Page 54 of First Comes Marriage
OK, she’d had her complaints with Zafar and it had tainted her feelings, but that wasn’t how she felt right now, in that moment. If anything, she felt closer to him than she had before, even on their wedding day.
She looked at Zafar and he turned and smiled at her, gripping her hand before nodding his head in Saleema and Nomaan’s direction. She turned to watch them in time to see both of them accept their marriage with each other.
There was a thunderous round of applause and cheering at the end of the ceremony and as the cheering went on, the imam had Saleema and Nomaan sign their marriage contract, followed by their witnesses, and then their marriage was complete. Lots of hugs, happy tears and best wishes were exchanged by the whole family.
The gathering was moved into an adjacent hall where the meal was going to be served and in the midst of all of that, Reshma spotted Safiya make her way to the ladies’ room and decided to follow after her, telling Zafar she’d be back shortly.
By the time she got there, Safiya was washing her hands at the basin and when she saw her, she gave her a bright smile. ‘That ceremony was beautiful, wasn’t it?’
‘It was. Saleema – the bride that is – is my cousin and she planned the whole day down to every second. She’ll be over the moon that it all went exactly how she wanted it to.’ Reshma looked at Safiya as she dried her hands and then moved towards the door. Reshma sidestepped and blocked her and Safiya looked at her in confusion. ‘I know we’ve only just met, but Zafar’s told me about you. I know how important you are to Zafar and Daadi and I’m sure they’re just as important to you. I know for a fact that they’d love a chance to see you and speak to you. This is your chance to do that. Please don’t let that pass you by.’
Safiya stared back at her, her eyes as wide as saucers until they dimmed and almost instantly filled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall, swallowing hard instead. ‘It’s not so simple, Reshma. It’s been six years. Six. That’s a long time not to speak to someone. I was angry at first, but then it just got too late. And now I don’t even know what on earth I’d say if I came face to face with them. I only came to say hello to you because I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to meet the woman Zafar was married to. I shouldn’t have done that.’ She shook her head, talking more to herself now than to Reshma.
Reshma held her arms. ‘No, Safiya. Look, I—’
Reshma was stopped from saying any more as the door to the ladies’ room opened. The lady smiled at them andthen moved past, but Reshma knew this wasn’t the place – or time, really – to be having this conversation with Safiya.
She held the door open and Safiya preceded her out into the foyer. ‘I’d love to have the chance to talk to you about this properly, Safiya. I’d hate for you, Zafar or Daadi to lose this opportunity of connecting with each other.’
Safiya looked unconvinced, but Reshma could see the longing in her eyes whenever she mentioned her grandmother or cousin. The cousin Reshma knew that Safiya had been close to during their childhood. ‘We’re staying until the reception and then we’re headed straight back to Nairobi. If we don’t get a chance to speak here, then maybe I can catch you later tonight or even tomorrow morning?’
Reshma felt relief wash through her at Safiya’s agreement to at least have a chat. In a moment of clarity, she gave Safiya her phone number and took hers.
They went towards their respective tables and when Reshma sat down, she could see from the look on Zafar’s face that he’d seen who she had come in with. He looked in Safiya’s direction and Reshma followed his gaze, watching as Safiya sat down with her family.
Zafar’s jaw looked like it had been carved out of granite and his fist was clenched where he rested it on the table. Reshma placed her hand over his, and after a moment, she felt his hand relax. He gave her a tight smile before turning to look towards Uncle Jawad, who had called out to him. Reshma turned to look at Daadi, but she was busy chatting to Auntie Bilqis.
Reshma hoped she could get Safiya reconciled with her family. She knew how much it would mean to Zafar and if she could bring him that sense of peace and the joy of connecting with his cousin once again, then she wanted to do that.
She thought back to his defence of her with her father and the way he’d been with her since he’d come here. Like Haniya said, he’d had the chance to leave, but he hadn’t and he’d done nothing to make her think that he didn’t want to be with her. Her feelings for him, which had simmered down to paler versions of themselves over the past year, had been renewed with a fresher and stronger sense of purpose, and on the basis of those feelings, she wanted to be there for him like he’d been there for her.
He’d given her so much more than she’d hoped for by coming here and while she was aware that they still had progress to make and obstacles to overcome, she had a feeling that they were in a better place to tackle them together.
The rest of the celebration went ahead as smoothly as the nikah had and everyone was in a happy mood. Reshma and Haniya joined Saleema’s friends and cousins from her father’s side of the family to collect the gift owed to them by Nomaan.
It was an old tradition, where the bride’s sisters and friends would steal the groom’s shoes – which were usually left outside – and only give them back to him after he’d paid the ladies for them. As time had gone on, the ritual had evolved from the taking of shoes to the taking of any other item the girls could get their hands on, with the groomsmen guarding the groom’s possessions.
At such times, the bride had a front-row seat from which she observed the negotiations and blatant manipulation as families got involved, though the whole thing was great fun for everyone. Reshma remembered Haniya sitting in Zafar’s seat next to her at their wedding after he’d got up to speak to a guest and then refusing to get up until he’dpaid her. She’d walked away with a decent wad of cash that day.
They managed to get a healthy sum off Nomaan too, who’d then been roasted by his relatives for giving in too easily.
‘I have to pay up eventually, why drag it out?’
Auntie Ruqayyah and Nomaan’s mother carried out a few more traditions of giving gifts to the bride and groom and then it was time to call it a day.
An emotional farewell ensued, with tears all round as Saleema said goodbye to her family and left with Nomaan. Of course, they’d all see each other at the reception, but it wouldn’t be the same.
Auntie Bilqis was consoling a sobbing Auntie Ruqayyah and Reshma noticed Daadi standing beside her, looking teary-eyed too. She made her way towards her, giving her a reassuring hug and Daadi gave her a watery smile. ‘Don’t mind me, sweetheart. I cried at your wedding too and you were coming back home with us. There’s just something about weddings and this particular part of them that sets me off.’
Zafar appeared at her other side and folded his arms around his grandmother, tucking her head against his chest. ‘Hey. Are you thinking of your time? All those hundreds of years ago when you got married.’ She swatted him on his arm and he grinned down at her. ‘Where’smygrandmother who always bringsothersto tears?’
‘Behave yourself.’ She sniffled but smiled. ‘I’m having a moment here and you’re supposed to console me right now, not be mean.’
He kissed the top of her head as he swayed her gently in his arms.
Reshma let Zafar comfort Daadi and stood beside Haniya, the latter resting her head against her shoulder as they watched Saleema and Nomaan leave together.
Movement from the side of her eye caught her attention and she saw Safiya standing with a man. He was leaning close to her face and talking to her before he pointed in the direction of the crowd and then walked away, leaving Safiya standing there by herself. She shook her head and Reshma saw her rub her fingers under her eyes before looking around her surreptitiously and then moving back towards a small group of people Reshma assumed were her in-laws.
