Series 2: “Checkmate” Part 1 My near perfect life


I opened my umbrella as I pushed open the office door

Maple trees, green with the celebration of spring, lined both sides of the double-laned road

Beads of water hung on to the crisp, fresh leaves and everything within sight looked washed and new

The musty scent of damp soil and callow leaves mingled pleasantly in the air

I lived five blocks from work in the residential area behind the small office complex

The short walks I often took home had garnered friendships from the owners of some of the shops I passed

There were various stores aligned in a row, a donut and pastry store, a hair salon and a video rental

Mrs Price, plump as the donuts she sold, was standing outside with her arms crossed, eyeing the sky

Her face broke into a smile when she saw me

“Hi Merrium

Pretty dreary and dull, huh?” I stopped and smiled

My parents had named me Marium

But of course the Americans have their own pronunciation guidelines for Asian names

“This light drizzle is not bothersome, Mrs Price

How was business today?” “Pretty good

People will never give up eating, be it rain or shine

 Especially hot donuts

” I laughed

I chatted with her a little longer and the conversation came to an end as she went inside to answer the ringing phone

I resumed my picturesque walk home

A red Mercedes purred by smoothly

The driver turned his head to give me another glance

I was used to the reaction by now

The combination of my shoulder length dark hair, unusually fair skin and black eyes was striking, even at the big ‘four O’ or 40

Ali, my husband, kept telling me that I needed to start looking older sooner before he started to get a severe age complex

Not that he was bad looking himself

My life in general was near perfect

Ali and I both had our faults but we managed to keep the marriage going for 16 years

There were disagreements but none that weren’t resolved amicably

Perhaps it was because I believed that success in any relationship meant more acceptances than expectations

Ryna and Omer completed our little family

When selecting names for the children, we had made sure they could be pronounced without being distorted entirely

My mind wandered to our latest unsettled disagreement about my present job at the adoption agency

I ruefully wondered if Ali would ever leave the matter alone

He didn’t mind me working, he just didn’t like where I was working

I kept arguing about the positive side of it; it was close to work and I only worked three days a week

But he kept insisting that I should find something else

I usually wasn’t obstinate about things but Ali’s insistence just seemed so unreasonable

The rain had stopped as I walked up the paved, hedged driveway of our home

Large windows overlooked the crisp green front lawn

It was early spring so the flower beds were yet to fill up with colour

The Virginia creeper, patiently waiting to turn green, snaked unabashedly up the two pillars on either side of the front door

I noticed Ali’s car in the driveway

He was home early

As a co-partner in an engineering consultancy, he often had the luxury of choosing his own hours

I hurried inside

As I put my umbrella in the umbrella stand and removed my raincoat, I heard him talking on the phone in the kitchen

“…

bring Lucy too, wives tend to get so suspicious if you go out without them

” I could tell by his laugh that the response from the other end was equally silly

I walked into the kitchen

I guessed he was talking to his college friend, Alex

He heard me enter the kitchen, turned around and blew me a kiss

“Yeah, Marium just walked in too

no

of course she won’t mind if you bring Lucy

Ok

we’ll expect you in about an hour

bye

” He placed the receiver on the kitchen counter and walked over to me

“Wait, let me guess,” putting up my hands, I pretended to think really hard

“That was

Alex?” “Right,” he grinned

“I keep forgetting that my wife is getting more intelligent with the years

” I rolled my eyes exasperatedly

He knew how much his quirky comments irritated me

Two years my senior, with his square-cut face, dark brown hair and eyes, Ali could easily top the list of attractive, if not very handsome men

“He’s coming over with Lucy for a little while

I hope you’re not too tired,” he said

“He wants to discuss his new job offer from Cincinnati

” We walked into the family room

“What’s to mind?” I said, sinking down into my favorite leather loveseat

“They’re good company

Did you call Ammi ji today?” I asked, referring to my mother

“No

I figured she and Abbu ji were having too much of a good time to even answer my call,” he replied, sitting in his recliner in front of the TV

Omer, 12, and Ryna, 14, were spending their spring break with my parents in Los Angeles

It was a long awaited treat for all four

The last phone call had confirmed our predictions

 Abba ji and Omer were fishing to their hearts content and Ryna and Ammi ji were raiding the mall and catching every new release in the theater

Besides the fun, it was important for them to keep getting the regular dose of Pakistani and Islamic-related basic values

Though we made sure this dose was given regularly at home too, Ammi ji and Abbu ji were a major influence

Omer was a sober child and absorbed things well

Ryna, on the other hand, had to question everything

She was so much like myself at that age that it scared me sometimes

“How was your day?” I asked Ali

“Nothing new,” he replied

He was flipping the channels now

“Do I need to prepare anything for Alex and Lucy?” I asked, mentally going over the snacks I had in the house

“What do we have?” “Well, we have samosas, which they like,” I told him

“And you can make your famous chai

Will that do?” “Absolutely,” replied Ali

“Well I guess I better get changed,” I said, getting up

He nodded

He had flipped up the footrest now, a sign of serious TV watching

As third generation American Muslims in the US, we conversed in English and answered our parents in English too

Though we understood Urdu, we rarely attempted to speak it ourselves for the fear of being laughed at

Our grammar was horrible and we had a very poor sense of gender nouns

Remorsefully, however, I had very little hope of our children either understanding Urdu or speaking it themselves



Date:14-Dec-2015 Reference:View Original Link