Duplus

Chapter 2

—Third Person's POV—

"Another one of Mr. Ahmed's neighbors admitted to have seen him when the incident happened. But like everyone else, he claims that Mr. Ahmed was completely fine when he collapsed to the ground. Police have surrounded the house and have sent the body to—"

"Another one of these, huh?" Sufiyaan took another bite off his plate. Amaani peeked out from the kitchen to glance at the small TV screen.

"Oh you're watching that." Amaani walked out with a steel jug of water. Sufiyaan nodded. "It's all over the news. Can't really help not watching it." He answered. Amaani sat down across her younger cousin, placing the jug on the creaky, wooden table.

"How many deaths now? Five?" She asked in deep thought. Sufiyaan took another bite of the bread. "Yep, in the last two months.". He informed.

"Oh Allah. That's horrible. What could be causing these deaths? Some kind of virus?" Amaani made guesses, her eyes glued to the screen. Sufiyaan shrugged. "A virus without any symptoms? Not likely. Whatever it is, we need to be careful." He looked at her.

"Don't get too close to people. We don't know who has it." He narrowed his eyes at her as if he knew he couldn't trust her. Amaani frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that? You think I'll get it from someone?"

The boy just cleared his throat. "I didn't say you would but knowing you, you wouldn't stop giving free hugs to every female you meet." Amaani rolled her eyes, huffing quietly. "It spreads love." She argued as ate her bread. The silence was short lived as she spoke up again. "Oh I almost forgot! Give me money for the groceries tomorrow." she let out her hand at him.

He looked at the hand. "It's okay, Amaani. I'll do it myself. You usually get off track and end up spending the whole day with one of your oh so many 'friends'." Sufiyaan remarked, using hand signs.

Amaani waved it off. She knew better than to give importance to Sufiyaan's overly protective words. "Well, I really can't help it, you know. They always invite me over and I do feel very bad turning them down."

The look on Sufiyaan's face told her that he was about to go off on one of his recurring lectures.

"You have to learn to turn them down sometimes. Not everyone is trustworthy. And I always get so worried when you don't come back for hours. Besides, it's dangerous for you to roam the streets after dark." He paused to look at her only to see that she was hardly paying attention.

"Well, I promise to come back right away tomorrow. You won't know I was ever gone in the first place. I'll be right here when you come back from work." She smiled at him expectantly. He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't see why you love getting the groceries. Isn't it just an addition to your chores?" He asked.

"But I love going outside in the beautiful weather. It gets a little boring inside." She groaned.

And that was the end of it. Sufiyaan, like every time surrendered to all justifications his cousin had. She won in the end everytime.

...

The weather was delightful the next day, adding to Amaani's cheerful mood. She pulled up her veil and walked out the door, carefully closing it that time. Last time, she had forgotten and it had earned her a detailed scolding from Sufiyaan. It was hard to believe that she was older by four years and the guy was just a teenager. Their circumstances had caused him to mature earlier than his age.

She could sometimes see the glimpses of her older brother in him, especially when he was being sweet. And at moments like those, she would forget all about his nagging and overly protective instincts.