FF: Aadat [Part 5 pg 6]

It was a bright sunny afternoon. As soon as the bell rang, the kids ran outside to their parents, anxious to get home and excited that it was the weekend, meaning no school. Basically it was a normal Friday afternoon, though the definition of normal differed for others. Most kids were excited about having days off school, except for 2 who dreaded the two days that were to come.

They reached home just as their dad parked in the driveway, coming home from a long day at work. He got out of the car and was shocked to see them by themselves. The kids nervously walked to the front door and before they could knock, a woman flung the door open and saw them standing there.

After they had all gotten in, their dad sighed. "How could you be so careless?"

"It was an accident. It could've happened to anyone. And I'm sorry I slept in."

"Do you have any idea what could've happened? They walked home on their own. They're just kids, Do you not care about them at all?" He snapped.

"Don't you yell at me! How dare you accuse me of not loving my kids. Of course I love them. Why else would I work hard at night?" She yelled back.

"And I don't? I work hard as well. I spend a whole day slogging just to provide for my kids. Why else would I tolerate you?"

"You tolerate me? I'm the one who's tolerating you for all these years."

"Really? Then why did you marry me?" The dad asked sarcastically.

"I was out of my mind when my parents had told me that they arranged me marriage with you and I gave my consent."

As the years went by, the children became immune to what was going on. The family slowly drifted apart and spent less time with each other. It was during this time that their father would be home less often, choosing to stay away from the new drama that would unfold when he entered the house. Though he was unhappy with his marriage and chose to stay away from his wife, she in turn would get angrier and this led to more arguments.

"Why do you care?" he would answer.

"It's not about me. It's about the kids. How do you think they feel about their father not being around?" The truth was that the kids didn't care. They were happy when he was away because it would mean that their parents wouldn't argue and therefore wouldn't suffer. They missed having their father around but were happy knowing that he was happy, even for a few hours, until he came home. They didn't say anything because they didn't want to steal that moment of peace from him.

"What are you talking about? I am there. I come home everyday don't I? I help them go over their homework and tell them a bedtime story before they go to sleep while you're away at work don't I?" this was in fact true. But that was only to fulfil the obligatory duty of doing something for his children.