Junooniyat

CHAPTER 12

Maryam Chaudhary
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Amna and I ran home, panting heavily. As we approached our gate, we looked and saw that they had dropped us off at our doorstep.

We both entered the gate, locked it and went into the house. Upon seeing that ammi was not in the kitchen, we sighed in relief knowing she wouldn't scold for coming home late.

"Maryam, we're here, but what about that dead body?", Amna asked as she sat next to me on the kitchen counter, a look of concern on her face.

"I don't know, Amna, I'm feeling scared", I said, tears streaming down my face.

We should have never left the house. He showed no fear in killing the man in front of us, even though the victim had been harassing us. However, taking a life was unjustified.

I wipe away my tears and let out a deep sigh. I want to erase this day from my memory, and pretend we never met or interacted with anyone.

"Let's go upstairs", I said to Amna as I began to make my way up to my room. We headed upstairs together.

"Bhai, will come to pick me up", Amna whispered, I nodded and walked into my room.

I grabbed a basic white salwar kameez from the closet, locked the bathroom, and turn on the warm shower to relieve my stress.

I began scrubbing my skin vigorously, overcome with disgust at his touch. The memory of his dead body will forever haunt me.

I regretted leaving the house as I cried and rubbed my shoulders, wishing that unfortunate event never occurred in the first place.

I sat there, crying, thinking about would happen if my parents found out about today. They might never let me leave the house again.

I stood up from the bathroom floor, I couldn't stop the rising panic in my chest. I quickly put on my dress and hurriedly left the bathroom, making my way towards the mirror.

My own reflection was a painful reminder of the distress I was in. Red, puffy eyes from crying and bruises on my neck from scratching while showering.

I couldn't help but run my hand over the bruises, letting out a hiss of pain. I regretted ever leaving the house and now I was worried that my parents would find out about this.

As I made my way downstairs, I couldn't help but feel a sense of anxiety wash over me. I saw my parents and Amna, deep in conversation. However, as soon as they noticed me, their talking came to an halt and they all turned to look at me. My heart started racing as I gulped down my saliva.

My mind immediately went to the fact that my mother wasn't home when we returned from the icecream shop. Did she know that we came home later than expected? I nervously approached them with a worried expression on my face, hoping that she didn't find out.

We hear pressure cooker sound from the kitchen so ammi stood up from the sofa and went wards the kitchen area.

"Aao baito Maryam", said baba and patted the spot next to him on the sofa. I made my way towards him and sat down, feeling comforted by his presence.

"Kya hua gudiya", he asked, running his hand through my hair. I shook my head, and placed on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt safe.

Suddenly, I thought how much I love him and opened my eyes. I raised my head and pecked his cheek, to which he responded with a smile. Our moment was interrupted by my mother's throat-clearing voice.

We both turned to see her standing there with one hand on her hip and other holding a spatula.

"Come and have dinner, both of you", she said, pointing at us with the spatula.

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Sorry for the mistakes

Allah hafiz 💕💕