VERILY WE SHALL WIN

“You shouldn't be here, Sara. Go home,” she says.

“Why? Do you hate me too?” I ask her pleadingly.

“No. Not at all. But everyone will be worried at home. You need to rush,”

“Won't you ask me why I am here?” I ask as guilt takes over. I hadn't come to meet her once since she left home. But only when I needed help myself, I thought of her. I wonder how to put that in words without offending her. 

“Tell me. Why are you here?”

“Are you cutting all relations at home? Including me?” I ask her. She looks at me, surprised.

“So, you tell me, what am I supposed to do when your brother has clearly done outrageous things.”

I know she is right. Why would any woman adjust to a man who decides to choose someone else over her? But I still think we can be friends.

“How's things at home?” she asks, taking me by surprise. Maybe she wants to know if everyone is okay with her being away. Her eyes are giving her away. She wants to know how things are between Cyra and Ahmed Bhai and if he misses her. But I have no answers. Because I don't know. Ahmed Bhai and Cyra rarely talk to each other. His behaviour took a steep turn once Bhabhi left. But he chose it at his own will. I can't blame her for it. 

“I am not sure of others. But I miss you,” I say.

“It will all be official soon,” she says, and I feel I missed something. 

“Huh, what?” I ask

“I am proceeding with a kulah. I don't want to stay in this marriage anymore. I don't approve of your brother’s other wife. I am ending whatever was between us,” she says. I know she means business. She means every word that's coming out of her mouth. 

“Us? What about me? Can I still come to you in trouble?”

She ponders it for a second and asks, “What trouble are you facing now?”

She is smart, quick, and reads my mind like a book.

“You know that guy who was following me around?”

“Yes, is he after you again?” she asks, this time worried. She stops sewing her blouse momentarily. Her hands stop midway in the air, and she looks intently at me.

“Not literally. But he has done something unimaginable this time.” Her face turns pale in worry as I narrate what happened at school. She moves closer and takes my hand in here.

“Is that why you are here? You need help, don't you?” 

“Yes,” I agree, shame taking over my body.

“Sara, I might have nothing to do with your brother. But that doesn't mean we go back to being strangers.” 

I can hear her words reverberate in my ears, and that gives me new hope. I am, after all, not alone in this.

“We will do this together. Come to me whenever you want. Now, what do we do?”

This is a part of Blogchatter A2Z2025

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