page 69

.... we are decent people,  we can't tolerate any of this all, , how could we possibly  face the world if something  goes  wrong,  mamani  declared  dancing her  hands  vigorously 

Mamu if you don't wish to see me here around  then pay me the rent of the house,  I would  go to the hostel  but  think  at least thousands of times before  pointing your finger on my character,  you also have three daughters,  what if  you leave them in this condition,  in  the same circumstances I am,  God forbid  they  have to  go through all that I have  been through,  what would be their feelings 

She who was supposed to be extremely  strong  her  so called strength  corroded her inner spirit  shattered long time ago  still was  pretending  obstinately  wearing  a false fake covering of  super  strength 

That night she broke down  fighting with her own self,  she was starved and  hunger pangs  doubled her  but she refused to accept anything from that family,  what kind of brother her amma had,  devoid of any humane kindness,  without  affection,, what a weak man who saw the world through his  wicked wife's eyes and  followed instructions  of his  crafty daughters,  wasn't he aware  almighty was all pervading and all powerful 

She weakly got out from the bed to  get to the washroom to  do was,  during  wazu she  drank lots of water to fill up her empty stomach  before  spreading the mat to perform her namaz 

page 63

...in the next few days her classes  became regular,  students  would  pick up a  noisy argument  when they didn't want to attend classes,   their  low moods would definitely find something awful to argue about  asking  the  sir if yellow journalism wasn't turning  yellowed and yellowed, nobody was safe , no house  no family was secure anymore,  homely  housewives were not spared  a voice called out from  the end of the hall,  sir,   added  another student  truth must be brought out  with facts instead of biased  personal stories that destroy people's lives 

Another  voice raised a question  why should not   scandals of  stay home women  be exposed  in exciting manner 

Because she wasn't aware of the names of students  she  kept herself  strictly restricted to hearing the voices  for the time being,  any other   strict  teacher would have  cleverly  carried forward the debate for some later time slot before  giving  his lecture  on the syllabus  , some lecturers  unprepared  would waste the entire period in discussions,  in such  mood swing debates roshni and kazim  held the forward position,  kazim was the  nominated  c r of the class,  roshni  sweetly greeted auza on meeting and before leaving  yet  it was no longer possible to revive  old  association 

What had become of her in the past  few years,  she appeared in tight jeans and a short flimsy top or a different version of  tights with a short revealing  kurti, dupattas in the university were   disappeared  like historical extinct species 

page 47

...and then two days later mervin and Clarence in the lounge at home  were having late breakfast,  it was  a warm morning of  summer,  Clarence added  sugar and  milk to his coffee  before  plunging into his newspaper,  he was a professional stockbroker  therefore he would most carefully  scan the commerce page and  other  matters quite  in detail,  this  habit  of his was included  in his daily routine,   his job took him to the Wallstreet  brokage house every day  where he worked as a freelancer  , he visited it as often as it was needed 

Mervin had kept her   small  leather  bound  notebook open  and checking   previous events   important to her,  she  religiously  was regular  diary keeper, they both had started eating their breakfast when their chef  Ivana entered the lounge holding a tray  announcing  ceremoniously  that he would like to show in a visitor 

Mervin lifted up her head in surprise  who called that early morning 

Clarence looked from the upper edge of the newspaper  and enquired his chef Ivana who was it

Miss marya deller 

Thats so odd said Clarence  putting away the newspaper on his side  and asked his wife  Mervin  when did she become so close to deller that she dropped by so early morning that too unchaperoned

page 43

....the party was on its full swing,  the  live band  changed the   tune   so sensational that sent ripples of   intrinsic  joy through the crowd,  the saxophone played  intoxicating  exoticness  filling their hearts with unspeakable desires

Mervin was a  music and dancing wizard unbeatable  and  unstoppable,  tge jazz band  had created an awesome magical atmosphere,   the band was  enchanting and  the air musically drunken,  mervin  could feel an odd  sensitivity in her legs,  the crowd simply was impatient to go to the  dance floor  but mervin  was kept involved by the hostess of the party Mrs deller

Who was  in full seriousness instructing Mervyn to take care of herself like in a green house  then she explained  what exactly green house was to grow delicate  foliage under controlled conditions  with green sheets shades  that allow   filtered sunlight and oxygen to enter the enclosure and  carbondyoxide  methane nitrates ozone and the likes  can't  

Most dealers definitely enjoyed talking on her favorite subject of green house  but Mervyn never liked  gardening  in the first place 

atraf

...James Robert white sat  watching the  clock on the  dark  wall in that small room , already eleven  just half hour more to go  before they would come to get him,  he began praying  the priest would  arrive quickly,  he got up to  walk  restlessly from one wall to the other,  his felt his stomach  behave funny,  he regretted  having eaten the food brought for him,  that very moment  a knock on the door  made him quite nervous,  he   unintentionally looked at the wall clock 

No no, it couldn't be them,  this was the time for the pastor to reach there,  

He nervously asked the person  at the door to enter 

The heavy wooden door was pushed open  and father Thomas Mc Carthage walked in,  a long sigh of great relief  escaped from him on seeing the visitor,  he  almost leaped to catch his hand in his warmly,  thanking God for he had come,  because he couldn't  go through it at all 

The pastor  spoke to him  as he would to a child  suggesting  they must  make proper use of their time,  the priest was called to hear his confessions 

Son, I am ready to hear you out,  the priest looked directly into his eyes,  James eyes were  widened,  he wished he wasn't there,  he didn't deserve it, he. lowered  his head 

Son, this is normally how people feel,  now we have  not much time left,  better  make your confessions now,  that will  help your spirit  liberate  without pain,  freeing you from all your burdens 

from previous

..he opened his eyes in the morning  , rukhsar was  offering her namaz, he got out of his bed did his walk and  recited his namaz,  rukhsar said it was  so silent upstairs nobody was   heard walking around,   

He explained upstairs had no kids who would jump around  and  it was so early  five thirty only  perhaps  they got up late,  rukhsar felt embarrassed  for he was right  , she had  in fact  taken two rounds outside in the hope of seeing the upstairs family 

He laughed at her curiosity and the concern   so maternal  her instinct was   , would she like to have tea he would make it for her 

She used to like him  for making tea for her,  they both became rather nostalgic,  she relaxed before the television  and he went to the kitchen to make tea 

The window was open,  soft cool breeze  blew in , both  began  having their  freshly made hot tea, , she began talking about sarmad  s childhood,  how  shy he used to be and now  what an amazing   success  he had got, 

Naturally  they prided in their  son s feats taking  credit for being his parents  and his accomplishments 

They slept of exhaustion of the previous day  his sleep  was  disrupted  by  screaming,  mahin was screaming  incessantly,  papa come quickly,  her voice frightened,  they ran out , from the  door was coming in Ahmed  followed by Mahmud,  their faces white  followed by mahin , they all couldn't speak and their eyes were wide open with horror,  she  shakily pointed towards  something and collapsed on to the ground,  she was  saved from banging her head  and sat on the  sofa,  then  another scream was heard,  this time it was  rukhsar,  he ran outside,  the door leading upstairs was left open and rukhsar stood   staring  in a state of shock  in that direction,  her eyes  rolling  spinning like a wheel 

Unable to take it anymore he looked around,  the floor was covered with dust and the hall was empty with nobody seen around,  he rushed towards sarmad s room 

from previous

....they returned home after  dining out,  children went on their respective rooms,  sarmad quickly to his  bedroom,  perhaps  in a hurry to use the washroom,  laughed rukhsar,  both of them went in  to their bedroom,  rukhsar suggested  the wakil sahib ought to manage the whole thing by himself,  she wouldn't let her husband go to Karachi to manage  the  situation 

Look, there wasn't so much to worry about 

She couldn't  think of being left alone, it was scary 

Was she  a little  kid unable to stay alone for some days,  mother of four he said appreciatively,  she  stubbornly  stuck on her point   to let others  do the running around 

Finally he had to  give in agreeing to make someone else take over full responsibility if possible 

So it was decided early next morning he would ring them up, she  tidied up the room before  turning to freshen up herself,  her  kept his silence  and  stayed in bed,  there was a knock on the door,  , mahi stood  there holding  tea tray , she stepped  in to place it on the  sidetable  in the corner  before leaving,  he  loudly  called out to his wife to  come  out from the washroom to have her tea while it was still hot 

In the morning at ten  he phoned the lawyer who had no problem with the matter , all the  documents were ready,  showing gratitude he promised to send the amount online,  so the case was settled,  though such property cases  took generations  but thankfully  out of court  this one  git sorted out 

At lunch  rukhsar  mentioned  how beautiful the gir  was who lived upstairs,  out of this world,  rukhsar sounded enthusiastic  and warm 

But how and where  did she happen to see her 

Just a glimpse on the terrace,  rukhsar was returning after cleaning up the floor  and just saw a glimpse of the ethereal beauty