Patience- صبر

Chapter nineteen- Her true colours.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Tameem's POV.

Hanan and her family left not less than ten minutes after my mother's comment. It was clear that they were offended and Hanan looked quite hurt.

As soon a they left, my father whirled around to face my mother. "Yasmin, what was that all about. Everything was going perfectly. Why the sudden change of heart?", my father asked in utter disbelief.

My mother stared indignantly into his face and answered with a venom I've never heard in her voice, "There is no way I'll allow my son to marry a nobody. He deserves so much better than some refugee. Had I known before, I wouldn't have even invited them over".

I stared at her, stricken. "Why, Ammi?", I asked with my voice cracking. "I thought you loved me."

"I know what's best for you; and that girl is not it!"

"I love her, Ammi."

"Well, you'll have to learn to stop loving her. Do you really think I'd allow you to marry a refugee? She's nothing. She has nothing and she is nobody! She isn't even Pakistani! How do you think the people will react when they hear that my son is marrying some street child. Her parents aren't even around."

My father stood, shaking with rage. Zaynab burst into tears as she stared at my mother, taken aback by her outburst. Ismaeel glared at my mother and went to put his arm around me, protectively. If the situation had been different, I'd have smiled at him but right then, I couldn't.

I struggled to breathe as I choked my tears back. I nearly doubled over from the pain in my chest. I hadn't known that heartbreak could hurt that way. I looked at my mother one last time and turned to walk away.

She grabbed my arm as I turned to walk out the front door. For the first time, my mother's touch repulsed me. Instead of affection, I was filled with anger. She had revealed her true nature and I didn't like it.

As I turned, I caught sight of Hanan standing there with tears streaming down her face. Some part of my mind registered the fact that she was a pretty crier. Even as she cried, she remained breathtakingly beautiful. It hurt so much to see her so hurt and to think it was my own mother who had caused such pain to the only woman I loved.

Lost in my mother's shameful outburst, nobody had heard the door open and Hanan coming in.

"I forgot my bag", she managed to choke out and turned to leave.

"Hanan, wait!", I called jogging after her. She walked on, away from me. I called her name a few more times but she was deaf to my calls. She climbed into the car and gestured to her brother to drive off. There was only so much of pain I could take and my own tears began to fall as the love of my life rode away from me.

Hanan's POV.

The ride home was silent and tension was thick in the air. Sumayyah rode in the back with me and tried her best to comfort me. Tariq gripped the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip, his jaw twitching. I could tell, he was furious.

I managed to hold the worst of my tears back until we had reached home. I excused myself and headed straight upstairs to my room. I switched my cellphone off and curled up on the bed. I was completely numb by then. I laid there motionless for nearly an hour. Sumayyah popped in to ask if I wanted to go with her to pick the children up, I declined.

I decided to take a shower before 'Asr time came. I stripped my abaya and hijab off, not bothering to hang them up. I stepped into the bathroom and turned the water on. I undid my hair from its braid as I waited for the water to warm up. When the room was filled with steam, I stepped under the scalding hot shower.

It was then that the shock wore off and the pain hit me. Tameem's mother's words echoed in my head over and over again, each time, louder than the last. I clamped my hands over my ears trying to shut the noise out. I failed. The image of Tariq watching the car drive off with tears streaming down his face haunted me. I had seen the pain in his eyes and I knew that I wasn't being fair to him. I just couldn't face him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in my bed, refusing any food or drink. Every time I thought of what had happened, I broke down all over again. Night fell and the cycle repeated itself again and again and sleep eluded me completely. All I could think of was how my fairytale was ruined.