HKKMJNM: Part 24a, Pg 145 - Page 60

Originally posted by: Jaren93.

My buddies, I am trying to write the next part since the last two weeks but

1) I am hell busy with my studies and all.

2) Even then whenever I take out time to pen down the update, DANG my mind goes blank. I have thought of what to write but can't fathom how to write it. I know I sound lame buh... whatever.

Bear with me people.

Despite this here I am sitting on my study table with my Pathology book in my lap (which means I should be studying for my upcoming exams) trying to write the next part. Expect it anytime in the next twenty four hours that is if my stupid brain starts working.

Originally posted by: Jaren93.

My buddies, I am trying to write the next part since the last two weeks but

1) I am hell busy with my studies and all.

2) Even then whenever I take out time to pen down the update, DANG my mind goes blank. I have thought of what to write but can't fathom how to write it. I know I sound lame buh... whatever.

Bear with me people.

Despite this here I am sitting on my study table with my Pathology book in my lap (which means I should be studying for my upcoming exams) trying to write the next part. Expect it anytime in the next twenty four hours that is if my stupid brain starts working.

Before you all complain Asad is not there in this part as well. Uske bhi meri tarah exams honay walay hain 😆. Asad will come back after a few more updates on Najma's wedding.

Precap

Z: "Don't compare me with Rashid. I took in a parentless child into my home and raised him as my own. It's just that I can't forget that I almost lost my daughter due to him. I just can't forcefully feel affectionate towards that boy."

Hammad who had come to give Zubair's cellphone to him, which he had forgotten in the lounge, stood frozen to the ground outside Zubair's bedroom. He had stopped to listen to their conversation when he heard his name. The cell phone fell from his hand. The voices from inside continued.

Sarah: "For God's sake Zubair. He was just eight at that time and it was not his fault."

"You Chor! Hammad why did you steal my chocolates?" Zoya spoke in an agitated tone as she walked up to Hammad. He didn't answer. The voices coming from her parents' room shook her world. She saw the cell phone fall from Hammad's hand. She came back to her senses as she saw him rushing out of the house.

Part 20

Hammad had no idea where he was going as he rushed out of his, no the Faruqi's house. His car key pressed against his leg in his pocket. He pulled it out and walked to his car. When he pulled out of the drive-way he saw Zoya running out of the house calling after him. He sped away without sparing her a glance.

He leaned against his car and drew in sharp breaths to lessen the suffocating feeling gripping his chest. His mind had gone numb.

"Took in a parent-less child... raised him as my own... almost lost my daughter...a parent-less child..."

Zubair's voice reverberated in his head. He covered his ears with his palms and shouted in agony to drown away the sounds. His legs could not hold him any longer. Still leaning against the car, he sat down on the ground. Angry tears fell from his eyes as he felt like killing his adoptive parents for making him live a lie all these years.

Zoya was a complete emotional wreck as she drove uselessly on the almost empty streets looking for him. It had almost been half an hour since he had rushed out of the house. She had almost given up but did not want to go back home at all. For the next five minutes she just kept driving mindlessly. She came to her senses when her car jerked due to a crater in the road. She looked around to see where she was. It was their old neighborhood where she and Hammad had grown up. The place held so many happy memories. Right in front of her was the park where they used to spend almost all their evenings. As she parked her car near the entrance of the park she saw another car at a distance. Her heart leapt with joy as she realized that it was Hammad's car. She ran to the car and saw him sitting on the ground with his arms folded around his legs and his head resting on his arms.

Z: "Hammad."

Hammad looked up, his face expressionless, as he spoke in a harsh tone.

"What are you doing here?"

Z: "The way you ran away, I was worried. I..."

H: "Why the hell does that matter to you? Get lost. Don't follow me."

He got up and moved her away from the door of his car by holding her elbow. Then he sat in his car, banged the door shut and rushed away. Zoya sped to her own car to follow him before he disappeared from her sight again.

As he sped on the almost empty street, his whole life played against his eyes like a film.

His three years old self was playing with Ramu Kaka when Baba's car stopped outside. He ran out of the house to greet him. Baba rushed forward and grabbed him, picking him up in his arms.

"How is my son?"

H: "I am the best."

B: "Oh yes. You are the best. We have something for you here."

H: "What?"

Right at that moment Mama got out of the car. She had a blanket in her arms.

B: "Oh look. Your sister is finally here."

H: "She is? Where is she?"

B: "Here."

H: "Baby. You said I can play with her."

He extended his hand and touched her face.

H: "Baba."

B: "Yes beta."

H: "Why isn't she moving? How can I play with her?"

B: "You can play with her when she grows up. Now let's go inside."

Hammad was really happy to have a sister. He would sit beside her all day and try to make her react to him. He rejoiced every time she did. When he started school he made such a fuss about taking her there with him. Sarah had to work very hard to make him understand. The first thing he always did after coming home was to rush to her nursery.

When she started school, he always held her finger and dropped her to her class before going to his own. She had become so dependent on him that she never spent time with her friends during break. She always sat with him to have her lunch. Slowly his friends started to get tired of always having her around. They started feeding the same to him as well. By the time he was eight, he was really tired of her clingy nature. She never did anything without him.

"There wall is broken at the back side. We can sneak out from the school. I say, let's do it during break today. Nobody will know. I will treat you all with ice-cream."

Aman, Hammad's friend suggested.

H: "No yar. This isn't right. The road outside is very busy. I won't go."

A: "Hammad yar! Don't be a sissy. Look I even took out money from my mother's purse for this."

H: "Stealing is wrong."

A: "Oh come on. It's not like I stole them. I just took them from my mother's purse without her permission. It's not stealing."

At first he refused to go but when all his friends insisted, they decided to sneak out.

A: "Hey Hammad! Make sure your puppy doesn't follow you there."

H: "She is my sister Aman."

Hammad replied irritated.

Hammad saw Zoya coming to him when he walked out of his class during break. He scowled at her when she reached him.

H: "I told you to stay with your own friends."

Z: "I just came to give you this. I made it for you during my arts class today."

She held out a card for him to see. Aman pulled him away before he could reply.

"Go away Super-glue. Leave him alone."

Zoya stood there teary-eyed as she saw him go away with his friends.

When she saw him going towards the back-side of the school, curiosity got better of her and she followed them.

Zoya called out to him when she saw them sneak out through a hole in the broken wall. She ran after him. By the time, she reached the hole, Hammad and his friends had already crossed the road. She stood on the footpath outside their school and called out to him. A passerby accidently pushed her off the footpath. Just then an over speeding car hit her. Her little frame flew into the air and she fell on the footpath, unconscious, with a pool of blood around her. Hammad ran across the road while his friends screamed at him to stop. A few cars screeched to a halt to let him pass. There she lay, with the card she had made for him still clutched in her blood-soaked hand. "Best brother ever", the words on the card mocked him. No, he wasn't any close to being the best brother. He wasn't even good. He cried while passersby gathered around them. One of them called the ambulance.

"How and why did she go out of the school Hammad?"

Baba asked him as they sat outside the operation theatre.

"I am sorry Baba. It was entirely my fault."

Hammad sobbed.

B: "Sshh! Beta she will be fine InshaAllah. Just tell me what happened."

He narrated the whole incident to Zubair. By the time he finished Zubair was seething with anger.

He got up without saying anything and walked out banging the door behind him. Although he didn't say anything his reaction scared the little eight year boy and imprinted he idea that he was solely responsible for his sister's condition in his mind. He hugged his mother and cried muttering.

"I am a very bad brother."

Sarah tried to sooth him as she rubbed his back lovingly.

"No beta. You are a very good big brother. Just pray for her. Okay? I am going to talk to the doctor. You sit here like a good boy."

Zubair paced restlessly near his car in the parking lot.

"I am going to sue them. What the hell was the school administration thinking? How could they have left such a big hole in that wall? This is an accident waiting to happen."

"Zoya is a strong girl. Don't worry Zubair she will be fine. The minor fractures in her bones will heal in no time as well. Children her age usually recover well from such injuries if given treatment on time. About that we were quite lucky. Just take care she takes lots of fluids. After a few physiotherapy sessions she will be completely fit."

The doctor told Zubair after Zoya was discharged from the hospital.

Once they were back home, life slowly returned back to normal. Zubair faced a serious setback in his company so he was extremely busy in those days. He came back home late at night, spent some time with Zoya and went to sleep. During all this, he unintentionally ended up paying almost no attention to Hammad. Hammad who was already shaken up by Zoya's accident started to annoy Zubair and Sarah deliberately to gain their attention. He made sure that he did the very things that they forbade him from doing.

One evening, Hammad and Zoya were home alone with Ramu Kaka as Zubair was at his office and Sarah had gone to buy grocery. Zoya saw Hammad fastening his shoe laces and asked him.

"Are you going out?"

H: "Yes I am going to the park."

Z: "I will go too."

H: "No, Baba said you won't go anywhere."

Z: "I want to go out. Please don't tell Baba. Please."

H: "Okay come but you will sit on the bench only."

Z: "Okay."

He took her hand and both of them walked to the park near their house. Hammad soon got busy with his own friends.

Zoya got bored sitting idly on the bench and went to the swings. After some time she started to feel dizzy. She called out to Hammad and before he could reach her she passed out. Really tensed, Hammad ran back home to fetch Ramu Kaka.

Zubair walked in angrily with the doctor and escorted him to Zoya's room. After he made sure Zoya was alright, he called Hammad and spoke in a very harsh tone.

"Why is it very hard for you to obey us? I told you not to go out."

H: "Baba Zoya insisted that she also wanted to go so I..."

B: "I explicitly told you both to stay at home. You must have told her to go out with you too."

H: "No I didn't. Don't lash out on me for something I didn't do."

Hammad spoke indignantly and Zubair raised his hand on him for the first time ever. The slap shocked the boy who had never even been scolded by his parents.

Z: "YOU DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THIS."

Crying, he ran out of the room. Just at that moment Sarah entered. She was shocked at the scene before her.

S: "Zubair, why did you hit him?"

Z: "This boy is bad news. I just can't risk my daughter's life due to his antics."

S: "He is just a little kid and don't forget he is our son too."

Z: "I regret the day we decided to raise him as our own, should have left him in some orphanage. Maybe he is just bad luck for us."

S: "ZUBAIR! This is the last time you are saying any such thing. There is no regret whatsoever."

Z: "I don't need your permission for expressing what I feel."

S: "Calm down. You are taking too much stress due to the things going on at your office. Everything will be fine. Just have faith."

Things did return to normal after that on the surface only. Zubair never left Zoya alone with Hammad initially, but after her incessant protests, he relented. His cold behavior with Hammad, however continued.

Zubair thought that his duty towards Hammad was to fulfill all his financial needs. He gave him whatever he ever asked for except for love.

All his life he dismissed any disturbing thoughts that plagued his mind but he couldn't run away any longer with reality staring him right in the face. The reality that he was not Zubair and Sarah's son, the reality that they had just taken pity on him, the reality that his own parents had abandoned him, the reality that his whole life had been a lie. Sudden anger surged through him and the pressure on the accelerator increased.

With Zubair's voice reverberating in his ears, an angry cry escaped his lips as he banged his car into a truck approaching from the opposite side.

"NOOO" Zoya cried helplessly as she saw the horrendous scene unfold before her. Her car screeched to a halt as she applied the brakes suddenly. She ran out of her car and ran towards Hammad's which was a wreck now. His bloodstained forehead lied against the steering wheel. There were a very few people around. The road was largely deserted at this time of the night. Even the truck driver, whose truck Hammad's car had collided with, didn't bother to stop to check whether he was alive or not.

Her heart thudded loudly as she tried to pull him out. With great difficulty she managed to pull him out but did know what to do next as she didn't have her phone with her.

"Help! Somebody please help me." She cried as she tried to stop the blood gushing out of the cut on his forehead.

"Hammad please don't... just get up, tell me this is just a joke. Just get up damn it."