Page 30 of First Comes Marriage
She put her glass down and lowered herself onto the bench attached to the picnic table. ‘I’m not upset with you. I’m not upset, angry or annoyed with him either, believe it or not. He’s doing what he’s always done, there’s nothing new there. And while I …’ She let loose a weary sigh, lifting her shoulders and dropping them in time with it. She looked up at him with a tired smile on her face. ‘It’smy cousin’s wedding, Zafar. Auntie Ruqayyah and Uncle Imtiaz have gone to a lot of effort to put this wedding together and having a moment like that with a man who doesn’t give two figs about the matter you brought to his attention has the potential of ruining things for the people who are very dear to me.’
He ran a hand through his hair, his frustration still at its peak, though her words had got through to him. He understood exactly where she was coming from, but his irritation at Ahsan Mir wouldn’t ebb away. ‘I was annoyed, Reshma. I couldn’t bottle it up right then. Since he’s come here, he’s not exchanged more than a casual greeting with you and walks around without a care in the world and that bothers me. You being ignored by him bothers me. You being upset bothers me. Him having treated you the way he has throughout your life fucking bothers me, Reshma.’ He was breathing harshly as he stood in front of her, his fists tightly clenched and his back teeth grinding together hard enough to make his jaw ache as he looked her way. He didn’t make it a habit to swear in front of her, but his emotions were running so high, it had slipped out.
She looked at him intently for a loaded minute, her expression giving nothing of her thoughts away. ‘Why?’ She whispered the word, but he heard it clearly, despite the noise filtering through to them from the party.
If any of his family members were to hear how he’d behaved, they’d never believe the person telling them the story, it was so unlike him. He normally de-escalated situations, dealt with things logically and rationally. Smoothing things over until all parties were in agreement. His grandfather had always emphasised the importance of knowing the difference between honey and vinegar and knowing when to use one over the other. But this evening he’dbeen led by his emotions and lashed out at a man he barely knew but disliked intensely. And Reshma’s question was perfectly valid.Why?
The sound of footsteps close by had both of them looking in the direction of the party and they found Uncle Jawad making his way towards them. His usual jovial smile was in place as he looked at him, but as soon as his gaze landed on his niece, Zafar saw his expression change.
He came to a stop beside Zafar, his gaze honed in on Reshma. ‘Pet?’ He tilted his head to the side in question.
‘I’m OK.’
‘Sure?’
She nodded in response, but her uncle didn’t look convinced.
‘Auntie Mumtaz was wondering where you two had disappeared to. She doesn’t have a set of keys to your villa, so she just wanted to make sure you’ve not decided to duck out of here without giving her a set.’
Uncle Jawad looked his way, one eyebrow held higher than its twin.
Zafar exhaled loudly before admitting what had happened. ‘I had a go at your brother for ignoring Reshma and I don’t think she’s best pleased with me for it.’ He blurted the words out and was rewarded with wide eyes from both his wife and her uncle, though their expressions were slightly different. Reshma was wide-eyed in horror, while her uncle looked wide-eyed in surprise.
They stood in silence for a few minutes, Zafar wondering how Uncle Jawad was going to react. He might well give him an earful. It was his brother at the end of the day and Reshma’s father. Maybe he should have held his tongue after all. Just answered Ahsan’s superficial questions and left it at that. But the thought of doing that didn’t sit right with him.
Uncle Jawad stuck his right hand out towards him and Zafar stared down at it as if it were a snake, before tentatively clasping it with his own. The older man gave it a firm shake. ‘Well done, son. You’ve done something I’ve never felt in the position to be able to do.’
‘What?’ He and Reshma spoke at the same time, but, again, the expression behind the word was different for both of them. She sounded shocked as she stared at her uncle, while Zafar was curious.
Uncle Jawad shrugged his shoulders like a belligerent teenager, and at any other time, Zafar might have laughed. ‘I know he’s my younger brother, but you’re his daughter. I never felt it was my place to tell him how to parent you, but maybe I should have. Maybe if I had spoken up earlier, things might not have got to where they are. Who knows? But Zafar doing it is different. He’s speaking on behalf of his partner because he doesn’t like how she’s being treated. That’s a good thing, no?’ He looked Reshma’s way as he asked the question.
She returned his look blankly, didn’t say anything.
‘Answer me this, pet. If someone mistreated him,’ he pointed at Zafar, ‘would you say something? Do you feel anything when you can see everyone demands a piece of Zafar and he gives it to them without batting an eye or giving any thought to himself and his own needs?’
She looked at Zafar and he in turn looked at her uncle. It was uncanny how the conversation he’d been having with Reshma before her father had turned up was linked to what Uncle Jawad was saying.
Unaware of his thoughts, her uncle carried on speaking to her. ‘Do you remember when my mother was unhappy with me for bringing you home?’
Reshma nodded, her bottom lip pinched between herteeth, making him want to run his thumb over the indents she was making on it.
‘What happened that day, when without any thought to the fact that you, Niya and Sho were in the room, your grandmother was grilling me?’
‘Auntie Bilqis stopped her.’
‘Exactly. She could easily have let me get roasted, it was my own mother and we might have told Bills to butt out, but she didn’t care. She wanted to stand by me. Is that not what Zafar has just done?’
Reshma looked at him and nodded, the emotions swirling in her eyes making him itch to take her into his arms.
‘And, aside from all of that, calling BS on something that is categorically BS is not a bad thing and something perhaps we should all do more of rather than pretend it’s not happening or that it’s OK.’ Uncle Jawad shook his head, as though coming to some conclusions of his own and in the next moment, his expression changed and he was smiling at them once more. ‘Right, are you two coming back inside or calling it a night? If it’s the latter, I’ll need a set of keys for your grandmother, son.’
14
Reshma
‘Is there a reason you’re frowning and not fawning over me? We get one afternoon to ourselves amid all the pandemonium and I feel like you’re not giving it the reverence it deserves.’ Haniya aimed popcorn into her mouth, tossing it inelegantly and trying to catch it in her mouth. If Auntie Bilqis were to see her, she’d hit the roof.
Haniya had come over to Reshma’s villa to spend some time with her, while Daadi, and Auntie Bilqis were at Auntie Ruqayyah’s villa going through some more last-minute discussions about the wedding, i.e., a chinwag with tea on tap. Uncle Jawad, Zafar and Shoaib had gone somewhere together, Shoaib only saying it was a guy thing when asked where they were off to.
