Chapter Twenty One – Hidden rival

“Saba…”

She froze as she realized it was a voice from years ago. A voice that was close to her, but she hadn’t heard in forever. She hesitantly turned back to see who it was, and her eyes grew wide, and she saw his face.

The man was a few inches taller than Saba as he stood in front of her. He wore a thick green jacket that was zipped half-way from the front along with black jeans. His face wrinkled as he smiled with a smile that was scary because of the ‘gangster’ look he carried along with the tattoo that was showing on one side of his neck along with the cap on his head that was probably worn to hide his face from the authorities.

“What are you doing here?” Saba could barely get her voice out as she asked.

“To see my beloved sissy of course!” the man said, taking a step closer to Saba. Saba instinctively took a step back with a gasp.

The man laughed in mockery as he saw the fear on Saba’s face. Saba looked at him, with an attempt to stay strong.

“I see that my sissy is still the same. Timid as ever. If you were going to be like this why make our lives difficult?”

Saba furrowed her eyebrows with what she was just asked. She would have asked a question if her mind wasn’t in complete chaos due to the shock. The shock of seeing her youngest brother after all those years. She almost worked her way out of the astonishment to address the curiosity that just sparked in her with the question her brother Sinaah had asked. But he spoke again before she could.

“Tell your freaking husband to stop publishing the damn articles about us!” his expression and tone of voice transformed in a split second. Saba had a moment of realization as she comprehended the words he said while looking at his angry face and gritting teeth. She remembered the picture of her eldest brother on a newspaper Zayaan had kept on the dining table. She was taken aback by the picture. For a split second she thought of telling Zayaan that the news was about her brother. But she couldn’t bring herself to.

“Will you tell him or not?!” Sinaah said, raising his voice a little while at the same time giving a glance to either sides.

Saba furrowed her eyebrows.

“No!” she ended up saying. If these circumstances would help her brothers reflect on the crimes they are doing, she would take this chance. But things didn’t go as she imagined.

With the next blink of her eyes, her brother grabbed her by the hand and dragged her.

“What are…” her mouth was covered by a hand.

“One more word woman and I will be forgetting that you are my sister.” Sinaah said in a hushed angry voice as he made eye contact with Saba. With the rush of fear causing a tremble in her heart, Saba was unable to say anything even after the hand was taken away from her mouth. She walked behind her brother, trying her best to keep herself upright with her currently wobbling legs.

It was the same, even after so many years. She was reminded of every moment of abuse she suffered at the hand of her brothers. The beating and bruises she suffered through. The lonely nights of crying all by herself. Sinaah was the only brother she could at least have the courage to face. If she had seen one of her other brothers, she would have lost her consciousness by now and would have compelled her to meet a psychiatrist. But it took one moment of harshness even from Sinaah for her to start having vivid flashbacks of the past.

Saba was so lost in thoughts that she didn’t even realize that Sinaah had taken her out of the mall. She found herself being pushed towards a car with a thud and only then did she realize that they were in the dim lights of the parking lot.

“You know what we can do to you and your so-called journalist husband. You better have him take those articles down or have him lose the job. Whatever he does, he shouldn’t be against us! And don’t even think of saying no again. You realize what that ‘no’ had done to our mom don’t you?”

Sinaah said.

Saba was silent. Her sight blurred with tears as she kept her eyes fixated on the shoes of the man standing in front of her. A tear came rolling down on her left cheek as she thought about the words she had just heard. The scene that dominated her imagination caused a deep pain in her chest that made it hard for her to breath.

Just then, footsteps of a man running in the parking lot took Sinaah by surprise. He looked in the direction to see a shadow of a man approaching them and his temper raised. He looked back and forth from the shadow to Saba and then decided it would be best to leave. So, he took long steps away from Saba, trying his best to be discreet and hid himself in a dark area of the parking lot while Saba stood where she was without moving an inch.

“S…Saba!” she heard Zayaan’s voice at a distance. The concern in his voice compelled her to look in that direction. She saw him approaching her and she couldn’t help but imagine the worst thing that could happen. Her eyes welled up with fresh tears as she remembered the happiness that she shared with Zayaan. She recalled how he had chosen her boldly and unapologetically. Would it be selfish of her if she stayed with him a little more, while knowing the harm she could cause him? Saba thought.

“Gosh I thought I would go crazy! I thought something happened to you. Why did you run off? Why didn’t you pick up the phone? If this was a joke you played, I hate it I tell you!” Zayaan stood right in front of her and spoke. But Saba could not give him as much of a glance. She trembled as she kept her hands across her chest, trying her best to forget about the pain.

“What happened, love? Did something happen while I was gone? Did someone say anything? Tell me all about it…” Zayaan said. Saba wished with all her heart she had the courage to answer those questions for Zayaan. But she simply couldn’t bring herself to as more of the tears came rolling down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, darling! And tell me…if it was the Shamweel guy I swear I’m gonna rip him apart. I won’t tolerate let a single person hurting you in anyway.” Zayaan said in a firm voice.

Saba sobbed at those words, realizing just how much Zayaan wanted to protect her. It was him that needed to be protected now, Saba thought. She was almost about to say it when she burst into tears. Zayaan brought her into her arms and she immediately felt the warmth of his love. But that wasn’t enough to console her as she realized that she may have to leave that warmth, sooner or later.

**

Zayaan was at the balcony of his home in the countryside an hour later. He was lost in thought as he looked at the night sky.

Zayaan hadn’t asked Saba any questions after she had cried in the parking lot. He had the urge to keep asking questions even on the way back home but realized Saba wasn’t in a condition to talk. He thought she would tell him all about it once they were home, but she didn’t speak a word even afterwards.

Zayaan sighed, as he recalled how swollen her eyes were, even as she laid in bed to sleep. What must have gone wrong? Who could have she met? Why was she in the parking lot?

Zayaan’s phone rang as he tried hard to find answers to those questions. He sighed as he reached his jeans pocket to take his phone. He was a bit startled to see his mom’s name on the phone screen and then realized they were supposed to be at her place tonight.

“Salaam mom. I’m sorry we couldn’t make it tonight. Something came up and we had to come back home.” Zayaan received the call and spoke. He was painstakingly expecting his mother to criticize Saba. However, what came next was unexpected.

“Oh, it’s completely fine! How is Saba? Is she doing okay?” his mother asked out of the blue.

“Sh…She is a bit unwell.” Zayaan said nervously.

“I see…. take care of her while you can. You may not know what might happen tomorrow. Good night Zayaan!” his mother said, and the phone clicked before he could say a word.

Zayaan suspiciously looked at his phone as he tried to make sense of what his mother said and what had happened tonight.