Chapter Twenty Two – Stabbed by loved ones

It was a sunny day with a blue sky when a white Audi taxied near Zayaan’s original residence. The car was parked in the portico of the house and the front door opened with a click.

The man who stepped out of the car wore a thick black jacket and black jeans along with a black cap on his head. He walked with a limp towards the main door of the house and rang the doorbell. The door opened within half a minute or so and it was none other than Zayaan’s mother, Zeenath who stood at the door.

“Sinaah!” she called out with a wide smile.

“Did they come here last night?” he asked in a serious voice.

“Of course not! How can they after all you have done? Things are going according to plan I see.” she said.

“I need some tea.” Sinaah walked into the house as if it were his own. Zeenath was taken aback, and displeasure appeared on her face as usual whenever she saw his arrogant behaviour. Nonetheless she forced a smile on her face as she realized his support was the key to getting what she wanted.

A while later they were both sitting at a small table in the backyard. Zeenath sat cross legged as she watched Sinaah take big bites from his sandwich. She was disgusted by the scene. At times she even wondered why she decided to go through this route to get rid of Saba. A person from a ‘lower’ race and different skin colour from theirs having tea in their backyard was the last thing she wanted. Even so this route was working well, and she had come too far down this road to turn around.

“So…. when will it be possible to take her back to Nigeria?” Zeenath asked.

“Can’t say yet. But soon enough…” Sinaah said, gobbling the last piece of the sandwich. Zeenath gritted her teeth yet tried to remain calm.

“The sooner you do, the more handsome of a price you are going to get. And I may have to cancel giving any compensation if you are taking it too slow!” her voice raised despite her attempts not to.

“Then you, should have hired someone else for this job, lady! It’s not like I have nothing else to do. Besides, it’s your son I want revenge against. Shouldn’t that scare you before you plan on threatening me?” Sinaah said as he violently kept his cup of tea on the saucer.

Zeenath’s anger showed on her face again, this time not being able to hide from Sinaah. She wanted to say something but couldn’t, as she knew Sinaah had a valid point.

When she first saw Sinaah’s face on a newspaper article written by Zayaan, she found out who he was and contacted him all the while knowing he would be able to intimidate her in such ways. She set up a meeting with him, assuming that he would be just a random Nigerian who could help her get the black girl out of her son’s life.

However, when she met up with him and showed a picture of Saba, he happened to be one of her brothers. So, a deal was made between them. One that said if Sinaah helped Zeenath take Saba away from Zayaan, Zeenath would be helping him, and his brothers stay away from the news and perhaps even from the cops.

Zeenath looked at him with narrowed eyes before she spoke.

“You realize I could threaten you in a similar way, don’t you? I could hand you over to the authorities any moment. So let’s not have this immature fight and plan the next step.” Zeenath said in a collected manner before taking a sip from her tea.

**

Zayaan was barely paying attention to the road as he was driving towards his parents’ house. He was still overwhelmingly worried about Saba as she hadn’t spoken a word even after she woke up that morning. She hardly had anything for her breakfast despite his incessant requests. She had gone back to the room so Zayaan decided to give her space until she can pull herself together.

He’d set out from the house to go and meet Saba’s father but resolved to visit his parents first on the way. His mother’s last words from the call still rang in his head. The way she said take care of her while you can did sound more like a threat to him. He had tried hard to accept the fact that his parents have acknowledged Saba as their daughter-in-law, but their attitude had made it difficult for him to do so.

As Zayaan drove closer to his parents’ house, he was startled to see a white Audi coming out of the house. He looked at the number plate as it drove away and realized that it couldn’t have been any of his parents’ acquaintances that he knows of.

Zayaan parked the car in the portico of the house, still thinking about the car that just left. He was surprised to see his mother standing at the door as though she was seeing that person off. He saw the alarm on her face as her sight caught his car and even more so when he got out of the car.

“Zayaan! What an unexpected visit!” his mother exclaimed as he walked towards her.

“Who just left in that car?” he asked.

“Oh…that was just a friend of mine. She was giving me ideas on how to run the café…. did you come alone? Where is Saba?” she said, successfully covering her nervousness and diverting the conversation.

“Saba…. she is at home.” Zayaan was only able to say so much as he knew what was coming. He knew whatever he said would lead to his mother criticizing Saba in one way or another.

“Oh…. did she pick a fight with you?” Zeenath spoke in a way as was expected of her.

“No…mom. Why would you put it that way? Saba would be the last person to start a fight.” Zayaan felt a rush of anger inside him that stopped him from going into the house.

“She might be so if she married a person of her own race. Two people of different races cannot be compatible, son. This was what we were trying to tell you, son. But I guess it’s too late now that we accepted her.” she spoke casually as though she already had the upper hand in the conversation.

“For the millionth time, mom! You are wrong. Two people become compatible because of their thinking, beliefs, and opinions. Not their race or skin colour! If you do accept Saba as your family, please act like it. Because this pretention is harder than you admitting that you don’t accept her….. I don’t even know why I came to you anymore. I thought maybe, just maybe I could come to my mom to seek some advice on how I could help my wife. But I guess that isn’t possible for me to do….” Zayaan said, in a calm voice despite his anger. His hurt had overcome his rage at that point as he realized just how distant his mom was from him.

Just like that, Zayaan parted ways with his mom with a sadness tightening his chest. He made dua that his mom would change her ways, not realizing she was making plans even then as she stood at the door, seeing him drive away.

**

Half an hour later Zayaan was knocking the door at Sameer’s house. After a few minutes, Hamadh opened the door and welcomed Zayaan with all smiles. Zayaan was too overwhelmed that day that he forgot to buy Hamadh a gift like he always does during his visits.

“It’s okay Uncle Zayaan. We all forget. Like how I forgot to water the plants last night. Thank goodness sissy did not call me to ask about it. That was very unlike her. Is she sick or something, uncle?” Hamadh spoke as he went after Zayaan who sat on the sofa in the living room.

“Yeah. She is not doing so well, Hamadh.” Zayaan said, as he took out his phone and searched for a picture in his gallery.

“Oh! What happened to her?” Hamadh asked worriedly.

“Will explain in a little bit. But tell me this Hamadh. Do you happen to know who this woman is?” Zayaan asked as he showed a picture of a photo frame from his phone. It was a frame that he found in the room and later realized Saba was looking at it the whole time she was in there.

Hamadh came closer took an intent look at the photo.

“Didn’t sissy tell you uncle? This is sissy’s mom… who was killed by one of her brothers.”

The words Hamadh said in his innocent little voice left Zayaan staggered.