Minha walked inside the mosque with Abdul. He guided her to the female's portion. In Islam, Woman were supposed to cover themselves and hide their bodies from the man except the one she had a legal or blood relation with. Their friendship was not considered right in the society, and they were supposed to maintain a distance, keeping very special care of their body's that they might not reveal in front of other men. In the light of these given holy instructions, Muslim countries made sure that the Islamic rules are followed.
Minha walked inside the Bilal Masjid on the cold marble floor. Her sandals aside. She pursed her lips. The warm wind seamed inside and swung her hair. She looked around her for any guidance. A woman, old enough to be in her 60s, appeared in long purple Kameez and Dupatta wrapped around her face like a scarf and smiled at Minha. She smiled back with nervousness.
"Are you finding it hard?" She asked in her Urdu without any reference of what she was talking about, but Minha knew the answer and she nodded.
"Come with me." She led her inside the mosque and walked towards a corner where multiple Dupatta were neatly folded. She picked one of them and handed it to her. Then she walked ahead towards a group of ladies in the same scarf offering prayers. But then suddenly turned and looked at her, "are you washed?" She asked with concern in her eyes and Minha started bringing to mind when the last time she performed ablution was.
"No, umm… I need to ensure ablution before I offer Zohar." And she walked herself where she saw a couple of water taps fixed on the wall. She sat on one of the stools there and recalled the method.
"Bismillah." She said, Bismillah is an Arabic phrase meaning, In the name of God.
She was nervous. She turned the knob of the tap and the water came running down. Water. Cold and pure. She inhaled heavily and let the water rain down upon her feet. She felt empty once again, except that her father's beautiful smile during his ablution started kicking against her brain walls and her head fell in the grip of her hands and then Maaz's bloody face and helpless eyes; dry and vacant. Tears dripped down the sides of her face.
"I can't do this."
Wash your hands from right to left;
She heard her father whisper in her eyes. Dreadfully, her head cocked up and her eyes searched for the voice. There was no one there. Then her father's wet face appeared, smiling and guiding little Minha to the steps. Her eyes shifted to the running water and she brought her hands forward and washed them thrice.
Rinse your mouth thrice;
"Feel the freshness, my girl."
Breathe in the water;
"Look how pure it is."
Wash your face evenly, thrice;
"It is the best facial you will ever get."
Wash your hands up till your elbows; right first.
"Look how you bathe every pore of your hands."
Make sure your hands are wet and then smoothly clean your head.
"This cleans every inch of your head and relaxes the brain."
Now clean your ears with your Index finger and thumb;
"Now you can hear His calls from the sky."
Clean your neck;
"No dirt left."
Wash your feet, right first;
"And you are all clean and purified."
She smiled with tears still showering her face. Turned the knob again and pushed the stool aside. The white fabric was still there. She picked it up and recalled the way mama used to tie it up for her.
She joined other ladies and offered prayers. She forgot half of it, but she performed all the physical steps. After prayers she raised her hands in a cup and closed her eyes and let the tears drip down. She couldn't say anything.
A lady shook her shoulder and she stood up wiping her face, "Yes?"
"Someone's calling you outside." She said, the woman was wearing a black silk Abaya. The clothing which went down to her toes and a blue scarf above it wrapped neatly around her face.
Abdul was waiting outside and she followed him out to the car. Kay was busy with her phone and unlocked the car when Abdul knocked on the glass window. Minha climbed in and rested her head against the seat and shut her eyes. Everything played like a movie inside her head and she could sense it now. Feel it now but she was too tired to smile.
They reached the hotel in about 10 minutes. They bowed their heads while entering the hotel and the lady on the counter did the same. They went inside their room and slept after changing into comfortable clothes.
In the evening at 4, they woke up because of the door knock.
"I thought I should check if you are up." The lady said, she didn't look much older. Wearing a white traditional dress with a blue badge of her name on the top.
"Come in." Kay said and Minha, who was still lying on the bed with the white sheet over her head, sat up.
"I didn't want to disturb you girls."
"Nah, its fine. We are up." They were talking in English.
"What's your name?" Kay asked. The lady looked plastic wearing a lot of makeup.
"My name is Tara. I wanted to invite you girls to tonight's dinner in the hallway. The manager has pulled the dinner for tonight for all the residents of the Hotel. Hope you guys join." And she flipped her black hair and exited the room.
"What even?" Minha asked with a gross face.
"My name is Tara." And Kay flipped her hair back mimicking Tara's expression.
"She is plastic. Hired by Royal Inn. I told you." Kay said. Minha who was trying to get in her sleeping position again turned the lights off, "Hey! Get up!" And Kay pulled the sheets.
They both dressed. Karina wore a long White shirt with golden daffodils painted on it above Minha's white bell bottom pants. While Minha dressed in a red frock and braided her hair. They both walked down the hall and when they were about to encounter Tara they pulled their arms into each other's and flipped their hair back while passing by her. Tara, who was smiling and taking a selfie, stared at them in an I-will-teach-you-a-lesson-later look and darkened her red lipstick. Both of them laughed after exiting the Hotel.
Abdul drove them to the old city area. Or Burns road.
The car drove itself into the crowded place of brown people. Old beautiful tall buildings with the windows opening on the roadside. Shops lighted with bright lights and decorated with colorful tables set in the open sky. Restaurants with glass walls and wooden tables with people waiting for their orders. People of all ages, running here and there. Teenagers wearing light shirts and sipping on their cold drinks and juices. Females appear in Aabayas of all colors. Cars rushing down the street. That area of Karachi looked full of delight and a busy schedule. And she was sitting in the car hovering over the glass window smiling.
"Take us to Malik Nihari, Abdul." Minha said aloud and Abdul nodded. Karina was capturing the route on her phone for a snap chat story.
They followed the path of old buildings. Ancient and culturally busy.
"Kay, these buildings right here were built by the British!" Minha pointed out one of the red buildings. "They are built with bricks and they are super strong." She said,
"Look who is proud." Kay commented, teasing Minha who shoved her aside to her place and continued watching the beautiful place. It wasn't perfect but it was acceptable and pretty.
When they reached the spot, Abdul stopped his car and the girls went out.
"Ma'am!" He called out.
"Yes?" they asked in unison.
"Actually, I need to pick my daughter up from her tuition. Can I go?" he asked in Urdu.
"Of course. How much time will it take?" Minha asked.
"Just Half an hour." He said scratching his beard. Minha looked at Kay and then agreed to let him go.
"Are we going to take half an hour to eat?" Karina asked, surprised.
"Of course, Kay." And she turned on her heels with Kay's hand in hers. Kay smiled.
The slogan was printed black with golden bold letters "Malik Nihari." They walked inside and the waitress welcomed them and took them to the first floor where the Desi Nihari's smell was crowded. They took a two seat table near the glass wall in the corner. They could view all of the busy Burns road from there. Minha ordered the food.
"So, do you like my Pakistan?" Minha asked. Her right palm rested against her chin and her left one horizontal on the table.
"Hm. Not as pretty as our Munich." She said, winking an eye.
"Really? You haven't seen the northern area. Murree, Swat valley, Kashmir. Oh my, Kashmir is the natural beauty. India is still at war with us for that part of our heart and here you are saying, 'Not as pretty as our Munich'. Sure Munich and Bavaria are beautiful, but Pakistan's beauty is non-resistant." She was upset by Kay's comments and crossed her arms over her chest. Kay laughed.
"I read an article this morning saying something about the corrupt-"Before Kay could complete her sentence, Min hushed her, "Every country has its own politics. La country is ruled by humans and humans are both bad and good. It's better to accept the bad and move on with good." Minha was downright serious suddenly. Kay was amazed for a few seconds but then her both hands reached her ears and she made a cat face saying, "Khaak kurdo, yaar." She spoke in Urdu. And this time Min was stunned but then she broke into a disastrous laughter keeping a hand over her mouth to stop herself.
"What?" Kay looked pale.
"Khaak kurdo? Omg, help." She kept laughing.
"Sorry. I said sorry. Why are you laughing?'' She couldn't understand why Min was laughing so badly. But it was after a lot while she saw Min laughing like a crazy teenager. She backed on her brown chair and stared at her. Min controlled her giggling and licked her lips, "Okay." She came forward. "It's Maaf kurdo. Not khaak kurdo. Khaak kurdo means destroy me, you dumb." She giggled again and Kay rolled her eyes.
"You are cute like that, Kay." Minha said. Karina who was silent started blushing a little and imitated Min. "You look cute like that, Kay."
Minha grabbed Kay's hand and made a heart from her red pen below her thumb and winked. Kay flipped her pigtails back and came forward rolling her eyes and pressing her smiling lips together.
Waitress brought white plates and pink and purple dry tissues. The other man behind her put forward the silver dishes with chicken in it surrounded with red-ish brown gravy and another of white wheat bread. The women exited after putting the plate filled with lemons, chopped green chili, and vertically chopped ginger. Minha smiled and served the Nihari in Kay's plate, pouring the gravy and the chicken, and on the other the bread.
"It's called Naán. And…" she sprinkled the vegetables above the gravy, "… is called hara masala. Come on. All you have to do is break the Naán into small bites and like this…" she took the Naán and cut it into small size with her hands roughly, and then started cutting out the chicken from the Naán making sure gravy was on the piece, "…and shove it inside your mouth." Karina followed her and then her eyes shot up, "Omg, this is so spicy. I love it." She started eating and kept wiping her fingers.
"Waiter!" Minha called out, "two 7-ups please." Water ordered and appeared with two glass bottles with transparent liquid in it. "Carbonated drinks. A lot of calories but this is the perfect match with Nihari." Minha explained and both of them started talking again.
They thanked the waitress after paying the bill and climbed down the restaurant. Abdul was waiting for them. They drove next to Askari Park. Karina googled all about the Park and they chose the swings they would ride because they were gonna go out of money if they didn't.
The rides were dangerous. They rode on a flying disc, roller coaster and sling shot. Minha was out of her mind shouting like a psycho person and Karina beside her cried in all of the rides but laughed after they were done and she wanted to ride more, so they went to hurricane swing and then they realized they had already spent a lot of money on rides and they should better go back since it was already 8 and the dinner was at 9.
"Should we get local dresses for tonight's dinner?" Karina asked.
"I am guessing you are gonna run me out of money so I have to beg for school fees back in OUR Munich.'' Minha said, sarcasm obviously.
"Don't worry. Our school teaches students who can't afford to pay in the low class." Kay replied.
But when Minha didn't respond, she begged, "just one please. For local price. We still have time until dinner. And your part time job pays you well. I checked your bank balance yesterday." Karina said. Minha stared at her with her big brown eyes, "You did what?"
"I can explain." Karina shrank. Minha rolled her eyes and told Abdul to drive them to the nearest market and Abdul took them to Zainab Market, where they could get dresses at a cheap price.
They were getting dressed. Both of them bought the same dresses with the difference of color. They were wearing knee high shirts with digital prints of hoopoe. The area around the neck was embroidered with silver and golden silk thread into a cage locked with flower vines. Both of them were wearing straight trousers beneath it and a chiffon Dupatta around their necks. Minha's dress was of Turquoise blue and she was wearing silver ear loops in her first piercing and blue diamond in her second. A silver and golden bracelet around her wrist and black sandals.
While Karina was dressed in apricot color wearing a Moana necklace around her neck she used to wear on special occasions. She said it matched perfectly since it was colorful. And she wore her black sandals.
Both of them looked gorgeous and breathtaking. They put a little makeup and a light colored lipstick. Minha braided her hair into a fishtail and Karina stepped out of the room with those same pigtails she wore since day 1.
Tara appeared and both of them flipped their hair at her back. Tara noticed their unusual giggling but what could she do?
They walked down to the main hall where all other people were sitting upon their seats. Tara took the girls to the last seats on the extremely long table dressed with multiple dishes. Everyone looked at them while they took their place. The manager in black suit looked charming and he smiled at them. Kay pinched Minha's arm and Minha jostled her arm in her lap.
The dinner began. There was a lot of variety. Mandi, Nihari, Biryani, Karahi, Haleem, Kabab, Halwa, and Doodh Dulari. All of them were Desi food.
"They are ordered from the famous places in Karachi and I hope you guys feel home at our restaurant. Please enjoy." He announced and smiled at the end. But then he addressed Minha and Katrina. "I heard you are here from Munich." Minha pursed her lips and smiled, "Yes! We are from Munich, but I lived here my whole life. I am here after 4 years living in Munich." She told him and Kay pinched Min on her arm again. Min bit her lower lip and ignored the pain.
"So, how are you liking it here? Is your friend from Pakistan too?" He asked.
"No. She lives there. We are going back tomorrow." She told him about their leaving so he may not try to talk more. But the guy was so charming to ignore.
"Well, I hope you are enjoying it here then." He seemed to get the hint and he smiled before continuing back to his dinner. Not so soon, he cocked his head up at them again and started talking, "Actually our team arranged a tour group. They are all going to help the tourists here explore the city for one whole day which is tomorrow. If you girls want to join, let us know." He smiled again and this time he looked more attractive. Before Kay could pinch Min again, Minha pushed back on the seat, her hands beneath the table rubbing against each other. Karina was in her hands. How could an introvert like her face public and meetings, being centered in a conversation?
"Actually, we have an invitation at a relative's house tomorrow." Karina replied. He Ooh-ed and continued the conversation back with other visitors. Minha's head fell in an unnoticed manner. She couldn't maintain eye contact with the people here now. She was nervous. Her heart beat was running fast again and she was now biting and scratching her nails beneath the table. Karina brought hand and smoothly squeezed Minha's hand who sighed and started eating.
After the dinner, both of them were talking back to their room.
"You wanted to go on the tour with him?" Minha asked Kay.
"Not if you were with me. And we need to go to your sister tomorrow." Kay replied with a chortle. Sometimes Kay looked like Min's elder sister, explaining her things in her own way like a kid.
"I am nervous about tomorrow." Minha said, frowning. Karina inhaled deeply and looked at Min.
"I know you are nervous. But we have to do this."
"Today was so out of ordinary that I forgot how my life used to be before today." Minha said.
"Yeah. I loved seeing you that way. Your house must have been all bright all the time."
"Thanks Kay. For everything. You remained with me, even though you could have made other friends."
"When I first heard of a new admission, I ignored it. But when I saw you all alone and quiet, I couldn't ignore it then. My cousin, Jousha, used to stay all alone and quiet too. But then he once cried out all in front of me when I caught him attempting to suicide. He was a little brother to me and I was ashamed I couldn't be his friend throughout his hard time. I felt a connection to you at that time. I just couldn't ignore a little ugly duckling sitting in the corner and playing sad piano after classes."
Minha laughed and pulled her arm across Kay's shoulders. "Who was pinching the ugly duckling down the hall, huh?" Kay laughed. "And who was blushing in front of the black suit."
Min flipped her hair back and narrowed her eyes plastically. Kay chuckled again. "My name is Tara." Minha mimicked the plastic lady again and then said, "She was gawking with her large lenses at the manager."
"Damn, we don't even know his name. Tara must know." Kay said, mimicking Tara's name in Tara's style.
"So, you could have just asked me. I am Taimur Ibrahim. Manager of Royal Inn. Plus, my employee's name is Farah, none of them is Tara." A strange voice said behind them. "Min, I don't remember when your voice turned manly."
"Kay, it's the manager behind us. Don't joke." She turned with a fake smile on her face.
"As Salam O alikum, Mr. Taimur. But bye as well because we are getting late." And both of them walked fast towards their room before Taimur could reply to their Salam. Taimur smirked and turned, climbing the stairs to the upper floor.