Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Fatimah’s POV
It was Thursday and it was the day we found out who Ummu’s “he” was. She had been a pain in the ass. The previous day, I had spent the night at Halli’s place and this time around, I took what I needed before leaving for her house. We got up rather late and reached school around 7:40.
We went on with our normal routine. Whilst we were going back to the class, we met FHA.
“Ughhh! I just hope they don’t ruin our day.” I told Halli
“Su asu wa, daddawa a stew {who are they?}”. I laughed at her remark and we walked past them.
We were walking through the field where ball was played when I almost got hit with a ball in the face but thankfully someone caught it before it reached my face.
I turned to look at who just saved my ass and guess what, there was a handsome looking tall guy standing in front of me with the ball in his hand.
He was sweating which made some strands of his hair look wet and unkempt and that just improved his handsome look. He freaking had curly hair.
Am not the type of girl that swoons for boys at all but that guy. I was brought back to reality by the guy’s voice. He was panting and I couldn’t resist looking at his muscular chest go up and down but I had to so I looked down.
I said thanks and just as I was about to walk away I heard him call my name, it sounded perfect rolling of his tongue. How he knew my name, I didn’t know. He ran to me and said I should be careful next time and I just said okay and walked upstairs.
Immediately we entered the class, gulando (what we called UmmuKalthum when she was not there) dragged us by the arm and took us back to the field. There we saw the the guy who saved me and they pulled each other in a hug. I was so lost but didn’t show it.
UmmuKalthum introduced us to him as her two best friends and introduced him as her only elder brother and parent at the same time.
When I requested for what she meant by:”…. Only parent…”, she said that she hadn’t told anyone that her parents were dead but left them off a lot of money to keep them going. So since both their parents were dead, her older brother, Amir, had to fill in.
I felt really bad for her and when I looked into her eyes, they were glassy. I reached for her shoulder and dragged her close to me before giving her a hug. I think she let out all the tears because I felt my uniform getting wet but I didn’t mind one little bit.
I knew how the pain of loosing someone dear to you felt like and from the way I was seeing UmmuKalthum, it was the first time she had lost someone.
Y’all must be wondering how I would knew the pain of loosing someone dear to me. Okay, so this is what happened.
Flashback
Whilst I was still in grade five, the day I checked my entrance examination results and found out I was the best in the entire school. I went home very happy to the extent that I was hopping like a fool. I was grinning from ear to ear.
No one came to pick me up from school that day so I just waited for Halli to finish her lessons so that we could go home together. That didn’t bother me at all cause I thought that the reason no one picked me was that my parents were busy and as at that time, Ya Sa’eed couldn’t drive yet and we didn’t have a driver till date.
Halli’s driver dropped me off at home and when I entered, I saw everyone wiping their tears. It was as if they were crying. Ammi’s eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were a bright shade of red. Abba’s eyes were just glassy.
Ya Sa’eed on the other hand looked like he had seen hell. I ran to my mum to ask what was going on and before I could speak she pulled me into a tight hug and for the first time in my life my mum was crying in front of my eyes.
It hurt, a lot. I was getting anxious so I asked Ya Sa’eed what happened since I knew that when he’s emotional he says things without thinking them through and I had learnt to use that to my advantage.
He told me that my second bestie, my one love(not that I actually loved him since he was really older than me. He was in Jss3 at that time), the person I tell things I don’t tell anyone, not even Halli, my best cousin and favorite person in the whole wide world, the one person I hold dear to my heart and never doubted for even a second, AbdulHalim, was dead.
When I heard that it was as if the world was on pause, I could feel my head spinning and my heart beating faster than ever. I could see my whole world crumble down to pieces. The only thing I could see that moment was his face, the only thing I could hear was his laughter and words. I could hear him telling me am his best friend since everone calls him a weirdo.
I could hear his words of encouragement when I said I was scared to write the entrance examination. I could and can still remember his exact words “How could my beautiful princess be afraid of something that she need not be scared of. My baby, I truly trust you and I for one know that you will pass that examination so get up and I’ll follow you to school so that you can get the exams over with.”
I remembered every second we spent together. When we would sneak into the store and sit on the shelf then eat popcorn or when we would take our own food and throw it at each other.
I even remembered the day I broke our family pic and he covered up for me. I didn’t know what to feel at the moment. Was I meant to be sad, devastated or what? Without thinking, I grabbed Ya Sa’eed by the collar and said he was lying. I knew he wouldn’t lie to me about something like that but I still didn’t believe him.
I ran upstairs as fast as I could and took my mum’s phone, I dialed AbdulHalim’s mum’s number and when I called she was crying, I didn’t talk knowing fully well that if she heard my voice, she wouldn’t tell me anything. I heard her say that the doctors just said that even the dad was dead. And that was my cue. I couldn’t do anything for him. He was gone and that was it.
And I was looking forward to hugging him and telling him that I passed and came out first in the entire school. My brain couldn’t work anymore because my heart was getting the better of me. My emotions had taken over and before I knew it all I wanted to do was die and follow him to wherever he was. I broke everything in my room and started crying, the next thing I remembered was me trying to hit my head on the wall and then loosing consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, my mum looked worse than before and Ya Sa’eed looked like he had just escaped death, even my dad, the only person that didn’t cry in front of me, had broken down and was crying beside my bed and that was when I realized I wasn’t at home and I was at the hospital.
I remembered what had happened previously and a sharp pain hit my head and then I grunted, everyone’s attention turned to me and before I knew it they were hovering over me.
The doctor came in and checked me then said we could go home by the next night. I could feel tears roll down my cheek and a migraine but all that mattered now was that he was gone, forever.
I had to spend almost a month at home and thankfully, since I was the best in the whole school, I didn’t have to write third term exams.
Halli visited everyday and tried to get me back to my normal self but it didn’t work. Till date, I really don’t know how I got over his death.
End of flashback
After UmmuKalthum had finished crying, I pulled out of the hug and cleaned her face with the back of my hand. Her elder brother then said I had done a great job in snatching his baby sis away from him and we all laughed. Now that we know the “he” she was talking about so we just allowed her into our little world. She said she would show him round the school and see us later.
Whilst we were at our way back to class we saw the FHA, again. They were blocking our way in their fashionable way, holding their hands and standing in the corridor blocking the only way to our class.
They started saying that the prince charming had struck again. I didn’t understand what they meant so I asked what happened
“well darling, you remember that day your beautiful friend here was sad and I tried to brighten up her mood? That prince charming of yours saved her and disappeared before she could know who it was.” Freddy said.
“ohhh….. You mean the day you held my hand and tried to get me closer to you. So he was the one that saved me.” Halli said while putting on a very obvious fake smile.
“Yeah sweetheart, he was the one and only savior that saved his damsel in distress.” Ahmad said copying the damsel in distress pose, by putting his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes and try to lean on Hamza.
“And now, he also saved you from a ball. Wow, what a super hero he is”, Hamza said sarcasm lacing everyone of his voice. What’s up with this guy?
Halima just shoved Hamza who was in the middle to the side and took my hand before walking right through where Hamza was just standing when we had passed them she stopped moving.
“If you guys are jealous of the so called prince charming, why don’t you follow his footsteps. You can start by leaving us alone for a while okay?” And before they could reply she continued walking and I followed suit.
During break, UmmuKalthum invited us to her house for a surprise party she organized for her brother. She begged us to come a little early so that we could help her set up. We agreed and her driver came to pick us up from Halli’s house. I couldn’t wait to see who and who she invited and how the party was going to be.