THE CHAOS DURING THE SUPPER

"Daniyal, my dear son." Mama kissed Daniyal's forehead.

"My beautiful, Mama." he kissed her cheek.

"I hate everything when you're not around."

I gave him a teasing smile; he rolled his eyes. I glanced back at

Hamza. He was clicking mirror pictures of himself.

"I hate everything too when I don't see you, Mama." he smiled

at her.

"I made your favorite dessert."

"Thank you, Mama." he kissed her hands.

"I will just check on it." she walked inside the kitchen.

"I hate everything when I don't see you, Mama." I imitated his

voice.

"Shut up."

"So, how do I look?" I tucked my bangs behind my ear and

twirled in front of him.

Mama had curled my hair and secured them with a clutch. I

wore white ankle strap heels, a pearl necklace and bracelet.

According to Mama I looked perfect.

He looked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Hamza. Hey, come here." he called out to Hamza amidst his

laughter.

What do you want?" Hamza walked towards us exasperated.

Daniyal threw his arm around Hamza's shoulder.

"Doesn't she look like Edna from The Incredibles?"

Both of the brothers looked at me intensely before they burst

out laughing.

Hamza nodded.

"What? No, she wears specs." I stated but they were too busy

laughing.

I pouted and looked away.

"Dear, little one."

They both threw their arms around my shoulders crushing me

between them. We walked towards the living room.

"So, do I look pretty?" I glanced up at them. They were too

tall.

Daniyal looked at Hamza for a second and they both gave me

a sympathized look.

"We shouldn't lie, Romi." Hamza shook his head.

Just then daddy walked downstairs adjusting his cufflinks. He

paused midway and looked at us lovingly. His eyes settling on

Daniyal for a longer while before he walked towards us.

"My beautiful, daughter." he extended his arms towards me. I

freed myself from their clutches and hugged him.

"See, I look pretty." I spoke proudly clasping my arm with

daddy's.

Yeah, right." they rolled their eyes.

I looked at daddy, he was smiling at us. An idea clicked inside

me.

"Daddy, let's dance." I tugged his hand.

"What? Dance? At this age?" he looked at me with an amused

expression.

"I thought you were young. Ms. Samantha was asking about

you yesterday."

"What? Ms. Samantha? Who's that?" Mama rushed out from

the kitchen with a spatula in her hand.

I looked at Hamza and Daniyal. They were trying to stifle their

laughter.

"Ms. Samantha. That gorgeous lady who lives next door. She

asked me where my young as hell daddy was." I looked at her

with an innocent expression.

My mom looked horrified.

"Ali?" she looked at my dad.

"She's kidding, Nafeesa." he laughed.

"This better be a joke." she looked at him with a serious

expression.

"Mama, let's dance." I took the spatula form her hands and

dragged her inside.

"Of course, I can. I am not an oldie as your daddy."

"I will show you." Daddy gave her a wicked smile.

She grinned and walked towards the speaker.

"Something slow and romantic perhaps." I called out to her.

A slow and romantic music began to play.

I extended my hand towards daddy. He took my hand in his

and we began dancing.

I saw Mama, Daniyal and Hamza dance together. I smiled.

Hamza was struggling to move while Mama and Daniyal

seemed to enjoy it.

"Let's switch places." I announced after a while. Mama merrily

ran towards daddy and they began to dance slowly. Me,

Hamza and Daniyal began to dance or more like jumped with

our arms on each one of our shoulders with a romantic music

playing.

We were laughing and jumping merrily when the doorbell

rang.

Hamza broke the dance, and Mama switched off the music.

"Must be our guests." Hamza walked towards the door.

"Wait." Mama stopped him.

"Come here." she motioned us to come near her.

We joined our hands together.

"Let's forget our differences and behave like a perfect family

for the rest of the night." she smiled.

"Why for the rest of the night? Why not forever?" I smiled.

She sighed and looked at daddy and Daniyal. They were

looking at each other silently.

"Romi, remember what I said." she pointed a finger towards

me.

Her list of instructions began to replay in my mind.

Do not talk too much.

Do not smile too much.

Do not speak loudly.

Do not laugh out loudly.

Do not start with your feminist ideas.

Do not eat much.

Act like a lady and not a Chimpanzee.

Behave.

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Mama."

"I will open the door." Hamza spoke with a blank expression.

"You seem to be very excited about it as if they are here for

you." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"Romi, I..." he began.

"What did I just say, Romi?" Mama glared at me.

"Fine."

We walked towards the door. I scooted closer to Daniyal. He

gave me a reassuring look.

"Please, come in." I heard Hamza's polite voice.

A couple in their fifties walked in along with a tall young man.

"We are pleased to meet you." the lady smiled at us.

"And we are pleased to have you as our guests tonight." Daddy

smiled at them.

We walked inside the living room and settled in our places.

The couple were speaking to my parents. I was sitting in

between Daniyal and Hamza.

"The guy is just fine, sis." Hamza whispered.

I glanced at the man.

He looked in his late twenties. He was wearing specs, his hair

neatly combed back. He was dressed in light blue shirt and

black trousers.

The image of Azaan wearing a light blue shirt and black pants

flashed before my eyes. I shook my head.

He looked uncomfortable.

"He looks distraught." Daniyal whispered.

"Seems he's stuck in the same situation as you, Romi."

Daniyal whispered.

"Hmm..." I smiled.

"Did any one of you notice?" Hamza whispered.

"What?" me and Daniyal asked him simultaneously.

"He's wearing the specs very similar to Edna from the

Incredibles."

I looked at him closely. Daniyal gasped.

"No way." we whispered together and laughed quietly.

"Romaisa, Hamza and Daniyal. Come here." Mama called out

to us.

"Yes, Mama." we got up and walked towards them.

"This is Mr. And Mrs. Hashim and that is their son Irfan

Hashim."

I shook their hands. Mr. Hashim ran his hand on my head.

"Hey, Irfan." Hamza shook his hands with Irfan.

"Hey, Hamza." Irfan smiled.

"Hey there." Daniyal shook hands with him.

"Hey." I smiled at Irfan.

He smiled at me widely.

"Eyes over here, boy." Daniyal patted his shoulder.

Irfan looked worried and tried to move away from Daniyal. I

stifled a laugh while Hamza looked annoyed.

"Romaisa, go bring the appetizers." I heard Mama call out to

me in a sweet voice.

I nodded.

"I'll help her." Daniyal followed me in the kitchen.

"I feel terrible." I groaned.

"You don't have to agree, Romi. Just let this night pass and

don't worry about anyone."

"What are you guys planning in here?" Hamza walked in.

"I told her not to worry about anything and not feel

pressurized." Daniyal stated calmly.

Hamza sighed deeply and walked towards me. He placed his

hands on my shoulders.

"Romi, don't listen to him. The family is quite nice and Irfan is

a nice guy too. I've known him for some time now."

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"What? You know him? Why didn't you tell me? And I said the

right thing. If there's someone, she shouldn't listen to it's you,

Hamza." Daniyal spoke, his tone angry.

Hamza looked at him for a second and looked back at me.

"Romi, once you get to know him everything will be fine.

You'll know that he's a nice guy."

"How do you know him?"

He looked away for a second.

"That isn't important."

"It is. How do you know him, Hamza?"

"I work with him. We work together. In fact, we've been

working on this app. If things turn out well, we can launch

this app next month. We just need investors."

"So?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Wait a minute. Isn't Irfan's dad a financier?" Daniyal seemed

lost in his thoughts.

"He has offered to invest in our app." Hamza began quietly.

"And?" I waited wanting for him to explain further.

"Irfan thought it would be nice to merge both of the families

so that we don't have to fear scandals in the near future."

I stepped back from him.

"So, is this all about your business? And why the hell are we

considering Irfan's suggestions?" Daniyal spat.

"Look you're getting it in the wrong way. All we wanted is to

ensure trust between us."

"So, you thought you could use your sister for this?" Daniyal

yelled loudly.

"Daniyal" I tried to calm him.

"What? You expect me to tolerate this shit?" he looked at me

horrified.

"No, I..."

"Daniyal." Hamza spoke, his tone full of warnings.

"You're misunderstanding me. All I wanted was to ensure

trust between us. How am I using her in any way? Besides, she

had to marry one day and Irfan is a nice guy."

"Shut up. You don't get to decide for her. And who the hell is

Irfan to give these kinds of suggestions huh?" Daniyal stood in

front of Hamza.

"Guys, the guests..." I began.

"He's a friend and a business partner. He's a nice guy. He saw

Romaisa at a party that we attended with a few mutual friends

and he expressed his thoughts about her. And stop acting like

you know it all. I can think what's good for her too."

"No, you can't. You're a selfish self- centered jerk. All you care

about is you and your business. You never cared about our

family."

Daniyal's grabbed his collar.

"Guys..." I rushed towards them. I tried to free Hamza's collar

form his hands.

"I am not selfish. I care for her. I care for our family. You're

the one who's selfish. Who left daddy all alone and flew off to

San Diego to pursue pediatrics and shit."

Daniyal freed his collar and punched him on his jaw. He fell

on the counter.

I froze.

"Daniyal enough. Stop it. They're guests outside." I rushed to

him and pushed him back. He was glaring at Hamza.

"You rascal." Hamza yelled touching his jaw that was red now.

"What happened in here?"

Daddy rushed in. Mama and our guests behind him.

Irfan was looking scared and Mr. And Mrs. Hashim were

staring at the scene wide eyed and jaws hanging down.

I covered my face with my hands.

"How dare you punch me huh?" Hamza rushed towards

Daniyal but Daddy grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Hamza." Daddy shook him vigorously.

Mama turned to the guests.

"I am so sorry. I apologize." she began to cry.

Mr. Hashim looked worried. Irfan was looking at Hamza.

"We'll take your leave now." He announced and rushed out of

the kitchen.

We heard the door click.

"We don't have to worry about our guests now do we?" Hamza

pushed daddy back and rolled his sleeves.

"Yes, it's time you worry about yourself." Daniyal pushed me.

"Daniyal, no." Mama rushed towards him.

I looked at Hamza. He looked sad. He saw the way Mama

hugged Daniyal and cried on his shoulder.

"You always cared about him. You always loved him more

than me." he let out a short laugh.

"Shut up. That's because you are always ruining things. You

only think about yourself." Mama yelled and burst into more

sobs.

Hamza nodded angrily and stormed out of the kitchen.

Daddy and Daniyal took Mama to her room and I sat down. I

poured myself some water.

I wasn't angry at Hamza. I knew he wasn't trying to use me.

He just wanted to ensure trust between both of the families

considering that Mr. Hashim were to invest in his app and

Irfan was his partner. Irfan was probably a nice guy which is

why he suggested marriage when he saw me unlike

approaching me in another way. Daniyal had acted

impulsively. Sure, Hamza was selfish but he never wanted to

harm his family. But Daniyal wasn't at fault either. He was

always very protective when it came to me.

I wasn't worried about anything at all. I didn't care if our guest

saw it all. I didn't care about what they think. All that

mattered to me was my family. We were just fine an hour ago.

I sighed and walked back to my bedroom. I took off my dress

and changed into some PJ's.

I didn't do anything to send the guy away. Seems like destiny

had heard my prayers and planned everything out for me.

Even though my prayers were fulfilled I wasn't happy.

I was arranging Mary's file.

She had moderate Alzheimer's disease. Her symptoms

concluded that she could not function outside her home and

she shouldn't be left alone. After a while she might require

assistance for personal care and hygiene beyond simple

reminders. Since Mary was a single mom, she was the sole

bread winner of the family. Her elder son was mostly absent

during her routine checkups. Her sister would occasionally

visit but we mostly had to explain things to her second eldest

which was kind of hard.

I sighed. I sincerely prayed for Mary to recover quickly.

"So, what happened last night?" George asked me whilst

putting her gloves on.

"Chaos." I replied quietly and sat down on the chair.

I looked around, hoping to find Azaan but I didn't see him

anywhere in the hospital today.

"I have planned a thanksgiving party at my place tomorrow.

Will you come?"

I sighed.

"I don't know, George. I would love to but..."

"I get it. It's fine but try to come. It will make you feel better. I

promise." she smiled.

"I will try."

"Bring your brother along. Will you?"

"I will try."

"Thank you so much." she hugged me merrily. I smiled.

"George's hosting a thanksgiving party at her place tomorrow.

Will you come along?" I asked Daniyal during our call.

"Umm I don't know, Romi. I don't feel like it." he sighed

deeply.

"Do you realize that this is the first time I am refusing you for

something?" he laughed lightly.

"Yeah." I smiled.

"Please come along. It will make you feel better. Like a break

since you're here. Besides, I don't want to go there all alone."

He was silent for a minute.

"I will see."

"Okay. I have to go now. Bye."

"Bye."

I kept my phone in my pocket and walked to my car.

I walked into the living room and saw daddy sitting alone with

the lights dim. Our family photo in his hands. Daniyal and

Mama looked ecstatic while me, daddy and Hamza smiled

gracefully.

"Daddy."

"Romaisa." he sighed and kept the photo back.

I sat down.

"How are you doing today, Daddy?"

"I am doing just fine." he rubbed his hands over his face. He

looked tired.

"You need rest, daddy."

"Are you happy?" he asked me quietly.

"Huh?"

"You didn't want to marry the guy, right? So, are you happy

that they left."

I sighed.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because, more than wanting not to meet the guy I wanted to

see my family happy just like old times. And, I did but...." I

smiled.

"It wasn't Hamza's fault."

Daddy nodded.

"Daniyal acted impulsively." He spoke after a while.

"Daddy, he..."

"He has the habit of acting impulsively."

"Daddy, he..." I tried to defend him.

"Go to your room, Romi." he cut me off.

On my way I saw the door of Mama's room open and I heard

voices of laughter. I walked towards it and peeked inside.

Mama was trying on new dresses that Daniyal had bought for

her. He was commenting on how she should style it and she

was agreeing to whatever he was saying.

It was his and Mama's favorite thing to do when together.

Daniyal had inherited Mama's great taste and interest in

fashion. Hamza had a particular style that he followed. And I

on the other hand didn't care much about all these things. I

would just wear whatever looked decent.

I walked back to my room and sat down on the chair. I saw a

diary kept on the desk with a note attached. It was a black

diary with gold flowers printed on it. A beautiful quote

calligraphed in silver on it too.

"Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity."

I presumed it was a gift from Daniyal. He had bought gifts for

us all from San Diego.

I had never owned a diary. It was because I didn't know what

to write.

I opened it and picked up a pen.

November 27, 2019.

Just when I thought things could go normal in our family

destiny had to ruin things.

Hamza wasn't at fault. He wasn't acting selfishly.

Daniyal acted impulsively last night. He took it in the wrong

way.

This is perhaps the first time in my life when I think Daniyal

is at fault. He is not entirely at fault. He was always like this.

Very protective of me since childhood.

Daddy blames him. Probably because he's mad at time for a

long time now.

Mama doesn't care. She loves Daniyal too much to blame

him.

Hamza is all alone. I want to go to him. But he has built up

walls around him that no one can crumble down.

George has invited me to a thanksgiving party at her place.

She has asked me to bring Hamza along. How do I tell her

that Hamza is probably seeing someone else?

I didn't see Azaan at the hospital today.

-Romaisa.

I closed the diary and lied down to sleep.

Maybe I should write more often.

Maybe I should take both of the brothers with me tomorrow.

Maybe things can turn out to be normal if I tried a bit more.

Maybe I should try to get Daniyal and daddy to talk.

Maybe they can solve their differences this way.

Maybe I should try to get Hamza and Mama to talk.

Maybe they will solve their differences too.

Maybe I should ask Azaan's number from him.

These were the thoughts on my mind before I drifted off into a

deep slumber.