Delving Deeper

NUR

"Bro! I'm getting late again!" I called out from downstairs.

"Angh...go with Kabir today!" he shouted back.

I rolled my eyes. Kabir had gone for rugby practice and he knew it.

Then, I smirked.

Having five brothers, I did have more than a hundred tricks up my sleeve.

"I'll go with Brother Yusuf, then!"

Although Brother Yusuf was about fifteen years older than me, I don't know what problem my brothers had with him being near me.

Or any guy for that matter.

I heard wood creaking shortly followed by a very pissed-off Fahad.

"Don't you dare!" he growled and trudged down.

Seeing my face he slapped his head with the palm of his hand, realising that he took the bait. Again.

"I'll get back at you for this." he said gruffly, walking ahead of me, towards and through the door.

Ignoring him, I picked my backpack from the wooden floor and trailed off behind him. I slammed the main door shut and continued walking.

My footsteps came to a halt as I encountered Mama and Dad not even a few feet away with Uncle Arish. He and Dad were bantering and Mama was trying to save the poor man from Dad's wrath.

This was a weekly event, one that us siblings now ignored. Indeed, when I first found out about the real deal, I was more than a little mortified.

But Uncle Arish was such a sweet person that I couldn't help but love him despite his uncanny fondness towards my mother.

"You getting in, or what?" Fahad said in obvious annoyance.

Although, my brothers had wrapped me up in cotton wool, waking up early was an extremely onerous task for them all.

I, however, was definitely a morning person. I mean, I was just so happy to wake up in a comfortable setup and environment and the fact that I was given another chance to become a better person.

I took a gander at Fahad and hurled myself inside his BMW, lest he killed me.

"So," he started and I knew what was coming even before the words tumbled from his mouth. "I just want to remind you that if you so much as look at a guy, I'll break his bones, hand them to you and lock you up the playroom."

The words were said casually but I knew he meant every word. Although, the 'playroom' part really set me off.

It was 'the playroom' when I was 5 but now it was the study room and he knew how much mixing the two irritated me.

I plugged in my EarPods through my hijab and fixed it up a little, wondering whether I looked like a bag-lady. Although I didn't exactly care about my appearance, it was important to dress nicely to create a good image of Muslims.

"Hey!" Fahad was definitely getting stroppy. "Take these out, I'm talking to you. Don't you have respect for your elders?"

He tugged at my scarf, trying to get my EarPods out. I angled my head further east, shoving his hands away.

"Blah blah blah. I can't hear you."

• ~ •

I entered Westminster, hands shoved inside the pockets of my coat.

I nodded in greeting towards every passerby and offered smiles here and there.

Our school was one of the best schools in London and it was for the upper class which meant that most people were quite mean. But it didn't matter how they were, I was supposed to be at my best behaviour and so I was.

I padded across the hallway and noticed that it was crowded at the end. Unfortunately, my class was right there.

I pushed my way through the throng, not knowing what had caused such a wreaking havoc.

When I was finally in the front, my eyes fell upon the two boys fighting.

Well, one of them was throwing punches, the other was just crumpled up beneath him.

Anger flooded my senses and before I knew it, I was pulling the guy away from the other one.

He struggled and managed to push me away. Then he turned to look at me, a murderous look marring his face.

"Stay out of this!"