Margalla station Islamabad was deserted as always. The lack of crowd in the place would make one wonder if the railway station was abandoned. The clean and green environment made up for the lack of human traffic and made it bearable. An hour had passed after dawn yet it was still dark enough to make one confuse it for the middle of the night. Exceeding the expectations, the train had arrived on time. Yaqoob sat on a bench placed alongside the stretching rails, trying to recalibrate his head to the ground after the long bumpy ride. The moment he had stepped off the train, the weather was the first to make an acquaintance with him. The typical winter fog had rendered the place impossible to navigate. He had been to the city dozens of times but the chill always felt as new as the first day he had been there. He slowly sipped a coffee to fight the cold. The first real signs of morning had started to emerge. Sun gained some strength and finally some warmth was felt. Yaqoob snapped out of his thoughts and remembered the reason why he was there. He stood up and dusted himself. He picked up his bags and headed for the exit. After series of corridors and metal detector gates later, he arrived at the road. That's when he realized that he was not the only one there as he saw the queues of people waiting for the next train.
As he stepped out of the railway station, he saw a familiar face in the crowd. The face stared right back at him with a smirk. At first, he struggled to place it but he eventually identified him. A friend from his days in the army. He couldn't help himself but uncontrollably offer a huge ear to ear grin as he saw his friend. Razzaq was a sight for sore eyes. He had been his spotter back in the day. They had been the best of friends and even visited each other at their homes. They had fallen out of touch since Yaqoob's retirement. Razzaq stood five and a half feet tall, with a clean shaved face and an obvious black wig. He wore a navy green bomber jacket on top of a pair of khaki cargo shorts. The Aviator Raybans failed to enhance his physical appearance that strongly resembled the Humpty Dumpty. The man was plump to put it nicely. The years away from the physical work had taken their toll on both of them. But Yaqoob had always been one of those who wouldn't gain an ounce even after eating a hippo a day. Yaqoob didn't need to wonder long and hard to deduce the reason of his friend's arrival. Only one person knew where he was headed, unless of course his phone had been tapped. Even if that was the case, he knew the people responsible for such acrobatics would be one his side anyway. Yaqoob had a hard time finding the familiar set of features on that overgrown potato and Razzaq had struggled to find his friend in the poster of stereotypical Jihadist. Nevertheless, the arms were spread instinctively for a bear hug as soon as the two recognized one another. They both exchanged clever insults as they hugged each other.
"Why do you look like an egg?", gullibly asked Yaqoob.
"Did I call you a mountain goat even though you look like one?", Razzaq fired back. They both laughed their lungs out. But something in Yaqoob's expressions said, "Seriously though…" and Razzaq read it.
"Ten years of desk jobs will do that to you. You know me. Even a glass of water adds on to my body. And the meals are free where they transferred me. It has been a disaster", Razzaq said with a chuckle.
"What have you been up to?", asked Razzaq. "Haven't heard from you since your retirement. You even changed your number", he continued.
Yaqoob felt a bit of guilt remembering how he had cut all his friends off. Razzaq had been with him since his time at the PMA. His sudden urge to get past his days of bloodshed had made him take a bunch of decisions and severing ties with his old mates was in that list. He didn't need to try very hard to do that. His life became too busy with family and the mosque. His days in the armed forces were nothing more than a distant memory thanks to the busy routines.
"I have turned to the service of God," he said.
"Kinda obvious!", Razzaq responded, pointing to his beard. Yaqoob smiled and brushed his beard as if in deep thought. His friend couldn't help but giggle.
"Good thing I found you when I did. Ten more years and you would have been awarding points to Gryffindor", Razzaq didn't even laugh hurling that one so a "Sorry" followed. He gestured to his car like a chauffeur would and said, "let's talk on the way!".
As they strolled to the car, the host pulled out a metal cigar case out of his jacket, put a cigar between his lips and held the case in front of Yaqoob. A disgusted stare from Yaqoob was enough to make his friend shove the case back in his pocket, hard enough to rip it at the bottom.
"Sorry. Force of habit. I have been responsible for the hospitality of a spoiled company. It really is a miracle that no one has taken the entire case yet", he said in his defense. Yaqoob believed it. His friend had never been one of those "smoking to look cool" types but the senior generals were known to smoke entire logs so it wasn't a surprise that anyone would try to fit in if thrown in with them. They had a lot of catching up to do which, unfortunately, would have to wait for some other day.
The roads were smooth and the atmosphere even smoother. The surrounding greenery had worked wonders. Living the bigger part of his life in the busy and polluted city, Yaqoob craved the peace and quiet of Islamabad. Shah Faisal mosque could be seen from a distance. "Rawalpindi is just half an hour away", Razzaq got to the point. "The plane leaves in three hours. The crew have been dealt with. They are expecting you", he continued. Yaqoob was already devising his future course of action as the car drove on. "How is the family?", asked Razzaq. "Fine. Amma and Razia are Okay. Amma remembers you in her prayers", Yaqoob responded. When one doesn't mention his children by himself, it's probably because there is pain in the subject. Razzaq knew better than to pry.
"When all of this is over, promise that we'll meet up", Razzaq blurted as if it was caged in the chest for a long time. Yaqoob also needed a meetup with his friends but there were more pressing matters at hand. He smiled and nodded while keeping his eyes on the road.