Normal With You

Chapter 52

He had almost regretted asking Tasneem to stay behind at the hotel.

He waited on a chair across the ward, his knee bouncing nervously as he watched her walk into the room on the arm of a man not much younger than him. From where he sat, he could make out her weathered face and the wrinkles that lined her skin as if it were a map marking the journey of her entire life. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles and her cheeks were dotted with age spots but he could still see his father in this woman.

There was no doubt that she was his grandmother.

His fingers itched, inching towards his pocket where he kept his lighter but he couldn't leave just yet. He needed to see her. He needed to know her and he was sure if he took a step out, he would miss her entirely. The man she had walked in with had stepped out of the room, leaning against the wall as he waited for her. Riaz could only assume that he was her grandson but he wasn't quite ready to admit that he was related to him as well.

It was too much for him.

He had never thought that he could have cousins or uncles or a family. The only family he had ever known was his parents, his sister and Tasneem.

He wasn't ready for anyone else just yet.

Riaz watched him, assessing him. He was tall and muscular and if he looked closely enough, they might have had a similar nose but he didn't want to look too closely. He was dressed well enough. He could make out distinct logos smattered along his clothes and he wondered if they were doing well. While he was living with his father, he had dressed just as well- if not better- but that had seemed like nothing more than a distant memory to him. His father always bought their clothes. There was never any doubt that one shirt of his cost over R500 but he didn't seem to care much about it. For him, they were just clothes that he wore.

He had never even thought it a strange thing that his clothes were bought for him. It was only after he moved that he realised that it was very, very abnormal and it was just one more thing that Zaheer had taken away from him.

He suddenly wondered if the man across from him was married. He wondered if he was texting his wife or his girlfriend. He had been glued to his phone ever since he had left the room and his fingers had moved furiously over the keypad as he replied to whatever messages it was on his screen. He wondered what his name was and what he had done for a living. If he was his cousin, were they at all similar or were they on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Riaz didn't even know where the flood of thoughts in his mind had streamed in from. He wanted to know if that was his only cousin or were there more? He wanted to know how many uncles he had and he wanted to know their names. He wanted to know who they had married and he wanted to know their wives' family's.

He had never realised just how truly alone he had felt for all those years until this seemingly unaware stranger stood before him. He was never in need of a family until one was presented to him and now that it was there in front of him, he didn't know what to do about it.

After all these years, he had an actual connection to this world. He was rooted to this world even if he didn't recognise the soil around him. He suddenly didn't want her to come out. He didn't want her and the idea of a family to become a reality.

As a dream and as a thought, it brought peace to him but he didn't want the reality of it at all.

They had been married for two years already. Neither knew where the time went but he was happy with her. She was always his peace and his comfort and nothing would take that away from them.

It was late. The sky was almost black and the crescent of the moon had disappeared behind the dark clouds above them. The electricity in their building was gone once again and the only source of light they had was from a small lantern on her pedestal that seemed to be on the verge of dying. The flame within it flickered higher and higher as if living its last few moments in spectacular fashion.