HIDE & SEEK

It was 5 in the afternoon. Ammina was not back. Her father and brothers would be home soon and they would disdain at the prospect of missing women folk in their house. Being her mother, Khadija would defer to her wailing requests in letting her play outside (in fact she did this time also) but she was ‘nt sure how Abujan, Amina’s father would react. As of her normal sangfroid character but not on that particular day, Khadija felt a lunge of discomfiture creeping inside her.

Amina was a very cheerful girl, 10 years of age and the youngest in her family. She had a plump face, pointed nose and curls moving down into her forehead. She had an attractive smile she intentionally pulls in whenever she finds herself at the receiving end particularly when she messes around with her siblings. Although she was the darling of her house, playing outside with the other children of the colony was not a hanging loose deal for her father. Khadija was ruminating on evading Abu Jaan’s inquiries, when on his return he finds his daughter not in the house, the door opened wide and much to her relief, Aamina rushed inside elated.
“Ammu (she affectinalety addresses Kahadija ammu), I won today”
For khadija,it seemed she had just topped her class and she had rushed in with the gold medal.
“They could not find me today also ammu. I only know that place”…

There she goes again. Khadija wondered. Aamina was talking about her game Hide and seek. Khadija had also played around with her friends during her childhood, but she never remembered narrating the whole lot of the incident to her mother after the game. Maybe there was lot of other house hold chores to be preoccupied in with, once she was back home in her childhood unlike Aamina who had to be in front of the books when her father and siblings were back. The only sort of relief Aamina enjoyed was sharing this pivotal information (at least for Aamina) with her. Khadija was smeared in her thoughts when Abu jaan had pushed open the door and from his sharp eyes, she understood that Abu jaan had overheard Amina’s victory claims.

“Aamina” he did not make it in a thunderous tone but there was the complacency that he did not like what was happening in the house.

Undraped, Khadija noticed the quick change of her expressions when she heard Abu Jaan’s sound. The expression seemed similar to her niece Binsiya’s during the kite festival a few months back , when she was about to gulp a cone ice cream, and to her dismay it slipped of her hand into the ground, resulting in an elated group laughter.

Aamina tried to lurk behind Khadija, albeit pouting her lips, lowering her eyes, raising her brows to invoke sympathy in spite of her iniquity when an intrusive knock on the door outside swiveled the thoughts of Abu jaan.
To be continued……