Rahman asked,

“You guys, what are you doing here? What do you want from us?”

“We need to talk to your father,” Sirtaj said.

“He’s not here, talk to me if you really have to.”

“Listen please, we have to talk to Mr Rizwan. We’re here to reconcile.”

“Reconcile, do you think that’s an option for you?” Rahman asked.

“Who was the hypocrite who convinced your father to kick us out? Khattab Razaq. And you guys know him better now. He was about to crush your grand father’s grave.”

Rahman was least interested in their theories and wasn’t paying much attention.

“Who is it Rahman?” Alia said from behind Rahman.

“Nobody,” Rahman answered shutting the door on their faces.

His mother asked him again as he turned around,

“Who was it?”

“Sirtaj and Maqsood, they wanted to talk to Dad.”

“Oh!”

“I simply expressed our least concern towards them.”

“What did they want?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

His mother gave a little consideration to them, but then avoided it and went back to her room.

************

One Month Later

Jafar was standing outside a wedding lawn. He saw his father coming out as he was assigned as the supervisor. The moment Hannan saw his son, he expressed his dislike and asked,

“Why are you here?”

Jafar showed him a piece of paper and said,

“Look, what I have.”

“What is it?” Hannan asked walking closer towards him.

“The prophecies you were looking for.”

Hannan was shocked for a moment and he snatched the paper from it. He read the list of prophecies.

Jafar commented with sarcasm,

“Now, who is the smart one?”

Hannan read all the prophecies one by one and replied,

“These are not the real ones. Not a single one among these is real. Who gave you these?”

“What?” Jafar asked getting angry.

“Who gave you these?”

“Rizwan’s son, Rahman.”

“And you expect him to give you the real prophecies. You think he is that stupid? Actually, you are stupid.”

Jafar felt insulted and he said,

“That rat! I’m not going to spare him.”

“One more thing Jafar,” Hannan said to his son, “Since you haven’t been at home for a month. I’m giving you one week’s time. Give up everything, and move back in. If you return back then we will forgive you, but if you’re going to stay firm and rebellious, then mark my words, the doors of my house will be closed forever for you.”

Jafar replied with mockery in his tone,

“I earn way more than you do, do you understand that? So, if there’s anyone who’s going to claim that the doors are closed for reconciliation, it’s going to be me.”

“And what about these fake prophecies?” Hannan teased him.

“I’m going to have my revenge.”

“Whatever, you and I are through,” Hannan said offering his hand for a final handshake.

Jafar lent his hand and shook hands with him saying,

“Not a problem. Not a problem at all.”

Jafar let go of the hand and turned around. He left his father for good. Hannan was quite upset about his rebellious son.

************

Next week, Rizwan and Rahman were at their house and they were having a serious conversation,

“Now, that you are aware of all the prophecies,” Rizwan said to his son, “you must realise that no matter where these people go, no matter what country they are staying in, there will be dispute. There will be mischief. This cannot be stopped.”

“But, I am taking all the measures that are necessary. The measures that can help me drive these people out of the state.”

“No Rahman, this is not going to happen. Aren’t you listening? Their stay in the city doesn’t really matter, there would be mischief.”

“What about the fact that the father and son don’t really have strong bonding?”

“Doesn’t matter, they will reunite and they will demand something that doesn’t really belong here.”

“And Mr Khattab, what about him?”

Rizwan looked up at his son as if he had no answer. In reality, he was ashamed. He was guilty of how he had been treating his close friend for quite a long time.

Rahman changed the mode of conversation,

“I wonder, who that saint must be. The one who donated blood to Omama.”

“I’m dying to know who that person is,” Rizwan answered.

That very moment, Alia came to the room with tears falling down her eyes. Rizwan looked at her and asked,

“What happened?”

Rahman stood up as he saw his mother.

Alia said,

“Our daughter might never be happy again.”

“What?!” Rizwan asked standing up.

“What are you saying mother?” Rahman asked walking closer towards her.

“I just received a call from Zakariya. He said they were out for shopping for Harun’s first birthday. They returned home.”

“And?” Rizwan asked.

“As they returned home…” she continued but she couldn’t speak.

“What happened next?” Rahman asked getting impatient.

“Harun is gone,” she said instantly.

“Gone? What do you mean, he’s gone?”

“They returned and they found that the baby sitter was murdered.”

“Murdered?” Rizwan asked. “Somebody broke in?”

“Yes, and the kid was gone. He was not in the house.”

“Oh, my God!” Rizwan uttered as he heard this.

He fell back on the sofa as he was shocked.

Rahman was never this worried. He left the room saying,

“I’m going to talk to Zakariya myself. He better not be lying.”

Rizwan remembered his father’s prophecy, as his father himself was saying,

Rizwan’s daughter will see a lot of pain and torment in her life.

Rizwan started weeping thinking about his daughter.

“Those criminals,” Alia cried, “they didn’t even care to see that the poor baby was blind.”

An hour later, the entire family was sitting at Zakariya’s home. They were in the guest room. Rizwan asked Zakariya,

“Where is Omama?”

“She’s in her room. The room’s locked.”

“Rahman, go and call her. She might cut her wrist again. We have to resolve this matter and tell her that everything will be fine.”

Rahman stood up to get Omama. He left the room.

Zakariya said to Rizwan,

“Our son is gone, I cannot believe it. I just simply can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“Tell me from the beginning, how exactly did it all began.”

“We were out. The baby’s birthday was next week. We were about to return soon but we stopped at a shop. But anyways, as we returned, we found the baby sitter strangled to death. And apart from this, the baby was not on his bed.”

Zakariya started weeping.

“Have you informed the police?” Rizwan asked him.

Seeing Zakariya absolutely helpless, Rizwan asked,

“Alright, where is the baby sitter’s dead body? And who was she?”

Rahman returned and said,

“Omama is not responding at all. I think, I have to break the door and enter inside.”

“Go ahead, do it,” Rizwan encouraged him.

That very moment, they all heard the doorbell.

Zakariya stood up and went to answer the door. As he reached there and opened the door, he saw two police officers standing outside. One of the police officers said,

“We’ve been informed that there has been a murder at this place and the killer’s name is Zakariya.”

“Oh, my God!” Zakaraiya exclaimed realising the conspiracy.

He started laughing out loud understanding how he was trapped.

Rizwan stood up and went to see who it was and what was going on. Zakariya turned and said,

“The baby sitter’s murder has been planted over me.”

“What?”

From behind, Rahman came holding Omama so she could stand straight. She was crying out loud and her hair was all over her face. Seeing the police officers, he was curious as to what they were here for.

Rizwan turned and looked at his daughter. He rushed towards her and Rahman walked towards the door.

Rahman said to the police officer,

“Our child is missing.”

“We have been told that someone named Zakariya has murdered a woman at this apartment.”

“What?” Rahman exclaimed. “Who gave you this false report?”

“Someone has planted the crime on me,” Zakariya said to Rahman.

There was panic and chaos all around. Rahman was getting severely irritated, so he simply stepped out of the apartment and wondered,

I am sure that Jafar is behind this entire conspiracy. I cannot wait. I simply have to go and find him.

He descended down the stairs and rushed without any planning and strategic thinking about how he would catch the culprit.

He was running as if he was not even interested in what he left behind. He thought,

There’s only one spot, where I can find him. That place near my school. I know, he’ll be there someday. If not today then, he’ll be there tomorrow.

He was running so fast that he couldn’t even see ahead due to darkness of night, so he accidently slipped through the edge of the footpath and slipped really bad. He fell on his face and his chin started to bleed. He was unconscious.

v v v

Two Days Later

During the afternoon, Maqsood and Sirtaj were standing outside Jafar’s garage. As the garage door opened, the two of them rushed inside and saw Jafar standing in front of them. Maqsood said to him,

“Look, we have done what you asked us to do, now we are expecting you to keep your word.”

“And what did I ask you to do?”

“You asked us to kidnap the child and put the blame on Zakariya. We kidnapped the child and brought it here before you.”

“I’ll ask you one more time, what were my exact instructions?”

“Kidnap the child and put the blame on Zakariya” Maqsood said.

“Yes!” Jafar said angrily. “This was it. You had to kidnap the child and plant it on Zakariya, that’s it. Why did you exceed?”

“What do you mean?” Sirtaj asked.

“You idiots murdered the baby sitter and instead of putting the blame of kidnapping, you put the blame of murdering. This would clearly prove that it was an entrapment, because he was not even in the house.”

“Look, we panicked okay. We had no option,” Maqsood answered.

“I should have known, I shouldn’t have hired old fools like you.”

“What about our agreement?”

“We have no agreement. Get out of my place.”

As Jafar turned his face away, Sirtaj kept his finger on his lips asking Maqsood to stay silent and leave with him.

A minute later, while the two were standing outside, Sirtaj said to Maqsood,

“Let’s just return the kid to the family and tell them that Jafar had planned the entire conspiracy.”

“Come on, are you serious? This will blow up on our face. We will return the child anonymously and leave. I want to seek forgiveness for this sin. It’s being too heavy for my conscience.”

“How can we return the kid without involving Jafar? The kid is in Jafar’s custody.”

“Look, do what you want. I’m simply leaving and I need to repent for my sin. I’m sorry, I cannot work with you any longer.”

Maqsood left Sirtaj alone and walked away.

Meanwhile near Rahman’s school, he was sitting on a footpath. He was exhausted as he hadn’t had proper food for two days. He had a nasty wound on his chin.

His father Rizwan came running towards him as if he was looking for him for quite a while.

“Rahman!” he called out his son.

Rahman looked up at him and said,

“Dad! Dad, please don’t worry about me.”

“Get up!” Rizwan said as if he was scolding him.

“Dad,” Rahman stood up, “I’m sorry for leaving you like this. But the truth is that your step brother’s son will come here someday. I know he will, he often comes here.”

“Are you sure that he is behind this?”

“More than one hundred times.”

Rizwan’s eyes moved and he unexpectedly saw his brother Hannan standing in front of him. Rahman also turned and saw his step uncle.

The two half-brothers saw each other after two decades. 

to be continued...