Chapter 8
My parents aren't people who dumped their problems onto me nor were they judgemental in any way but my father had warned me several times against associating with his 'used' to be 'friend'. Of course, I didn't listen, I shouldn't be told who to see and who not to. After I laid out the table we ate as soon as Owais arrived with Zakira and Saleema. I was happy that Owais kept quiet about the situation, and Oamar's identity. He respected my feelings for once instead of acting like an older sibling I did not need…after a while of laughing and stuffing our faces, Omar had to leave.
"You don't eat dessert?" My mother asked handing him a bowl
"No jazakallah," he said before bidding everyone farewell.
"Your parents didn't recognise me?" he asked on his way out
"Well, maybe it's better this way. Besides, I don't think they would like it at all."
"I see," he said pushing my forehead, "rest enough okay."
I smiled waving at him when suddenly Owais sneaked up on me, "so sad watching him leave right?" he said handing me an ice cream bowl
"Shut up!"I retorted tossing it back to him
"More for me then!"
***
'Omar'
"So how's school been treating you lately?" asked Owais.
"I'm exhausted, and Qadira…gets on my nerves."
We grabbed our coffee as he took me to class.
"Well it's not like she can bother me, so just bear with it. She only has a few months left before she leaves."
"Shes leaving?"
"Yes, for the provincial or national team. She'll be out, then you'll be free."
"Uh…yeah freedom.."
I wasn't sure about how to feel, it would be strange not having her around me if she actually leaves. My course only takes 3 to 4 years though then I can start building my name while I do practicals.
"Her grading is tomorrow, do you want me and Zakira to help monitor and check her."
"You guys should take over, I won't be able to make it."
"No problem, just make sure you sneak in some pringles for me…"
He left as I proceeded to class that day, on my way there I found Qadira seated on the pitch with her phone in her hand. I wasn't one to go up to someone but something pushed me towards her at that moment.
"Asalaamualikum," I said grabbing her phone
"Walikumsalam, give it back you have my attention now…" she said furiously getting up.
"No, not until you tell me why you're seated here alone."
"I didn't make it…"
"For?" I asked placing my bag down
"The national team," she said rubbing her arms, " I'm a provincial player…so I'll always be stuck at home or the community court."
"I thought you didn't like tennis anymore," I said realizing I was too close, so I took a few steps back.
"Don't worry I won't bite you okay, Owais is too busy and Zamin hasn't been answering his calls."
"Do they usually listen to your worries?"
"They use to, but everyone has their own life. Especially Zamin, I don't want to bother him…besides, I can't always dump my issues onto them."
"I wouldn't mind," I said a little confused, "if you don't mind sharing…"
"I understand we're always spending time together but we have a professional relationship too…I wouldn't want it to go too far," she said attempting to leave
I instantly grabbed her arm swirling her towards my direction, all the angels around me knew that…that was not my intention at all.
"Whatever you tell me outside of the dojo will never get in the way of our professional relationship I promise."
After a few hesitant looks, she sat down patting the floor beside her, "then you'll have to take your seat…" I confusingly sat down beside her. I felt my heart do a little dance.
If only I were present with her throughout her childhood maybe would I have understood her a bit more…im glad that a childhood friend has been returned to me, despite us having no memories together... After a while of watching her speak, I finally realized something, I hadn't noticed since meeting up with her. She may seem like she's open about everything and is happy on the outside, but hides a lot.
How does one continue to live normally with so much on their shoulders seeing how I behave towards it…she was also sentimental towards her religion and prayer. I never noticed it until I started spending half of my time with her. I decided to do her grading for her, the only reason I backed out in the first place was that I felt like we were getting too comfortable around each other, but I was wrong… I knew absolutely nothing about her. It was her flaws that made her an extremely beautiful person.
The following day we headed to the dojo and I began grading her, we went through the obstacle course, checked her basics, her agility and because she put in double the hours she was graded to two belts higher than what she was currently at. She never made any major mistakes, who knew through all her suffering and wanting to give up that she grasped all of my teachings. After a while Zakira handed her a certificate then we went out to have a delicious meal.
"Yes, you can eat junk food today," I said after watching her give me the puppy eyes throughout our entire way over to the restaurant. She entered with much energy forgetting about the pain she was feeling at that moment and ate like she hasn't in years
Owais made sure dessert was served and then we all took the bus that night since we all were out on gas for that week. I watched her fall asleep leaning onto her lap. She really was hardworking. A lot more than I thought, I still had a lot more to learn about her.