You're Not Proper (21 page)

The nurse stepped back and we went down a corridor and into a room. Mum had a tube in her nose. She was plugged into a machine, with all sorts of readings on small screens. Her eyes were shut. When Dad touched her hand, she opened her eyes and said in a weak voice, ‘Liaqat.'

‘It's Lucky, you daft git, and aren't I just, to get you back.'

Mum nodded to her curry club and nodded to me to come close to her. I did. She stroked the back of my hand with a finger and then closed her eyes again.

The way she closed her eyes filled me with terror. I thought she was dead, but the machines all kept on as they were.

Dad must have known what I was thinking. He said, ‘Don't worry, she's just tired. They said she'll be home in a couple of days.' We stood looking at Mum for a while. All the time I kept thinking, how lucky I was to have a family now with no secrets hidden under the bed and to have discovered a brother, a sister and, then I smiled at the thought, two Mums.

After Kiran and her Dad went to see her Mum, we stood up and walked towards my Mum and Dad. When she got close to Mum, Mother sat on the floor and touched and tried to kiss my Dad's feet.

He quickly bent down and stopped her.

Mum helped Mother to her feet, and said, ‘You must never do that again, never.'

‘Forgive us?' Dad asked.

‘Can you?' Mum asked.

Turning to me, Dad asked, ‘Can you forgive us, Shamshad?'

Mother flicked her shining eyes upwards, held her hands out and prayed, ‘He is
Gafoor-ur-rahim
, the merciful, the forgiver. He has forgiven, who am I not to?'

Mum and Dad looked at me. I smiled back at them, thinking, ‘Shamshad girl, you've got a lot of making up to do.' And then I too held out my hands and repeated Mother's words, ‘He is
Gafoor-ur-rahim
, the merciful, the forgiver. Ameen. He has forgiven, who am I not to?'

Tariq Mehmood is an award winning writer and film-maker. His books include
Hand On the Sun
(Penguin),
While There Is Light
(Comma). He co-directed the award-winning documentary
Injustice
. He currently teaches at the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon and lives in Beirut and Manchester.

Hand On The Sun

While There Is light

Courageous Ali And The Heartless King

Half Brother/Pahi Adha

 

 

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First published by HopeRoad 2015

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Copyright © 2015 Tariq Mehmood

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