It's not all Roses

The Not so Perfect Plan

Zaynab

Tense, muffled voices sneak in from the door that leads to our veranda. It's in the back of our house, slightly larger than the front porch. Our house isn't huge, practically a cubicle if compared to Talha's, a shabby waste of space if compared to Ayzah's and well, somehow tolerable if you have seen Asad's house. That place is like a crowded warehouse if that makes any sense.

The voices grow silent and I lean my head against the wall which is almost as hot as the concrete floor. Maa sprayed the courtyard with fresh water just few minutes ago which somehow makes it bearable to sit here in the evening sun. Sky is like an abstract painting, with profound textures and mixtures of brilliant shades of orange - The work of a Genius.

I sit like this for no longer than few minutes that Asad knocks on the door. I scoff at his pretentious manners.

"Just come here already," I say opening my eyes and straightening up.

He gives a weak smile and in a quick second he is sitting beside me, a considerable gap of Maa- approved four feet between us.
He tilts his head but shows no sign of initiating a conversation.

"What were you saying to Maa?" I finally ask.

"Oh I was just making her understand how important this is."

"What do you mean?"

"This," he says completely turning to face me, "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Why aren't you returning my calls?"

"It's none of your business," I snap.

"What's wrong yar," he says suddenly and in louder voice, "Goddammit you are reeking of smoke!"

"They talked to you too, didn't they?" I say.

"Yeah," he says. His voice is startled and hoarse but he looks tired. Resigned.

"Can't you just contact Talha and tell him this?"

"I tried but his cell is switched off," Asad says, exasperated. "He'd promised to call once he's settled in."

"You can call the place he's staying? You do know where he's staying, right?"

"I only know the address," Asad says and after seeing the confused look on my face adds, "I saw him copying it down when he was on call with someone."

I nod.

"Why didn't he tell you more?"

He shrugs.

"What do we do now?" Asad says. I am taken aback by this question. Asad is not the one to give in to me for advice. We all know when I plan things, messy things happen. I am practically a glitch in their perfect group dynamic consisting all elements of a cool gang.

Beauty (Ayzah), Brains(Talha) and I would eat fifty dead chipkalis before actually admitting it out loud:  Raw Talent(Asad).

He plays volley like a pro, he writes like words are his childhood friends and our college is teeming with his "Buddies". He's the student president of every other event and even though teachers hold somewhat of a passive aggressive behaviour towards him on account of his lack of interest in studies, he is fairly lauded by the student body for it.

Why he ever chose to be hang out with us is still a mystery. I can understand the obvious appeal in Ayzah , but me? Sometimes I wonder if Talha and Asad were just aiming for Ayzah and got me as a side package. Not the real deal, but hey she provides Marlboro and is a hoot once in a while so why not?