Is This Okay?

Chapter 3

"Hey Uzair! Where've you been bro?", Yasin's hoarse voice makes Uzair stop and turn around.
He catches up with Uzair and swings an arm around his shoulder. 

"You don't have school?", Uzair replies in a sarcastic and questioning manner. This earns him a grin from Yasin.

"Of course I do, what do you take me for? An uneducated drug supplier?", he laughs.

"Does one need to be educated to deal with drugs?" 

"My dad thinks so."

Uzair grins. "So your dad knows."

"Yeah, he does. See, he's the one I learnt these things from", Yasin pats Uzair's shoulder and they both stop walking. 

"Party at a friend's house tonight. You in?"

There it was. The invitation. The one he had been waiting for. But now that it was actually happening, he was a little hesitant.

"Where?"

"Man, don't worry about how to get there, I'll drive all of us. I always do. Just tell me, you coming?"

"Yeah, but where is it? The friend's house?"

"Of course in DHA (Defense Housing Authority), where else do these things happen?", he grins and starts walking backwards towards the street. "Meet me right here, 8:30. Wear something nice, for the ladies", he finishes with a wink and jogs off around the corner.

Uzair stays there, gripping the straps of his bag tightly, thinking constantly that Yasin's dad knows about his drug business, yet he is okay with it? As far as he knew, Yasin's father was in the higher Police Department. Was he corrupt? Maybe he was. He had to be if he allowed his son to deal with drugs. Anyway, he thought as he started walking again, not my business to meddle with.

                                                                                           ~

"Mother, I'm going over to Wajih's house, I'll be back late".

"When?", Mother asks while drying her hands with a towel.

"I said, late"

"And I asked, how late? What do I tell your father when he asks me?"

Uzair sighs. Mother never let him go easily. Of course, there had to be an interrogation, what was he expecting?

"You will be back in this house by 11:30", she says.

11:30? Back from a party at 11:30??  

"Mother, it's Wajih's house, you know i never come back until an hour after midnight--", Uzair starts to protest before Mother cuts him off.

"11:30, no more, no less", she smiles in an exaggerating manner and turns to hang the towel on the hook.

He lets out a heavy sigh. "Fine."

~

Azhar and Yasin are in the front, while Uzair, Abdullah and Eraj are in the backseat. Eraj, who has maintained thankfully enough space for Uzair to not worry about accidentally touching her.

Eraj, who is also Abdullah's year long girlfriend. And very clingy, hence the reason for all the space between her and Uzair.

"Are you smoking?",  she says in a shrill but surprisingly cool voice. Uzair certainly isn't the one so he keeps looking out the window. Is she the over-protective type?, he thinks.

"God", Azhar says exasperatingly and then to Abdullah, "Provide your own girl, bro". He hands her a new cigarette.

And just like that, all of them are smoking. All of them means, including Uzair. 

Finally, it's started, he thinks. I'm sorry Father.