Chapter 4 villagers

someone was knocking on the door, I tried to open my eyes but couldn't because of the sleepless night I had.

"wait a minute", I reply angrily. I get cranky so easily when I don't sleep well. fumbling with my duvet covers. I look at myself in the mirror the black bags under my eyes are indicating my sleeplessness the previous night. I reach the door while running a hand through my rough hair. as I opened the door Anwar from yesterday stood there. "Shaho Amma Sai is asking for you, breakfast is ready".

"tell dado I'll be there, let me change real quick", I said and opened my bag to get my clothes out.

I took a quick shower and change into white shalwar kameez. I stood in front of the dresser, brushed my hair, rolled my sleeves, and left my room.

Anwar guided me towards Amma Sai's room because she had her breakfast in her room. all the workers were doing what they were assigned by dado without even looking up. some of the curious gazes looked my way. we reached her room Anwar gestured for me to step inside. dado was sitting on her chair the breakfast in front of her on the small table. I sit down in front of her on the chair. "good morning dado, how are you feeling today". she smiled, and asked the same about me.

"I had a good night, restraining myself from saying anything about the restless night, I didn't sleep well because it was a new place". she nodded in agreement. " I know it's hard to sleep somewhere new, don't worry you'll get used to it Shah, also I wanted to remind you about the property papers you are going to sign. the lawyer had a complication on his way here, it will take a few days for him to reach.

" it was not what I expected I thought I would sign the papers and would leave the very next day", but I didn't say anything to her, the truth was I wanted to explore the Haveli and the village. plus I was curious about the incident last night.

"It's ok dado, I can wait for the lawyer, there is no harm in spending some time here". she smiled and we both started eating breakfast. the traditional Pori(oil tortillas) and chole(chickpeas) was the kind of breakfast I needed right now. after finishing she called Tara and asked her to remove everything from the table. she stood up and gestured for me to follow her outside. we reached the same lawn where I saw the shadow last night. we both sat on the white chairs there. she said, "I know Shah you'll get bored here without doing anything so I'm assigning you to do some work around here, the farmers who work in the fields cut their crops at the end of the day, their payment should be received on time, and one of them owes me money so that half of his salary is cut from his daily wages", I'll ask Anwar to show you around the village and the fields". with that, she left me there and went back to her room. she called after Tara and asked her to bring something to her from the kitchen.

I don't know how to feel about her right now, her behavior is strange she switches quickly to nice and cold. I focus on the place I saw a shadow last night. I know I saw something here and it was not part of my conscience. I was in deep thought when Anwar came to me, he was a young man with olive skin and brown eyes he was quite attractive and kept himself clean and tidy for someone who worked here. I asked out of curiosity " what do you do here Anwar", he seemed surprised by my question.

" I uh help Amma sai with groceries and take payments from the people who work for her, I also study in college I work here part-time, it's weekend so I'm here full time if you need anything, feel free to ask".

I smiled at him," so you don't take a day off".

"no, he says Amma sai needs me every single day, and my mother is very sick so I need extra money for her care".

I felt sorry for him he seemed like a nice guy supporting his family from a young age.

" so when are you going to show me around the village".

" whenever you're ready shaho". he says finally feeling a little relaxed since I saw him".

" Okay, I'll meet you outside the Haveli in an hour. I get back to my room and took my phone from the nightstand. and went outside of the Haveli Anwar was waiting with a Black Revo he saw me and get into the car and I took the front seat beside him.

" so where to first", I asked him.

" First we'll get the payment from Dad-bakhsh he has been lacking in giving the proper amount to me, and Amma Sai is mad about it she doesn't like it when they don't pay the full amount and on time".

let's go there then, with that, he started driving, the roads of the village were not in a good condition, the road was bumpy and the kids around were surprised to see us, the condition of the local people was very poor. the kids were dressed in basically nothing. I was surprised to see the condition of people under my grandmother's rule. She was the Sai(landlord) of the village and it was her job to look after her people and to work for their well-being after my grandfather passed away, he was a great man. and what I remember about him was that he was one of the kindest men on the face of the earth. I was so distracted by my thoughts that the car came to an abrupt stop, I look around to see a field and an elderly man working in it