AMRJ One Shots

A Day in the Life of Hamza

Hamja- I mean... Hamza's POV

I clung to the mattress as Amy pulled my legs to get me out of bed.

"I hate you. I actually really hate you!" My voice was muffled by the pillow. "Ten minutes is all I ask!"

"You said that ten minutes ago!" She let go of my legs and I thought she had given up. That was until I felt her pull my arms.

If there was one thing I hated more than work, it was getting up for work.

Okay, so I didn't really hate work. I hated the travel. An hour on London underground trains at peak times meant being squashed next to smelly strangers. And because of my work hours, it was the same when I returned. Sometimes there were even dogs on the trains. Not that I was scared of them. No no, Safia's the wimp.

Amy wasn't scared of them. Heck, Amy wouldn't be scared if she came face to face with a lion! Alright, I know, that's an over exaggeration. It would be a hyperbole if this were a poem. See, my English degree is handy.

Oh and, Safia's the wimp, but she's not scared of dogs. I felt guilty giving wrong information about her. But that doesn't mean I'm scared of dogs! Sure, they're a little freaky and I don't like it when they sniff me or stand up when I go near them and their barking makes me jump. And they have this way of looking at you, it's like they're looking through your soul. But I'm not scared of them...

"Get up!" I felt punches that were actually a little painful on my back.

"That's abuse Amaani!" I said, using Amy's Muslim name. "We're supposed to be loving towards each other. This is haraam!"

"Stop being a drama queen, I barely hurt you." She lifted my shirt and commented, "See, no marks." I turned around so I was lying on my back and checked the time again.

"I still have half an hour. I can get ready in twenty minutes. Ten more minutes and you join me." I pulled her to sit next to me and smiled lazily before snuggling up again.

"I will not join you, especially with your morning breath. I'm going to go make myself breakfast. If you don't get up now, you're not getting any." With that, Amy stormed off.

I forced myself to get up and get ready for the day ahead. I had to have my piece of toast on the way because I was getting late but I managed to get to work on time. Then I spent the next eight hours how they went by every day. I phoned Amy during lunch, as always. She always took her break around the same time as my lunch so we could talk.

On the way back, I wondered how long it would take to save up for a car. I hated this travel. Yusuf's company gave him a plumbing van so I didn't want to ask him if he wanted to get a car with me. I originally thought we could share it, like how we bought the house together and now share it. But money was still tight for him and I couldn't bring myself to ask for such a favour, especially since he had his mode of transportation now.

Hafsa had taken the car I had before because I used to share it with dad and it made sense if it was kept in my old house. Besides, after my experience with trains, I thought Hafsa needed it much more than me. I didn't like the idea of my sister (well, milk sister but it's the same thing I guess) travelling everyday on a packed train, squashed up against strange men. She needed the car much more than I did.

As Amy did sometimes when she finished work early, she waited at the station near home for me. It always felt so good seeing her standing there with a big smile on her face.

I fought the urge to hug her after the journey I'd just had. There was a dog on the train. It was there from the moment I got on to the moment I got off. It wasn't even a cute one. It looked like Santa's Little Helper from The Simpsons.