable.

I nodded with a smile as he continued," Well, Last Friday I was supposed to be in detention until 5 pm but well me being me, I kinda skipped it.... So could you please meet my Math teacher and tell her that we had a family emergency or something? I really don't want double detention." By now he had his puppy face, to which I could say no at all.

Well I wouldn't lie as it was prohibited in Islam but I would have to think of something. He was looking at me expectantly so I nodded. Before I could say anything to him, he had me engulfed in a bear hug. "Okay! Okay! That's enough. You went to the mall with me that day right?" I say unsure.

"Yeah.. We had even met my grandma that day. She was sick so we had to take her to the hospital. Remember?" He said as he tapped on my head with his index finger.

Ya Allah, you are the best. Now no lieing. I could just tell his teacher that we had to go to the hospital due to an emergency and that the detention was forgotten until he had talked about it this morning.
"Yeah, I remember. I will drop you off at school and meet the teacher too, how about that? She can't be that bad can she?" I said with a laugh.

He looked relieved and said,"It's a he not a she."

He was back to his annoying self for the next half an hour. I finally couldn't stand him anymore so I had excused my self saying that I had to help mum with breakfast. Even though we were rich, mum wouldn't let dad hire a cook saying that she owned the kitchen and the garden and she could do as she pleases with them. Which meant no Cooks and only homemade food which we didn't mind as mum was an awesome cook.

I walked back through the stone cleared path In through the backdoor into the kitchen. Mum had almost finished when I got there. I hugged her from behind as I said,"Ah Salaam Alaikum". She replied with a, "Wa Alaikumuh Salaam" I set the table as mum had asked me to do and asked her if she wanted me to do anything else. She replied with a laugh and said, "Yeah, Make me a grandma!"

I looked and mum with an annoyed face and said, "Not in a billion years mum!"

This was like a ritual in this house. All they wanted was for me to get married and have children, but for me that was last thing I had on my mind. The worst thing was that whenever they got the chance my parents would shove one picture by picture under my nose until I came up with an excuse to go away from them. Usually it was Nuh who would help me, he knew how much I didn't like marriage unlike my lovely two parents. Note the sarcasm.

Before she could carry on with her speech I rushed out of the kitchen towards the stairs to get ready. I sighed in relief when I reached my room. The room was decorated with light pink and gray wallpaper. The furniture was in cream colour, the bed spread was in pink colour while the covers were in a gray colour with a lot of pink hearts. The curtains were in pink with a little bit of gray on the sides. The walk in closet was my favourite though, it was decorated with pink tulips and a gray background.

About half an hour later I was putting my hijab on when I heard a knock on the door. I shouted come in to see Nuh. "They are calling you down for breakfast." He said as he plopped down in the bed. Annoyed I looked at him narrowing my eyes. He got the message and called out as he went out, "I think mums calling me!".

If this had been any other day he would have made me loose my temper before he walked out but today since he needed my help he had gotten out. I laughed at his silly behaviour. Even though he was a 17 year old, he still acted like the kid he was before.

I took the niqab I had laid on the bed before and went downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast I tied my niqab and went to the garage with Nuh. I was planning on taking the SUV but Nuh had other plans. He was looking at me and then at the Corvette Stingray with puppy eyes. I Walked over to the Mercedes Benz and said, "Nope! It's either this or the SUV.. what do you choose?"

He grunted in response and got in to the car, I smiled to my self and got in the drivers seat.

Soon we were at the main gate of the school. The ride had passed in a comfortable silence with us in our own world's. He got down and I started to search for a place to park the car. Finally after parking the car I walked towards the main gate to find Nuh waiting for me. Without a word he motioned me to follow him, in front of a class room he stopped so abruptly that I almost bumped into him.

" That's him, good luck! By the way he's known for his temper so watch out. Do you want me to wait here or go to class? " He asked with a worried look.

"You can go, it's alright. I will show him whose boss! Besides Allah is with me." I said with a wink earning a chuckle from him.

I walked in to the classroom after a knock on the closed door and was expecting to see a man in his fifties or forties, but what I saw made me freeze.

Ah salaam alaikum, Sorry for the cliffhanger but I just couldn't stop my self :P
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Wa Alaikumuh salaam cupcakes ❤