Blossom

09

Z A R A H P O V 

Sofia and I walked down the hallway at the University. We talked about Calculus as we walked. Laughing at what Sofia said, we exited the school. 

Sofia looked at me with confusion as to why I stopped here. 

“I am waiting for my sister,” I explained. Sofia nodded her head. 

“When she comes, we can go to the restaurant across the street and have lunch. The meat here is not halal for us to eat,” I explained. 

“Zarah!! Oh my dear, lovely sister,” sang Mariam, running toward me.

“That is my annoying sister, Mariam,” I pointed at Mariam.

“Hello, my lovely sister,” Mariam hugged me tightly. 

“What’s up with you? You seem to be in a cheery mood,” I looked at her suspiciously.

“What?! I punched my future brother-in-law for the very first time. Duh!! What could never be done is done,” She throws her head back and laughs out loud. 

“What?!” Sofia gasped in shock.

“Oh, hello there,” Mariam smiled at Sofia.

“Mariam, this is Sofia. Sofia, this is my sister Mariam,” I introduced them both. Sofia waved at Mariam with a grin on her face. 

“Hey, forget whatever you just hear,” Mariam laughed nervously.

“Okay,” Sofia said, awkward.

“Let’s go. I am starving,” I announced.

“You are such a fatty,” Mariam commented with a chuckle at the end.

“Shut up.”

“Now, now, children’s. Let’s play nice,” Sofia joked.

“Haha, very funny, Sofia,” Mariam mocked.

“What can I say, I am just funny,” Sofia flipped her hair.

“More like boring,” Mariam teased.

“Hey! That’s not a nice thing to say,” Sofia pouted.

“News flash, honey, I am not nice.”

“Gays!! You haven’t met each other more than 5 minutes, and you are already fighting with each other,” I pushed them apart and walked in between them because I was afraid they would get into a physical fight. 

“That’s what friends do, fight,” Mariam said in a duh tone.

“Can we please go now. I am craving for some biryani,” I moaned, feeling the taste of biryani I in my mouth already.

We crossed the street and entered the restaurant. The setting of the restaurant was idyllic, and we were instantly delighted to join the restaurant. It was perfect; the decor was beautiful and provided a very intimate setting. The atmosphere is relaxed, with high beamed ceilings and eclectic decor. The tables are close. It isn’t easy to describe all the great flavors of everything they have. It was one of my favorite restaurants.

As a kid, we always went to this restaurant. Every Friday, to be exact. Back then, we had a family “take out to dinner night.” My father would take us every Friday; the restaurant was own by Uncle Akil, a family friend of ours. He had known us since we were wearing diapers.

After my father died, he became our second father. He would feed us, bathe us, play with us, educate us. He did what every father would do for their child. He doesn’t have a child. While he did have one but, she dies in a car accident just like my father.

We lived in his house for only three weeks, but we had to get out because his wife didn’t appreciate us being here. She would complain about how we are always in her house, taking everything for granted, and having an excellent free life.

Aunty Amita was one of those, mean old aunties in the Hindi TV series. She was quite big. She was very nice looking but inside her was a “she-devil,” always waiting to be released. 

She never smiled, not that I have ever seen her smile, and never stops talking about how everyone is. She consistently spoke about her beauty and how she lives her life like a Queen. I never liked her.

We took a seat at a nearby table, where you can see the outside street of the busy New York City. Times Square is gorgeous at night. Neon lights flash, and city cars are rushing by honking horns. It can be quite busy, but the fussing and commotion make it New York!

Calling the waiter, we started to order our food. The food arrives fast here. I looked around to see Uncle Akil walking toward us with a big smile plastered on his face. His gray hair at the side of his head made him look somewhat younger. His face didn’t change. You can barely see the wrinkles.

“Zara! Mariam! How are my two daughters doing?” he cheered, stopping in front of our table.

“Uncle Akil!” I exclaimed, hugging him, “we are fine. How is everything?”

“Everything is going fine. Can’t keep away from my restaurant, can you?” he winked at us. 

“Ahh! My old man. How have you been? How is that grumpy aunt of mine,” Mariam joked with a peal of laughter at the end. 

“Mariam,” I warned, narrowing my eyes at her. 

“Don’t worry. We all know how Mariam is. She never changed,” he laughed, waving off like its nothing.

“Hmm,” Sofia coughed.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot about you. Uncle, this is my new friend Sofia. Sofia, this is my Uncle Akil. He is like a second father to us,” I introduced them. They begin to greet each other. 

“I need to talk to you,” Uncle turned his attention to me.

I looked at the girls who shrugged. I started to follow him to his office. Understanding that he doesn’t want anyone else to hear this conversation, I closed the wooden door. I took a seat on the chair in front of his desk. I fiddle with my finger as the nervousness hit me.

“Is it true?”

“What is true?” I looked at him.

“That you are getting married,” he stated. 

“Yes,” I nodded my head.

“But you are so young, my child. You haven’t even finished University yet. You have your life away ahead of you. Getting married is a huge step. Are you sure that you are ready?” he gave me a concerned look.

“I don’t know,” I released a deep breath. “I don’t want to disappoint mom. After so many years, I finally saw a smile on her face. I don’t want to be the reason for that smile to disappears from her face. I love mom, and I am ready to do anything for her.”

“I know you love your mom. I can see how much you love her; this is just not right. We are talking about your life here! What about your dream?” he exclaimed, standing up from his seat. 

“I can still study after my marriage,” I assured him. 

“Okay. If you want that, then go ahead. I won’t stop you. If God wants you to marry this guy, then nothing can stop this marriage, and if God doesn’t, then God sure will stop this marriage,” he advised, patting my back. 

“Thank you,” I hugged him tightly. 

“You father is so proud of you,” he kissed my forehead.

“I miss him so much,” I mumbled, feeling sad all of a sudden. He rubbed my back gently, calming me down. 

“Where is the bathroom?” 

“Right there,” he pointed to the door inside his office.

Excusing myself, I left to go to the bathroom. I turned on the sink faucet and splashed my face with some cold water. I wiped my face before I existed. I gave Uncle a gentle smiled before we both headed toward the table. He then went to the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Mariam questioned as her eyes followed my movements. 

“Nothing” I shook my head, taking my seat between the two girls. 

Finally, our food arrived. After a long 20 minutes of talking, laughing, and having fun, we returned to our University. The day went by pretty well. The only class that we had was calculus; I didn’t have any courses with Mariam. It makes me sad. 

We waved goodbye to Sofia. Poor girl, she wanted to introduce her brother to me, but he was busy with his work, so her father picked her up. Mariam and I waited on the bus stand.

All of a sudden, I felt water splash on my face. I spun my head to Mariam’s direction, to see her smirk at me. I squinted my eyes at her.

“You did not just go there,” I glared at her. 

“Oh, I did,” she smirked, gulping water from the bottle. 

“You’re on now,” I said, grabbing the water bottle from my backpack.

“Zarah. No! Don’t do it. I have to be somewhere right now; I can not be wet,” she explained.

“Well, it’s not my problem, now is it,” I motioned my shoulders upward repeatedly.  

“Savage!” she exclaimed. I stuck my tongue out at her.