The Orphans Of Karachi

chapter 16

She raised her head and saw Yahya digging in his luggage. And she saw it.

The bright golden flake in his hand.

"It was you." Zarwish pointed at Yahya as Anousha and Amir saw.

With angry tears in his eyes and curse words in his mouth, Amir jumped on Yahya kicking, beating and punching. Anousha and Amir felt betrayed and could not believe their eyes. Yahya kept saying 'I am sorry' in between his sobs. Zarwish pulled away Amir, hugging him to calm him down. Anousha slapped Yahya and asked,

"WHY?"

" I did not want to be a beggar anymore. I wanted to change my fate forever. To make sure I'll never end up in this path ever again. I wanted to be the richest man alive. This flake is more valuable here than it is in the Flaxen. It would have changed my life."

"Well it did change your life. The only excuse you have is that you have turned greedier and selfish."

"I was not going to keep this money alone. I wanted to benefit all of you."

"What about the lady? The ghosts and the Avolos. The flake is the heart of Flaxen. What have you done Yahya? Uncle is dying, what HAVE YOU DONE!? " Anousha cried. 

"You were my brother! My only brother! I trusted you." Amir screamed.

Yahya cried apologizing over and over again.

"We need to hurry up and go to the orphanage to return the flake before its too late. We can still save uncle."

"Yes return it and apologize. The doors will be closed, the coins will be gone but at least there will be no loss of life." Anousha spoke. Yahya agreed and they all went back.

x------x----------------------x------x

As the orphans reached the orphanage, they hurried upstairs towards the golden gate. They could hear Mrs. kamal screaming but they could not tell the exact words coming out of her mouth. When they reached upstairs , they were horrified.

Mr. Kamal was being dragged by the Avolos by his hair ruthlessly, his face was bleeding and his clothes were dirty with blood and torn. Mrs. Kamal was on her knees, held back by three Avolos. Her cries were haunting the room. Looking at this, Yahya could not feel more guilty. He knew he had to save Mr. kamal, confess his sins. Since he was a minor , there was a great chance that the lady would not punish him that severely.

Yahya stepped forward with the flake shining in his hand. The lady at first got stars in her eyes, and then anger rose from the darkest part of her soul. Yahya swallowed. She quickly motioned the Avolos to stop beating and dragging Mr. Kamal.

Looking at the flake in Yahya's hand, Mr. Kamal's physical pain vanished and he was heart broken. He had been deceieved by the one he trusted the most. Yahya could not look him in the eyes. Trembling, he walked towards the lady and handed her the flake. The lady did not say a word and took the flake.

"You should not punish the people of orphanage for they are innocent and none of them was aware of my mischief..."

Silence.

" I am terribly sorry to you, the Avolos and the ghosts for causing you such a trouble. I am deeply ashamed and saddened by my act of greed. You can take away all my wealth and earning, i would leave the orphanage and never step back but please do not let others pay for what I did. "
 
The lady listened carefully and then she spoke.

"Its good you have confessed." She smiled. Then she said,
"The doors of Flaxen are open to the people of orphanage , the coins must be returned however, none of this benefit would be provided to Yahya."

Yahya turned around . Everyone stared at him not sure whether to be mad at him or feel sorry. They were not sure if they ever wanted to even go back to the Flaxen ever again. With sadness in Yahya's eyes, he smiled at Mr. Kamal. And then what hapened was the most horrifying thing ever.

With in a split second, the lady took out her sword and beheaded Yayha right infront of everyone , right infront of Amir.

Amir screamed closing his eyes and so did everyone else. But at that moment, Mr. Kamal's soul went somewhere else and never returned. He lost his son. He lost his Yahya. He did not raise his son right. For the rest of his life, Mr. Kamal was just a shell.

x-----x---------------x----x

The doors of Flaxen were forever closed as per Mr. Kamal's request. He returned everyone's lawful earning. The orphanage was never the same again. Meeran never cane back to live with them. But with his business flourishing, he came from time to time and supported financially to the orphanage.