Chapter 3 Family matter

"Salamu Alaikum Dada," She peered into the room. Dada was sitted on the couch, browsing through a fashion magazine. She was a chubby vibrant lady who was known for her sharp mouth.

"Amin Wa alaikissalam. Come in, dear."

"Dada, how are you? Did you sleep well?" She remained standing to show that she would be leaving soon.

"I'm fine. Well, you see this bed is really soft. So different from my own back home. This can cause a person to have backache. You know, Ameer, your cousin told me of a research that was done and it was found that soft beds actually cause backache." She chuckled before continuing, "the generation these days are quite funny. They know of all these, but they will not stop. I'm sure even the writer and researchers still sleep on soft beds in their house." They both cracked a laugh.

"Dada, you are very funny, you know?"

"But it's the truth, Jameela dear. You know, when I was younger, oh I forgot to ask how you are. I'm just blabbing about. How are you? Did you sleep well? The rain made me sleep longer." She explained.

"It's OK Dada. I'm good. Thanks. I went to the store to buy that book I told you about. Well, I have to..." She began trying to trail towards the door.

"Oh, I remember. You and your feminist principles. It's all nonsense. Haha. I don't know how you developed them. Aww my neck."

She rolled my eyes. "Are you okay? Dada, feminism isn't nonsense. There should be equality everywhere between men and women." She rushed towards her.

"Yes, my dear. It's just my neck. Could you...? Well, we both have different views on things, but I sometimes like the idea of equality you know? But don't tell your mother."

"Oh you don't know how happy it makes me when you say that." She massaged her neck as she continued telling her different stories.

"...You wouldn't believe it. Your great-great-grand father told me. Haha. It was hilarious. The boy didn't have anything to say then."

"Wow that's really hilarious. I wouldn't know what to do if I was there. The embarrassment. How would I feel? God forbid." She cringed imagining she was the one in the situation.

"Thank you very much Dear. You should go and eat. I will have to rest for a while here."

"Ok Dada. Bye. See you later. Love you."

"Love you too dear!"

She entered the family room just as everyone was piling food on their plates. The topic of discussion was their aunties' wedding which was in six months' time.

"Tomorrow we would buy some items, right?" Ibraheem asked.

"Yea. InshaALLAH." Jameela replied, beaming.

"I don't just like this camping stuff. It kind of freaks me out, you know? I think it's dangerous," Amina said.

"Amina, there's nothing to be scared of. I'm sure it's because of all the horror stories you've heard," Jameela told her.

"No! It's not that. It's just that, I don't know, I have a bad feeling," She said.

"It's going to be splendid. I just know it," Muhammad said.

In this family, everyone had their own characters. It was like a mini movie every day. Fatee was the chocolate eater, even though Jameela also loved chocolate. But for Fatee, it was an obsession. She would simply sit on the porch and divulge a whole box of chocolate with ice cream to top it up. Muhammad was the 'engineer' of the family. Ever since he was a kid, he would take broken equipment and try to fix them up. Farah was the makeup addict, who never went a day without it nor a minute without checking herself in the mirror while Amina was the quietest and friendliest. The most reserved of them all. Anytime Fatee and Jameela or any of them argued, she would solve the matter amicably.

Their discussion was cut short when Dad walked in. "Eating and talking, my chipmunks?"

They smiled, turning their attention on their food.

***

The afternoon was spent in Sunnys' house. Sunny, who also lived in the same area as them was a tall and well-built guy. He was the same age as Jameela but looked much older. Sunny's family had been family friends with Jameela's family since they were kids. They even went to the same school. Until he was transferred to another school when they entered junior year. Jameela remembered vaguely the fight that broke in their school, leading to him being wounded. It was a fight among seniors, but Sunny happened to be walking on that lane, and got a share of the beatings. His parents immediately withdrew him, saying the school had no moral values and cared less about its students. He was transferred to another school, which was farther than theirs. That didn't stop their friendship from growing.

"Mom, we're back. Woah, I'm so tired. Mom?" She called out as she flipped on the couch.

"Maybe she is sleeping. Do you smell that?" Fatee said.

At that moment, Mom came out from the kitchen, with a spoon in her hand. "Hey. I just finished baking a cake. I want you to take it with you to your sleep-away camp. How was your afternoon? How is Melissa and her family?"

"Hmm. That explains the amazing smell Mom. They are doing great. Mrs. Melissa said that she will visit this weekend," Amina told her.

"Oh. She's going to beat me to it again. I was supposed to visit last week but I couldn't."

"Yeah. She said that she is sort of glad you didn't go. So that she can visit," Muhammad said.

Mom smiled, "a very nice lady she is. Well, I'm glad she's coming over. Kids, go and rest before eating, ok?" Mom said before disappearing into the kitchen.