BLOOD - The Mischief Continues…

  • 23 May - 29 May, 2020
  • Salaar Laghari
  • Fiction

Zakariya continued,

“Mr Hannan was asking where is Rizwan, where does he live?”

“Hang on,” Rizwan said raising his hand upwards, “how did he… how on earth did he found out this address?”

“I asked him first who he was because I had never seen him before.”

“No, first tell me…” Rizwan said looking at his daughter, “how does he know about you guys? I want to know, how did he find you guys? And what does he want from you?”

“Can you tell us about this person?” Zakariya asked.

“He was a black sheep of this family. He was my step brother, but not anymore.”

“Not anymore? Can you redefine this please?”

“It’s a long story… Anyway, the point of concern is that he is back and he will cause more trouble.”

Rizwan stood up after he said this.

“Are you leaving? So soon?” Omama asked looking up at her father.

“I’m afraid I have to, we’ll meet again soon. In the meantime, you can approach your studies.”

Rahman stood up after his father and they prepared to leave.

***********

Six Months Later

Rizwan was getting ready as he had to leave for work, in the meantime, he heard his house doorbell. Rizwan picked up his brief case and went to answer the gate.

As he opened the door, he saw his old friend Khattab standing outside. The first question that the visitor asked was,

“Why aren’t you answering my calls?”

“Mr Khattab, look I’m sorry, but I have to leave. I cannot talk right now.”

“What in the world are you saying Rizwan? And how are you behaving?”

“What do you want from me?”

“Are you offended by anything? Why are you treating me like this?”

“I was told by the cops. An old man who was the culprit told me that you hired him to crush my father’s grave. Tell me, is that true?”

“Oh, my God!” Khattab was literally shocked on this. “I would have never assumed that you would accuse me of…”

“…I was told by the culprit himself,” Rizwan answered without letting Khattab finish his sentence.

“Are you talking about the old guy who was around sixty?”

“Yes.”

“Well, for your information, I was the one who caught him in the act.”

“Look, I don’t have time for this now, I will talk to you later.”

“And what about Hannan?

You do know that he’s here, right?”

“I know that, which is why I cannot trust anyone these days. My blood relatives only matter to me.”

Khattab was quite disappointed, so he said,

“Okay, think whatever you feel like, but mark my words: No good, will come out of this discriminatory approach. Just remember that.”

“Mr Khattab I am not breaking off with you because of our family relationship, I’m breaking off because I find you suspicious and I cannot live with someone, whom I see with the eyes of suspicion.”

“Okay, suit yourself.”

Mr Khattab offered his hand for a handshake. As the two shook hands, Khattab said,

“You shouldn’t be worried about your father’s grave. You should worry about your daughter, who is still alive. The prophecy on your daughter was not a good one.”

“She is with her husband now and I trust that man. She is expecting a baby quite soon. I hope that she will live a peaceful life.”

“Hoping is one thing, but actually keeping an eye on her for her safety is entirely different, which you ought to do.”

Saying this Khattab left the spot and walked towards his car.

***********

Several Weeks Later

Rahman who was standing outside the vice principal’s office was asked by the peon to come inside. Rahman entered inside and the vice principal asked him to sit. Rahman came directly to the point,

“Sir, my sister is expecting her child as you know, so she won’t be able to appear for the midterm exams.”

“Oh yeah, of course, I was told about that.”

“Yes.”

“So, has she given her application?”

“Yes I have, I submitted her application.”

“Okay, okay no problem.”

“Thank you so much sir. This was all I came here for.”

“So, when will she join?”

“Well, her seventh month has begun, so let’s hope she would join within four months.”

“Okay, no problem.”

“Thank you sir,” Rahman stood up as he thanked him.

Half an hour later, Rahman was at some distance from his school. He was walking towards the bus stop when he heard someone whispering from behind as if teasing him. Rahman turned and saw a dark skinned guy who was slightly elder than him. This ill-mannered guy had a mouth full of betel leaf.

“Are you Rizwan’s son?” he asked.

“What do you want?” Rahman asked a bit rudely.

“Your grandfather’s diary, we know your father has it. We want it, now.”

Rahman was getting angrier but he was a bit frightened when he saw Jafar approaching towards him with a gun. Rahman asked him,

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“My name is Jafar. I am Hannan’s son. I want to see the prophecies of our grandfather.”

Rahman asked him,

“Does your father know that you are spreading terror like this?”

“I don’t care what he thinks, tell me about the diary.”

“And what kind of nasty people do you hang around with?” Rahman asked showing disgust towards the other guy who came with Jafar.

Jafar held his gun higher so Rahman could see it.

“Do you want violence?” Jafar asked him.

“I’m not afraid of it.”

Jafar handed over the gun to his partner and then, he pushed Rahman through his chest. Rahman was provoked by this and he exclaimed,

“What is the matter with you?”

Jafar held Rahman’s collar this time and said,

“Are you going to give me what I want or not?”

“Let go off my collar or you will regret.”

“Are you threatening me?” Jafar said borrowing the gun back from his partner.

“Leave my collar,” Rahman said holding Jafar’s hand.

Jafar aimed the gun towards Rahman’s fore head and said,

“I’m asking for the last time, are you going to bring me the diary or not?”

That very moment, a police officer came towards them and pulled Jaffar with all his strength by saying,

“What’s going on between you two?”

As the cop saw the weapon in his hand, he said to Jafar,

“What is this? Where did you get this gun from?”

Jafar was a bit panicked, so he tried to shoot the police officer on his foot but he missed the shot. Anyways, he turned around and rushed towards the opposite side of the road to hide.

The police officer asked Rahman,

“Who was this guy? What was he saying?”

Without even listening to Rahman’s answer, the officer started speaking on his walky talky. 

Rahman was quite furious and he said to himself,

The time has come, I guess. Hannan’s son is doing to me what his father had done to my father. But I won’t be afraid, I will make sure this guy ends up in jail.

“We need your testimony, kid,” the police officer said to him, “come with us to the police station.”

“Sure,” Rahman said nodding his head.

***********

Naila called out her husband,

“Hannan!”

A minute passed and Hannan did not come. She called him out again,

“Hannan, where are you? Come over here.”

There was again no response from Hannan. Naila was a bit furious now, she went to see where he was. He was sitting in his room as usual. The moment she entered inside the room, he said to her,

“I am not your servant. Don’t call me out like that again.”

“We have a situation here at Jafar’s room.”

Hannan was even more irritated now as he really disliked this conversation. He stood up anyway and said,

“What has he done now?”

“What do you think he has done?” she asked back.

“Don’t talk like this, I’m warning you.”

Naila turned and walked towards Jafar’s room, hoping he would follow her. Hannan who wanted to just get done with this followed her to see what the issue was.

As the two reached Jafar’s room, Hannan saw the drawer of the closet open. He asked her,

“Yes, what is it?”

Naila went towards it and picked up two bullets from the drawer. She said to him,

“This is, what it is.”

Hannan was a bit astonished as he saw bullets in his son’s drawer. He asked her getting closer towards the closet,

“What else does he have?”

“It doesn’t matter, the point is that our son is getting involved in criminal activities.”

“What if these bullets are not his own?”

“You are constantly trying to defend your criminal son, trust me Hannan no good will come out of it.”

“I’m not defending him. I’m just considering that there could be another possibility.”

“This same son of ours was caught stealing from our own home, do you remember that?”

“I remember that,” Hannan answered, “don’t try to insult my memory. I remember everything. I am just saying that there is a possibility that this boy would have borrowed these bullets from someone else.”

“Okay, what for?” she asked with sarcastic tone.

“Well, there can be plenty of things. What if someone has forcefully given it to him. Or maybe he just found these bullets on the road and picked them for his own collection.”

“Blah blah blah,” she taunted, “you and your excuses.”

“Mind your words Naila, I’m warning you. Mind your language.”

“Your son is going to backstab you one day, just remember that.”

“He is your son too, okay? You always treat him like a step son.”

“Not always, but since he stole that jewellery.”

Hannan was getting really annoyed, so he shut his eyes and raised his hands higher saying,

“Alright, tell me what you want. How should we handle this kid? And after that we are coming to how you must learn some manners.”

That very moment, the two of them heard some footsteps. As they turned to look, their son had just entered inside the house. Hannan called him out,

“Jafar, come here immediately.”

Jafar came with his hands behind himself as if he was trying to hide something.

“What are these bullets for?” Hannan asked showing him one of the bullets.

“I don’t know, what you guys are talking about,” Jafar replied with a clear expression of lying.

Naila got enraged on this attitude and she rushed towards him. She slapped Jafar on his face. A loud sound was created and that slap was severe enough to make him drop the weapon.

“Oh, God!” Hannan was really surprised as he saw the weapon.

Jafar moved backwards. He kicked the gun as if trying to hide it.

“Stop, Jafar!” Hannan exclaimed.

He stepped forward and grabbed his son from his shoulder. After that he picked up the weapon.

“What are you up to these days?” Hannan asked his son.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” Jafar said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t live like this. You are a poor man. I know, you can’t buy me stuff that I need. You have not even provided me with proper education. You cannot expect me to become a virtuous person with all these circumstances.”

Naila turned and looked at her husband. Hannan looked back at her. She said to him,

“I knew that this day would come someday. In fact, I was expecting this sooner.”

Hannan held up his hand and said,

“Hang on, Jafar. Tell me what more do you want from me. I have never refused any of your demands.”

“Oh, my God!” both Naila and Jafar said together.

“What a lie?” Jafar commented afterwards.

“Shame on you, Hannan,” Naila said to her husband.

Hannan was really provoked on this. He handed over the gun to Jafar and said,

“Here you go. Here is your toy. Do whatever you want with this.”

Naila claimed instinctively,

“Hannan, what are you saying?”

“Shut up!” Hannan said as loud as he could. “Just keep your mouth shut.”

Hannan left the room angrily.

After a few seconds, Jafar left the room hiding the gun in his pocket.

to be continued...

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