One Hundred and Two

As narrated by Amz:

Zee and I rush to the lounge together.

Hamza and Dee are laughing their heads off, while Sumayya looks slightly pale, an annoyed expression masking her face.

“What is going on here?” Meez asks, walking in, a frown on his face.

“I’d like the answer to that question as well!” I say in a stern voice.

Hamza and Dee are laughing too hard to reply, so I look at Sumayya for an answer.

She scowls, muttering under her breath.

A small smirk appears on Zee’s face as he analyzes the situation.

“Su.. Sumi.. play.. played.. th.. the.. the..” Hamza tries explaining between gasps of air.

“Played the what?” asks Meez, also grinning a little at the sight of them laughing so hard.

“Played.. the.. the..” starts Hamza. But then he’s laughing hysterically again!

“The what?!” I ask, getting a little annoyed now.

“The.. maze.. ga..game!” he finally manages to say.

He and Dee look at each other and set off again.

“What maze game?” Meez, Zee, and I ask in unison.

“You don’t want to know,” grumbles Sumayya.

We sit down as Hamza and Dee collect themselves.

“Okay now what the hell is so funny?!” Meez asks impatiently, once they’ve stopped laughing.

“Dee asked Sumi and I if we ever played the maze game. I played it before, so I said yeah, but Sumi hadn’t, so Dee suggested she play it because it’s super fun!” begins Hamza.

Dee giggles, hiding her face in a  cushion from the sofa.

“And Sumi being the ever so enthusiastic, gullible being that she is, played the game, and obviously got.. the.. life shocked out of.. her!” Hamza continues, between laughter.

“Why, is it scary?” asks Zee.

“Hang on, is it that game where that thing jumps out of the maze and screams?” asks Meez.

“Yeah, that one!” replies Dee.

“Oh shit, that game is scary as hell!” exclaims Meez, looking worriedly at Sumayya.

“You played it before?” asks Dee.

“Nah, but I seen one of the boys play it, and he almost cried!!” laughs Meez.

“Wait, so what happens?” I ask. “Dee, how come you never showed me this game before?”

“You lucky she didn’t!” says Sumayya.

“Basically, you have to get this dot through the maze without it touching the walls of the maze,” explains Hamza, showing it to us on his tablet.

“Now see how narrow the walls are… So you have to concentrate really hard. And then you come to the end of level three, which is the most difficult, so obviously, you’re staring attentively at your screen, all tensed up, trying to get this dot through without touching, and suddenly this super scary thing appears on the screen, and it screams!”

“And you die a bit on the inside,” adds Sumayya.

Dee laughs and Sumayya rolls her eyes.

“It’s not funny!” she complains.

“It is funny…. when you’re not the one playing the game!” says Dee. And then she’s laughing uncontrollably again!

I shake my head, grinning. I notice Zee watching her intently, a small smile on his face.

“Dee are you high or something?” Meez asks, amused too.

“Yes.. yes, I am. I’m high on.. Sumi’s.. re… reaction!” she says between her laughter.

Even Sumayya giggles at that.

“You guys need to calm down!” I say. “C’mon let’s go have a drink.”

We all get up, placing the cushions neatly before heading to the dining room.

I put the glasses of milkshake in a tray, and  place it on the dining room table.

It’s quiet for a while, each of us sipping silently on a much needed drink.

And then..

As suddenly as prey moves when it sees it’s hunter, Dee yelps, flinging her chair back and standing on top of it.

“Jeez! What the hell, Dee?!” complains Meez, as her milkshake spills on his T-shirt.

“The.. cat!” she says, her face going pale.

Zee jumps up faster than a bolt of lightning.

As I bend to look under the table, I catch a grinning Hamza quickly take out his phone.

Sure enough, there is Tybalt, a look of slight alarm, probably from Dee’s reaction, on his face.

I sit up again, looking from Zee to Dee, both standing on their chairs.. And then I look at Sumayya, her face red from trying to keep in her laughter, and that’s all it takes.

We burst out laughing like a group of mental people.

“That’s.. what.. you get for.. for.. making me play.. that.. that.. game!” Sumayya says, literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Tybalt tries jumping on her, thinking she’s playing a game.

“That’s it, I’m going home!” says Dee.

“I’m coming with,” adds Zee.

“Okay, you’ll can ride on Ty’s back, since there’s no one to drop you’ll!” laughs Hamza.

“Are you mad?!?!” exclaims Zee, a look of horror on his face.

The sound of Dee’s phone ringing interrupts our laughter, and we all quieten down.

Sumayya picks Tybalt up.

I see Dee frown at her phone screen, hesitating.

“Aren’t you going to answer?” Meez asks, as her phone continues ringing.

She swipes her finger across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Wa’alaykum Salaam.”

Eyes on Ty, Dee gets down from the chair and walks towards Zee’s room.

“I’m okay, Alhamdulillah. How are you?” I hear her say, before she goes out of earshot.

Very formal.. I wonder who that is..

The front door creaks open.

Zee’s grandparents are back.

Getting up, I gather the glasses, putting them on the tray and taking them to the kitchen.

“Amz, don’t worry to wash it, hey!” I hear Zee say, before going to the front.

I quickly wash out the glasses, anyway. Drying my hands on the towel, I exit the kitchen.

Zee’s grandparents are well dressed, and Ma is telling Zee about the bride’s dress.

They must have attended a wedding.

My heart pulls a little inside, as memories momentarily flash through my head.

Ma sees me then, and she smiles her lovely old smile.

“Amaani, dear.”

“Aslkm Ma,” I greet, hugging her.

“Wlksm. How are you?” she asks.

“Alhamdulillah, how is Ma?”

“A little tired after the wedding, but shukr, can’t complain, I’m getting old now,” she replies.

“Old? Please Ma, look how nicely dressed up you are! I’m sure all the old aunties were asking you what standard you in!” says Zee.

“Areh, Ziyaad beta, what do you want, charming me like that now?” she asks, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

We laugh and Zee grins cheekily.

“Where is Deeyanah? She didn’t come?” asks Ma.

“She came. She’s on the phone, Ma,” replies Zee.

“Okay.”

“Where’s nana gone to? He must see Sumayya’s cat!” says Zee, looking around.

Zee’s grandfather loves cats. He had many as a child, but eventually he sent them to the SPCA, because it became too tiring for him to look after them.

“He’s probably gone to the toilet. That biryani had too much masoor!” exclaims Ma, shaking her head. “You know nowadays, the girls want to have big big weddings! Then you have to get someone to cook food for so many people. And what these cooks know? They just throw the masoor inside! They think more masoor means more nice the biryani will be!”

We all laugh.

I love Zee’s grandmother!

“Come Sumayya, we must get going,” Hamza says to her, looking at his watch.

“Okay,” replies Sumayya, getting up.

“Amz, you’ll coming?” ask Hamza.

“Urrr, yah, okay. Let me just see where’s Dee,” I say.

A hooter sounds and Meez gets up.

“That’s my dad,” he says, before greeting us and heading out with Zee.

I go to Zee’s room to call Dee.

She’s sitting on the bed, a look of slight distress on her face as she speaks.

“No, I don’t want to,” she says.

She looks up at me grimly.

I frown, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Uncle Rashid,” she mouths inaudibly.

Oh man! Now what?

---

Hey. Hi. Hello. Salaam. Bonjour. Salut. Ciao. Ahoj. Bog. Marhaba. Ola.

Hope everyone is doing fantastic! 

If you’ve played The Maze Game, you totally know what I’m on about.

If you haven’t, here’s some very valuable advice: DON’T! 

Next post next Sunday, IA. 

Have an awesome week. 

Much Love,

Troubled Illusioner. ❤