"Your niece turned three today." Amina said, smiling sadly at Tasneem.

"I know." Tasneem said, stirring her coffee distractedly. "I tried to phone Ibrahim but..." She shrugged.

"How long has it been since you've tried to contact him?"

"Since the time he got married." She jerked slightly as she felt Riaz's hand on her knee. "I'm worried, Ouma."

"I know." Amina nodded, blanching at the bitter taste of her coffee.

"He's still angry with me." Tasneem bit nervously at the rim of her teacup, squeezing Riaz's hand gently. "I don't know what my mum told him but he believes her."

"Be patient." Amina said, reaching across the small square table to pat her granddaughter's hand. "There' a reason for everything but we just don't see it yet."

"I guess so." She reached for a biscuit, dipping it carefully into her coffee as she tried hard to ignore the silence that descended upon them all.

"My sister met someone." Riaz spoke up, his soft voice causing both grandmother and granddaughter to pause halfway with their cups to their mouths.

"Really?" Tasneem asked, surprised that he was talking about his sister at all.

"Ya." Riaz scratched his neck as both pairs of eyes settled heavily on him. "She's helping him with one of his courses so..."

Amina was the first to grin, clapping her hands to her mouth in age-old delight. "Well that's wonderful!"

"Yeah, it is." Riaz smiled yet his smile barely reached his eyes.

Tasneem watched him carefully as she sipped at her coffee. He was anything but happy about his sister finding someone and she only needed to feel his grip on her hand to know just how upset he truly was.

"When you're done, we can go and read from the Qur'an again." Amina said, standing up to clear away the supper dishes. "Where did we stop?"

"The story of Yusuf." Tasneem said, trying to remember where they had stopped the week before.

"Peace be upon him." Amina reminded her, gently cupping Tasneem's chin in her hand.

"Sorry." Tasneem's eyes crinkled in embarrassment before she stood up to help her grandmother.

"You'll like this week's recitation though." Amina shoulders curled up in excitement. "This is my favourite chapter." She beamed.

"Then we can't wait." Tasneem said, trying to appease her grandmother.

But deep down, she knew they weren't just words.

"So your sister found someone?" Tasneem approached the subject carefully once they had settled into their drive. She loved driving at night. There was something peaceful about it and the drive home was a beautiful one. There was one stretch that she loved in particular- it was a short road between two hills and when it was clear and she looked up, there was nothing but stars.

Millions and millions and millions of stars as far as she could see and she loved it. It was a magical, ancient beauty that had surpassed the weathering of time. Its beauty was infinite and no matter how many eyes had looked upon it, its splendour had never diminished.

"Yeah, she did." Riaz said quietly, changing gears as he lowered his speed.

"Do you know his name?"

He shook his head, biting the knuckle of his thumb as he recalled her phonecall. "She wouldn't tell me but she said he's a good man."

"Then what's worrying you?"

He glanced at her, watching his memories reflect off the window beside her...

The little kitten was grey and white. It was a small scrap of a thing, huddling and shivering in the corner as he looked up at the scrawny, little 7-year old before him. She frightened him. She bent down, curling her hands as if she had something in it for him, but he didn't trust her. He didn't trust the way she looked down at him or the way she yelled at him as he huddled deeper and deeper into the wall behind him. He was too small to scale its great length and she knew that.

"Dammit!" The words sounded odd and misplaced coming out of her mouth. "You stupid, dumb cat! Come here!" She screeched at it, tightening her fists as it kept moving away from her. She only wanted to play with it. Why was it making such a big fuss?

"I said come here!" His tiny mews were getting on her nerves as he squealed louder and louder. He watched her come closer to him, stretching her hand to it and before he knew it, his little claws had protruded from his paws and he scratched her right across her hand.

"You stupid piece of shit!" She roared in agony, unable to focus on anything else except hurting the scrap of fur before her. She grabbed it, ignoring its scratches and cries as she shook it.

And shook it and shook it.

She wanted to kill it. It was a small little shit and she was bigger than him. How dare he scratch her. "You're a dumb animal. Just die already!" She pulled at its ears and squeezed its belly till she felt something crack beneath her fingers and the little animal croaked in agony.

"Farhana!" Riaz's voice shocked her out of her blind rage before she felt him pry the kitten from her fingers. "It's okay." He whispered, stroking the kitten gently between its eyes. "It's okay. You're safe now." He cuddled the cat gently to him as he sat down on the ground, petting its soft fur. "You're safe now."

"He's just-" She was silenced by the look on her brother's face as he glared up at her.

"You broke his spine." Riaz said, watching the kitten lie limp in his hands, unable to move even a bit.

"He scratched me." She tried defending herself.

"He was scared of you."

"He's a dumb cat. What does he know about fear?" She asked bitterly. She knew what fear was. She lived in it, breathed in it, walked in it. Fear was a second skin to her. What did a stupid animal know about fear?

Riaz shook his head, unable to talk to her as he watched the kitten mewl in pain. Its chest rose and fell rapidly as his heart struggled to beat and his tail laid limply between its legs, drenched by the urine it had let out in terror.

"You did this." Riaz told her, stopping her before she could walk away. "Now watch the consequences of your actions." He looked down sadly, ignoring the tears that blurred his vision as he lifted the kitten to his chest. "I'm sorry boy." He said softly before circling the kitten's neck with his hand. "I'm so sorry."

The crack seemed to echo through his soul as the kitten's body folded in half, never to feel pain again.

"He might be a good man," Riaz mused, closing his eyes as he felt the kittens neck break beneath his fingers all over again. "But I'm worried because my sister isn't a good woman."

And my sister is going to break him as easily as she broke a sad kitten's spine between the palm of her hands.

It was past midnight by the time they settled into bed. Considering she had surpassed Mr Umar's record for the longest standing employee, she had been promoted to doing his accounts for him as well. It was mindnumbing work but she enjoyed it. It was easy to ignore the silence when she was working with all those numbers. Their flat was almost always devoid of Riaz's presence. If he wasn't working, he was at the gym or in the boxing ring. He would go home to shower and sleep only to repeat the cycle over and over again.

 "Do you know where your sister is now?" Tasneem asked, running her finger over his swollen knuckles. They were boxing gloveless in the ring and she didn't like the idea one bit. She knew coach Pieterse asked him for favours and asked him to fight his guys, help them get ready for their fights but she knew he did it more for himself than for the coach. 

"She's renting an outhouse somewhere in Sophiatown. That's all I know."

"Do you miss her?" She knew it was silly but she wanted to hear him talk even if it was to answer her ridiculously obvious questions. He missed his sister as much as she missed her younger brother. She always wondered what type of a groom he made or what he wore on his wedding day. She wondered about his wife and their daughter. She knew he would be a doting father, even though he was young. He had barely turned 23 a few months before but she couldn't believe how grown up he was. To her, he was still the awkward, lanky kid with a funny voice and a shock of pitch black hair. He was too tall for her to reach up and rustle his hair but it never, ever stopped him from giving her a peck on her cheek when his friends weren't looking.

God, she missed him.

"No."

"What?" His voice was swallowed up by the howling wind outside their window as it banged and rattled against the glass.

"I don't miss her." He said once more.

"Why not?" She huddled into his warmth before wrapping their duvet tightly over them.

"Because she reminds me of Zaheer and I don't want to be reminded of him."

"Did she go to your Mum's funeral?"

Riaz snorted, shaking his head at the very idea of it. "She hated my mother. She thought my mother was weak and pathetic..."

And she hit her and burnt her...

"My mother wasn't really..." He turned on his back, staring at vague, blurred pictures on the ceiling. "My mother wasn't always there for her and Farhana could never forgive her for it."

"I'm sorry." She squeezed his hand one final time before letting him go.

"It's late." He turned his back to her, closing his eyes as if it would help him run away from his waking dreams. "Go to sleep."

And only when she closed her eyes, did he get up and walk to the window, losing himself in the bitter smoke that he exhaled into the cold air outside. And with each dark, grey cloud that left his lips, he watched as each dark memory was carried away by the winds and the rains to a place he wished would be blocked away from him for an eternity.

But wishes were only that.

Wishes.

Simply wishes.

And they never came true.

A/N It's been a while.

Some interesting things have come to light in this chapter. Lots of things in this chapter are important for the sequel so just keep that in mind.

Also, if you're wondering who the man is Farhana met, yes it's Riyaadh. Our poor, sweet Riyaadh. Riaz's premonition definitely came to light with that one.

And yes, this is dedicated to the wonderful JettaFrame who taught me about page dividers :D Aren't you proud of me? And also because she is such an awesome writer and I am so, so madly addicted to her books so check them out, please!