Chapter Twenty Seven – Hint from denial

“Make sure you take the new camera to the crime scene. Boy did they make a mess!” Laaiq said to a crew member as he walked with Zayaan towards their company van that was waiting for them.

Zayaan wanted to ask more about the crime scene that they heard about just a few minutes ago but chose to be silent. He will find out when he goes anyway, he thought as he got into the van along with Laaiq and closed the door. This has been his thought pattern for over a year now since he had woken up from the coma.

His speaking got better with speech therapy, but he barely spoke at home, despite his doctors advising him otherwise. Laaiq was the only person he casually spoke to, occasionally, and that was what kept him sane. His parents try to talk to him during meals but Zayaan can’t bring himself to, while he realizes that Saba must have been hurt in one way or the other because of his parents. He had a deep resentment towards them yet tried his best to hide it. He ended up in tears every time they told him to ‘forget about her’ or ‘just move on with life’. He had a lot to respond with, but he always left the table, not wanting to fight with his parents.

The van began to move, and silence fell within it. Zayaan looked out the window and could not help but remember what Laaiq had told him a week ago. About a task he was assigned that needed to be carried out in Nigeria. There was only one question circling in his head.

Will he find her there?

For some reason, there was a ‘yes’ to that question deep inside his heart. He still couldn’t believe that Saba had passed away. Perhaps because of how suddenly he had gotten the news. Perhaps because he never got to see her, much less say goodbye to her before she passed away. Or maybe this was his gut feeling that was trying to save him from the betrayal of the people near him.

In the beginning, Zayaan had assumed that the hope of Saba returning to him was a coping mechanism his mind was using. But the more he thought about it, the more explanation he needed to be sure if Saba was no more.

“How can you be so sure that it was Saba, Aleesha? You said she didn’t even have Saba’s belongings. It could have been anyone!” Zayaan had spoken to Aleesha over the phone a month ago.

“But Zayaan, the body’s physique was just like Saba’s. She must have run without the belongings to escape. And we didn’t find her anywhere else after the incident. So, there was only one plausible explanation.”

Aleesha had said.

But Zayaan couldn’t believe those words. Especially because of how Aleesha said that Saba’s brothers have been out of the country ever since that incident.

Zayaan sighed as he went over that cycle of thoughts for the millionth time. He knew he had to find Saba. But he didn’t know where.

The company van reached its destination while Zayaan was still lost in thoughts. But he got a hold of himself as Laaiq slid the door and got out of the van. Laaiq was going to be covering the crime scene for the news while Zayaan was assigned to take photographs for the online news articles.

The crime scene was at a building that caught fire last night around midnight. The 20-story luxury white building had turned black from the middle. The fire had apparently started from the basement and there had been a robbery on the 5th floor before the fire happened. By the time the police reached the building to respond to the complaint, the building had already caught on fire. Investigators suspected that this was a trick that the robbers used not to get caught as the fire wasn’t that serious and it didn’t kill anyone. Even the tenants living on the fifth floor were able to escape without much injury.

Zayaan took pictures of the building as Laaiq was recording those details in front of the camera after interviewing policemen and investigators who were working there during that time. There was also a car near the building that was being investigated. The tenant who was robbed claimed that it was the car of the robber since he saw a man in a mask running away from the building towards that car. The tenant had thrown a tennis ball towards the car to prevent him from escaping and the ball had gone straight through the windshield of the car. The tenant said that the masked man had run in a different direction afterwards.

Zayaan looked at the car from the side and walked towards it to get a closer look. It was a white Audi and Zayaan had a feeling that he had seen it from somewhere. He took a picture of it from the front, where the windshield had cracked. He looked at the picture he took and just as he was about to look away, he noticed the number on the number plate. He instinctively began to think about where he saw it since he could have sworn that he had seen it somewhere.

Before long, he remembered a day from almost two years ago. The day when he was worried about Saba and had gone to his mother to ask for help. He had seen that car driving away from his house and when he had asked his mother, she had just said that it was an acquaintance.

Zayaan looked at the car in wonder, thinking to himself what kind of acquaintance his mother must have had with the owner of that car.

**

It was half past 4 in the evening when Zayaan was driving back home from work. He was planning on asking his mother about the car as soon as he arrived home but for some reason, he kept delaying it. Perhaps because of how his conscience was warning him about how hurt he might be if he found out that his mother was involved with a criminal. He found it hard to believe though he kept thinking about it.

“Is there anything worrying you, dear? You seem to have a lot on your mind.” Farooq asked as they sat at the dining table for dinner and the worried look remained on Zayaan’s face for a while.

“It’s…. I actually have a question for mom.” Zayaan re-directed the conversation.

“Wow! Did you hear that Farooq? My son has a question for me in such a long time! Go ahead, son. I’m all ears.” Zeenath said, with a wide smile. Zayaan saw his father looking at him with a sad smile too and realized the significance of what he had just done. He felt sad mostly for his father, as he’d realized his father may not have played much of a part in sending Saba away as his mother did. And now he had to confront his mother, on the day he spoke voluntarily to his parents after so long, instead of having a loving conversation with his father.

Regardless, Zayaan found the courage and spoke.

“Mom….. remember the white Audi that came to our house 2 years ago? I asked you who it was and you said it was an acquaintance. Who was it exactly?” Zayaan asked, intently looking at his mother for any sign. As he’d expected, nervousness took over her face.

“A white Audi? I think you are mistaken, son. We don’t know of anyone who has a white Audi, do we?” Farooq said, looking at Zeenath.

“W…we do. It’s Aunt Mariyam’s car.” Zeenath said nervously. Zayaan tightened his fist has he realized that his mother was lying. He’d seen Aunt Mariyam’s car and though it was an Audi, it was never white. His jaw tightened as his mother refused even when his father tried to make that argument.

Who could have his mother met that she was lying about it to this day? Something told him that it must be related to Saba.