Chapter 7: Shock

•Aimaan•

The blood was oozing from his forehead. 

"You! How dare you." The blond guy jumped at me. I took a step backward, clutching Waniya's hands.

Before he could do anything, Ihzan protected. 

"Geisel, no..." 

He gave a look to Geisel that he suddenly moved back.

Is this boy nuts?

"You deserve it, you fucking bastard!" Waniya said and we left as soon as possible.

*****

"Your new math tutor, Mr. Sid." I introduced Mr. Sid to Zyan. 

I fulfilled my promise. I sent them to his room, and entered the kitchen to help Ammy. I heard that some of my father's cousins and their family would be arriving here after Magrib.

I was introduced to the kitchen with a sweet smell!

I peeped into the kitchen to see Ammy stirring something. "Cheese pasta!" I screamed at the top of my voice. Ammy gave me a mischievous smile.

"I'm sure you didn't made it." I said after tasting some. 

"Then who else?"

A familiar voice came from the backyard door.

"Rashida phoupee..." I ran towards her and hugged. I hugged her very tightly that I was very sure her 206 bones were replaced with 506.

"Where were you! I missed you for those three years!" I blurted out. 

"Oh dear. Wait. Wait! Let's go to your room. Let your mummy cook." She said.

I was very sure that ammy could never cook Rashida phoupee's cheese pasta. Only hers.

*****

"And your head injury?" I asked her.

"Ah, feeling good now. The right side injured most. Was I sitting right side of your..." she stopped immediately. She knew that I would be emotional in the mentioning of his name.

"Do you remember..anything else, means anything? Against those criminals?" I asked.

"No....I forgot everything. And you?"

I shook my head. That incident, that incident rewind in my mind.

"Abbu.. I'm also coming!" I screamed and ran to our car.

"No Aimaan, me and Rashida will be going." Abbu said, sitting in the driving seat. Phoupee got inside.

"That's not fair Abbu..." I said and rushed inside.

"This girl...." Abbu patted my head.

Abbu and Ammy nodded to each other. Ammy was in the seventh month of delivering Aqza.

"Aimy, Zay will kill me if he came to know where we're going" he said.

"What's so ironical? By the way, where are we going?" I asked, bit confused.

Abbu looked at Rashida phoupee through the rear view mirror. She nodded at him.

"Aimy, we are going to see someone..very special to you" he said, fixing his eyes in road.

"Abbu, I don't like suspense" I said, crossing my arms under my chest.

"Oh c'mon.. we are going to meet Salma Aunty" he said.

I gasped, "Really!?!"

I screamed at the top of my voice. "Salma Aunty's had a son right?" I asked him in between.

"And..a new son!" This time, Rashida phoupee replied.

"A new baby!!" Again boy, I started screaming.

Both of them chuckled.

"By the way, what's their names?" I asked.

"Don't you remember his name?" Abbu asked, quite astonished.

I shook my head.

"Your 'Izz'? Don't you remember him?"

'My' Izz?

"No" I said, trying to recollect his real name.

"He is-" Before he could continue, a truck rushed to our side.

"Aimy, Rashida, hold on!" Abbu screamed and made his way towards the forest that was in the side of the road. That truck, behind it, a car, was chasing us head-to-head.

Our car was flying very swiftly, so our chasers. 

"Who are they abbu? What do they need?" I asked him trembling. 

"It's a long story Ai, they're planning to kill-" before he could continue, a bullet pierced into his forehead.

"Abbu!!!" 

"Amin!!!" We screamed together. The car lost its control and hit in a nearby tree. It flipped and turned upside down. Before I loose my conciousness, I saw a man holding gun near our car, and the number plate of the car.

"Aimaan, hey Aimaan!" Rashida phoupee shook me.

"I know where you were lost" she said. I nodded my head, thinking that day. If I made him wait until Zyan come back from school, nothing would have happened.

And that followed awkward silence. It's been three years since this happened. Since then, I was trying to find the criminals, to know what actually they wanted, and to recollect the car number.

I had a major heart surgery, since a long piece of glass pierced near my heart. And the doctors suggested not to get exposed to sudden shocks. 

A part of the incident was stored in my long term memory. Even though the doctors said that I would remember every those lost memories, I couldn't recollect the car number even after three years.

There was a major issue in Ammy's delivery when she came to know about her husband's death and our critical situation. There was a situation where we were in a brink of loosing Aqza.

Rashida Phoupee had head fracture, that its actually after three years we were meeting. It took her time to heal the wounds.

"By the way, how's Salma Aunty and her kid?" I broke the silence.

Her eyes were doubled.

"Didn't you knew the news?" She asked, still shocked.

"No" I said, again thinking.

"She and her family were killed on that same year that we....." she stopped.

"What!" I gave her a shocked look. I felt stinging in my heart again, that leads to the blurring of vision. Salma Aunty was the only one who could replace the position of my mother. I loved her like my Ammy. She was Abbu's best friend.

"She and her husband was shot. That same man who killed your abbu. And about their kids, the elder one's face could be hardly seen. I saw their picture...Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajióon..it was burnt completely. And the younger one, hardly 3 months, was ripped off. Aimaan, they sold his parts" Rashida aunty bursted out.

A single tear drop escaped from my left eye. The one, whom I could call ammy, passed away. The whom, I called Abbu, passed away. And the one whom I allowed to call me 'Ai', passed away. 

I wanted to see those ones hanging down!

"Why don't you tell me this earlier?" I asked her.

"Huh, I had informed your mother on that same day I came to know. She is supposed to inform you." Said she.

"She didn't" 

"Let's ask her now!"

*****

"Why didn't you inform me earlier"

"Dhariya, you're supposed to tell her earlier."

"It gave me a shock though."

"I had told you that on the same day right?"

"Don't you know Ammy, that I considered Salma Aunty as you!"

We both were giving her a minimal shock. Ammy was looking very confused. Aqza was sitting in my lap.

But her reply made the knots twisting and tougher.

"Who is Salma?" Ammy asked.

"What's this Ammy, don't you even know who is Salma aunty?" I asked.

"Ya allah, Dhariya why are you acting so weird. What happened to you?"

"Couldn't you remember who Salma aunty is?"

"I don't remember her."

By hearing that, we both were beyond shocked!