“What are you doing sitting here?” Balwant Singh asked, putting an empty tray of appetizers aside. He was in charge of the food for as long as Ajabdeh had been in business. Almost her father’s age, Balwant admired the strong will and hard work of these two young ladies and often went out of his way to help them with arrangements.
“Rukaiya is out there. I hate these family parties.” Ajabdeh shrugged. Balwant smiled. “Hiding from potential mothers of grooms, are we?” He asked.
“Urgh.” Ajabdeh made a face “Spare me the high society pretentious drama.” Rukaiya walked in looking for her. “There you are; should we serve dinner?” Ajabdeh looked at her watch and nodded.
“Go out there, for just a bit,” Rukaiya spoke as she looked over the arrangements and presentation. “I will be back.” Reluctantly Ajabdeh walked out of the room and through the narrow corridor to the hall. The lawn was crowded with guests. She sighed, put on her best happy face and walked out into the crowd.
“Hello again.” The tap on her shoulder made her turn and she smiled at Shakti. “The arrangements are quite brilliant I must say.” His words met her nod “I must tell you it is nearly impossible to please my parents, but you did so. Congratulations.”
“I feel all children think like that about their parents.” She shrugged. “They were absolutely the nicest clients.”
“I actually wanted you to meet someone.” A girl about Shakti’s age walked up to them and Shakti was prompt to introduce them.
“Meet my cousin Nandini. She is Manwati’s younger sister. This is the wedding planner I was telling you about. She was in Melbourne when her sister got married.” Ajabdeh shook hands. She saw the smile disappear from the girl’s face as soon as a wedding was mentioned. She had seen it in many of her young clients. The idea of marriage is often scary.
“She is actually getting married in a month. The guy her parents chose is NRI too and he won’t be back for a few more years if the wedding doesn’t happen now. My Mausi was so pleased with the arrangements you made for Manwati, she was hoping you would do this one. But the time is so short and...”
“It’s okay. Just ring me up with the dates; we will see what can be done. Here is my card.” She gave her the card and was about to ask about her nuptials when the phone rang.
The number made her frown. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” She said and Shakti waited with a nod as Nandini walked away to mingle with some more guests. Receiving the call Ajabdeh looked a little pale and rushed to the designated staff room, as Shakti followed.
“What happened?” Rukaiya asked as soon as she saw her there.
“It’s Mom. I have to go.” She said worriedly.
“But Heer?” Rukaiya asked with a frown.
“Please do me a favour and call her up and tell her to meet me at the hospital.” Rukaiya looked at her watch at Ajabdeh’s words. “At this hour? Alone?” Rukaiya looked tense. “I can’t leave otherwise I would have driven her there. How will you go?” She asked a little worried. Shakti stepped in.
“Why don’t I take Ajabdeh there and tell Jalal to bring Heer?” Shakti said without second thoughts “Jalal must know your address right?” His glance was met with a nod from Ajabdeh “But this is your family function. I will get a cab.”
“You will never get a cab here. This farmhouse is miles from the city.” Shakti dismissed. “Besides it’s not safe.” He walked away as Ajabdeh tried to stop him, but her phone rang again, and she saw Shakti disappear into the crowd.
“Where will you go?” Jaivanta frowned at her younger one “You are a kid.” “Ranima.” Shakti shrugged “For god’s sake! This is an emergency and Ajabdeh...” “What happened?” Jaivanta looked up at her older one as Shakti filled him up.
“I will go.” Pratap promptly patted Shakti’s back lowering his voice enough so that their mother couldn’t hear “I don’t like gatherings like these anyway.”
Jaivanta agreed without protest and went up to Udai to give him the news. Udai walked up to Pratap as he was searching for his keys and said “If they need anything...” Pratap nodded. “Tell her your mother will visit in the morning.”
“Please apologize to Mr & Mrs Singh on my behalf and make sure...” Rukaiya stopped Ajabdeh and gave her a push “GO.”
“Dadabhai is going with you,” Shakti spoke as soon as he spotted Ajabdeh in the hallway.
“Are you sure...” Ajabdeh looked awkward “I mean...”
“Yes, Ajabdeh Go!” Shakti saw the car roll into the portico and pushed Ajabdeh towards it.
“Thank you.” Ajabdeh tried hard not to choke as Shakti slammed the door. “Thank you.” She said, turning to Pratap at the driver’s wheel. “City general hospital.”
Her phone rang another time. Pratap noticed her hand tremble on it.
They reached the hospital within an hour and Ajabdeh rushed to the reception. She met one of the nurses when Pratap walked up to her and all he heard in bits and pieces were “Tumour... removal... can’t recognize... agitated... harmed herself.” Ajabdeh sat down on the nearest bench as though her head was spinning.
Her mother was having issues remembering everyday habits ever since the tumours were detected and removed the first time. Her sanity was at stake when they talked to the psychiatrists. She had been complaining of pain. Her tumours were back. Now she couldn’t recognise anyone. This was an alarming deterioration. She even cut herself. Something Ajabdeh could never get herself to believe that her mother was capable of doing. But the person inside that room was not her mother anymore. She cursed herself under her breath. Her work and her need to provide Heer with everything she deserved had probably made her ignore Hansa’s health. She was barely home or spent time with Hansa ever since she started working. Khan Uncle was the kindest employer and Jalal the most supportive person. They kept in touch. But nothing could stop her mother’s health from going haywire.
Ajabdeh wanted to cry. But she was too conscious of her surroundings and the fact that Pratap was right there. She instead took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“You should go. I am sorry for all the trouble. Jalal will be here any minute with Heer. We will manage.” Ajabdeh got up to face him “Thank you once again.”
“Will you cut the formality once and sit down?” Pratap looked irked. “Would you not have helped if the situation flipped?” He shrugged “This is humanity above everything else. Sit down and let me get you some water.” He looked around “After that we will find the doctor. These nurses know only half the details.” She nodded, gratefully as he walked away. She watched him take the phone out of his pocket and dial someone as she heard someone approach her from the other end.
“Jija?” Heer hugged her in tears as Jalal walked up to them. “Thank you for bringing her here.” Ajabdeh managed before hugging her visibly scared sibling “It's okay Heer. She will be fine. I promise.” She managed to whisper. Their family had always been like that. The moment she saw Heer scared or crying she had all the strength in the world to fight anything.
Ajabdeh was about seven when she was very scared of dogs. It took Heer to be scared of a puppy one day for her to get over the fear and take her sibling away from the pup to make sure Heer wasn’t scared anymore. She had always been like that.
Pratap came back with two bottles of mineral water and exchanged a glance with Jalal. He handed the bottles to Ajabdeh noticing the striking similarities between her and the one who was sobbing beside her Ajabdeh promptly opened the bottle and handed the water to her sibling. Pratap noticed her hands weren’t trembling anymore. Jalal spoke up.
“You should leave. You have a house party at home. The guests must be expecting you around. I will stay here.” Ajabdeh agreed with a nod “He is right. I am so sorry for the trouble. And thank you for everything.” She stood up with a faint smile.
“Are you sure?” Pratap asked and met her confident nod. “Okay, I will come by tomorrow with Ranima, she wants to see your mother.” Ajabdeh nodded.
Jalal and Ajabdeh stepped into the doctor’s chamber leaving Heer in the waiting area. The doctor had put up the scans of the tumour to make it clear that they needed to operate as soon as possible. And to calm down her agitation Hansa needed to meet someone she recognized.
“I will go. She will recognize me.” Ajabdeh said as Jalal nodded. The doctor smiled faintly and shook his head. “I am afraid not. When I asked and enquired about her life, showing her pictures of you and your sister, she said she was not even married. She probably doesn’t even remember your father. I am sorry.”Ajabdeh suddenly jolted into realisation at his words. Her mother didn’t know she existed. All of a sudden, she felt orphaned. But it was no time to think emotionally.
“So I have to arrange for the operation as soon as possible?” Her words met a nod from the doctor.
“We can’t wait more than two months on this. And if it gets worse...”
When she walked out of the chamber it was already dawn and she spotted Rukaiya in the waiting area sitting beside Heer, holding her hand firmly as she sobbed. They walked up to her and Jalal filled in the details.
“Take some loan from the business.” Rukaiya promptly suggested.
“No, I can’t. We just started again. The pandemic was hard. And if I take away money from the business it can end up in losses. I can’t do this to you.” She shook her head. Jalal spoke up “Okay, how about a loan from Khan Baba? I shall talk to him.”
“No Jalal you have done enough for us already. We can’t take so much from you. I will see what I can do. Meet my insurance agent tomorrow. Don’t worry.”
“We should take up more work then. Split it up, you do one, and I will do another on the same day. We can earn more and...” Rukaiya’s words faded into Heer’s mind. Even though she said she would handle it, Heer saw Ajabdeh’s face turn grim. She wished for once that her father was here, or that they were still in Bijoliya.
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