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(zara arriving in pakistan and meeting her family for the first time)
WARNING: PANIC ATTACK
veronica lodge
'i dont wanna talk about it, i dont wanna think about it'
I entered Pop's with Betty on my arm but I felt my stomach drop instantly. There was Zara and Cheryl, old lovers, holding hands in their booth. Zara looked back at us, waved and waited from Betty and I to smile at her. I followed Betty's lead with that smile almost instantly but I was worried she picked up on my hesitance. I guess this'll make dinner tonight a little more awkward.
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zara shahid
I had started on my haleem before I left for the pep rally. Dad knew when to turn it off but nothing else. When I walked in after dropping Cheryl off at her house, I heard chatter from the dining room. The Lodges and my brother sat at the dinner table.
"I am so sorry." I muttered and sat down next to Archie, "I didn't realize the time."
"It's okay darling. You must be Fred's daughter." While she didn't say the word, I could hear her saying it in her mind - adopted. I nodded at her statment as dad brought in a bowl with haleem in. The naan was already on the table, as was the friend onions, ginger and limes.
"I was worried the chef wasn't gonna make it." Dad chuckled as he placed the bowl on the table.
"It's one of my favourite dishes from back home." I smiled, remembering coming home to it on the dinner table after a long day collecting scraps of garbage we could sell for money. The days when I'd collected the most out of all my siblings and my dad would lift me up in the air and act as if he were a plane. The days when I'd steal extra naan from the local shop so my eldest brother could eat too. Those were the days of poverty, a poverty I no longer have to think about.
"India?"
"Pakistan." I corrected quickly. I still know the anthem off by heart, I can remember the heat of the summer and praying for the monsoon rains. In my little gully (ally), where I'd sneak a sweetie from corner shop, where the kind rich lady offered lunch every other Sunday, where I'd see a lifetime of funerals pass by my house.
