He walked aimlessly along the street. There was nothing to do. He hadn't opened the store in weeks. There was nothing to look forward to.
Hamza had been less than helpful. He had no money to lend and no advice to offer. But he, at least, had been a great listener. They had reminisced about Arshad. He had helped with the loneliness.
Faraz entering the picture was alarming. Adeel's days in the USA on a business visa were limited. The initial investment that was required to acquire a business visa was put up by Arshad for him. It was tens of thousands of dollars and he knew that Arshad's family wasn't aware of this more than generous help. He wasn't going to bring it up either.
He had never been the saving type. The business had never taken off enormously anyway and they had largely had mediocre success, if at all. Arshad considered it amazing still.
"We are making a fortune in a foreign land", He'd boast to his own self and Adeel, "How many people can say they did that?"
Actually, a lot of people! But Adeel never contradicted him.
Kausar didn't have any money, he knew. If she had money he would have approached her. A part of him thought of holding the secret of Amira's paternity over her head and extracting money from her. But she had no money and this wasn't going to help. And it felt cheap. After all that had happened, doing this seemed base and classless.
"Arshad always gave great feedback on the business", Faraz had called him, "What happened? You and he were the face of it. I can't imagine people just abandoned it because he's no longer there".
He knew Faraz through Arshad and understood him as conniving and calculating.
"The business never skyrocketed like we expected it to. Add to it the long recession. People aren't worried for furniture when they are running out of bread".
"How much inventory do you have over there? Would someone buy it?"
"It's not much", He said truthfully, "We were going to branch out into club essentials so we weren't stocking much furniture or electronics".
"Just a guesstimate of its value is fine".
"About fifty to a hundred thousand dollars", He felt trapped.
"There's a long gap in that amount", Faraz laughed softly, making Adeel feel stupid, "Wanna hazard another guess?"
He knew a cat was playing with the mouse before eating it alive.
"I'd say seventy", He replied quietly.
"What's the lease situation on the store space?"
"Running out", Adeel sighed.
"Okay", Faraz said, matter-of-factly, "This business looks like it has no further income potential left. Why don't you lock up the store and come back? I'll pay for your tickets".
"Uncle!" He hesitated but decided there wasn't another term of endearment for his dead friend's father, "I can't just leave. My whole life is here. I need some money to pull it back up. I wasn't in charge of the money. Arshad was! So I have nothing and whatever Arshad has, I don't have access to it".
Faraz was an old businessman. Nothing that Adeel could present was going to deter him.
"I understand", He said pragmatically, wondering where Adeel got the initial investment money from, "But this is a huge amount of money that I don't have. If you have it then you can save the inventory. What I would recommend is that Hamza gets there, helps you with the selling of the stock items and splitting the money between you and Arshad's family. Kausar is responsible for Hamza's kids also. She'll appreciate the money. Hamza can fly out tomorrow".
The phone clicked. Adeel stared at it, his mind going in circles.
There was no other way.
He called Kausar. She didn't pick up. He tried blocking his caller identification and calling her. She still didn't pick up.
I'll think about next steps tomorrow, he tried to calm himself down. I don't want to make a mistake. This has to go without any hitch. If Faraz gets on my case then I can lose everything.
Hamza couldn't get here, he realized that. If he got here he'd be meticulous about how things were divided. That couldn't happen.
I don't mean to be dishonest, he reasoned with himself, but I can't let them divide it all equally between me and Kausar. What about all the hours I put in?
You were paid for your time, his inner voice said.
That was hardly compensation enough, he retorted. I worked to my bones there.
Morning came. He dreaded Hamza arriving and yet, Hamza could be on a plane now. He had to act fast. Sometimes when a ship capsized, it was every man for himself. Morality, integrity and character were usually a privilege. He felt better about his plan.
He called Faraz.
"What's up, Adeel?" Faraz's booming voice hit his ears.
"Nothing much", He said, his voice assuming the cocksure easiness of a man with a big deal to make.
"Hamza is looking at tickets. What's the nearest airport?"
"Erm", Even though he had spent every second of the last twenty-four hours perfecting this conversation his hands got sweaty, "Hamza might not have to come at all, Uncle! We might be able to solve it over the phone".
"Is that so?" Faraz's shrewdness was piqued.
"Yes. I thought I might be able to change your mind. I'm a small man but I might have something big that could help us both in keeping what we have".
"No one is a small man", Faraz laughed, "Men are never small. What is it?"
"I know you are one of the most notable men in Pakistan, let alone Karachi. I know you wouldn't want a scandal. That wouldn't be good for you or your family. You're also the father of my dearest friend and therefore, I wanted to talk to you about something that has weighed heavily on me".
"I'm listening", It was hard to tell whether Faraz was stimulated by this prologue or bored.
"It's hard for me to say it", He hadn't realized that saying it would be so much harder. His affair with Kausar had become a thing of the past for him. He hardly ever thought about it anymore. He had never cared for the child that was borne of it. In a way, this was another bad choice that had not affected him. Perks of being a man!
"Adeel! You were Arshad's best friend. I care about you. Say what you want to!" Faraz said, more congenially than before.
"I…" , He knew he would stammer for part of it. Arshad didn't know it so it was easy to speak to him about Kausar's affair. What he was going to tell Faraz could lead to many consequences for all of them but there wasn't another way. If he opted to leave New Jersey, he'd be worse off in Pakistan. He'd have to get a job, work in someone's employee. He didn't have to do any of it if he could get some money out of this deal with Faraz.
"Uncle! There's a secret I'm keeping. It's Arshad's so I couldn't divulge it while he was alive. It would've been cheating on my best friend. But now that he is no more, it breaks my heart that I could've done something for my friend. I could've reached out to his family, seen that someone helped him, pulled him out of his bottomless depression. I'm so sorry, Uncle! I'm so very sorry I didn't speak to you earlier. Arshad stopped me too but I shouldn't have listened to him".
Faraz's pulse was faster than usual. He had been dealing with an arrhythmia for a long time but it was largely under control. Since Arshad's death, he had had frequent chest pains and palpitations.
"I can't take it, Adeel!" He said urgently. "Spit it out or hang up".
"It's about Kausar. I don't even know how to say what I have to".
"Was she unfaithful to my son?" Faraz asked sharply.
It seemed odd that Faraz reached the crime so easily but it also made him feel lighter. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal to let the cat out when people obviously already expected Kausar to show poor character. Why else would Faraz suggest that?
"Yes", He hiccuped, pretending to be overcome with emotion.
Faraz inhaled sharply. Whatever his opinion might have been of Kausar, he hadn't imagined her to have gone this far. This was hard to hear. But it was harder to think of his son, a man in the prime of his life, taken down by a mere woman. How could Arshad take this to heart so badly? He was the manliest of all of his sons. Faraz was very fond of him. Arshad had never shown the blithering idiocy that Hamza had shown with women. He had walked the straight and narrow always. His only vice were these cockamamie, entirely hair-brained business ideas but because money had never been an issue, Faraz didn't mind any of it at all.
Arshad fell to a woman? He felt his throat was constricting. He was one of his best works. He fell to a woman? Why didn't he divorce her, take the kids and send her to Pakistan to rot at her parents' home forever? How did a weak man like that come from his loins?
It wasn't hard to put two and two together about where this conversation would lead. He had been a very prominent member of the community for decades. His father was actually an influential politician. Faraz's wealth wasn't just from a family business. A lot of it was acquired through illicit means. So of course he could tell what Adeel's asks would be!
"I'm listening", He said brusquely after recovering from the initial shock.
"She was unfaithful with him. I was requested by Arshad to keep it quiet but he confided in me. In his last days", He stopped as Arshad's ghost rose before him, "He talked about how they had never had a good marriage ever".
Faraz was silent. Adeel took it as cue to keep going.
"Arshad was miserable. There was so much to unpack there that I don't even know if he ever had enough time to process it all. He quit coming to work. He confined himself to his bedroom. He lost weight. I saw him withering away in front of my eyes. It was a thing of pride for him. He felt emasculated".
"Hmm", Faraz said, "Do you know who she cheated on Arshad with?"
This was the moment of truth. He could score so much more money by telling him who it was. On the other hand, it could all end for him. News of this wouldn't just stay with Faraz if he told him that he was Kausar's lover and Amira's father. It would go to his mother, Misbah. There could be the traditional pressure to marry Kausar since so much had already happened. In a place where adultery was one of the biggest sins, he could pay the price for it by marrying Kausar. Even if that didn't happen, he'd become a father without ever wanting to. There would be expectation of child support and alimony of some kind. Also, he shuddered to think what Faraz would do to him if it ever came out that Adeel slept with Kausar. Even though the truth was easier, it was also deadly.
"She never told Arshad, as far as I know", He said. He had thought about the possibility of Kausar telling people that it was him if she was forced for an answer but he knew her enough to know that she didn't want anything to do with him. He knew that she'd just lie. And if she ever told them, he'd just lie. It was simpler to lie and save himself. Kausar was doomed as he saw it. "But you can ask her".
There was a long silence. Adeel heard the clock ticking. It was somehow in harmony with his heartbeat. There was a melody to this rhythm that calmed him. The entropy that had invaded his life for months, seemed to be dissipating. The air was clearing around him. His lungs were expanding. He won't have to leave New Jersey. He was sad that he had to sacrifice Kausar for it but she'll always be provided for. She had Arshad's son. Faraz wasn't going to abandon Arshad's son. Her own parents were affluent people. No, he reasoned with himself again, this is a good way for it to end for us both.
"I guess what's done is done", Faraz said finally. Adeel didn't think he had heard him correctly.
"Huh?"
"Arranged marriages", Faraz continued, "They come with their own set of complications. It's unfortunate what happened but my son is no more and she's the mother of his children. I will have to forgive her".
Adeel's head was spinning. Faraz was supposed to be angry, worried, sad, mad. He was being cool, calm, collected and actually, indifferent. They were supposed to be talking about the amount of money that would keep Adeel quiet so their family's honor could remain intact. But it seemed like Faraz didn't even understand what Adeel had said.
"Uncle! You understood what I said, right?"
"I did, young man! More than you think. But I'm old, recovering from the biggest tragedy a parent can face, running multiple businesses here. I don't really have the stamina to face more bad news. If Arshad forgave her then I forgive her too".
This wasn't how it was supposed to go. None of it was going how he had expected it to go. Maybe he would have to use the last weapon in his scant arsenal. He didn't own her or love her or even think of but Amira was his child. Throwing her under the bus was harder than doing the same to Kausar. If he told Faraz that Amira wasn't Arshad's, that child's life could change forever.
He hesitated but calmed himself down again.
"You're a wonderful man, Uncle! Arshad spoke so highly of you always. And I acknowledge that now too. You're a saint. This conversation gives me the courage to tell you the bigger reason why Arshad was so distraught".
"There's more?" Faraz asked, mildly. Adeel seemed to be the lowly kind of man who was leveraging someone's misery. That someone was Faraz's son. He could finally see how Arshad had made a big error in judgment by trusting Adeel. He was being calm deliberately. Inside he was fuming. How dare she step out on her son? But Kausar's punishment would come in its own time, he thought. Right now, Adeel had to warded off. He had given valuable information but he could never be put in a position to blackmail the Ahmads.
"The girl", He said, his mouth feeling like cotton and words abandoning him, "Amira. She's not Arshad's. Kausar had her with her lover".
Faraz felt a sharp ache in the left side of his chest. He looked at his watch that also took his heart rate and rhythm. His heart was beating erratically at about a hundred and forty beats per minute. It was time to do something about it.
