Healing

07.

By the time Dua was dropped off at my house by her grandmother the next day, I had hatched a plan.

Yes, I know it sounds bad to include a 9 year old in a scheme but as they say curiosity killed the cat.

It wasn't like she was going to get hurt or anything. She was simply going to have a conversation with me. A very very long conversation about her brother.

I had yet to figure him out as a person and it slightly irked me how he could change his demeanour so fast. 

Around his friends he seemed so different, but with anyone else he seemed so nice and down to earth.

Well, save for those few indecent comments.

"So Dua, is there anything you want to do?" I ask as I sit her down on the sofa.

"Not really. I'm just tired," and she yawns on cue as if to prove her point.

"Is my little princess not getting her beauty sleep?" I whisper.

She shakes her head from side to side and pouts. "I went to sleep at 12 last night because I couldn't sleep."

I internally scream from how cute she is. Everything from her hand movements to her voice. If she kept this up my baby fever was sure to return.

"How about we talk until you fall asleep?" I suggest as I sit down next to her.

"Okiee," she says as she lays her head down on my lap. Her body curls up as I place a little blanket over her.

"I was really surprised when I found out your brother owned the cafe. It looks too cute to be made by him," I say softly as I run my hands through her hair, something that my mother used to do to me when I was younger.

"I know. He looks like a big meanie but he's actually a big baby. More of a baby than me," she exclaims.

I laugh. "He looks like he's really nice to you."

"He's the best brother in the whole entire world. Except for when he doesn't let me have sweets because he won't let me have any because he says it's unhealthy," she huffs.

"That's really mean," I say in a sober voice. So he was a caring older brother. But what about how he was like to everyone else? "Does he act really mean with other people too?"

"Noooo. This one time we were going home and he was in a rush because he had something to do. But then he saw a really old grandma that was walking with a cane. And guess what. She didn't have a ride so he drove her to her house which took forever and he missed the thing he needed to do," she says this all in one very long sentence without taking a single breath.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. So he was nice and helped strangers.

So why had he acted like that the other day at the Masjid?

"I'm guessing he has a lot of friends if he's that nice," I say cautiously. I didn't know if she knew about the group he chose to be friends with, so I had thought of a roundabout way to ask as I didn't want to ruin the image of her brother that she had.

To my surprise he shakes her head from side to side and turns so her head is facing up.

"He talks to these boys at the Masjid sometimes but nowhere else. He always looks a little lonely," her voice had become one of sadness although she was trying to hide it.

Time to change this conversation.

"I'll be his friend," I say.

Girl what are you doing?

"Really? You promise?" she asks. Her voice is tired and her eyes are half closed but the immediate change in her voice was evident. She seemed happy and hopeful.

Don't. Don't go around making promises you can't fulfil.

"If that is what Allah SWT wishes," I reply.

She's quiet now and her eyes are closed. I'm under the impression that she's asleep until she whispers in a very tiny voice.

"Cyra?"

"Yes Dua."

"Thank you."

I stare at her face as she quietly dozes off. She looked so peaceful.

From the little information I had gathered today I had found that he was, in fact, a decent human being. One that would go out of his way to help the elderly.

And give you a job because he cared about the well being of a hijabi that was a complete stranger.

But that was it. The rest of him was still a mystery.

Sabr, my love.

Yes, sabr. Sabr and time will help in unravelling this mystery that has piqued my curiosity.

But as they say, wasn't it curiosity that had killed the cat?

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word count: 753

Date Posted: 02/13/2022