Ayesha At Last(67)

“Ayesha, Ayesha, Ayesha!” Farzana said. “Two weeks back I never heard of this girl, and now all I hear is her name! Khalid, I forbid you to speak to her again! In fact, we will never speak of her at all!”

“That might be difficult, since I’m marrying her cousin,” Khalid said. The anger was licking at his shins now, travelling up his legs and warming his fingertips. “You were out of line at the conference meeting, Ammi.”

“Ayesha disrespected me, and now you? Your father would be so ashamed.”

“I thought you said you were never going to speak her name again,” Khalid said.

Mr. Khan leaned back, clearly enjoying the exchange. “Would madam like some chai?” he asked genially. They both ignored him.

“Ammi, you are the one who is being disrespectful. The way you behaved at the conference meeting was wrong. You tried to take over everything, you didn’t listen to anyone and you picked a fight with Ayesha for no reason! You drag me here, and you don’t even ask what I want to eat at my own wedding reception!” Khalid’s face was flushed.

“What do you want, then, Khalid?” Farzana shouted. “I do everything for you, and this is the thanks I get. Tell him, then, if you know everything. Tell Mr. Khan what it is you want!”

“I don’t know what I want!” Khalid yelled. “But I do know one thing—I don’t want butter chicken! It’s too sweet, and everyone serves it all the time. It’s boring!”

Farzana nodded at the caterer. “You heard my son. No butter chicken on the menu.”

Kamran Khan carefully made a notation in his black notebook. “Would sahib like chicken tikka instead?” he asked Khalid.

Farzana sniffed loudly and made a big production of wiping her eyes.

Khalid nodded, deflated and too tired to argue.

Avoiding eye contact, they continued with the order.

KHALID met up with Amir, Ethan and Mo at Bella’s, after dropping his mother home.

“Damn, Khalid, how did a guy like you score a girl like that?” Ethan asked. He stared at the Facebook picture of Hafsa on Amir’s phone. Khalid reached over the table and put his hand over the screen.

“Please do not ogle my fiancée,” he said calmly.

“Well, then tell your fiancée to put on one of those face-mask niqab things. Sister is fiiiiine!” Ethan high-fived Amir, and Khalid wondered what he was doing there.

“I think I should go,” he said.

“Wait, wait. Cool it, brother,” Amir said. “Ethan is just having some fun with you. This is what yo’ boys do, all right? Now before the Wise Men’s Council begins, we need to have our opening ceremony.”

Mo, Amir and Ethan quickly downed shots. “Okay. The Wise Men’s Council will now decide whether the hottie with the body—”

Khalid moved to walk away.

“—I mean, the good Muslim girl,” Amir said hastily, “is the one for K-Man here, or whether he should dump her and go after her cousin Ayesha.”

“Wasn’t that the poet chick from last time?” Ethan asked. “Dude, you need to expand your social circle.”

Khalid only frowned. He wouldn’t be here if Zareena would just email him back, or text, or even call.

Mo slapped the table. “I got it. You should marry the hottie and fool around with the cousin on the side.” He high-fived Ethan and Amir.

“That is disgusting. I’m going to the mosque,” Khalid said, but Amir grabbed his arm.

“Joke-shhh,” he slurred. “’Member? We’re jush joking with you.”

“You’re drunk,” Khalid said. “You only had one shot.”

“Had five more outside,” Amir said proudly.

Khalid passed him his club soda. “Drink this, please. I don’t want you to pass out before you get home.”

“What home?” Ethan laughed, but Amir dutifully drank the club soda.

“So what should Khalid do?” Amir asked after a few seconds of chugging to clear his head.

“I don’t get it. Why are you marrying the hottie if you like her cousin?” Ethan asked. “Why are you getting married at all? You’re not forty, and she’s not pregnant.” He paused. “Is she pregnant?”

Mo and Amir fell against one another, laughing.

“No, she is not with child,” Khalid said tightly. “She’s a virgin, and so am I.”

There was a stunned silence among the men.

“You’re not supposed to say that out loud,” Mo said. “There are women present.”

“You must be going out of your mind,” Ethan said. “I lost it when I was fourteen.”

“I was twelve,” Mo bragged.

“I was nine!” Amir said.

“And you’re all such wonderful models of manhood,” Khalid said.

“K-Man, sarcasm don’t look good on you,” Amir said. “Okay, maybe I was sixteen. How do you deal?”

Khalid shrugged. He regretted being so forthcoming. “It can be uncomfortable at times. However, I want to wait until I am married.”

“Then go with the hottie,” Ethan advised. “You want your first to be worth the wait.”

“You mean my only. I have no intention of sleeping with anyone other than my wife.”