Let Me Redeem [Completed]

Algorithms

The two days passed in a blur and Wednesday had arrived before she was fully ready for it.

Mirha awoke that morning with an anxious, heavy feeling in her stomach. Sending a 'good morning, how r u, I'm fine' text to her brother, Mirha sluggishly got ready and trudged out of her hostel room, not feeling that eager to get to the first class of the day, leaving behind the sleeping heap of her roommate.

Her uncle had called her last night, asking if everything was okay and told her that he hadn't got his salary even though the due date had long passed. The family hadn't eaten properly for the past two days, and had made do with milk and bread. On top of that, her aunt was sick, coughing all night and all day.

Her little siblings got disturbed in their sleep, Mirha's uncle could tell even though the kids never complained, and as a result found it difficult to focus on their studies.

Her brothers, sixteen and seventeen years old, had become sick of sitting idly by as everyone else worked hard and so had started work at a nearby mechanic's workshop.

Mirha worried, with the rate things were getting worse, she would have to drop out of university soon. A small part of her brain supplied, had they known about the incident with the junior year student - Bilal, or the details of her report card, she would already have been at home at the moment.

Mirha had applied for a job as a saleswoman in a nearby shopping complex to try and help out the situation at home, but she never got approved.

The jittery, nervous, village girl that she was, she couldn't fathom expanding her search and going from place to place in this huge, unknown city to submit her CV.

But now, she would have to force herself out of her comfort zone and properly start looking for a job if she wanted to complete her education.

With all these thoughts in mind, Mirha dragged herself from one class to another, trying her best to listen and comprehend the lectures of the professors - foreign and Pakistani alike - with thick and heavy accented English.

Once inside the stc room, the only thing she had been looking forward to the whole day, she looked around, taking in the carpeted floor, the shelved walls, the desk of the stc supervisor, and the students sitting randomly on the desks scattered around the room, freshmen with their respective seniors.

Mirha walked towards the empty front desk and pulled out a chair, she sat down. She kept her shoulder bag on the chair beside her and placed the heavy textbooks on the table. Looking around, a strange giddiness erupting inside her heart, she inhaled a long breath of satisfaction and opened the hardcover of the book, turning over the pages to the desired chapter. It wasn't long when she finally heard feet shuffling towards her and looked up to find Hadi - dressed in a navy blue button button-down and black trousers, a bag slung over one shoulder and his coal black hair artfully swept to one side - scraping out a chair, eyes focused on her.

"Got the book?"

Mirha nodded.

"Notes and everything?"

"Hmm."

"Let me get a spare one." He said and letting go of the chair, walked to one of the shelves. Scanning their tags, he disappeared behind one of the stands and emerged a few seconds later with a thick book, identical to Mirha's. She saw him come over, place the book on the table, sit down on the chair and lean back. "Okay, which module?"

"Algorithms." Biting down on her lower lip, Mirha said softly.

Hadi didn't give a response, only stared at her with mild interest. "Why don't you introduce yourself first." He said after a pause.

Wringing her fingers under the table, she peered at him unsurely. "Um, I am Mirha Qadeer, 024. I come from a village, it's-it's in the outskirts of Islamabad." She stopped and looked at him expectantly, wondering if that was enough, but he seemed to wear a similar expectant expression, waiting for her to continue.

When Mirha didn't, Hadi arched his eyebrows, "Done?"

Mirha slightly tilted her head to a side in affirmation.

"Okay, so what have been your grades up till now?"

She hesitated, "C, C+ ...D." She said before adding hastily, "Professors make me feel like I'm failing, but I technically haven't yet, not once. It's a close call, but still."

Hadi nodded slowly, contemplating, before asking the next question; "What seems to be the problem? I mean, what makes it difficult for you to understand the subject?"

Mirha's tugged at her scarf, eyes nervously skirting Hadi's before settling down on the book in front of her. "Well, for one, all of the professors speak so fast, with such a thick and posh accent, I sometimes hardly grasp a word. I have gone to some of them for help, they all just turn me down, saying if everybody else doesn't seem to have a problem, then I shouldn't complain as well." Mirha sighed before continuing; "I know it is my fault. I completed highschool in the village, and you know the level of English there is not that commendable. And well, secondly, the professors here teach us like, well, like all of us are professors and they're just telling us something we should already know. My basics are not as stellar as everyone else's so I can't quite catch up." Mirha finished, explaining to him as best as she could her predicament without sounding completely stupid.

Hadi nodded again and bent over the computer science textbook, flipping it open to the required chapter. "Right. You do know though, that Algorithms are a little bit more complicated than whatever you must have covered in the subject so far, and so we'll probably have to go slower than I thought. It's an eight week module if I remember correctly, let's try our best to cover the syllabus in what," he paused for a quick calculation, "sixteen classes approx, yeah?"

A smile crept up her mouth, and she eagerly nodded, glad that he sounded ready enough, if not completely pleased.

"Also, I have barely two hours before I have to make an exit, so let's make this session quick and efficient, yeah?"

"Yes, okay."

"We better get started then." Pushing the book a little forward, he pointed to a particular text and began explaining the concepts in his own words. Hadi started from the basics, went through every definition word by word, detailing in Urdu then making her understand and learn in English. He'd repeat what he said, ask randomI questions from the explanations he'd just delivered, make sure that she had gotten everything right and then move forth. Never once making her feel like she was a fool to not be able to comprehend everything on her own, Hadi taught her with ease.

By the time they were finished, two and a half hours later, Mirha could actually say she had learned something. "What became of your scholarship?" Hadi asked her as they packed their books and notes and stationery.

Mirha shrugged. "Not finalised yet."

With a slight shake of his head, he rose up to his feet. "Alright. I'm getting late, got to go."

"Okay." Mirha smiled. "Thank you."

"See you on Friday." He nodded, and placing a hand on the textbook he added, "keep it back, will you."

Glancing up from his long fingered hand, she quipped, "Sure."

Giving another curt nod, Hadi walked away.

"Allah Hafiz." Mirha added quietly without turning around to look at him and therefore didn't notice Hadi, who halted in his step as he heard her say that, paused for a moment, bewildered, and then proceeded again.

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