He Was A Skaterboy | COMPLETE

sixteen

"Yeh aapne kya kardiya?" Moussa said forcefully in a low voice, the door to the piano room closing behind them with a solid thump.

He strode forward and grabbed Salima by her arm, "Sab keh saamne yeh aapne kyun kiya? Kisse puchke aapne yeh faisla liya?"

"Baba...," Kiara whispered terrified, of her father's anger. The grip he had on Salima was bruising. She should know, she knew her arm would bruise from her mother's tight grip.

Kiara's voice broke through his rage, and he abruptly released Salima.

"What difference does it make? Aaj nahi to kal, she will be marrying Ahad," Salima said standing tall in the face of Moussa's ire. "Maine kya galat kardiya?"

"Mama...," Kiara said softly, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she studied her mother's arrogant face. "Ahad...he...he's seeing someone...he has a girlfriend..."

"What makes you think Laila and I didn't know?" she raised her eyebrows as she looked at Kiara coldly. "Of course, we knew and now you know, he does not have a girlfriend anymore..."

Kiara looked at her mother in shock, speechless by the sudden revelation.

"And don't think I don't know about you and that boy. That Turk," she spat. "I saw that, how close you were in this very piano room. I don't need to take a wild guess on what you were doing that had you needing to fix your makeup after."

"Mama...I...," she swallowed guiltily, her throat clogged with tears.

"What did you think Kiara?," Salima scoffed, "Did you even think? Kehne ko toh sab superstar banna chahte hai, bus koi ek sirf bantha hai," she mocked.

"That...That's not fair Mama. You...you don't know him," she said, her voice cracking.

"I know enough; the parents own a small bakery where they supply goods to cafes, the eldest daughter is cooking school studying to be a chef, that boy is a senior in high school but dreams of becoming a rockstar, there is another daughter who is still in middle school. They barely make ends meet even with that boy working in a Pakistani grocery store on the weekends," she rattled off.

"That boy, he dreams of becoming successful with his music," Salima sneered, "which like thousands of people out there, it will only remain a dream."

"Don't say that," Kiara whispered forcefully, her eyes blurring with tears.

"Don't say what, beta-ji," Salima mocked. "That is the realities of life. Dreams seldom do come through. That is life. Accept whatever is dealt and move on."

"But...But...Mama...I...I love him...," she breathed out, her tears burning paths down her cheeks.

Salima scoffed but paused as she studied Kiara's face. And shocked both Moussa and Kiara when she threw her head back and laughed heartily. The sound of her laughter reverberated in the silent room even when Salima paused.

"Ya Allah, I need to sit," she continued laughing as she sat on the dark green sofa. "Kiara, you really know how to make me laugh." Salima's ivory colored silk shalwar kameez­ contrasting brightly with the darkness of the sofa, making her look ethereal but yet commanding everyone's attention.

Kiara looked at her feet, unable to meet her mother's eyes.

"Love," Salima said to herself and chuckled, like there was some inside joke that Kiara wasn't privy too. "You do not have the luxury of love. Ask your darling father, beta-ji. Come on, ask him," she grinned maliciously.