Last First Chance (Al-Ameen Family Spin-Off)

Reconnecting

MAHEEN

It had been over two weeks since Hasan and I talked in the boxing ring. I hadn't reached out to him about anything and nor had he tried to talk to me. At a certain point, I think Naina had also realized that something was off and stopped asking me about him.

I don't know if it was because the last conversation we had felt like a nail in the coffin. Maybe it was because I had agreed to let my grandma and aunts throw me from potential suitor to potential suitor with big talks of dowries, reducing me to a bartering tool. I felt more alone than I have in a while. Even Baburao sensed something was off with me and was not getting up to his usual antics.

I spent every lunch at work avoiding everyone in the office, including Naina. The weather was nice so I would take my food up to the rooftop to the spot Hasan showed me weeks ago.

I was definitely going through a depressive episode. PMS mixed in with the opening of old wounds was a disaster in the making. I aggressively wiped away tears as I scrolled through old pictures on my phone, ignoring my food.

I missed my brother so much in times like this.

My dad was in the house, listening to conversations his mom would have with his sister about how much dowry they needed to offer to have someone take me. I was turning 27 in a few weeks, and that burden was getting too much for them to carry now. An unwed, mother-less girl, who talked to much and felt too freely. 

"Bin bihayi ladki ko koyi bhithavat ho? Jaldi koi dulha dhoonde ke shaadi karvado Maheenya ki. (Who keeps an unmarried girl in their house this long? Find a groom fast and get her married)," my grandma was telling my dad last night as I cleaned up after dinner. 

Rayyan would never let anyone force me into anything I didn't want. He would never let me leave until I was ready.

Except that he himself left me... so there's that.

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HASAN

My foot was starting to tap the floor impatiently but I forced myself to stay still. I was kind of a nervous-excited mix, but impatient nonetheless to get this show on the road.

Two weeks ago I found Maheen on the roof of our office. She did not realize I had opened the door behind her but she was looking at pictures of her and Rayyan on her phone. And she was crying.

I didn't really know what to do so I left her alone at the time. I asked Naina for advice on how to help, and it was Naina's idea that maybe I should track down her brother. Something was obviously upsetting Maheen but she wasn't able to share it with me. It was clear however that she needed Rayyan.

I found Rayyan on Instagram and we connected, talking over the phone a few times in the last two weeks. He told me what exactly happened after their mom passed. He and Maheen both were sent to the USA days after their mom's funeral to have someone look after them since- as usual - their Dad could not be bothered to do so. Rayyan had already gotten accepted into Pennsylvania State University, where he planned to go anyways so he had his future set out for him.

Maheen had apparently gone into a catatonic state for the months following their mom's death. Psychiatrists and doctors alike said it was the shock of losing their mom and she would be okay with time.

She was okay with time but in those months before he went off to university, the siblings had drifted apart, dealing with grief in their own self-destructive ways.

I felt even worse hearing all this. When Maheen needed someone the most, everyone had abandoned her. I should have tried harder to get in contact with her. I should have tried harder to be a better friend.