Jewels to Forever

CHAPTER THREE

  Sumayyah was chasing her sister, Salma around the house. Some minutes back, she had decided to break the news about her scholarship after sleeping on it for three days. Her mother was ecstatic and proud of her while her favourite sister, Sabreen, held her hands and they began jumping about and squealing.
  Salma had walked in on the scene and spat out how they looked like the rats fighting in the video She watched last night. The three sisters began a quarrel.
   Sumayyah hid behind the door and waited for Salma to tiptoe past it before dumping the flour over her head. Her sister's red face was what she saw before giggling and running away. She carefully hid sabreen in the wash basket and began thinking of her hiding place.
  She was going to hide in Salma's room, that was the last place her sister would check, she was sure! She quietly walked in and closed the door behind her. Her eyes roamed about the room and tears gathered, threatening to spill over.
   The familiarity was overwhelming and the emptiness crept into her heart. Her eyes caught the last picture they took before everything collapsed. Her feet took her to the study desk and her fingers began touching the absent face of her older sister, Sarah.
  Sarah would have been 23 now, probably married to the love of her life and doing what she loved, Cooking. She had mapped out how her restaurant would be world known. Sumayyah had drawn out the blueprint albeit sloppily. And salma had gotten excited over her being the interior designer.
  Her hands caressed the face in the paper picture. She smiled lovingly at the chubby faced beauty with extremely long, curly black hair that she had been envious of while growing up. Her hazel eyes crinkled as her white, straight teeth flashed in a dazzling smile.
  The squeal of Sabreen brought her to the present. Her slender fingers swiped under her eyes to dry her tears. She scrambled into Salma's closet and sat patiently. Something dug into her skin. Sumayyah hissed in pain and annoyance as she pulled out Salma's diary. Her lips tilted up in excitement. She was going to tease salma about her latest crush once she finds it. She jerked down the rope hanging down and bright light flooded the closet.
   Sumayyah began searching for the word crush or love but found something else. Her shaky hands began flipping and opening pages. Hateful words of depression and suicide filled it, one especially caught her eyes which made her sob out in surprise.

Dear Sarah,
   It's been hard since you passed away. Sumayyah has been distant but jolly with Sabreen, sa'id and sa'yf. I feel betrayed because she's being all loving to the children of the man who hurt you both.
   I can't bring myself to keep a genuine smile because when I let myself happy, I remember the pain you went through, the blood flowing from your mouth and your dull eyes. I remember that your world ended because of those children's father. We were supposed to be the three musketeer remember? Till this day, I don't understand why you had to do it! Was sumayyah and I not enough? Mama's calling for dinner, I have to go.

    Sumayyah sat there, simply breathing. Her soul stirred with the great amount of agony she felt. All these while, that she had been busy with others and her success story, her sister was bleeding and in need of her presence.
   The closet door opened as sumayyah was about to drop the diary and the cold look on Salma's face was enough to freeze her to her spot.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean" - the closet door slammed shut, cutting her off. It took sumayyah some seconds to take in what had happened before the sound of their mother shouting at Salma to 'return back this instant' resonated around the house.
   Sumayyah shot out of the closet and ran out of the room following after her sister. She grabbed her hijab at the hook by the entrance, ignoring her mother's calls. Salma was fast and soon she was panting so hard.
"Damn! I almost forgot how fast you run." Sumayyah commented as she came to a stop. She only received a glare from Salma before letting out a sigh.
   "Wow. We stopped at our tree." Sumayyah chuckled nervously. Salma's eyes narrowed in anger as she turned her head away.
"You could simply shut up." Salma whispered harshly. Silence reigned and sumayyah was getting drained. She slid down the tree and sat beside her sister.
"I miss her." Sumayyah broke the silence. She certainly got the attention of her sister. "Is it bad that sometimes I wished she'd come back and that it was me who died?" Salma sucked in a harsh breath at the revelation. Her dry voice croaked out in astonishment.
  Sumayyah laughed humorlessly as the memory repeated itself, shaking her from within.
"My lovely sister died and in the arms of my younger sister. I was lost and broken. I was mad at mum. Couldn't she stay without a man? If she just cared for us, Sarah would have lived!" Sumayyah sniffed.
"But that's the will of Allah." Salma stated.
"Exactly! Sabreen, Sa'id and Sa'yf had nothing to do with it. They're young and growing. They need our love and care and tenderness. We don't want them to end up being like their father or feel sad about being without one." Sumayyah smiled at Salma.
"Were you serious about wanting to die?" Salma turned to stare with vulnerable eyes. "To leave me all alone?"
"I was serious. My love for mama and you is stronger." Sumayyah replied. She turned to face Salma and held her hands.
"I'm sorry i wasn't there when you needed me. I guess i was in my own cocoon when it happened. You should know that I really love you and wouldn't trade you for the world."
  Salma wrapped her arms around her sister as her body shook with sobs. Sumayyah pulled her away and wiped her tears.
"Let's get back home. Mama would be worried."
They set back home, a comfortable kind of silence enveloped the two sisters. Few steps from home, sumayyah said; "You should give sabreen a chance."

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   Bilal grabbed his duffel bag from the trunk of his car and hurried up the stairs. He pressed on the door bell and waited for a response. His mother's annoyed face greeted him and immediately turned to one of happiness.
"Baby." She gasped before enveloping him into her embrace.
"Mama. You're choking baby." He joked. His mum pulled away with teary eyes and she pulled his cheeks.
"Hmm. Mama missed me so much she's crying." He placed a kiss on her forehead.
  His mother's hands wrapped around his arms and he allowed her to tug him in. His eyes took in the beautiful home he grew up in. His eyes crinkled as he saw his father mixing up some batter.
"Baba." He chuckled loudly. "Was this why mama was frowning?" His father's nasty glare shut him up immediately.
"Baby. Come help mama mix the batter. You're the only one who does it Like I do." She humphed.
  Bilal smiled at his parents. He kissed his father on the forehead before collecting the bowl of batter. He began mixing it. He had insisted on getting his mother a whisking machine but she bluntly refused saying if it wasn't available, humans would have to mix manually.
"Why so much mama?" He grunted as he placed the bowl between his legs and began whisking forcefully.
"Muhammad is having his nikkah." His mum replied.
  Bilal stopped the motion. Muhammad had planned a nikkah and he didn't know? Well, shit! He wasn't surprised and was surprised too. Muhammad had sworn not to get married after his fiance passed away. To this moment, no one knew who the girl was except his parents.
"Wow! And I'm just finding out. Whisking his god damn cake batter." He chuckled.
"For cupcakes baby. And I didn't tell you because you needed to focus on your exams." His mum clarified. Leave it to his mum to correct every mistake.
  Bilal rose to his feet and flung the duffel bag over his shoulder. He smiled at his mum and saluted his dad.
"But baby! It isn't fluffy enough." His mum whined.
"Well, I'm tired mama. Ask Muhammad to help you with it."
   Mrs. Donovan smiled at her retreating son. She loved him so much that she wondered if it was possible to have such love for a child. He had strong characteristics of his father. She knew he was jealous of Muhammad. His own brother told his mum and everyone else without informing him. Sometimes, she was scared because Bilal's jealousy turned to cold silence then rage and she didn't want him to go through pain after hurting someone he loves.
"He took after you Dee." She turned to her husband.
"I've got a strong gene y'know." He grinned, pulling her towards him and placing a kiss on her lips.
"Well, you got a strong arm too, so help me mix the batter till it's fluffy." She kissed him on his cheek.
   She pulled back and began walking to the kitchen, swaying her hips and giggling as he whined.