Chaos in the Canvas √

30 | family

A heavy silence descended upon the line, one at loss of hope and filled with deep, deep agony and pain.

"I wish Dadu were here." Hemayal whispered after a while, a lone tear escaping the eye and staining the cheeks of a woman who had known sorrows like an old friend.

"Me too." Mehmal too whispered and Hemayal dropped her head on the table in front, every inch of her drained.

It were moments like these when grief found home in her as memories of her Dadu escaped to the surface - he was the only person whom she could call her own without a shadow of doubt in her heart or mind.

Her trust issues stemming from the unfortunate incidents of her childhood followed by her mother's death and father's ignorance had made it impossible for her to trust anyone - be it her sister-like-cousin who had always been there or her brother whose life had been spent protecting her.

Dadu was the only one she trusted, the only person towards whom she had no defences whatsoever, the only person she loved more than herself and now he was gone and there was nothing she could do to ease the pain.

"He would have solved every last one of my problems in a heartbeat. He always did." Hemayal whispered, tears now leaving the vicinity of her eyes with ease.

"I know, Hami. And I'm so sorry that I can't be him for you." Mehmal replied, deep sorrow sprawled in her voice.

"No body can be him for me, Mehmal." Hemayal raised her head from the table and wiped her tears as she replied, a sad smile stretching her lips.

"It's okay, relax. Peace will come, okay? Eventually, but it will come and I promise you it will be beautiful." Mehmal made a promise Hemayal had no belief in but she let the hope fill her for once - goddammit, she at least deserved an inch of happiness.

"Really?" She found herself saying.

"Really?" She heard her cousin and a tear-stained smile thawed a little of hopelessness frozen across the room.

"Give yourself a break, Hami. Go on a vacation or something, away from all of this, this world, it's problems, from him. It will do you good." Mehmal said but before Hemayal could think about the possible peace, it was interrupted once again.

"I'm getting a call, Mehmal, we'll talk later." She said and hung up on the call after final greetings, answering the call from an unknown number.

"Assalam-u-Alikum." Hemayal said, voice instantly turning from soft and warm to hard and defensive.

"Waalikum Assalam. Hemayal, child?" A soft and gentle female voice filled her ears and she was instantly reminded of her mother and the warmth she radiated.

Oh, God , when will you end this chaos?

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?" Hemayal said, voice losing the edge and tension at the gentleness of the woman's voice.

"I'm Mahwash speaking, child. Ibrahim's mother."

And with that, every single nerve inside of her steeled.

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1:03 pm

"You bastard." Hemayal's voice was angry, deep shades of rage splattered all over her tone.

"Wassalam. Wassalam." Ibrahim's voice, on the contrary, was warm, just like his mother's and annoyance filled Hemayal.

"Keep your salams to yourself." She almost seethed and felt the mischief at the opposite side of the line coming to a thoughtful halt.