All is Fair

Chapter 24

The Meddling Monkey

 Rasheed smirked at his feet. He was ecstatic. The meddling monkey had finally done it. His patience and hardwork were finally rewarded. Deepak looked up from his phone.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked his friend.

Rasheed grinned at him. He couldn't contain his happiness. "Nothing." He said.

Deepak's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Rasheed..." He said slowly.

"I have something very important to do. Talk to you later " he said as he hurried to his bike.

Deepak went back to the game on his phone. He knew something was up and that the idiot had planned something mind-numbingly stupid. And whatever he was up to, he would share with Deepak. The boy shook his head in disappointment.

A week later, that is what happened. Deepak had hardly sat down with his phone and earphones when Rasheed burst into his room. He looked pissed off.

Deepak struggled to hold back his amusement.

His best friend glared at him.

"So... what did you do now?" He asked.

"Sanaa... She broke up with me. We formally ended the deal last week. And I heard Ameena had broken up with Feroz at the same time." Rasheed began.

Deepak held up his hand. "Actually, now I don't want to know. I know what you did next." He pushed the earphones into his ears.

Rasheed sat staring at him. "No, you don't understand."

"Oh, I do. Congrats."

"For what?"

"For... whatever you did after the deal was off."

Rasheed crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you think I did?"

"Hmmm... you went back to Ameena? You did, didn't you? You tried to win her over."

"I tried to. But she refused to entertain the idea."

Deepak sighed. "Forget her and move on, man."

Rasheed was already lost in thought. "Why would she be against us? She broke up with Feroz. There is no reason for her to hold back. She could simply patch up with me."

Deepak burst out laughing. "Not everyone jumps ships like you, Rasheed. She must have feelings for him. They might have argued over something silly. They might be on a break. But they'll patch up soon."

"What do you mean?" Rasheed was perplexed.

"Well, normally, couples argue and fight. They have misunderstandings and they 'break up'. But they don't actually break up. It's like a time-out. They spend some time alone, without each other. Then they go back to being together."

Rasheed was speechless. "Who does that?"

"Literally every couple." He paused to think about it. "Okay, not the ones you've broken up though. What you did, that sort of stuff does put a permanent end to relationships."

Rasheed sat up, the smile back on his face. "You're right."

Deepak was horrified. "No, wait. You understood that part wrong. Where are you going?"

Rasheed was gone by the time Deepak could stop him.

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Sanaa was perplexed. Why was her sister quiet? Last month, she had come back from Rasheed's house with a newfound determination. She had wanted to get her sister under control. But Chotti had stormed off at the very first mention of her love life. Sanaa had spent a month trying to think of a way to talk about everything. They were sitting in front of the TV. Ameena had her eyes fixed on the screen for the past two hours.

Knowing her sister, Sanaa was sure her mind was elsewhere. She would have changed to 50 different channels and watched 10 shows and 3 movies at the same time. Could she talk to her sister? Would she be willing to open up? Sanaa cleared her throat and rearranged the papers on her lap. Ameena's eyes slid to her then back to the TV.

"Is everything okay?" Sanaa asked cautiously.

Chotti didn't bother to reply. Sanaa went to the kitchen and came out with two cups of tea. She handed over a cup to Ameena. She took the cup. Sanaa was relieved. Her sister was not mad at her.

Ameena finally changed the channel. Her di waited till she changed channels and settled on a movie.

"Is it Feroz?" Sanaa asked quietly.

Ameena froze. She turned off the TV and went straight to her room, with the tea in her hand. Sanaa sat lost in thought.

They had broken up because of her; because of that day at the restaurant. Did Chotti still think there was something going on between her and Feroz? How could she convince her sister that that was not the case? The only way to do that would be to tell Ameena the truth about her and Rasheed. And now that the deal was off, she could. But how would that affect her relatives with her sister? Chotti could end up hating her di. Sanaa frowned. Lesser of the two evils. She would have to risk her bond with her sister to keep her away from Rasheed.

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Deepak sat staring at Rasheed. Mind-numbingly stupid couldn't even describe what the boy had done. They were on the terrace of Rasheed's house. "Wait a minute. You did what?"

Rasheed gave him a look of disdain.

"You actually did something like that?" Deepak knew he was at fault. He had said something without thinking. And he let Rasheed be by himself for a month. Deepak had expected his friend to calm down. But he should have known better.

"Are you mad?" he burst out again. "How can you be so freaking obsessed with her?" Deepak put a palm to his forehead. "Rasheed! If Feroz finds out..."

"He knows."

"What?" Deepak was stunned into silence again.

"He suspects me. But he needs to be sure."

"Do you realise the problems this puts you in?"

"I can face it." Rasheed shrugged.

Then he looked at Deepak, eyes boring into the latter's soul. "If you stand with me this time, it means problems for you as well. I'm used to it all by now. Are you though?"

"That is a useless question. I have no other choice."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the day I made you my friend, I knew I was doomed to suffer with you. I mean, remember the way we met?" He chuckled. Concern soon froze his features. "We'll face whatever happens now." He chewed on his fingernails.

Rasheed grinned like an impish monkey.

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