page 193

...Charlie was  suffering from dyslexia,  , he had been a professional boxer for ten years  , head injuries and dyslexia  prevented him from  learning  reading  and writing skills,  it was difficult for him to  pay his bills and  he lost his hearing  too, , when his wife was alive  it wasn't  that hard,  but she died last year and Maryam came  back to live  in his neighborhood,  but Charlie didn't  doubt himself and  believed he could  do things  perfectly 

Hello  girls  , are you fighting  for me,  said Charlie  kissing one  on her cheek,  he sat down  next to her on a stool 

, no, Charlie,  we have decided to share you, and that's what we were  talking about,   she  affectionately  patted him on his shoulder,  ,

For next two hours she watched him doing exercises on the machines trying to find out more about him,  he had spent a hard life,  London builders and East end Street gang  defeated by him  he had injured a police man,  charged with  criminal charges he was sent to jail,   released some months later he  started boxing  and  ten years went by   , it proved a successful career,  , followed by reaching America with his family,    during  sizzling summers and  stormy  snows  he  hammered   metal nails on the  roofs , die hard but loveable   man she  understood  what must have really happened to  to his daughter   , though  just speculating  she still had not asked him anything till  she had  spent three weeks  as a friend 

By then  it had become  a national  headline  news , the district attorney  took up the case 

page 191

...next morning  Selina Roger was back at fair haven to interview  the  neighbors  of  Maryam Harris,  , she stood waiting  some distance away from her house  thinking from where to start,  she was about to  step onto the footpath  when the door of the garage opened and a vintage  army r jeep  drove out , it took a right turn on the road  taking the  business  district route,  she was surprised,  the driver was  an old decent looking man,  but that was not alarming,  wrinkled face with a strong defining jawline,  he had a baseball cap on his head,  black  sleeveless t shirt  holding the steering wheel his tattooed   muscular arms  suggested  he wasn't any ordinary weak old man  who depended on others support and care, Selina felt she was watching  a retired version of pop eye the sailor  man 

Selina quickly started her car  and  began following him,  the jeep turned towards the  lake  and stopped in a coffee shop parking,  she waited a while  before  following him inside,  she  noticed he was  huge tall and quuck foot and  straight  back not a trace of weakness   in his  build and gait, 

She kept waiting for him in the parking,  hoping he had come just to get a coffee,  she locked her car and  went inside,  pop eyes sat talking to a blonde at the dinner counter  flirting with her 

talafi

Looking into the rear view mirror she turned right into the vacant lane,  a light flashing  police van followed her , she thought  the noisy siren  meant  it was in a hurry  and would overtake her but quickly her joy was crushed as she was stopped by the driving officer in uniform and asked to show her  registration card and license,  one of them looked quite rude m controlling herself she  asked him  politely  wishing him a good morning what was the matter 

Rudely he answered  the matter was very simple and plain,  her license and registration was needed and she was asking too many questions 

But why did he stop her 

When anyone lawfully specially an officer gives instructions her duty is  to cooperate,  just give your papers and don't move,  his voice  turned hard

If this is deliberate  she  needed  to secure herself first or she could be victimized like the fair haven black foreign tourists  who were shot dead by the police two  nights ago and she was on her way to fair haven to investigate the case 

my evening walk sketches

page 165

....Ishtar was or wasn't a witch   but  every word uttered  by her had a  strong impact  , jasam was  possessed by her charm and extraordinary power,  he  would  simply  agree to every word that escaped from her lips,  he couldn't argue or deny,  his will power was  like his mind  under her spell, he was  as if someone moving  under  her control,  his own nature was  under seige  frozen and disabled,  when he arrived  she commanded him to go back to the sofa and beseated , he mechanically  obeyed her commands , she  waved her hands in the  empty air and  procured  a new fresh bottle of eyedrops  from nowhere in particular,  he felt he was watching  some magic show  sitting  down in some hall, in such stage shows  all performers  produced  strange things from thin air just by a wave of their hands  and  the  audience  applauded  open heartedly,  Ishtar was  performing like an excellent expert,  he  suddenly was startled  he had given his  full consent and support to her , unbelievable  how could he,  sensational  act but he was a puppet , he obediently  like  a good kid let a drop of that magic bottle  drop in his one eye then into his other eye 

He was  flatly  commanded to sit still for a couple of minutes with eyes shut,  jasam obediently  followed her every instruction,  after one minute  she reappeared   and he heard her voice  telling him to open his eyes now,  his eyes flew open,  he was stunned  to find himself in the hotel firoz , the room was lit up the darkness was  wiped away,  he realized it wasn't that high power lighting  that lit up the room but  moonlight   or his eyes had got adjusted to seeing in the dark 

page 25

....aisha  alias Anni  was actually  shammi s khala shammi was exactly her own mother's  image and absolutely different from her sister,  she inherited  her attractive looks from grandmother and  stole her phuphu s beauty,   pure hearted and  dreams lofty she was outstanding and  outgoing,  she was  likeable,  later it was known  outgoing people were egoistic,  she didn't care about the world,  , she had to go to another town for higher studies,  but senior abba got her married to his nephew 

As fate would have it, a few months later her husband died of a stroke,  she was expecting,  shammi was born and  Anni joined a local college  and from this point onwards  her stubbornness started,  she  defied  family views, their wishes,  their sentiments,  , completing her  degree  she  went to another city to get a job, soon after  strange  rumors about her began floating,  senior abba tried to control her and put restrictions on her  freedom,  she left the house to live by herself independently,  older abba felt extremely guilty,  he was shattered,  but he gathered himself for the sake of shammi and Anni,   talking to her they brought her back home,  she was  absolutely out of control,  unstoppable  , financially independent  she had  her own life under her own control and  she took all her life decisions herself,  she  stopped seeing  other family members after older abba,  she became choosy and picky, parents died of  hurt  and  loss for their son, 

She  stopped to take a deep breath  and continued with her tale, because of shaista order abba and his brother  had  broken up their  emotional ties , with he  leaving them everything was  finished,  all contacts were  cut off, they didn't even bother to  enquire about shammi,  seeing the changes in the thinking of family members  older abba decided to support  his daughter and  granddaughter  to make them strong socially 

page 23

...what is your real name 

Shabiya,  it mea beautiful picture,  she had learned it as a child 

Nice 

He wasn't the first one to be surprised  , usually everyone was charmed  

Show me some other beautiful place  where I can take pictures 

Do you like only  natural beautiful places 

Sort of 

She brought him  to a small pond,  that was  completely covered  colorful   water lilies growing in wilderness,  round circular  green leaves  waxy kept aloft on the surface of the water  amidst which  craning their long stems  the wild lotus  in a wide spectacular spectrum of colors  stiffly  filled up the  tiny little  empty spots not covered by the  rounded leaves,  some white cranes  also stood  in between  , what a fantastically  picturesque spot to take pictures 

There was no parapet or bench one could sit , usually  to admire  nature  one needs to sit down  a while  to enjoy the view,  he began clicking pictures  walking around as she stood there  watching him , 

He was  a broad shouldered,  tall handsome man,  his appearance and style was attractive,  his  car, camera taste  and manner  defined him as an affluent person,  he always dressed in sweatshirts,  jeans and  track suits,  perhaps  this place was rather cold for him,  he sat on a chair outside his room or in the restaurant in a vacant corner with his lap top  busy working from there,  he besides this routine  would spend time talking with annior would go out driving,  he was a cultured and   a decent man  , that's why  Anni liked him so much