HKKMJNM: Part 24a, Pg 145 - Page 48

Originally posted by: -Yaariyan-

i miss this FF so much.. please update soon.. i love this FF... 😳

Originally posted by: Jaren93.

So I have finally gotten my lazy self to do some work. Update tonight hopefully.😊

Finally up.

Recap

Sarah: "Why are you so upset? Are you sure he is just a friend Zoe?"
Zoya: "Of course. What else Ammi?"
Sarah: "Well he should have. You take rest. Let me check up on Hamza. The doctor said you would be discharged by evening."

After Sarah left Zoya said to herself.
"Fine if he doesn't care, even I don't. To hell with him. I won't talk to him now even if he wants to."

Part 18

When Hammad entered the hospital room, he saw her frowning and talking to herself. He snapped his fingers in front of her eyes and spoke.
H: "Hey! Where are you lost?"
Z: "Huh. Nowhere. Just..."
H: "So, your mood suggests he didn't come."

Z: "Well Ammi said he did. I don't know."

H: "He came or he didn't?"

Z: "He came but didn't talk to me. The idiot, good-for-nothing, stuck-up, idiot didn't even wish me goodbye before leaving."

H: "Well he should have at least wished you before leaving. I can understand why he didn't meet me but you..."

Z: "What do you mean?"

H: "About what?"

Z: "Not meeting you."

H: "Oh that. Actually I, we had, last night, when you were you know..."

Just then the door opened and Sarah entered.

S: "Zoe did you finish your food? Hammad, go home and take Hamza along."

H: "Baba was going. Tell him to take him along."

S: "He is not going now. Guddu bhai is coming to see Zoe. Hamza is tired and he is really irritating me. Please beta."

H: "Okay. I will go but I can't see him around."

S: "I am going to see where he is. This boy is so damn hyperactive. Just can't sit at one place for more than a minute."

When Sarah left Zoya spoke.

Z: "So you were telling me something."

H: "Wait. Let me get the car keys from Baba."

He got up and went out. When he returned with the keys he told her.

H: "If you want to go see him off, we can sneak out before your beloved Susar gee comes."

Z: "I don't want to go see him off. I don't care wherever he goes."

H: "I guess you are quite keen about meeting your Susar gee"

Z: "Urgh! One. He is not at all my beloved and two, stop calling him my Susar gee. Three, I am very angry with that stupid excuse of a friend."

H: "Reconsider your decision till I bring Hamza. I will ask you again in a moment."

He entered her room the third time and said.
"Soch lo. His flight doesn't leave till about two hours. You can still meet him before he leaves if you reach there in ten minutes."

Zoya huffed and said.

"My answer is still no. I don't care about him even a teeny tiny bit."

He peeked out of the door of the hospital room and spoke in a hushed tone.

H: "Hey Zoe Haseena Aunty has also come with him. Make your choice fast. Your Susralees or Asad?"

Z: "Is that even a question? Get me out of here fast."

He helped her down the bed and they hurried out of the room. Hammad picked Hamza up, took Zoya's hand and ran in the opposite direction in the corridor from where Hassena, Guddu, Zubair and Sarah were heading towards Zoya's room. They dodged a few nurses along their way as they wouldn't have let Zoya out of the hospital as she wasn't discharged yet.

Z: "Finally!"

Zoya sighed as they reached their car in the parking lot.

H: "Wait let me tell Ammi where you are or she will freak out."

He took out him cell and sent a text message to Sarah.

"Zoya is with us. Will explain later."

He turned the ignition and sped out of the hospital.

Hamza placed one hand behind the driver's seat and the other behind the second seat, bobbed his head forward and asked Hammad.

"Bhai, why are we running away? Did we steal anything? Is the police after us?"

H: "No we are going to have an adventure."

Hz: "Adventure. Wow!"

Z: "So what were you going to tell me?"

H: "You are still stuck there! Well actually last night I was angry at Asad for taking you there so I kind of punched his nose a little hard."

Z: "WHAT?"

H: "Don't give me that look. I apologized to him and I am doing this just to make up for that. Besides I didn't actually mean to hurt him."

Zoya picked up a book that was lying on the dashboard and hit Hammad's arm hard.

H: "Owe! WTH Zoe, it hurts."

Z: "Oh I am sorry. Besides I didn't mean to hurt you."

H: "Okay fine. I get the point."

Z: "Now drive fast. We need to get there quick."

Haseena was constantly blabbering nonsense as they walked towards the room where Zoya was admitted.

Hs: "What was she doing there?"

S: "Went out with a friend."

Hs: "How many times you need to be told not to let her go out alone. You are such a careless mother. So where did the bullet hit? Can she walk? Is she handicapped now?"

By now Sarah's temper was shooting and she couldn't bear any more of this fat old woman's non-sense. She felt like banging her head against the wall. Her cellphone buzzed in her hand. As she read the text message from Hammad, she panicked. After the whole night's ordeal she wasn't exactly in a position to deal with all this. She felt really tired. By now they had reached the room. Hassena let out a gasp as she saw Zoya's bed empty.

Hs: "Haww! Where is she? Did somebody kidnap her? I already said this is some conspiracy. Someone is targeting our Zoya. First she was shot and now she is missing. Why is this happening to us? What have we done to anybody to earn this enmity?"

She wailed loudly as Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Bhabhi she may be in around here somewhere."

Zubair spoke as he tried to placate her.

"She has gone with Hammad."

Z: "This boy is so damn irresponsible."

S: "Why do you think the fault always lies with him Zubair? She may have gone by her own will. Besides I talked to the doctor some time back and he said she is fit to be discharged. She just needs rest for a few days to recover fully."

G: "You should have told us beforehand. We just wasted the taxi money to get here."

Hs: "It is us Guddu who care so much that we come running at any time they need us. They just don't bother. Let's go."

Z: "Bhabhi it's not like that. Please don't be angry."

Hs: "We need to go somewhere"

Z: "Okay. I'll drop you."

G: "You better. I am not wasting any more of my money."

Zubair took out his wallet and gave him a few thousand Rupee bills which he quietly took as if it was his birthright. As Zubair fished his pockets for the keys of his cars, it occurred to him that Hammad had taken them.

Z: "Oho! Hammad took the car."

Hs: "God this boy. Always causing problems. Black sheep of our family. Sometimes I think he is not even your son."

When Sarah couldn't take it any longer she spoke to Haseena harshly.

"You don't need to think about us at all. Better keep your focus on your own family. It might do us both some good."

Zubair placed his arm around her shoulders to calm her down. He gave some more money to Guddu which he took gladly and he told him dryly to hail a cab and leave.

Zoya looked at her watch impatiently for about the umpteenth time and told him to hurry up. Then she groaned in frustration.

"All the stupid Mumbai people have decided to come out on the roads today. God this traffic, Urgh! Drive faster Hammad."

H: "I just can't go faster than this."

Z: "If you don't get me there on time I will kill you."

H: "Okay. Here you go."

He replied as he increased the pressure on the accelerator. In a bid to go faster he missed the traffic signal which was red at the moment.

Z: "This is your fault. You were driving. You should have looked."

H: "How could I have looked when you were breathing down my neck, urging me to go faster?"

They bickered as the traffic warden tried to intervene. He cursed the moment he had stopped this car for breaking a signal. (T= traffic warden)

T: "Listen..."

Z: "You are such a lousy driver. If I were driving I would have reached by now."

H: "Yeah right. With your broken arm."

T: "You have broken..."

Z: "My arm is not broken. It's just injured and bandaged."

H: "Doesn't prove anything. You still can't drive."

T: "Hello."

Z: "Even with an injured arm, I can still drive better than you."

H: "Pfft! Better than me? In your dreams. You just can't drive better than me."

Z: "I can."

H: "You can't"

Z: "Don't you challenge me. I can."

H: "You can't"

"FWEEE" The traffic warden finally blew his whistle loudly to shut them up.

"YOU CAN FIGHT LATER. Pehle challan katao. Signal tora e."

Hamza piped in from the back.

"We havn't broken anything. It is still there. Look."

Z: "Like a responsible citizen you should. You are wasting my time. Get out of the car. By now I would have reached the airport."

H: "Why should I get out?"

Dreading another bickering session the warden ordered him to get out of the car that very instant. As soon as he got out, Zoya slid into the driving seat and sped off in the wake of Hammad's shocked scream. "Hey! Stop the car Zoe."

She parked the car in the parking lot, directed Hamza to keep sitting in the car and dashed towards the Departure lounge. At the entrance to the International Departure Lounge two guards stopped her.

G: "Ma'am please show us your passport and ticket."

Z: "I don't have it. I just need to see someone who is leaving."

G: "I am sorry Ma'am. We can't let you in."

Z: "Look it's important. I..."

A bulky middle aged man walked up behind her and said.

"She is with me."

He showed them a card and shook hands with one of the guards probably putting some money into his hand in the process. To her delight they let them in. Probably he was some kind of officer. Whoever he was, she didn't care at the moment. She just had to get to Asad. She didn't know why but she had this inexplicable urge to see him once before he left for God knows how long. She quickly thanked him and started to move forward.

She felt very tired with all the running and her head felt heavy. After walking a few more steps she started to feel dizzy. She felt as if everything was spinning around her. And then she saw him standing at a counter.

"Asad." Her own voice rang in her ears as darkness engulfed her. The last thing she heard was a thud sound as she fell to the floor and a sharp pain shot through her arm.

Asad felt as if somebody had called him. The voice felt like it belonged to Zoya. He turned around.

His eyes scanned the hall as he looked for her.

"How can she be here? Oh God why am I hallucinating?"

The only thing that caught his attention were a few people gathered together at a distance from him but that was not a very unusual sight at an airport. He took his boarding pass, picked up his bag and moved towards the waiting area.

The man who had helped Zoya earlier fished out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. After a few seconds he spoke as he saw Asad turning around the corner and disappearing from his sight. (Stranger=S)

S: "Sir, he has left"

The voice on the other end spoke.

"And the girl?"

S: "I think she just fainted."

The other guy: "Follow her. I want complete information. Don't mess up."

S: "Don't worry Sir. Your work will be done by nightfall."

She felt something wet and cold hit her face. Zoya fluttered her eyelids when she heard a lady speak.

"She is gaining consciousness."

As she opened her eyes she saw a few people gathered around her. The stranger who had helped her earlier was bent over her. He extended his hand forwards to help her get up. He helped her sit on a bench nearby and sat down beside her. The small crowd dispersed.

S: "What happened?"

Z: "I came to see a friend."

S: "So, did you meet him?"

Z: "No I just saw him." She looked around and continued.

"I think he left."

S: "You fainted. What happened to your arm? It's bleeding."

Z: "Damn. I won't be able to drive now. It's aching so bad. Oh and thank you for helping me earlier."

S: "No problem. So what is your name?"

Z: "Zoya."

S: "Zoya I think you should call someone from your family."

Z: "Hmmm. I should leave then. My cell is in my car."

S: "Take mine."

Z: "Thank you so much."

She took his cellphone and called Hammad. He picked it on the second ring.

H: "Hello."

Z: "Hammad it's me."

H: "Zoe what the hell yar. Where are you?"

Z: "Airport."

H: "Where exactly? I am at the airport too."

He told her where he was and she replied.

Z: "I am coming. Hamza is in the car."

She thanked the stranger handed over his cell to him and got up.

Z: "My brother is here. Thank you once again."

She felt dizzy as soon as she started to walk. The man got up and helped her stand straight.

"Oh my God Zoe. Look at your arm. We need to get to the hospital ASAP."

Hammad exclaimed as soon as he saw her.

As they sat in the car, Hammad kept asking her questions which she answered only in monosyllables. Soon she was fast asleep. He took her to the hospital and got her wound stitched again amid loads of scolding from Sarah and Zubair. She was then discharged from the hospital with instructions of bed rest for a few days. When they reached their house, Ramu kaka opened the gate. As the car moved in, nobody noticed another car at the corner of the street. The stranger had been following them covertly the whole day. He called his boss the second time that day, only to give him the information he had gathered about the Farooqi family that day.

"Zubair Farooqi, owner of Crescent Cement, interesting." Rashid Ahmed Khan said to himself as he placed his cell on the table after talking to one of his workers in Mumbai.

Zoya lay in her bed, contemplating over the day's events. The more she thought about it, the angrier she felt at Asad. She even went to meet him at the airport despite her condition and he left, just like that. The empty feeling she had after coming back from the airport just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried. She didn't know why but she felt like crying. She fell asleep as silent tears fell from her eyes and absorbed into her pillow.

"Are you sure you need to move all this stuff?"

Hammad asked Najma as he looked at the packed stuff in her room. They had come to take Najma's things from her apartment, now that she was going to move in with the Farooqis.

"Oh my God! What is in this?" Hammad exclaimed as he picked up a heavy carton to take it downstairs to his car.

"Books." Najma replied. "These are just this year's. The old ones are in these two cartons."

H: "And you need to take all of them along?"

N: "Obviously. I need them."

Finally after five rounds, they managed to get all her stuff into Hammad's car.

"By the way, I don't provide free service Ma'am. I need reimbursement. McDonald's on our way back would do." Hammad spoke as he took the driving seat while Najma entered the car from the other side.

Later that night Hammad peeped inside as Najma was setting things in her new room.

H: "Need help."

N: "Ummm Thank you."

H: "That was neither a yes nor a no which leaves it to me to do whatever I decide. I think I shall help you. That too for free."

N: "Oh my! You are so generous."

H: "No. I am not hungry right now."

N: "Who would be after eating three burgers in one go?"

H: "So where should I place these books?"

N: "Set them on the rack by the window."

After some time he spoke.

"Done." He moved forward to open another carton. Just as he tore the tape over it, Najma turned. When she saw what he was doing she exclaimed.

"No, not that one."

H: "What is in here? I am curious."

Najma hurriedly moved forward to move the carton away from him but he had already opened it.

"Interesting." He commented as he eyed the photo album lying on the top of the carton. He picked it up and ran before Najma could take it away. After he was at a safe distance from her, he opened it and broke into loud peals of laughter.

"Oh God! You were so fat when you were little. Little Miss Humpty Dumpty."

N: "Give it to me."

H: "Are you crazy? This is such a treasure. Wait let me show it to Zoe. Oho she is asleep. Well I will keep it then."

N: "Hammad give it to me now or..."

H: "Or what Tamatar?"

They played the cat and mouse game till both of them were tired. Hammad sat down beside her bed on the floor and opened the album again. There was a picture of baby Najma kissing a lady's cheek.

H: "Hey Tamatar is that your mother?"

Najma's eyes filled up as she sat down beside him and nodded. A teardrop fell from her eye down her cheek.

Hammad looked at her for a moment and then spoke in an animated tone.

"Pushpa, no tears. Pushpa I hate tears re... inhe poonch dalo. Pushpa mujhse ye aansu dekhe nahi jaate."

His antics brought an involuntary smile on her face.

H: "You look lovely when you smile."

She cocked her eyebrows in response. He got a little conscious for a moment at his faux pass and then his gaze fell on the album in his hands. Just at that moment Najma looked at the album too. She quickly moved forward and snatched it away from him.

H: "Oh come on. Let me have a look."

N: "No. You will make fun of me."

H: "I won't. Promise and you were a very cute baby. Please?"

N: "Okay."

She placed the album between them and opened it.

N: "This was the day I was born."

H: "Is this Asad?"

N: "Yup."

H: "Ye bhi bilkul golu tha. Just like you."

She opened the picture Hammad had seen earlier.

N: "This one here was my first birthday."

H: "Hey who's is guy here?"

N: "My first day to school. This is, this is my father."

H: "Oooh."

Najma kept sitting still, staring at the picture, Hammad snapped his fingers in front of her eyes and said.

"You have your father's picture with you."

N: "So?"

H: "Don't you hate him?"

N: "I... I don't know. Sometimes I wish things were different. I don't have any happy memories with my parents but these pictures are my refuge from reality. Whenever I look at this album I realize, we were a proper family too once. Then everything went wrong. When I was a baby, I had both of them there for me. I don't have any memory of that time. When I was big enough to make any real memories with them, Ammi died and I spent my childhood trying to gain his attention. I was a child. I didn't understand whatever he did to Ammi. I just wanted my father but he was never there. You have no idea how it feels growing up where you are discriminated against. You have no idea how it feels being worthless to your own father."

H: "Well I have been worthless to my father my whole life as well."

N: "What do you mean?"

H: "I have always been the ugly duckling of the family."

N: "I don't know what you are talking about but I like how you put it. In the end the ugly duckling turns out to be a swan i.e. the best in its family."

H: "See. This is what one should do. Make your own self feel your worth. Baqi dunya jae bhar main."

N: "Well you already know my story. It's only fair if you tell me yours too."

H: "There is no story as such. I have never been good enough. Actually when I… I guess Ammi is calling me downstairs. I'll be back in a minute."

Precap:

"Hello I am Rashid Ahmed Khan. Najma's father."

Zubair looked at the suave businessman standing before him. Looks could be so deceptive sometimes.