Abdullah finally let go of his grandmother, comforted by the noise and movement of the house around him. With everyone talking, laughing, and walking in and out of rooms, he finally felt like he was home again.
The next few days passed in a similar rhythm. During the day he often felt bored, usually just watching things on his iPad. When he got tired of that, he stepped outside to watch his cousins Ayyan and Arham playing cricket with the neighbourhood boys. He wasn't any good at it, so he mostly observed, watching them set up the wickets and bowl the ball with perfect technique.
"How do they throw it like that?" he wondered.
The little kids would run around playing tag, shouting and chasing each other. Abdullah liked watching all of it from the side. But he never stayed outside for too long the heat hit him harder than it hit his cousins. Instead, he preferred lying beside Nano inside, where it was cooler.
After dark, the boys did things Abdullah found strange. Sometimes they would go out looking for bats, which flew around the area at night. Abdullah was terrified of them, but his cousins weren't they were weirdly excited by the idea. One evening they even managed to trap one inside a bag. Abdullah looked away immediately.
"Disgusting" he thought, deciding he wanted no part in that.
Night-time was better when he was with his grandfather. Abuji slept on the flat roof because of the heat, and Abdullah would lie down right beside him. He loved listening to his stories.
"Back when I was young well, in my twenties," Abuji began one night, "I went to Dubai for business opportunities. When I came back, I married your grandmother. Later I got into politics proper politics too. I was even part of an influential political party."
He chuckled. "I still have the number of one of the candidates for prime minister or should I say, future prime minister."
Abdullah didn't understand half of it. "What's a prime minister?" he wondered. But he still listened, because the stories made his grandfather sound like the most impressive man in the world.
Often, Abdullah simply stared up at the sky while his grandfather talked. The stars were unbelievable bright, thousands of them, scattered across a completely dark sky.
"Wow… it's so pretty," Abdullah whispered.
"It really is, isn't it?" Abuji replied.
Some nights Abdullah fell asleep holding onto him.
The electricity cut out randomly every few days, throwing the whole house into darkness. When that happened, the cousins would gather and tell scary stories. They sat in a circle, only their voices filling the pitch black.
"Once, there was a jinn that sneaked up on kids and stole their souls," Shanza said dramatically. "He made a sound like this… thump… thump… thump…"
She tapped the floor for effect.
Hard to believe she's two years older than me, Abdullah thought. What kind of idiot wouldn't realise she's making the sound herself?
Somehow, his favourite cousin Arham fell for it. Abdullah shook his head in disappointment.
"Okay guys let's stop now…," said Arham.
Eventually the electricity returned, and life continued in that same cycle. Slowly, the weather cooled. Abdullah found the drop to around ten degrees perfectly normal, even nice but everyone else acted like it was freezing.
One day, Abdullah finally asked the question he'd been thinking about nonstop.
"When are Ali and Baba coming?"
His mother sighed softly. "We're not sure, beta. Ali's visa is taking a long time."
What Abdullah didn't know yet was that because of COVID issues, his dad and brother wouldn't be able to come at all.
"Oh okay," Abdullah said, not aware that they wouldn't be able to come.
The wedding approached quickly. His younger aunt, Amira, still lived at home with her parents. Abdullah thought of them as his "second grandparents," even though Aunt Amira was his mom's cousin, and only Amira's father was truly related by blood. Still, they treated him like their own grandchild, and he adored them.
During the days leading up to the wedding, Abdullah spent a lot of time questioning Aunt Amira.
"What's his name?"
"What's he like? Is he nice?"
"Where is he?"
"His name is Ali," she'd reply with a smile. "Yes, he's very nice. He lives in the north—near your Aunt Amina."
"Woah… he has the same name as my brother!"
He said it with shock, not understanding yet that names could repeat.
At night, it was too cold to sleep on the roof anymore. He slept with Papa and Big Nano his second grandparents. It was comforting. They always treated him warmly, and he felt lucky to have a full set of grandparents, even if not all were related.
Big Nano cooked constantly and always gave Abdullah a warm smile. Papa was frail and almost blind, which made Abdullah feel bad for him, but he was still fun and knew lots of old games and stories.
The last few weeks were filled with shopping trips. Abdullah got dragged along as the women bought clothes for themselves, their husbands, and all the kids. More and more people arrived at the house. Some nights, music blasted outside, and on the day before the wedding, they held a massive feast.
Every member of the house was their Aunt Amira, her parents, Abdullah's mom and sisters, his grandparents, his uncles and their kids, Aunt Amina and her children. The whole family under one roof.
Then finally came the day of the wedding.
Everyone woke up early to get ready. The house felt tense. people rushing, shouting out for missing clothes, trying to iron things last minute. Once ready, they all piled into a big bus and headed to the venue.
It was a huge building with a red carpet and detailed designs everywhere. Inside, there were crowds of people Abdullah didn't know, plates of food being carried around, and photographers constantly taking pictures of Aunt Amira and her husband.
But Abdullah noticed one thing immediately his grandmother looked pale and tired. He sat beside her the whole time to keep her company.
Even through the excitement, he had only one thought:
Dad and Ali didn't make it…
After the wedding, it hit him that their time in Pakistan was almost over. His mother started packing again. Abdullah spent as much time as he could with both sets of grandparents. His grandmother slept most of the time now, so he would lie beside her, playing games on his iPad just to be near her.
She would often ask him about Ireland. "what's it like there beta" she asked curiously.
"it's so much colder there and like there's grass and trees everywhere not like here. Also, all my friends are over there it's going to be so cool when you come and ill introduce you to Tomek and john and we'll have so much fun and ill show you around the area as well you'll love it there just wait" Abdullah would rant on and on.
Nano would just smile intently listening while hugging him. He didn't mind at all. When Abuji came home from work, Abdullah begged for motorcycle rides. They rode through the area together, wind rushing past, passing broken houses, tiny shops, and familiar roads.
Then the day of departure came.
In the morning, he said goodbye to his cousins, Aunt Amina, Big Nano, and Papa hugging each one tightly.
Then he went to his grandmother.
He looked her in the eyes. "Don't be too sad when I'm gone. I'll be back. Just wait the time will fly. And I'll bring Ali this time."
He said it while holding back tears.
Leaving her felt impossible, but he forced a smile, hugged her, and walked to the car with his grandfather. He knew Nano would rather see him happy, so he kept trying to smile, even though his chest felt heavy.
At the airport, his mother hugged Abuji. Abdullah stood there silently, then looked up at her.
"Mom please, can we bring Abuji? He can hide in the luggage… can't he?"
His voice broke as he pleaded.
"You'll see him next time, beta. Just wait." She said holding back her own tears.
Abdullah ran to his grandfather and hugged him tightly. This time he couldn't hold back he broke down. He cried for minutes, his face pressed into Abuji's clothes.
"It's okay, beta come on," Abuji said softly. "You know it makes me happy when you're happy. Wait until next time, alright? You'll be back."
Abdullah wiped his tears, leaving a stain on his Abuji's shirt. forcing the biggest smile he could manage.
"Just wait alright" Abdullah said, "just wait".
Until next time…