The Other Side

Chapter One

"Oh, bloody hell, not this again."

Misbah Hussain cursed as she felt her glasses tumble loose on her nose again, for the third time in two weeks. Her little sister had done the honours and sat on them as she was telling her about her day, and hadn't realised that she had crushed a plastic stick whilst gushing about her new teacher. New frames were a luxury that Misbah couldn't afford right now though, so she had compromised by taping the sides with sticky tape.  It was no use though, the frame seemed to be adamant on collapsing.

Sighing, Misbah shoved the broken frames into her jacket pocket. She didn't need them for day to day use anyway, she only needed them to see from a distance. Misbah mainly just liked the way they felt, a security blanket that kept her away from the glares of the world. She felt vulnerable now, as if something could easily topple her over.

Realising how ridiculous she sounded, Misbah shook her head firmly, and concentrated on getting the task at hand done. It was pay day yesterday and she had managed to pay off the debts due for this month, pay the gas and electric bill, and it seemed that working overtime to the bone last month had paid off. There was more money than usual to spend on the groceries, and Misbah wanted to treat her sisters and her mum.

After grabbing the essentials, Misbah wandered over to the baked goods sections, taking the time to sniff the air and appreciate how fragrant it was. Picking up the family pack of donuts, she smiled as she thought of her sisters lingering around this section the last time she had brought them shopping. They knew they couldn't afford it so they didn't bother asking, but Misbah felt her heart crack into pieces as she saw the defeated looks in her sister's eyes. It wasn't fair for them to have such defeated and jaded attitudes before their lives had even begun, so Misbah had worked fiercely the next month, hoping to make a little bit extra to put towards a treat. She felt her heart warm as she thought about the smiles on her sisters faces when she took home not only a box of chocolate glazed donuts, but also a bag of freshly baked triple chocolate chip cookies!

After checking out her items, and bagging the groceries, Misbah began to make her usual trek home. Even with overtime money, transport on the tube and bus was expensive and she didn't own a bike, so her only mode of transportation were her legs to carry her two miles home, past the hustle and bustle of the buzzing capital, to the darker and murkier parts of town.

Not liking the direction of her train of thought, Misbah refocused her attention on the detail around her as she walked. The shops were brimming with frazzled consumers' frantically buying back to school shopping or with tourists who paused to capture pictures of every red bus that drove by feverish muttering something about spotting the Queen and how beautiful London was. Rolling her eyes, Misbah inwardly scoffed at the foolishness of these people, of how they judged a city based on the surface. Underneath all the shine and glamour, there was dirt covered up hastily, tucked away with empty promises of renovation and rejuvenation.

With such thoughts, Misbah casted a weary eye over the bustling street as to confirm her opinion, and sure enough she noticed, dotted around the street like always were rough sleepers; people who lived out on the street. To the outside world, these people were invisible, only becoming visible when people felt to ease the guilt within them. But to Misbah, these people were fellow companions. There was an unspoken bond of understanding between them, a hollowness in the eyes reflecting loss that the cruel world had snatched from them. As she walked, she raised her eyebrows in greeting to the regular faces that she saw at the homeless shelter, and made a mental note to save some cookies and hand them out to them later.

The sun broke through the grey clouds as she walked onto a busier street in Central London, little rays of sunlight reflecting brightly on the supercars parked ostentatiously on the side of the road. Titling her head upwards, Misbah allowed herself a moment as she absorbed the warmth of the sun. She still needed to worry about next month's bills, her mum was still working herself sick and Misbah's glasses were still broken and her shoes were worn, but she focused on what had been done; this month's bills had been paid and she was walking home with a treat for her sisters. Maybe this was going to be their big break. Maybe the cookies were a sign for upcoming sweetness in their lives. Or maybe, Misbah mused, just once, God is smiling down on us.