Suraya

9

ZAYYAD
'And then I was like, I can't say sorry cause I didn't do anything wrong, But she didn't budge, she said I should leave the living room or else there won't be no food. And stubborn me sat back down and continued watching my show' he paused looking at me for a second before continuing.
'Before you know it she sends the three to my parents home and orders dinner, for one. I mean come on, she didn't even look at me when she ordered it, nor did she offer me some food when the delivery guy came'
I was in Nasir's car for two reasons, one, I needed a lift home and I wasn't ready to follow the rest from work. Two, he's coming to my house to eat dinner cause apparently he and Zainab had a fight and because of that, she won't let him eat at home.
Nasir might be older than me with seven years and be my elder sisters wife, but he will still be my best friend.
We go back a long way since before he met my sister. We met at school, he was in senior high school while I was in middle school.
He was the high school student that saved me from bullies and saved me the good food from the cafeteria.
He didn't know I had a sister in school until one unfortunately fortunate day. It was their graduation day and I insisted to come. So Zainab followed me to their graduation ceremony.
Ever since then he had eyes for her only, not knowing she was a crazy control freak that thinks everything has to have a punishment.
'Are you even listening to me?' He asks coming to a halt at a traffic light.
'Yeah, yeah, yes! I am. She said no food until you apologise or something like that' I say.
'Yes. I don't even know why I need to apologise. I'm a forty year old man for goodness sake! What would I have to apologise for?' He complains
'A lot of things man, a lot of things. I can count them now but I don't want to waste my energy' I pause 'you say she's been off lately? Having bad mood swings? And getting all worked up lately?' I ask thinking
'Yes' he says slowly 'what are you thinking? Cause I would love to know'
'And she just gets sick in the mornings? Mostly? And she's been asking you to get her some particular food stuff?' I ask still thinking
'Yes, I mean no, she doesn't get sick in the mornings, not that I know off. where are you going with this? I would like to know what your thinking about my wife please' he says
'Dude, I'm sorry to say this but, for a forty year old man with three kids, your daft' I say waiting for his reply.
When he was about to grab me by the neck, I make a run for it. I run out of the car opening the front door as quick as possible.
'You!- he says trying to grab me but is immediately shut up by the sound of laughter coming from an unknown direction.
'Are Ameena's relations here?' He whispers repairing his blazer and tie. Just like me, he is still in his work clothes, but his is less comfortable.
I shake my head frowning 'nope, I can't remember Mama Farha saying anything about coming today'
Then that's when Ummul Khulthum and Suraya come out of the kitchen both wearing aprons with big smiles on their faces.
Oh, I mutter to my self, remembering Ummul Khulthum is with Suraya.
'Zayyad! You never told me you got married. Wait does Zainab know about this?' Nasir asks clearly oblivious to who Suraya is.
'No!' Me and Suraya say at the same time.
'He's not' 'shes not' we still both say
'I'm not' we still both say and after a little while I sigh and explain
'I am not married to anyone, she's not my wife and I'm not her husband. Ummul Khulthum enjoys her company so I let her stay with Ummul Khulthum for the day' I say
'Suraya meet Nasir my best friend and Zainab's husband. He might look smart but trust me, he doesn't know my sisters pregnant again'
'And when did she tell you that?! She can't be pregnant, wait! I think she is according to all the signs and all' he muttered
'See?' I ask gesturing at Nasir who's pacing right now.
'Dinners ready sir!' Raul says from the dining room.
'Care to stay for dinner?' I ask Suraya since she's getting comfortable with Ummul Khulthum
'Actually, I have to go home to make my own dinner. And also help my best friend out. So I'll leave right now' she says taking the apron off.
'No fair. You said you would have dessert with me!' Ummul Khulthum pouted crossing her arms across her chest.
'I know and I still will, just not here okay? When you are about to eat dessert just tell your daddy so i can talk to you. If that's okay with you' she says, referring the last part to me.
'Yeah sure. You can. Anything you need? Before you go?' I ask making sure she's got everything.
'Yes Alhamdulilah, hope you guys enjoy the dessert. Ma'asalam' she says before hugging Ummul Khulthum goodbye.
'Bye!' Ummul Khulthum said coming to stay by my side.
'Okay....that was odd. You sure you didn't marry her and keep it a secret? Cause you never allow Ummu close to anyone or any woman other than your family as close as that' Nasir asks clearly confused
'Nope, me and Suraya are still as formal as ever. She and Ummul Khulthum just like hanging out with each other and because Ummul Khulthum's been having sad and gloomy days, I thought it would be good to allow them see each other' I explain
'Abba, Abba!' Ummul Khulthum calls 'you'll never guess what we made for dessert, but I won't tell you cause it's a secret' she squeals
'Let's go see the surprise eh?' I say picking her up.
'You made dessert? Or what? Cause you guys were in the kitchen when we arrived' I ask
'Hmm hmm. We made dessert and Mr Raul made chicken salad cause you said you want to eat something light' she says.
'That's right cupcake. I'm curious to see what this special desert is' I say rubbing my nose together with hers.
'Oh it's a secret. And I'm sure you're going to love it. Cause it has most of your favourite snacks in it' she says giggling
'What are his favourite snacks?' Nasir asks her
'Well, there's marshmallows in it, there's hobnobs in it, and there's whites chocolate, it's just that it's mixed with the brown colored chocolate. But there's butter' she says shivering at the last word.
'Why don't you like butter? And man? I thought you stopped liking marshmallows?' Nasir said confused
'I do, I just don't tell you guys. And butters not nice. Nutella's better for bread spread or P'B 'n Jay. Butter just taste's weird in your mouth' I say
'You guys!' Ummul Khulthum whisper shouts catching our attention 'table manners. Rule number two is no talking while eating'
'Okay okay, we won't talk again' I say digging in.
After a while of nothing but silence and the chimes and sounds of the cutlery.  Nasir breaks it.
'That's for you, cause butters the best for me' he says his mouth still full.
I was about to reply but when I saw Ummul Khulthum glaring at him like she feels like killing him, I kept my words in my mouth.
'Daddy, could you help me bring the dessert out of the freezer? And Uncle Nasir? Could you do the honours of cutting it into pieces for us?' She says still glaring at him
'Yeah sure' we both mutter and I stand up to go get the dessert while Nasir clears the plates.
'Oooooh' I cue when I see what was waiting for us inter freezer.
I picked up a tray and put it on it cause it was freezing cold. When it slid off the pan it was in, I could see the layers of ingredients.
I had to turn it upside down cause it looked better the other way round.
As she said I could see the first layer was hobnobs which wasn't much, then the chocolate, then pink melted marshmallows more hobnobs and more chocolates then lastly white marshmallows that made the whole treat look like a cake with frosting on top.
When I touched it with the knife, it was as hard as a rock. I chuckled at myself, knowing the reason why Ummul Khulthum wanted Nasir to cut it up for us.
'Nasir, my jobs done, now yours' I say putting it on the table.
'Woah! It looks amazing! Take a picture of it please! So we could send it to Suraya' Ummul Khulthum says a exclaimed.
'Okay cupcake let's take a pic. Just check my jacket, it's in there somewhere' I tell her
'God! Is this a Damond or what? It's too hard to it through!' Nasir complains
I laugh at him and collect my phone to snap a pic to him to send to Zainab, before I stopped him to take a pic of the chocolate dessert.
'Here, send it to her, Nasir move on let me help you' I say
She nods and he moves aside. At first it's hard but after a while of trying to slice, it's budged and I cut through it.
I cut a decent size for the three of us and returned the rest for some other time.
'Now let's dig in' I said then popped a square into my mouth 'uhummmmm'
'Should I cut yours into small squares too?' I ask Nasir when I see he is still struggling to cut them up.
'No, I've got this' he says while I and Ummul Khulthum laugh at him.
'It's amazing, do you guys have the recipe? And does Raul know how to make this?' I ask Ummu
'We do and Mr Raul was in the kitchen when we were preparing it. And don't thank me, thank Suraya. She was the one who brought this up' she boasts
'Aunt Suraya for you' I warn cause I don't like her calling people by their first names
'But she said I can call her Suraya. She said she doesn't have a problem' she pouts
'That's Suraya but not me, anytime your with me, call her Aunt Suraya not Suraya. When your with her call her whatever you want her to call her' I say sternly
'But- she started but Nasirs phone cut her off. He has one of the worst but funnies ringing tones for his wife.
Only God knows what app he bought with weird ring tones.
'Your boss is calling you!' The phone shouts out in an urgent male voice 'answer the call! Now!' It yelled out
'Oh God! What did I do now?' He mutters to himself running a hand through his hair.
Me and Ummul Khulthum laugh at him. He glared at us before picking up his phone.
'Assalam Alykum, hey honey. What's up?' He says to the phone
'What do you mean where I'm i? I'm at Zayyad's, why? You kicked me out' he says irritated
'No' he drags 'you kicked me out of the living room and the room. You can't expect me to stay at the kitchen or the kids room' he continues
'Yeah sure whatever' he muttered 'nothing! I didn't say anything. You want yogurt? You'll get your yoghurt okay?' He sighed
'Hmm hmm, yeah sure I'll be there in an hour' he paused 'what? Now I can't hang out with my friends? Okay sure thirty minutes, bleah bleah bleah. See you at home. Ma Aasalam' he says hanging up.
'Ugh! Women!' He rolls his eyes 'I think i need to make her take a pregnancy test. Cause she's cranky now' he mutters standing up.
'Uncle Nasir Where are you going?' Ummul Khulthum asks
'Darling, I'm going to go buy yogurt that has a touch of lime in it. Then go home to your crazy aunt' he says picking up his blazer.
'Oh' she says looking down at her empty saucer before looking up to him 'say hi to Khadija for me'
'I will and you' he points at me 'I'll get you for calling me daft' he says before saying his Ma'aslam's
'Abba?' Ummul Khulthum calls and I humm an answer 'what's the meaning of daft?' She asks innocently
I think before I answer her 'well, daft means, urm' I pause 'when someone's acting stupid or completely oblivious of the situation. But don't use it on anyone, I don't want you calling your friends daft' I warn
She nods her head before asking me if I could tuck her in.We gathered our plates and put them in the dishwasher before heading up.
Once she changed into her orange and black overall I climbed into her small bed together with her.
'You had fun today? Care to share? Cause you've been smiling ever since, other than the time you glared at your uncle. I saw that you know' I told her running a hand through her hair.
She giggled before nodding 'yes we did have fun. We went to the store to buy candy first. She told me it's okay to get a lot of candy as long as I don't take too much. I tried taking more than I told her I'd take but she hide the rest somewhere in the house' she pouted
'That's nice. Thank God you didn't come home with a tommy ache if not, the tornado's going to be worse this time around' I say tickling her
She giggled before continuing 'Hmm, then we went to the cinema to watch wonder park'
'What the movie about? The name is making me wonder' she chuckled at my little joke
'Well, it's about this girl who loved playing this board game which turned into something really exciting with her mom. But when her mother got sick and had to go to another country. June, which is the girls name, lost hope in playing the game not knowing it's real life. When her mother was away her dad sent her to math camp which she ditched and landed in an unknown part of the forest' she paused
'When she reached there, she found out that the game her mom and her made up came to life. But because June didn't play anymore, it came crashing down. The little monkeys started destroying everything. But the biggest monkey was no where to be found. And so they thought of fixing it on their own. When they all split up, June found the biggest monkey hiding somewhere, cause he was too scared to come out'
'Isn't the biggest monkey one of the little monkey destroyers?' I asked
'Nope. He is a good monkey, I can't remember his name but I know that he is good. She made him come out and face his fears. But when he came out, he got captured by one of the little monkeys.
He was going to be taken to the black whole that was sucking everything in. They all forgave June, so they made a plan to save him. When they saved him, they used his magic pen to fix the towers which was in June's name. Cause before her mom left, she drew June's name in the gears to keep them together' she says while I nod smoothing her hair.
'When everything started working and the black whole had shrunken, June went back home. A while later, when she picked everything from the trash, to start arranging the game all over again. Her mom came back and they lived happily ever after' she ended.
'Did you enjoy the movie? I'd eat it with popcorn only but with what did you eat it with?' I ask
'Aunt' she paused 'Suraya ate buttered popcorn while I drank a sprite. We shared some mentos when she finished her popcorn' she says.
Okay I mumble before doing nothing but running a hand in her hair. We just stayed  there.
'Abba?' She calls while a humm an answer 'I asked aunt Suraya if my Amma was also in another country getting cured cause she might be sick' she says and I stiffen
'And what did she say? What was aunt Suraya's answer?' I ask curious
'She said she's in a better place. She said she isn't in any other country. She told me that she's still lives in our hearts, and we need to remember her and be kind and happy so she would also be happy. And if we are sad she will also be sad' she says yawning.
'Hmm? Well, she's right about that. It's a reason why I always want to see you happy, in the inside and outside. And also pray for her. Never forget to pray for her, Allah always answers our prayers. And if he doesn't he has something greater waiting for us, okay?' I say.
She nods and yawns again. After some time and the steadiness of her breath. I kiss her forehead and leave the room.
I sigh before changing into nightwear. I read a surah before I go to sleep, thinking of the good times with Ameena.