The Dangers of Islam: The Terrorist

Chapter 4: Changes

     Dawood had put the entire FBI ordeal behind him and a week later, life seemed to go back to normal. He helped his father out daily, at work and had assimilated quite nicely into the Khan family's daily routines. He woke up every morning at five and then went on an early morning jog around his neighborhood. His fifteen minutes of fame had subsided by now, so it was easier walking around town without being recognized. After his jog, he spent some time mowing the lawn or weeding out his mother's precious flowerbeds before heading inside to start breakfast. By this time, usually, Amina and Mehak could be found in the kitchen having a cup of coffee. Today was no different. Dawood yawned and gave Amina's cheek a kiss before opening the fridge and saying, "How are you, Mama?" "I'm fine," Amina smiled. "What do you want to eat?" "I'll make something," Dawood said before stifling another yawn. "I wish Sulaiman would go jogging with you in the morning," Mehak began as she carried Ali and placed him in his high chair. "I'm starting to worry about his cholesterol." "Stop feeding him so many eggs," Dawood chortled as he poured himself a cup of coffee before deeply inhaling the aroma. "Oh God, that's good." Mehak smiled at Dawood and shook her head, "I don't feed him lots of eggs, Dawood." "Right," Dawood muttered as he rolled his eyes, "his plate magically has four eggs on it, daily." "Well, he works hard all day," Mehak countered defensively. "Yup, at a desk," Dawood laughed. "I'm just messing with you, Bhabi. Feed him all you want. You're his wife, you know best."

     Mehak took Dawood's words to heart and placed one egg in front of Sulaiman at the breakfast table before sitting down with her own breakfast. "What's this?" Sulaiman asked as he raised an eyebrow and poked his egg with his fork. "Your breakfast," Mehak said simply and smiled as Musa and Mariam sat down with their breakfasts. "It's always fun to see you both together." "Why?" Musa asked before spreading some jam on his toast. "You're so similar," Mehak smiled and watched as Mariam and Musa both took a sip of their coffee in unison. As if realizing what just happened, Mariam wrinkled her nose and said, "That's so weird. Stop copying me." "I'm not copying you, Baji, you're copying me," Musa said and quickly put his cup down. "Why is there only one egg on my plate?" Sulaiman asked again while he looked at his wife. "Did we run out?" At that moment, Dawood sat down at the table with a giant omelet and grinned. "Well clearly, we're not out of eggs," Sulaiman said and looked at Mehak for an explanation. "Your cholesterol is too high," Mehak said simply. "I'm taking medicine for it," Sulaiman pointed out. "I think I deserve a couple more eggs." "I think you don't. I want you healthy and alive, so no more eggs. You're lucky you're getting even one. In fact, I want you getting up with Dawood and exercising regularly," Mehak added. "When hell freezes over," Sulaiman said before stabbing his egg with a fork.

     "The feeling is mutual," Dawood spoke up once he had washed down his breakfast with a giant glass of milk. Right then, Jannat walked into the kitchen and looked around before saying, "I feel Korean today." Dawood squinted his eyes in confusion and leaned his chair back to look at his big sister, "You feel what now?" "I feel Korean today. Today, I will eat nothing, but Korean foods and shall also speak in Korean," Jannat said simply. "You know how to speak Korean?" Dawood asked in disbelief. "You have your army, I have my passion for foreign languages. Not all of us are boring, Dave," Jannat said simply. "What's his name?" Amina asked as she sat down with her plate. "Oh, sorry, Mama. I meant Dawood, honestly," Jannat covered up quickly while clearing her throat. "You know how much it irritates me when you use nicknames for your names," Amina said as she sliced into her cantaloupe. "Right, well, won't happen again," Jannat said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Hang on," Dawood called out, "that's not Korean. You just said you'll be speaking Korean today." "Stop being a pain," Jannat said and rolled her eyes before muttering something in Korean. "Yup," Dawood smiled, "that was Korean." Before everyone could settle back down, Dawood watched as Amina's cup of tea slipped from her hand and clattered against the wooden floor.