The Sun also Shines In Pakistan.

Chapter 2, part 1: Excuses for apologies

The next day in school was just like the first and so was the second and third and the entire week. By the time the weekend came, Nadia was exhausted to length and had called Salim and Umeed over for lunch.

They all decided to go to 'Many moons ago' the cafe famous for its coffee and welcome to more tourists than the residents. As they sat down and started sipping their vanilla shakes, they noticed a gang of seniors from their school entering the cafe.

They all had been waiting at the counter to order their drink when one girl turned around to see Salim drinking his shake. She patted her friends as they all turned towards them and started snickering. Umeed ducked his head and slid further down the table. If there was one thing he hated, it was drama.

He was a peaceful sort, always in his own mind and space.

Salim, on the other hand, was the loud outspoken extrovert. One of the senior boys made his way over to the table their table and dragged a chair as if to join them. "What do we have here?", the senior sang with mock while dragging his words.

"Ooh, it's three little Muslim kids", the starring senior girl joined in.

The entire senior group had now cornered their table.

"Look at that pale little girl, the only thing white on her face is the white moustache from the shake she's drinking.", the boy mocked which followed a bellowing laughter from the entire group.

"Leave her alone, please.", little Umeed spoke in a whisper as he watched Nadia in tears.

Looking at how miserable his two friends looked, Salim screamed at the senior mocking Nadia, "How about you pick someone the size of your own star?"

"So impatient for your turn? James, pick this boy up", one of the senior boys said to his friend James.

As James picked up Salim, Umeed shrank further in his chair. This wasn't what he wanted to get into. Nadia now stood up from her chair and pulled James's t-shirt. She was a lot like Salim.

If put in the words of Umeed, "Too hyper for her good."

"Put him down.", she said giving a pause between every word dramatically.

The scene that then followed was the senior boys giving a wedgie to Salim as Nadia couldn't as much as even reach Salim from her short height.

The boys had punched him multiple times on his face when he asked them "Why? Why are you hurting me?", in his innocent voice. "You're a pathetic Muslim you pruney. Kinds like you, all they do is destroy the world and kill many. You don't deserve to live. You don't deserve to breathe with us. All you're ever capable of is dropping bombs with your heart being as black as your pathetic skin.", the boy roared, delivering a punch with each insult.

Nadia was still trying to get hold of them and as pictured in her mind, talk them to their senses. Unfortunately, that's not how the scene played out. With Salim screaming and shouting, Nadia was been caught hold of by the senior girls. They had scratched and ripped out strands of her silky black hair.

She wasn't screaming like Salim but kept whimpering. She bit her lip so that she could hold back her tears. "Cry once more, you terrorist and there will be no hair left on your scalp. ", the girl threatened her. With all the biting, her lips had now started gushing blood. All this time Nadia kept wondering the same question as Salim. "What had she done wrong?".

She kept muttering "Sorry" over and over again to her seniors. She screamed, "I'm so sorry" when they pulled her hair, when they scratched along her face and when they hurt Salim. She didn't know what to apologize for but obviously,

she had done something wrong to deserve a punishment like this.

The crowd watched as the scene went on. That particular day there happened to be a complete crowd of tourists and distinctly Americans.

No one got up from their chair, no one screamed and no-one complained. Some even joined to the chant of "Beat them up" as both of these little kids were brutally hit.

Some took out their phones to record and sent the video to their friends. This went on for the next twenty minutes until the owner of the cafe called her friends to stop the fight.

The two kids lay on the red-stained carpet of the cafe with only whimpers left in their throats.

The seniors were walked out of the cafe while snickering and laughing. An hour later, their parents were called as Umeed had managed to get the owner to call Salim and Nadia's parents.

Umeed, during this entire scene, had run away secretly. Violence was something he had avoided his whole life and even if his best friends were on the line, he couldn't get himself to fight. He had run out of the cafe and stationed himself near the door to watch the entire fight.

He was never known to cry as, again because he liked to keep his emotions to himself but standing there near the door, watching his best friends being beaten red and blue,

he cried his heart out. He didn't stop crying until he got the courage to give the manager their parent's number. He cursed himself when he saw his friends, if only he could answer the question "Why?" he knew those two were asking themselves.