11. I Need You Tonight.

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S.N.Mughal

Here we go......

__________________________

It was happening again. Dad seized control of my life and my future. He'd sternly declared.

"Zayn is no longer a part of this family. You will divorce him." Dad made his decision and I had to oblige.
"I am your father, your guardian!" He stamped his authority. "I know what is best. I will speak to the elders and let them know what he put you through. I will call the solicitor and take custody of the children and make sure he has no contact with my grandchildren."
He was ready to hit Zayn, where it hurts; his children.
"You are like Zeenat, thick in the head. I don't know what you see in the junglee. He cannot look after you or the children. Can't you see? If he comes to the house, I will have him arrested."
All I saw was a stubborn man using his grandchildren to avenge Zayn. Now I had done my job-bringing the children home-I was useless to him. I had to cut all ties with Zayn. Arguing with dad was futile. My complaints, my cries fell on deaf ears. So, I had to alter my strategy. If dad wasn't listening and ready to throw Zayn behind bars, I had to warn Zayn. Despite our feud and mistrust, Zayn loved his children and would do anything for them. If dad had his way, Zayn would never see his children.

Later that afternoon I left the house leaving dad making phone calls and arranging a family meeting. Mum busied herself with the children and set up a painting class in the kitchen. I was restless. Somehow, I had to find Zayn and make contact. He wasn't answering my phone or texts. Where could he be? 
After one hour and forty minutes driving aimlessly, I ended up in Walsall outside our old house. In front of the house a sign read, "For sale. Auction."
Another red diagonal sign read, 'Sold.' 
Walking around the street I searched for his van, or a sign of Zayn. It was stupid and useless, but I had to do something. I peered through the letterbox, the windows and memories cascaded around me evoking bittersweet moments in the house. If it wasn't the social workers, the bailiffs or police, it was dad banging on the door. Through the hardship, I made the house a home and found ease. For some reason when I thought of Zayn, I could smell strawberries. I could hear the crunch of his boots when he returned from work. Mum rubbing jasmine oil into his long black locks after combing for headline. I smiled when I thought of the night Zara cried because there was a spider in the bathroom. I climbed on the bath and lost my balance. Zayn held my hips. I missed him. Walking back to the car, Tina's straight hair and impeccable style came to mind. That's when it hit me. I suspected Zayn was having an affair with Tina and Jag came barging into the house vying for Zayn's blood! I had to go to Tina's. Maybe she knew, or her husband?

Twenty minutes later I was parked outside Tina's semidetached house. It was 3pm and she would be outside the school gates chatting to her friends. Holidays were over and now the new September term started. My children were sitting at home, without a school or on a school waiting list losing out on essential days at school. I felt guilty. Their lives were a mess. Tina returned at 3.30 pm with her seven and nine-year-old son. She pulled in her 4x4 black Toyota Rav into the drive. Stepping out of the car, Tina looked different in her short pixie haircut with metallic blue tips. She was a style icon. Soon, she would leave and take the children to their piano classes so I had to quickly catch her.

When Tina opened the door, her smile waned when she saw me. Dressed in a knee length rustic brown jersey dress, her sandy brown suede boots reached her shins flashing her bare knees. 
"Oh! It's you." She glanced at me from top to bottom. 
I wasn't sure what to make of her tepid welcome when she invited me in. I looked around for a sign of Zayn, like before in the garden. But the house was clean and pristine. Her children in their bedrooms probally changing for their piano classes.
"Hurry up, the car will be here to pick you up." Tina yelled upstairs.
We sat in the kitchen and Tina offered me a warm drink which I politely refused. I was nervous and unsure of how to ask her the questions without arousing her suspicion. 
"I haven't seen you at the school for a while."
"We've moved out." I swirled the apple juice in the glass, but she saw through me. She'd probally saw the sign. 
"The house was repossessed. I'm at home with my parents." 
"I'm sorry to hear that." She replied without emotion.
"How are the children? They still up to mischief?"
"They're at mum's house. She spoils them." I smiled recalling the mess they were making in the kitchen. Mum loved the mess.
"She bakes with them."
"Zeenat was awful at cooking." Tina remembered. "She bought the cakes for the school cake sale and passed it off as her own." Tina knew. They all knew and probably mocked Zeenat behind her back. 
We continued to exchange worthless pleasantries and moved into the lounge and I gathered courage to ask her. 
"I was wondering if you-or Jag-heard from Zayn?"
She raised her left eyebrow with intrigue and crossed her legs. She wasn't going to give anything away without prying. 
"Why? What happened?" Tina sat upright on the sofa. Her shoulders square and lips pursed. 
"Ahh-nothing. We just had an argument and he went AWOL." I stroked the faux fur on my coat struggling to remain composed. 
She wanted to know more, and I had to keep it brief. 
"Well, ever since their fight, we're not in contact with him. What do you expect?"
The fight. Jag had a cut lip and threatened to kill Zayn. That morning, Zayn was at their house clearing the garden. 
"What was the fight about? Zayn was a friend, he helped you around the house."
Tina shrugged her shoulders and called the children downstairs as the pickup car had arrived. It was her friend and they'd take it in turns to pick and drop the children to their music classes. When she returned I was ready to leave standing up shouldering my handbag. 
"If I hear from Zayn, I will let you know." We stood at the door but I couldn't leave like this. Surely Tina knew more that she was leading me to believe? At one point I believed she was having an affair with Zayn. 
"Tina, I really want to know something. I would appreciate your honesty. I don't have anyone else I can ask. I need answers."
She smoothed her hair with her long manicured polished red fingernails. 
"Did anything happen between you and Zayn?" She looked down and then invited me back inside the lounge. Standing in front of the mirror, Tina admired her reflection flicking her hair perfecting her image. 
"What do you think about my haircut?" She raised her chin tilted her head like she was taking a selfie. 
"It suits you." 
"I was in two minds about a pixie short cut or trimming the bob."
I wasn't here to talk about her hair. I wanted information on Zayn. When Tina sat opposite me, she straightened her dress and looked straight at me. 
"I'll be honest with you. You're not like Zeenat." She cleared her throat. "You married him because of the children and it's not like you and Zayn are crazy about each other." She annulled our marriage in a matter of seconds. I agreed lulling her into a false sense of security. Her opinion did not matter, I wanted information. 
"Jag and Zayn have been friend for years. We met Zayn at school and since then we go to each other's houses. Jag spends a lot of time with 'the boys.'" She used her fingers to invoke quotation marks and screwed her nose with distaste. It was clear she disapproved of 'the boys.'
"He spends evening and weekend with the boys watching footie or drinking at the pub. I'm sick of it. 'My boys this, my boys that.'" She tilted her head from side to side mocking him in a pathetic voice. "Whatever the boys said, was gospel!" She slapped her hands together like she was in a Pentecostal choir. 
"Jag sang the boys' praises. They'd go on holidays together leaving me and the kids. If there was something doing around the house, he'd call Zayn. Like that day I bought a chest of draws from Ikea. Jag spent all morning with Zayn fixing it in my bedroom." She pointed to the ceiling. "I could hear their hoots of laughter."
I held my breath making myself steady for what I was about to hear. 
"We haven't been on holiday for three years, Zara." She snapped and stood up. "I'm fucking at home all day and evening on my own." Even the word 'fucking' sounded genteel coming from her. 
"Jag couldn't give a toss. He goes with the boys to Ibiza, Magaluf every other month. I'm always last. Always!" She leaned into me with rage ready to kill. 
"I am always last."
Suddenly Tina calmed down. She took a deep breath and made her way to the mirror and pressed the reset button. She took out her lipstick from her handbag, and applied the cherry red shade to her narrow lips. Once she pressed her lips together and turned thrust forward her chest. 
"Tell me this Zara." She still didn't pronounce my name correctly and I was past caring. "Am I not pretty?" She placed her hand on her waist. "Am I not sexy?"
"You're-"
"Just look at me." I wasn't supposed to reply. "I'm smoking hot!" She cut in. 
Tina rolled her eyes and sat back down on the sofa. 
"So, I needed the garden cleared and Jag being a useless piece of shit, I called Zayn." Tina smiled when she mentioned Zayn. Something changed her features softened as she stared at the vase imaging the day. 
"I offered him double pay if he'd come quickly." She smiled. 
"It was the perfect day as I called the school mums over. You were there." I recalled the day when he wasn't answering my calls and appeared in Tina's garden chopping the stubs. All the women gathered in the kitchen eyeing him whilst he worked under the scorching sun.
"You saw how the ladies were ogling him. They're always raving about him. Our book clubs are less about the book and more about Zayn." She tilted her head back and tittered with flirtatious laughter. 
"Oh the things the ladies say. They're hot for him. Did you know, when Zeenat passed away, they were all lining up outside his house with hot dishes or offering to baby sit the kids?"
It was difficult maintaining composure whilst listening to Tina. 
"What are you trying to say Tina?" Stop dragging it out.
"Oh come on you can't blame a girl for trying! Look at me!" She stood up displaying her wares. "Look at him! You've probably seen more of him than we have."
Tina giggled with pleasure. 
"Oh Zayn!" her orgasmic throaty chortle reeked of desperation. 
"I called Zayn and he was here within the hour because I knew he always need the money." She smiled proudly. 
It was disgusting the way she took advantage of him. 
"When Zayn finished in the garden, he was sweaty and dirty so I told him to have a shower." I didn't want to hear any more. I knew what was coming. 
"I left a towel in the bathroom. I say towel, it was more of a napkin." Tina exploded into laughter. 
My head bowed with shame. 
"There wasn't enough material to cover-" she spread her hand out waving it around. "His nether regions." It took her a few moments to get the half-naked image of Zayn out of her head and continue. 
"So, Zayn was in my bedroom getting dressed." She gently strolled around the room creating her presence felt she like she would have done on that day with Zayn. 
"He couldn't find his boxers and held onto the ridiculous excuse of a towel covering his manhood." 
"How long did you have an affair?" I cut in. I couldn't listen to this nonsense any longer. The details disgusted me. "Was Zeenat alive when this happened?"
"Hold on-" She raised her hand. "I haven't finished. You don't understand."
"What is there to understand?"
"I did what any other woman would do in my position. They all talk about it-" she pointed to the door and she meant the school mums.
"Zayn is the fittest dad in Smallbrook Primary. There he was, all six foot of him dripping wet on my shaggy rug in my bedroom with nothing but a flimsy towel between us. I wanted him." She spoke brazenly. 
"Jesus Christ! Those rippling abs!" She moaned with pleasure, tittering like a hormonal teenager. 
"I'm not ashamed. I am a beautiful woman and I have desires. If my husband can't satisfy me, then why can't his best friend, Zayn?" 
Anger rushed through my veins. I could've ripped her hair out. 
"My husband doesn't notice me. We haven't slept together for 8 months! I wanted Zayn. I never felt so alive in the heat of that moment." She buzzed with joy. "I've fantasised about him since I met him, jealous of what Zeenat appreciate. Now I could taste his flesh!"
"So you slept together?" 
I felt sick for asking but I needed her to skip the tiny detail and admit it. 
"It's how I felt and I expressed it." She defended herself. 
"When Jag came home, he found Zayn's boxers under our bed and went berserk. He called Zayn and they had a fight outside in the drive. It felt good Jag showing me some attention, punching his friend for me. I felt wanted." 
"So, you slept with Zayn to make your husband jealous? To provoke him?" I was sickened. She giggled with laughter. "I wish!" 
I held my breath hanging off her every word. 
"I didn't sleep with him to make Jag jealous. I TOLD Jag I slept with Zayn. Jag believed me!" "You mean, you didn't-"I asked for confirmation. 
"I made a pass at him, Zara. Zayn walked out without his boxers and changed his clothes in the bathroom. Zayn has this stupid idea in his head that it breaks the bro code-'bros before their hoes'. He'd never sleep with a mates' missus. I wanted to break the stupid code and show Jag he can't trust his mates and I won!" She fisted the air in victory. 
Tina wanted her husband to react and annihilate his friendship with Zayn. I shot to my feet unable to listen to her drone on any longer. 
"You're sick!" I pointed. "You're sick for dragging Zayn into your petty games with your husband. You could've destroyed his life-his marriage." 
"What marriage? Your marriage to him is fake! Zeenat destroyed her marriage by herself. I didn't need to do anything. She gave Zayn hell! Every penny Zayn earned she spent it on herself. She'd get cashback at the tills, so Zayn wouldn't know when he'd check his online statements. She stashed all her shopping in the shed in the garden. She held lavish parties and gifted all Louis Vuitton handbags on Ann Summers parties. At least I have money to spend. Jag makes thousands in one night. But Zayn, was working his pretty backside off all hours God sent! I don't max my credit cards to pay for my lover's debts!"
"I'm sorry? Lover?" We stood in the hallway. 
"You didn't work it out. You asked me once about Kash, do you seriously think they were just friends? Friends with benefits more like. She used to tell me how he was struggling with his business and Zeenat helped him. Zayn earned and Zeenat gave money to Kash! That's why he's in this mess. That's why his home was repossessed." 
I made my way towards the front door. I couldn't listen to her a moment longer. "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say. If you can lie about Zayn-then this-" 
She obstructed the front door. "You won't believe a single word about your precious sister. But here's the truth. Zayn was the one who made her leave her daddy's house. The daddy who paid for her expensive clothes and perfumes. Zeenat made sure that Zayn would pay for everything. Zayn had to provide to her high standards. He couldn't complain. He couldn't say no. Zayn would beg my husband for work. Anything. Jag made shit up to give Zayn money. The moment Zayn bought home his meagre pay from she'd spent it the next day. It was a game to her. She wanted to teach him a lesson for making her leave her dad's house. He paid for it-and still is."

I couldn't deny what Tina said. Was Zeenat bitter and angry towards Zayn? Was Kash her lover? Did she give him money? If she was right about Kash, that meant he'd been lying all along. He said they were only friends. I couldn't trust Tina, if she lied to her husband about a non-existent affair with Zayn, she could lie about other things. A million thoughts exploded in that millisecond.

I took a moment in my car seeking peace from the noises in my head. Mum rang for the fifth time. There in the fog, the darkness, a beacon of hope shone bright. Zayn didn't have an affair with Tina. He was telling the truth. Zayn spurned her advances and walked out. Relief coursed my body and I beamed with pride. Tina was convincing, the sneaky little bitch! Women like her could destroy men's lives. 
My mission to protect Zayn strengthened with fervour. He needed my help. If dad thought he could get Zayn arrested, he was wrong. I had to retrieve the footage from the cameras. Suhel would have no choice but to drop the charges against Zayn if I threatened to report him to the police with sexual assault. The bruises still marked my body. 
However, Kash's truthfulness was in question. I couldn't trust him but then I couldn't trust Tina. I needed to contact Kash and quiz him. At home, I'd left Kash's business card. It was 4.40pm and travelling to Leeds in the busy congested traffic would take 2-3 hours. It was time to meet Kash face to face in his home city. 

****

When I reached home, the driveway was teeming with cars. They'd arrived. Sadaqat's father Uncle Rashiq was here. Amjad's parents were here and probally arrived to watch the fireworks. Finally, the head of the family; my uncle Sadiq was here. Thaya (elder uncle) Sadiq always donned a Karakul triangular sheep fur authoritative hat, or better know as the Mohammed Jinnah hat. Wrapped in his signature burgundy red and crème striped Yemeni shawl- a gift from his sheikh- he'd most likely be summoned to give dad's decision industrial strength weight. What thaya Sadiq said was final, no one dared argued with him. I dreaded going inside, so I lingered around Zayn's battered van. Running my fingers along the water damaged paint, the rusty scratch marks desperately seeking him here tonight. Leaning against the van, I looked up at the charcoal black night sky searching for the stars, or moon. 
"Whereare you Zayn? I really need you tonight."

*****

You suppose you are the trouble
But you are the cure.
You suppose that you are the lock on the door
But you are the key that opens it.
It's too bad that you want to be someone else
You don't see your own face, your own beauty
Yet, no face is more beautiful than yours.

~ Rumi

________________________________

So guys, what do you think of the developments? 

Can Tina be trusted?

Has she redeemed Zayn?

What will Zoh'ra discover in Leeds?

A family meeting ensues...



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