The Hands Of Fate

CHAPTER SIX

LAILA
I woke up to the feeling of cold water splashing on my face. Who wakes a person up like that? I reluctantly opened my eyes to see who wanted to anger me so early in the morning and saw my older brother Ya Haarun holding a glass of cold water in his left hand. I let out a scream before jumping to hug him,
"Ya Haarun!"
"Kai, stop screaming. Yusuf is sleeping."
"Where is he? Where is my nephew?"
"He's sleeping in Baba's parlour."
"What about Latifa?"
"She is in the guest room."
"When did you get back from Qatar?"
"We just got back this morning."

I looked at my wall clock and saw that the time was 10 minutes after 5 o clock in the morning.
"Ya Haarun. Why would you wake me up this early?"
"You will not pray Fajr again, bah?"
"Even though. That doesn't mean that you should start acting like a witch."
"It is me that is acting like a witch, ko? If I slap you."
"What will happen? Wait."
"What?"
"How is Jada?"
"She is in Baba's parlour."

As soon as Ya Haarun uttered those words, I ran to the bathroom to perform ablution. When I finished with that, I snatched my jilbab from my chair and ran out of the room to see Jada. Jada is my paternal grandmother. Everything about her is classy. She is the reason I am part Arab. Baba told me the story so many times,
My grandfather, Alhaji Al-hassan, travelled to Qatar to visit a friend of his. One day, when he was driving in the streets of Doha, he accidentally splashed water on an Arab lady who was walking on the sidewalk. The lady was fierce and demanded compensation for her wet clothes. My grandfather was completely taken aback by her. So he set out to win her heart. For the next two months, my grandfather did nothing but chase her all over the city. He didn't even know her name. Finally, she agreed to give him a chance. A few months later, they got married in a lavish ceremony.

I walked as fast as I could to Baba's parlour. As I entered, the strong smell of oud hit me, and I saw my grandmother sitting on the couch holding Yusuf, my brother's son. When she saw me, her eyes lit up,
"Laila, are you just going to stand there? Come and give your grandmother a hug."

Out of all of Jada's grandchildren, I was the one who resembled her the most. Much to Ya Haarun's disappointment. I ran into my grandmother's arms, mindful of the baby that rested there, "You want to injure my new great-grandson, koh? Speaking on that topic, you're getting married very soon, right? How are the preparations coming along?"
I sighed before answering her, "It's not easy, Jada... " Before I could finish my sentence, my grandmother hit my leg with her walking stick. She didn't need it, but she carried it anyway because she said it made her look 'regal '.
"Who said it was going to be easy? If life was filled with ease, do you think that any of us will be here? Of course, not everything is going to be easy, but that's fine. Because it's our hardships that shape us." I looked at Jada, comprehending everything she just said about life's hardships.

"If life was easy, then your grandfather wouldn't have chased me all over the streets of Doha. I wouldn't have had kids, you wouldn't have been born, your father wouldn't have started his business. So Laila, life is obviously going to throw some difficulties at you, but that's not important. What is important is how you deal with these difficulties."
"But Jada, I'm getting married to a guy that I don't even know."
"Then get to know him. He is obviously a human, not a monster. So what are you so scared of? Iimanuk yajib 'an yakun akbar min khawfika. (Your faith has to be greater than your fear.) Life isn't without its sacrifices."
"But what if he doesn't want to accept me as his wife?"
"Then he obviously doesn't know who he's dealing with. What is that thing that you young people say nowadays?" She looked to the ceiling in contemplation before she remembered, "Yes, I remember. Keep playing. Please hold Yusuf. I need to perform ablution."

I mulled over Jada's words. What did she mean by that? Yusuf stirred in my arms and slowly opened his eyes. He was barely a year old, and he already looked just like Ya Haarun. In all honesty, we had good genes in our family. Both male and female family members were beautiful, and even though I would never admit it to him, Ya Haarun was among the top five most beautiful people in our family. According to my own ranking. I was obviously number one.