Chapter 4 - STONED

OMNISCIENT

"Good morning Uncle Omar and Aunt Sumayya," Marwa greeted with a sheepish grin when she angrily barged into the living room, only to find the set of people she least expected there.

Omar Hassan is Kabeer Hassan's brother, his wife is Sumayya. Omar is rich, he always takes care of his two children and female cousins, which is why Marwa loves all the people in that family to the core, all of them are good people.

"Marwa, why are your cheeks puffy? Who offended you?" Omar laughed at his niece's rosy cheeks.

"It is nothing, really," She smiled.

"Tell us dear," Sumayya urged her

"Am I missing something?" Fawzan came inside the room with Shukrah trailing behind.

"Hamma Fawzan," Marwa yelled excitedly and ran to give him a bone-crushing hug.

"I miss you, Baby Sis," Fawzan chuckled and pulled her cheeks to which she punched him.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He groaned as the rest laughed.

"For trying to mess with me," She nonchalantly replied.

"So tell us, what happened at school today after I left?" Shukrah asked. Currently, they were all sitting down on the couches in the living room.

"Nothing much just had my last lecture for today," Marwa answered with an eye roll, hoping it would convince them but all in vain.

"Stop the lies, Marwa. You mean pointing a finger at a man and hitting his chest just because he walked up to you is nothing much?" Shukrah sarcastically dropped the bomb and watched as the occupants of the room widen their eyes in shock.

"Who told you?" Marwa looked at her cousin in horror.

"News travels fast, dear best friend. You should thank God that nobody saw his face," She rolled her eyes.

"Okay fine. You want me to tell you that I met a jinn today right? Yes, a jinn because a normal human being would not be that fair and ugly. Even the way he talked was as if he didn't want to let the words out, one second he asked me to be his friend, and the other, he knew everything about me. Of course, I had to hit that douchebag and I told him to stay the fuck away from me," She did not realize how angry she was until she saw her veil covering Fawzan's face.

"Marwa I—" She cut Shukrah off.

"I hate that man and yes, I will kill him the next time I see him. He is what did he even call his name? Mujib, yes, Mujib Shakur. He is inviting trouble into his life," Her eyes were blazing with so much hatred for the man, he no doubt reminded her of something or rather, someone.

"Follow me, Short Soul," Fawzan gently covered her head with the veil.

"Stop calling me short soul, I am not short," She deadpanned which made him raise his hands in surrender and the rest stifle a laugh.

Whenever she felt angry, Fawzan would always be the one to coax her and even if he was not around, they made sure to call him. Yes, he is that brother she never had.

He led her to the balcony and sat her down on one of the chairs then took his seat opposite her. Marwa looked at his every move, feeling guilty that she was comparing his muscles to that of the man she saw earlier.

"Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened," He smiled under the dim red light.

Marwa did as she was told and started narrating all that transpired between Zafeer and her earlier. Even though Fawzan was jealous because someone was trying to woo her, he still felt happy that she hated that person which was an advantage on his side.

"You are behaving like the therapist when I am supposed to be the one," She laughed and placed her hands on the table.

"A therapist needs someone to vent it on too," He laughed and placed his hands on hers. Marwa looked at him with a smile but said nothing.

"Hamma(Brother)," She spoke in a faint voice.

"Yes," He responded.

"Thank you for everything," She gave him a toe-curling smile.

He didn't say anything, he just kept smiling. After some minutes of silence passed, he started inching closer to Marwa who was watching with parted lips. Now, they could feel each other's hot breaths, she closed her eyes immediately someone's face popped up in her imagination.

It was a handsome, fair-skinned Arabian with the blackest orbs she had seen in her entire life, his nose was long and pointed, his lips were pink and moist and his jet-black bangs contrasted his fair skin. No matter how many times she tried to remove that image from her head, it just wouldn't go.

"No!" She quickly pulled back from Fawzan's lips which were less than one centimeter away from touching hers.

"We can't do this, Hamma. I told you the last time, I am still standing by my words," She said.

"We were children last time, Marwa, we've grown now. I never stopped loving you all this while, why can't you see the love I have for you? Marwa please, just give me a chance. I know you are not a relationship person but please consider me," He strutted to her side and was about to touch her when she moved back.

"I need to go home now, I want to clear my head," She didn't even look at him, many things were occupying her mind.

"Let me take you, it's not safe for you to go by yourself, " He offered and dragged her before she could protest.

The drive back home was silent, both of them were thinking about their hearts. They managed to form an excuse before Omar allowed them to go, Shukrah sensed the tension so she did not even offer to escort Marwa, she knew her brother did it, again.

"Please think about it. And also tell Mami I will drop by tomorrow," He uttered and she nodded before alighting his white Mercedes-Benz G350.

*

Sweat was trickling out of Zafeer's upper body. Today, he alternately lifted the sixty-kilogram dumbbells as though they weighed nothing. After he left Junaid's chamber, he came straight to the gym in his chamber and started lifting weight after tearing the kaftan and vest apart, he was that angry.

"Bro, what happened to you? You've spent two hours in the gym," Sabreen and Turad came inside all dressed in their casual outfits.

"Ya Zafeer, answer us," Sabreen said just as Turad tried to seize the dumbbells away from Zafeer, the said guy dropped the dumbbells and landed a punch on Turad's face which made the prince fall with a thud.

"Ya Zafeer, drop that thing," Sabreen narrowed her eyes into slits.

Zafeer was only thinking of the girl who was giving him a run for his money. He then remembered all those times that his father didn't visit and when he sent him away from Nigeria without even a goodbye.

"I loathe that man," Zafeer dropped the other dumbbell on the floor just as Turad firmly grabbed him from the back.

It was hard but Sabreen joined and together, they sat Zafeer down on the ground. He was breathing raggedly, he looked like a caged lion, they knew it was his father, well, partly his father's fault.

"I should have known you meant what you said, Man," Junaid came in and ran his hands through his hair.

"You provoked him, didn't you?" Sabreen glared at her brother.

"No, it was a girl—" He was about to carry on but the way Zafeer glared at him made him keep shut.

"Ya Zafeer, when did we start hiding things from each other?" Sabreen pouted, the kind of face that always got to him.

"Always trying to act all innocent," He rolled his eyes but ended up telling them everything about Marwa, excluding the part where he wants his vengeance.

"Wow! This girl is amazing, I am definitely with her," Turad laughed out loud.

"Get out," Zafeer looked at him with murderous eyes.

"I'm sorry bro, my mouth is sealed," He quickly apologized before he got his own share of harangue.

"I think I have a plan," Sabreen grinned and they looked at her suspiciously.

"Your schemes always end up getting me injured," Zafeer looked at her and she smiled sheepishly.

"Not this time around," She responded and asked all of them to scoot closer.

"So, you are telling me that if this doesn't work, we are going to go with plan C?" Zafeer asked.

Plan C was Turad's plan. Even though it was the most dangerous because elderly people were involved, Zafeer couldn't handle the embarrassment if Marwa disgraced him.

"I am confident this will work," Sabreen assured.

"I can't believe Ya Zafeer will do all this for a girl," Sabreen grinned.

"For love, dear sis, for love," Junaid chirped and they all laughed, omitting Zafeer who was scowling.

"I am not in love, I am saying this for the last time," Zafeer defended himself.

"Let us get you ready for tomorrow," The three dragged their shirtless brother out of the gym.

*

It was Saturday afternoon and Marwa still hasn't gone out of her room yet. She pretended to be asleep when in reality, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. No matter how many times she tried to pick up her phone and call Fawzan, it was just impossible because she kept imagining that face and it was making her crazy.

When she looked down at her body, she smiled at the oversized hoodie and sweatpants on her, they were both Fawzan's, and she stole them from him. She didn't want to feel guilty but she had no control over her emotions, a part of her wanted to accept him but the other part knew she couldn't. She knew she would end up breaking his heart and she did not want him to feel that pain.

"Sister Marwa, Mami is calling you," Hidayah lightly knocked on her door.

"Coming," She yelled and got out of bed with her hair looking like a bird's nest.

She ignored her slothful muscles and opened the door to her room then dashed out, immediately her eyes clashed with her mother's, she knew she was in for it.

"What do you think? Hiding in your room all day," Nafisa glared at her.

"Mami, I am so sorry, my head was aching severely so I decided to rest," She gave her mother the best puppy eyes she could muster.

"Hamma Fawzan came over earlier, he said I should give this to you and that he is sorry he couldn't give it to you yesterday," Hidayah handed her a white paper bag.

Marwa collected the bag and opened it with a sad smile, still amazed at the fact that he knew her so well. Inside the bag were chocolates of different kinds, brand new golden Nike Air Max sneakers, and a golden gown. Yes, gold is her favorite color.

"You should consider giving him a chance, you know," Hidayah smiled at her sister.

Even though they fight almost all the time, they share an unbreakable bond like sisters would. There was a time when a teacher slapped Hidayah at school and the girl came back with puffy cheeks. Marwa went to the school and landed three slaps on the teacher's cheeks the moment she saw her. Thankfully, the teacher was an intern about Marwa's age. When Marwa was asked who she was to the student, she said she was her mother. Mami didn't know anything about the incident, she would've killed Marwa.

"Believe me, I want to but I can't," Marwa sadly answered.

They were interrupted when their mother came inside the parlour, she had gone to the kitchen earlier, which was situated outside of the main building.

"Someone is here to see you," Nafisa said.

"Today again! Mami whosoever he is, I can't go out now, look at me, I haven't even brushed my teeth yet," Marwa impatiently paced back and forth.

"I don't want to have this conversation with you again, it's either you get out there and behave or—" She didn't even get to finish before Marwa cut her off.

"Or I won't have my brunch,"

"Now choose," Her mother smiled.

"First it was that annoying boss of mine called Jamal Malik then that creepy jinn and now, I don't know. Why can't they allow me to live in peace?" She groaned and picked up Hidayah's hijab that was beside her, she didn't even attempt to wash her face because she was super duper angry and was more than ready to annihilate that person.

"Good girl, now go," Her mother ushered her out.

She mumbled something under her breath, her cheeks were puffed and she was ready to pounce on that killjoy with every power she possessed.

When she peeped through the metal door, she saw the creepy jinn from yesterday leaning on a black Chevrolet Impala. He was clad in a black V-neck shirt and grey sweatpants, and on his face was a transparent Breitling rimless spectacle. Marwa was jealous because the guy's skin was so hydrated and moisturized that she wondered if he even knew what dry skin was.

She ignored how handsome he looked while standing there with a blank expression on his face, he was no doubt trying hard to impress her but he was failing woefully. She smirked when she saw a stone beside her toe, she picked it up and hid it in the pocket of her sweatpants.

"I will show the arrogant creepy jinn his true place today. I will finally get him out of my life," She smiled to herself before sauntering out with a neutral expression.

"Nobody has ever kept me waiting but thanks to dear proud princess Marwa, here I am, getting a tan," He sarcastically said.

It was Sabreen's plan, for him to visit her and give her a piece of his mind. That way, she would back out and start talking to him like a normal person would, or so they thought.

"Listen here Mr. Mujib Shakur--" She started before he cut her off.

"Murad Shakur, Darling," He corrected, surprised that the last word came out smoothly even though it was his first time saying it to another person.

"Whatever you call yourself, I will never be your friend. I have never met someone so persistent in my life, seriously, what type of leave me alone don't you understand? I won't ask how you knew our house because I am not surprised that a jinn like you can find out everything about me," She ranted all in one breath, all the while focusing on his forehead so that she won't miss her target.

"You may be a very hard nut to crack, Marwa. But just know that I must win you over, take that as an open challenge," He calmly replied.

"Oh! Shut up, Marwa Kabeer Hassan will never let you have your way with her and just so you know, I am not called a female hooligan for nothing. Now, take this," Before he could figure out what her next action would be, the girl aimed straight at his forehead and stoned him.

Marwa stuck out her tongue at him and ran back home, all the while, laughing carefreely as if she won a lottery. Blood oozed out from a furious Zafeer's forehead and he quickly sauntered back to his car and put a tissue on the injury.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" He angrily banged his hand on the dashboard.

First, she pointed a finger at the crowned prince, hit his chest, and now, she dared to stone and even injure him. At that moment, Zafeer became extremely enraged and more determined than ever to wipe that filthy arrogant smile off her face.

Marwa 2, Zafeer 0.