chapter 19

Chapter 19Flashback – A Few Years AgoIt was windy that night, and I was forced to sit inside my room and prepare for my exams when I heard bellowing noises from the neighbour’s house. Hearing people argue from the next door had become a common occurrence for me now. Nigaar aunty, our neighbor and Amma’s good friend, argued with Khalid Butt, her husband, almost every day, more or less, on letting Daniyal, her son from her first marriage, stay with them under the same roof. At the end of every argument, she may have managed to convince her husband, but she couldn’t persuade her stepchildren, Hammad and Fariya. Especially Fariya. She had a thing for Daniyal. She was highly fascinated with him because of his innocent looks and foreign accent. However, Daniyal had no feelings for her. In fact, he did not have anything for anyone. He was a lonely kid, only occupied with his books and board games. When Fariya failed to impress him, she turned against him and decided to concoct a plan to kick him out of her house. She wreaked vengeance on him by putting a false accusation of sexual misconduct on him. Daniyal was traumatized. The whole family, including Nigaar aunty, went in shock. She could never imagine her son sexually harassing his own stepsister. The truth was, she believed in her son. She knew he could never harm anyone, let alone sexually harass a girl. She knew he was innocent and was not capable of any kind of misconduct. However, Khalid Butt neither believed her nor her son. He only believed what his daughter said. Hammad insisted his father on throwing Daniyal out of their house, and Fariya wanted the same. Crying his heart out, Daniyal tried his best to convince everyone that he was innocent and that he had not harassed Fariya, but unfortunately, no one, except for his mother, believed him. Nigaar aunty took a blow at the family by asking Fariya to prove that her son actually harassed her. Fariya was blazed with anger as she had nothing to prove that Daniyal harassed her. That’s when she walked up to our house, in the middle of the night, and asked Amma to let her see Khadija. Bewildered, Amma let her in and asked her to go upstairs to see Khadija. ‘Why are you here, Fariya?’ I heard Khadija murmuring in her room. I decided to close my book and head outside, only to find Fariya in Khadija’s room to find out what was going on. ‘I need your help,’ Fariya demanded.‘What sort of help?’ Khadija asked. ‘I want Mishal to come over to my place right now and testify to Nigaar aunty and my Dad that Daniyal sexually harassed me in the school washroom today.’‘What?’ Khadija asked, her face masked with a look of shocked expression.Unable to control myself, I barged into the room and pointed at Fariya. ‘What the hell are you saying, Fariya? Are you out of your mind?’She looked at me crossly. ‘Do as I say, Mishal.’I cried. ‘I won’t. I can’t blame the poor kid for doing nothing! And stop acting like you can control me.’She continued to look at me with determination. ‘He sexually harassed me in the washroom today, and you watched it happen with your eyes!’I couldn’t believe she was such a skilled liar. ‘Stop lying, Fariya. Are you crazy? I will never accuse Daniyal of doing anything of this sort. He can never do this. Why are you putting a false accusation on him?’She scowled. ‘I want my Dad to kick him out of my house. Don’t you get it?’‘Then do whatever it takes for you to do it without involving us. Do not ask us for stupid favours.’She shook her head slowly, her face slowly turning crimson. ‘I’m sorry, but you have to do this for me, Mishal. You have no choice.’I yelled. ‘I won’t. Now get the hell out of here.’She took a step toward me. ‘Like I said, you don’t have any choice.’I furrowed my brows, and before I could say anything, Khadija stepped in. ‘What do you mean?’She smiled wryly at Khadija. ‘I know what has been going on between you and your boyfriend, Khadija.’The color drained from Khadija’s face, and she turned pale immediately. I looked at my sister’s face, shocked. I did know she was seeing someone from her university, but I could not understand how Fariya came to know about it. Was she spying on my sister’s personal life?Khadija snarled. ‘Get the hell out of here, Fariya. Do not make me cross my limits’Fariya sneered. ‘Well, look who’s talking. How can you say that when you’ve already crossed your limits with Shahveer?’Khadija turned paler after listening to Fariya’s words. Both Khadija and I were shocked to know how Fariya had so much information about Khadija’s love interest. ‘Surprised much, huh?’ Fariya sniggered. ‘I know everything about you and Shahveer. I also know what you two were doing in your room a few days back. Want to have a look?’ Fariya began to load something on her mobile phone. Embarrassed, Khadija’s eyes turned moist suddenly, and her entire body started to tremble. The shock was so profound for me that I could not process anything. I managed to look at Khadija helplessly, hoping she’d stare me back and assure me that Fariya was lying, but she did not meet my eyes even for a second. Her silence gave away everything. Fariya held out her phone to me, facing the display screen in my direction. ‘See how two love birds are spending quality time with each other.’Terrified to know what was coming ahead, I looked at the phone display and was shocked to see a video being played on it, in which my sister and Shahveer were making out in her room. I quickly remembered it was from the same night when Khadija had invited her university friends for a get together at our place. However, I did not know anything about the change of events and when and how Khadija took Shahveer to her room to spend time with him because I was busy chit-chatting with her other friends downstairs.‘Are you trying to blackmail me?’ Khadija asked, embarrassed and terror-stricken. Fariya smirked, sliding her phone back into her jeans pocket. ‘You’re clever than I thought, Khadija. Now, listen to me carefully. If Mishal gives a false statement against Daniyal, I won’t show this video to anyone, and I promise to delete it from my phone. Everyone gets saved, and Daniyal gets kicked out of my house.’Khadija looked at me with a mortified look. Was she trying to convey to me the same thing as I imagined? Was she expecting me to save her reputation by falsely blaming Daniyal? Never had I ever imagined myself being stuck in such a terrible situation. Never had I ever imagined being so weak, helpless, and vulnerable. On the one hand, my sister’s reputation was at stake, and on the other hand, poor Daniyal was being held punishable for a crime he did not commit. Fariya continued. ‘The ball is in your court, Mishal. Decide what you’re going to do.’I closed my eyes for brief seconds and then opened them again to look at my sister’s reaction. She looked at me with pleading eyes; humiliation clouded over her face. At that one moment, I decided what was more important for me. Whose reputation more mattered to me. My sister or the boy that I loved. With a heavy heart, I made my decision.