The House of Bilqis by Azhar Abidi

Author:Azhar Abidi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

11

ON FRIDAY OF the following week, after clearing away the lunch plates, Mumtaz hurried off to meet Omar. Bilqis had come home early, as it was a half-day and lectures finished before the Jumma prayers. Mumtaz served her lunch as usual and waited for her to retire upstairs for her nap. When she was certain that Bilqis had fallen asleep, she sneaked out of the kitchen door and walked the hundred yards down the street to Clifton Road.

She had planned the adventure on the phone with Omar, but now that she was actually doing it, she felt frightened. Her heart pounded in her chest. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end. If anyone was going to catch her sneaking away, it would be on this stretch. At any moment, she expected a shout—her mother, one of her brothers, her father, even Bilqis herself—summoning her back, asking her where she was going and why. In spite of all these fears, she was full of courage. How pleasant it was to turn her back to duty. How pleasant not to linger in the kitchen at someone’s beck and call. Her strength grew with every step. She could think of numerous excuses if anyone noticed her absence. She could tell Bilqis that her mother had sent her on an errand, and she could tell Hameeda that Bilqis sent her. No one would know otherwise unless they checked the facts with each other. And they had no reason to do so.

As she neared the end of the street, she started walking faster. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the house’s gate in the distance. The street was empty. She broke into a run as she turned the corner, and then she was out of sight. The invisible tether had failed to pull her back. Nothing was insurmountable now. She looked to her right where Omar was waiting under the shade of a tree. He gave her a nod. She covered her head with her shawl and went to stand beside him. His eyes were focused intently on the passing traffic. Without exchanging a word with her, he hailed a rickshaw. They climbed in and the rickshaw drove off.

Although the backseat was cramped, the two sat slightly apart. So free and easy with each other over the telephone, they became tense in each other’s company. Omar looked at her warmly but he did not quite know what to say. Mumtaz lowered her eyes when he talked. After a few mundane remarks, he fell silent. Mumtaz sat mute and frozen and stared out of the open window. After the euphoria of her escape, she was gripped by anxiety. She tried to reason and tell herself that all she was doing was going to the circus, but of course it wasn’t just a matter of an outing. She was an unmarried girl going out with a man she barely knew. It was the wrong thing to do and she knew that very well.

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