by Safa Shaqsy
It sounded childish and somewhat silly, but it definitely wasn’t beneath him, so she wasn’t about trusting him on it.
“Let’s just see what’s going on outside before we beat up your ass for your silly jokes”, Nora shot him a stern look.
She watched him frown, before covering himself with his duvet once again. She walked to the door, waited to listen for footsteps from her flat mates, before slowly unlocking the door and peering her head outside.
“I’ll be damned”, Nora whispered before turning back.
Naomi got to her feet and blinked intermittently while she awaited her friend’s words.
“We slept for an entire day”, Nora noted.
Naomi gasped, turned to look at Daren who hurriedly shoved off the duvet from his head.
“Shit!” he mumbled. “I seriously did not spike your meals or even take that much weed to oversleep”.
Surprisingly, Nora believed him, but in doing so, it left her with the debacle of what had happened and how they could have slept for an entire day without knowing.
“How sure are you?” Naomi asked for proof.
Nora nodded her head, sighed tenderly, and slowly opened the front door to crouch low and pick up something those in the room could not make light of. She turned around and held the object she had retrieved out, displaying a currently delivered newspaper with the day clearly printed out as “Monday” on the top right corner of its front page, while it bore the accurate date their phones carried.
“I slept for a whole day!” Naomi gasped. “My mom is so going to fucking kill me!”
She looked around the room for her things, and began stuffing them into her bag without care for the order. Daren and Nora watched on without uttering a word as the paranoid looking lady finally got through and rushed over to wrap her arms around Daren, before planting a peck on his cheek.
She walked over to meet with Nora as well, before wrapping her arms rightly around her. “Thanks for the sleepover… sorry about Daren”.
She pulled away slowly with a wink, before dashing to the door and exiting immediately. The air felt odd for the next few seconds, before Nora cast her gaze on Daren, who smirked back at her and winked.
“You need to leave too”, she muttered in warning.
“Why?” he shrugged and asked. “Don’t tell me you have some big mummy commitment issues too”.
Nora rubbed her temple softly and tried to nude off the headache she could feel was beginning to settle in.
“You have your last paper today, remember?” she replied.
Daren gasped, rolled out of the couch and to the ground, before hurrying back up on his feet.
“Shit! Why didn’t you mention that all along!?” he spoke in frightened tone.
Nora shrugged, smiled and fell into her bed. He hurried across the room to collect his shoes, before yanking his bag off of the couch and hurrying out of the room. His exam was due for twelve and getting there late would only compound his issues in ways he wouldn’t be able to handle.
“We’d meet later tonight!” he cried atop his voice before disappearing down the hallway.
She waved her hand and tucked her face into the pillow, hoping some degree of normalcy would return into her day and world in general. She closed her eyes, tossed around in her bed until she found herself the most soothing position with her pillow, before the loud thud on her door startled her and caused her to spring back into an upright position.
Nora motioned to speak but remained silent, while her lips trembled, and her eyes remained fixated on the door. The loud thud returned and in even louder manner, before an eerie silence followed. Something was on the other side of her door and from the shadow it cast which stretched into the room and stopped just a few feet from the table.
She felt her throat stiffen while she pondered on whether or not to speak and ask of who was at her door.
“Miss Nora Kareem!” a masculine tone called out from the other side.
Nora sighed in relief.
“I have a delivery for you”, the voice spoke again.
She hurried out of bed, feeling excited to get her package. Bare feet and jubilant, she yanked open the door to the sight of a large sized man with dark brown eyes and black rimmed makeup around his eyes. His brown leather jacket looked old and dusty, while his boots resembled that of a man who had just waddled through a swamp.
She gulped down hard and looked back up to access the messenger, taking into account his somewhat spiky hair and lengthy eyebrow. Everything about him sent chills down every nerve ending in her body, but something else managed to counter her worries and help her focus her gaze away from him. The feeling he was Goth came to mind and his eyeliner did just about enough to validate the feeling she had.
“Good morning”, he sneered and held out a box with brown paper wrapping towards her.
Nora looked at the package and then at the man but hurriedly looked back down at the package in his hand. The wrapping looked pretty ordinary for something of such nature and she had expected something with more gravitas to say the least. Regardless, her heart leapt with joy, and her arms stretched right out to receive the package immediately.
“My deed here is done”, the man said, before turning back around and walking away.
She looked at the parcel in her hand, and peered her head outwards to have a look at what direction the man had taken, but he was no longer in sight. Odd in occurrence and definitely baffling, considering the single road leading away from her apartment went north and couldn’t be circumvented unless one wished to walk through the thick and unnerving forest situated not far behind her building.
“What a weird fellow”, she thought to herself before slamming her door shut and locking it from behind.
Giggling excitedly, and unable to hide her emotions, she hurried back to her and crawled into it with the unopened parcel in her had. Nora took some deep breaths, held her hands over the parcel and grinned wildly, before taking a lunge at the brown covering to begin ripping it apart from the side. She had barely caught a glimpse of the edge when another loud knock came on her door.
“What fresh hell is this?” the lady thought to herself in a baffled manner.
She looked towards the door, hoping to ignore it and praying it would simply go away, prompting her to continue unwrapping her parcel. Silence aired through the room and from outside, bringing the feeling that she was all alone and by herself, until the more subtle knocks rammed against her door.
She looked up angrily, and yelled. “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying! Go away!”
She paused to hear the footsteps slowly retreat from her door but nothing of such sort seemed to be happening.
“Jeez!’ she fumed, sliding the partly opened box underneath her sheets.
She slid out of bed, ready to tell the intruder off, and with clenched fists as she stood before the door and took a peep through the peep hole. Her eyes widened and her mouth let out a rather loud gasp at the sight of the figure standing before her door.
“This isn’t happening!” she turned around, looked at her room and hoped things were in proper set.
Thoughts of Daren possibly letting some of his weed or wrappers misplaced around her apartment haunted her mind as she struggled to comport herself.
She reached for the door handle and closed her eyes briefly. “This is unexpected but you will be fine… just play cool and things will run smoothly”.
Taking her own advice with little zeal, she slowly turned the doorknob without as much anticipation and excitement as she had done earlier with the delivery guy. Wishing the figure on the other side of her door would someway disappear before she fully opened the door, Nora couldn’t be more disappointed when she watched a tight lipped grin slowly emerge from the corner of the figure’s lips.
“Hello darling”, he said, holding his hands out and waiting for her to come towards him.
The turbaned man in totally white attire was the least person Nora Kareem had exp
ected would be visiting her house on such Monday morning. In fact, she could very well count the number of times she saw him in the whole year, which was majorly on Sundays because he didn’t have to work on those days all the time.
Muzin Kareem smiled wildly while he hugged his daughter warmly. “I thought to surprise you”.
It was a surprise without doubt; one Nora would have loved not to have.
CHAPTER THREE
The oddity in having her father I the same room with her though the years had not grown thinner or even dared to wear off. Having the man around constituted a whole lot of thoughts she never really wanted to have at the back of her mind. Asides the major challenges he brought with him, Nora was never ready for the criticisms her father always seemed to have in his pocket of words.
Fifteen minutes had passed since he arrived, and aside having a glass of water to drink, he remained silent and continued to look around the room, picking things for which he would make radical points of, or simply be able to use in scolding his daughter. The latter had come to mind for Nora upon seeing her father through the peep hole and while she sat at the edge of her bed looking jittery, whilst trying not to show it, she wondered what mishap awaited her after hosting some like Daren in her room just a day or so before.
Muzin finally made a sound; one that made Nora startle, even while the man was simply clearing his throat.
“You need to vacuum this place more often”, he mumbled. “You’re an academic and not a hippie”.
Nora nodded her head gently and gave no response. It wasn’t her first rodeo with the man and it definitely wasn’t going to be her last. She looked around the somewhat neat apartment and wondered what more would classify it as clean, even while the place was seemingly spotless.
“It is strange to see you here today, Papa”, Nora cleared her throat too and spoke.
He bobbed his head, rested his back into the couch and sighed. “Your mother insisted and quite frankly, I had no say in there twice enough for me to drown it away”.
It sounded like the woman Nora knew too darn well; the one person whom could control the man since her biological mother passed and he decided to remarry. Like a puppet attached to some string and dancing from the edge, the ma would do anything his new wife asked of him, even if it meant at the detriment of his own pleasure. His resolve just wasn’t strong enough against her.
“Why exactly are you here, Papa?” Nora asked, hoping the man would strike the nail on its head.
Muzin got to his feet and walked across the room to the bed where his daughter sat. He eyed her tenderly, gawking at her uncovered hair with displeasure and enough intent in his eyes to show it to her.
“You are a Muslim… a Kazeem like I am and not the westerners whose ways you’re trying to copy”, he sighed.
Nora cut through immediately. “Papa!”
He held his hand out and stopped her from speaking.
“We agreed that you’d go to any school of your choice, but on the condition you practice our religion and not make a mockery of it by becoming one of them”, he continued in disheartened tone.
Nora looked around her room and wondered what exactly the man meant by “one of them”. Such meetings with her family were never pleasant and it always ended up creaming her corn just having them come to check in on her.
“Fashion and choosing to enjoy the beautiful things in life doesn’t mean I’m indulging in haram!” she fumed. “More so, I’m a student, and covering my hair… “.
Her father shot to his feet and raised his voice. “Covering your hair is part of what shows the respect and resolve you have for Islam!”
She felt herself mellow immediately, as her father continued to tear into her and what he perceived as an abject decision to stray from Islam. She turned away from him momentarily, trying to conjure her thoughts and ease herself some bit from the already troubling morning she was having.
“Get your things”, he muttered before getting to his feet. “Your mother needs you at home”.
Nora bobbed her head, walked over to her backpack and began to pack some needed item for her stay.
“Nora!’ he father called out in a stern tone.
Nora turned around slowly, almost as though she could tell something terrible was coming. She gasped and slowly clamped her hands over her mouth as the man held out the hidden tarot card he had retrieved from under her sheets. He looked dismayed somewhat, but said nothing after calling her name.
His silence definitely began to ache more than his screams or yelling would, and she found herself oddly wishing the man would talk.
“Is this what you dally in now?’ he asked with a raised brow.
Nora waved her hands fervently and bit her lower lip as she drew closer and stopped halfway.
“They are just cards, Papa”, she tried to tell him. “I just got it for personal use and nothing else”.
Muzin shot to his feet, slipped the deck of unopened cards into his pocket, and headed for the door.
“Meet me in the car!” he said.
Nora gave no response as she began packing her things in preparation for another boring few days at home with her folks.
***
Its been an hour since her arrival and nobody had mentioned anything about the tarot card her father had confiscated from her. In fact, the mood around the lunch table seemed pretty good, asides the fact that Nora continued to gloat and shoot her father some rather displeased shots.
“So, Nora, when do I get to meet your friends?” Lama, her step-mother asked.
Nora shrugged, took another spoonful of her soup and swallowed slowly.
“They never come to visit you and we never get to know anyone with you”, she continued. “Isn’t is high time we knew who our daughter roams with in college?”
She turned to her husband, who almost spilled some soup on himself while he hurriedly began to nod.
“More so, your father and I have a conference to attend for my upcoming lecture, and I was hoping we can wrap things up before we leave”, Lama added.
Nora looked up slowly, hoping what she had heard was right, as a thin smile lined her lips.
“You guys are travelling?” she asked in a somewhat perplexed and excited tone.
Muzin bobbed his head, looked at his wife, and gently nudged her cheek while she blushed endlessly. “We might be on the road for a few days or maybe a week, but we wanted to ask if you’d love to come with us on the trip as a family”.
Their sweetness and decision to drag her along felt touching, but she had seen a loophole in them leaving her behind and she wasn’t about to pass on it.
“I can get my best friends over to come see you guys”, she noted. “More so, Naomi has always wanted to visit, but I wasn’t sure on whether or not it would be a good idea”.
Lama waved the claims away and smiled. Nora had found her opening and with her renewed mood, she sunk into her soup and continued to pillage away happily. She shot her father a smile and slowly felt the smile fade away as she recalled her tarot cards.
“By the way, your father and I were speaking about what he got from your room in school today”, Lama slowly looked up with a stern expression on her face.
She laid down the spoon in her hand and shared a brief gaze with Nora’s father. Nora gulped down hard and almost felt herself choke. The signs weren’t looking favorable anymore and she prepared herself for the worst possible talk-down they could offer.
Lama sighed softly and pushed her chair back. “We have some concerns that you might not be taking Islam as seriously as you should”.
Nora rolled her eyes and sat back into her chair.
“You don’t pray five times daily anymore, your wardrobe has so much revealing clothes that even I worry whether you might be going about naked in school”, she continued.
Nora folded her arms across her chest and continued to stare blankly at the woman. It was classic Lama; buttering her victim up before finding ways to hit her hard and well.
Nora jolted to her feet, rammed her hands into the table and yelled, “You’re not my mother!”
The lunch table suddenly fell silent enough to become a graveyard, while her father had his spoon glued to his lips as he exchanged subtle looks with his wife.
“You two keep acting like you give a hoot about what’s going on in my life, and she hasn’t even taken your last name yet!” Nora noted.
Lama’s lower jaw dropped in response to the hurting words, while her husband shot her a consoling look, hoping to keep her mellow and calm through the ordeal.
“This is why I don’t come home”, Nora sighed tenderly, excused herself from the table, and left briskly for her room.
Muzin reached for his wife’s hand and held it tightly, while they both watched the girl disappear out of sight within seconds. Nora’s implosion left them with the bitter truth nobody in the house ever spoke about. Muslim home built on the foundations of Islam, which still had the wife bearing a different name from her husband’s was one’s obeying the true teachings.
She had just pointed out how much of a hypocrite they are and that in itself, gave her the edge she needed to vent her frustration. Two years had passed since that unfortunate incident that ripped her soul out and cast her down the path of turmoil.
“I will go and speak with her”, Muzin looked sunken with guilt as he leaned closer to peck his wife on her cheek.
He excused himself from the dining table and dusted his hands gently, before walking the same path his daughter had followed. Muzin Kareem regaled himself with the specific words her would recite before his daughter, but regardless of how gentle he hoped they would be, something told him the young lady shooting fire and brimstone wasn’t in the mood to get trampled on with words.
Walking briskly and as loud as possible so she can hear him coming, he paused before her door and recounted his words once again before tapping against it.