Part 228- A Blast….From The Past

As narrated by Saajida:

‘When one door shuts, another one opens.’

That’s not 100% true in my case. I’m starting to think that there’s something wrong with the lock on my door. Every time I shut it, something happens and it slams right open, smacking me in the face at the most unexpected time. Naeem Moolla… Nemo… The one person I thought I’d never see again. Boy was I in for a surprise?!

*flashback*

It was almost a week before Tasu got hitched. Sure, we loved the atmosphere. What we didn’t love, however, was the work, the chaos and the never ending drama. Being the mischievous lot we were, we decided on a stress reliever, something that would keep our minds at ease. Worst decision ever!

I found myself at a nightclub, partying like you could not believe, jamming along to the beats and trying out every drink I could get my hands on. One thing led to another and soon, I was completely moffed.

That night I bumped into an incredibly handsome guy, who seemed like the mirror image of me. Red eyes, messed up hair, goofy grin and slurred speech. That guy was Naeem. A while later, I deviated from my cousins and I was hitting it of with his buddy, Mahmood.

I can’t recall how I got home, but I awoke on my cousins floor, my head spinning. What the hell happened? I didn’t have the chance to think about it as a wave of nausea hit me, quite unexpectedly. It must be all those drinks… At least that’s what I thought.

Days and days went by, and every morning was exactly the same. I knew what it was, yet I brushed it off until I ran out of excuses.

Eventually, I got myself to a clinic and my suspicions were confirmed. I went to the mall to clear my head and that’s when I saw them. Nemo and Mahmood, staring right at me. I stared back, alright. I ignored the inner voice that told me to run, swallowed hard and walked over to them.

‘Hey beautiful,’Nemo grinned. Nothing changed. His way of speaking, his bloodshot eyes, his messy hair.. It was exactly the same.

I smacked his hand away as he reached out to touch me. I was disgusted.

‘Mahmood, we need to talk,’I finally managed. Silence.

‘Alone,’I added through gritted teeth, glancing a Nemo who seemed to have moved closer to us. The idiot had the nerve to roll his eyes.

Long story cut short, I broke the news to Mahmood once we were alone. He didn’t say a word. His expression remained completely unreadable. He just turned around, walked up to Nemo, said something to him and they walked off. I stared at them in horror. Nemo turned around, looked straight at me and laughed. I ignored the tears that fell down my cheeks, ignored the people that gathered around me, ignored the crumbling feeling inside of me. I felt humiliated. Embarrassed. Remorseful. What did I get myself into? Who did these guys think they were? Are these seriously what Muslim guys are like today?

All these questions I didn’t know the answers to, but I knew one thing and that was no matter where I was, no matter what happens I would never be able to forgive them for that. And nor will I be able to forgive myself.

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As narrated by Nemo:

She didn’t turn around. Why did I expect her to…I should have said those words to her back then. I should have spoken to Mahmood, I should have heard her out instead of ridiculing her. I had forgotten about her..never remembered her not even once but now that I saw her again, everything just came tumbling back.

That night…was like every other night for me. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, and I was always on a permanent high. This girl…Saajida..she was going insane on the dance floor! She was about as high as Mahmood and I if not worse…but this is how it goes. This is the club life, you don’t give a damn who’s who…you’re here, just like everyone else and you’re here to have a good time. The problem is, that once you wake up the next day , you don’t know what went on the night before and I guess there was a thrill in that too….and level of mystery and intrigue. And before you can even begin to think about it, you’re already on your next fix. Life was one big party!

Mahmood wasn’t a close friend of mine. We partied together whenever we met up. We chilled together, that’s it. It was on one if those nights that we met Saajida. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this was probably her first time in a club, we had been around for long enough
to know the difference. It was amusing actually, the way that she moved and downed those drinks, and as the music became more and more intense, she moved closer to where we were. Mahmood had his eyes on her but he was the never the type to approach a girl, if she wanted him, she would have to come to him. Saajida was really beautiful close up..I noticed that when she stood right in front of me. The way that she was moving clearly gave the impression that. ..you know. …

But I wasn’t really in the mood that night, so when she asked me who’s my friend there, I literally pushed her onto Mahmood, knowing very well how screwed up he was and that he would use and discard her like every other girl. I didn’t once stop to think if she was doing this because she was high or because she really wanted to do it. I didn’t once stop to think if she would regret this. I didn’t think, period.

And so that night passed. I woke up in my car, my head on the steering wheel, and Mahmood well, I didn’t even know where he was. Even then, I didn’t think of Saajida. The night was over.

We had come to the mall a few weeks later. Mahmood and I were picking up a stash, when we saw her again. This time, not teasingly gyrating towards us, not high, not dressed in the way that she was that night.

And she stared right back at us. We needed a fix so neither one of us was in the mood for a blast from the not so distant past. But she walked towards us nonetheless.

“Hey beautiful “, I smiled leeringly at her. She didn’t even answer me and looked at me with disgust. Well whatever, I thought. She pulled Mahmood aside and by the look on her face, it was serious. I had thought that she was bloody stupid because Mahmood didn’t have a serious bone in his body.
As expected , he never said a word to her and walked away.

**Flashback**

“What’s up with her?” , I asked

“Apparently, she’s pregnant ” , Mahmood grinned, ” you sure that you too didn’t do anything with her? Because she probably has us mixed up…probably thinking that my surname is Moolla ”

I laughed. We got that alot. Which girl wouldn’t want to grab the Moolla surname and all the perks that came along with it. Bloody gold digger!

“Well bru , we gave her a good time out of good will but shit like this nah its not worth it….and fyi, I left for another party not long after you two started getting cozy on the couch so that imaginary spawn is deffo not mine!”

Mahmood couldn’t care less as he lit a cigarette and didn’t bother looking back at her. I, however, couldn’t resist. I turned around and I laughed. I laughed at her meek try and cheap tactics. I laughed looking directly at her because I wanted her to know where her place was. I laughed because nobody messes with me or my buddies.

**End Of Flashback**

But the look in her eyes today….and I felt everything come crashing down. She really was carrying his child wasn’t she? Everyone makes mistakes, how could I have judged her when I was way worse than her???

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? ” , Aara frowned as she sat beside me

I lifted my head and looked straight ahead. Saajida was still here, and she was talking to Zainab not so far away from me , but I could feel her eyes on me as Aara ruffled my hair and tried to make me laugh. I could feel her eyes burn into my skin as Aara smiled and nudged me questioningly.

Saajida probably thought that….no…no… NO…I would never do that to Aara!! Aara was my life… I would protect her and love her and shield her from anything and everything!! I would never allow what happened to Saajida to happen to Aara, never!

And then it struck me. It struck me like a dagger through my heart, like a nail driven into my brain, like a glass piece piercing into my foot….what wasn’t good for Aara, how could it be good for anyone else? What wasn’t good for Aara. ….how could it be good for Saajida?

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Author’s Note:

See..I kept to my word, you got a post today! But this wouldn’t have been possible without another wonderful author’s input. To the Author who has co-written this post with me, Zaakira’s Simple Yet Complex Life, you are one really talented girl..you write with such skill, that you leave me amazed. If you could get your ass off the floor and start posting properly, we would get to see this talent more often! :-p Because seriously….you’ve got a lot of talent! *tight hugz*

Check it out https://zaakirassimpleyetcomplexlife.wordpress.com

Have a beautiful week ahead:)

Much Love,

Shazia