They looked... In front of them stood a man with his legs spread apart, holding Hamoud by the wrist.
"Who are you, and why are you holding Hamoud's wrist?" Farooq demanded.
"Let go of his wrist..." said Begum Junaid. As soon as he released it, Hamoud quickly scurried over to stand beside them.
"Who are you... and what are you doing in our house?"
"Farooq... tell your sister... who we are..." he laughed.
"M-m.. I... meaning... I... I should tell... w-who you are?" Farooq stammered.
"Yes... y-y... you are the one who will tell. We... who are we..." the man stuttered right back at him.
"Enough is enough... I won't take this anymore..." Farooq made a face and complained.
"What is enough... and what won't you take?" Begum Junaid asked in surprise.
"My imitation... what else! I won't stand for someone copying me, do you understand?"
"We understand... but understand this as well..." Shazy, the wrist-holder's companion, walked in from the stairs.
"What should I understand?" Farooq narrowed his eyes.
"Just that I'm not imitating you—I naturally talk this way. Right, Shazy—am I right?"
"You're right, Gami!"
"Oh... so you are Shazy and Gami!" Farooq blurted out.
"Yes... and I am not Gami—I'm Gami! Watch out if you mangle my name again!" Gami warned angrily.
"Oh wow... you even get angry? Amazing!" Hamoud laughed.
"Looks like the pain in your wrist has vanished," Gami grimaced.
"Yes... the pain is gone. You don't intend to grab my wrist again, do you?" Hamoud shuddered.
"Don't worry... I have no such intention."
"Good brother... you didn't tell us—who are you, and why did you barge into our lives like bad times?" Farooq asked.
"We are outsiders, Farooq... did you forget? And oh, quickly put the food on the tablecloth; we are very hungry!" Gami rubbed his belly. The four of them looked at each other as if to say, What on earth are these creatures?
"Food later... first tell us, how did you get into our house?" Farhana asked.
"Through Begum Shirazi's house... how else?" Shazy smiled.
"But her house is locked! There is a padlock on the outer door..."
"Farhana! Padlocks bow down to Shazy and Gami! Wherever we touch, locks pop right open. In fact, we can also unlock closed minds—if anyone wants theirs opened, we are at your service!" Gami rambled on.
"Farhana, let me explain! They figured it out while I was watching them from Begum Shirazi's roof. They were talking to you guys, walked right up to Begum Shirazi's door, and then I was shocked. Gami did goodness-knows-what to the big padlock, and it instantly opened! They came inside, bolted the door, came up to the roof, overpowered me, and entered our house!" Hamoud explained in detail.
"Oh... oh... could you be petty thieves? People who pick locks are usually experts at this!" Begum Junaid expressed her concern.
"Petty thieves? Oh wow... what a name you've given us! Brilliant, I love it!" Gami burst into laughter.
"Gami... you fool! Mother is calling you a thief, and you're laughing?" Farooq grimaced.
"Don't make a face... I don't like it when people make faces. Oh... oh...!" Gami stopped in his tracks.
"W-w-what happened, brother?"
"You called me Gami, even though I told you not to mess up my name! I am Gami, not Gami! If you try to distort my name again, I'll knock your teeth out!" Gami threatened.
"Alright, I won't call you Gami anymore. But tell me... what do you gain by breaking my teeth?"
"What will I gain? Nothing at all."
"Well, brother! Is it a good thing to break someone's teeth for no gain? You might want to reconsider your decision," Farooq said, putting on an innocent face.
"You mean it is a good thing to break someone's teeth for your own gain?" Gami glared at him.
"I-I didn't say any such thing!" Farooq protested.
Hearing Farooq, Begum Junaid burst out laughing.
"How innocent my Farooq is..."
"MashaAllah... if there were two or three more innocents like him in the world, everywhere would be lush green!" Hamoud laughed.
"Not innocent... more like urea fertilizer! Because greenery comes from urea fertilizer too," Shazy chimed in with a laugh.
"You cannot make fun of me!" Farooq narrowed his eyes.
"Why? Do your jokes have wings? Give me a break!"
"Shazy... shut up! My hunger is increasing," Gami complained.
"Oh... do you actually want to eat?" Farhana looked at him in surprise.
"What, did you think I was joking?"
"Yes... up until now, we thought it was a joke."
"You thought wrong. I am genuinely hungry," Gami said.
"And so am I!" Shazy added quickly.
"Fine... let's eat first, then we'll ask you the purpose of coming here. You aren't petty thieves, are you... right?" Farhana asked.
"No... we aren't thieves," Gami replied.
Begum Junaid set the food on the tablecloth. Once everyone finished eating, she cleared it away.
"Now tell us... who are you?"
"We are your well-wishers," Gami smiled.
"SubhanAllah... brilliant! May Allah give such well-wishers to everyone." Hamoud remarked.
"Hamoud... shut up. Let them talk," Begum Junaid scolded.
"We really are your well-wishers... and now, we have even eaten your salt," Gami stated.
"You didn't eat our salt... you ate our food!" Farooq laughed.
"It's the same thing—food always has salt in it."
"Oh... oh..."
"Are you guys seriously telling the truth?" Begum Junaid asked.
"One hundred percent truth."
"Is this how well-wishers act? You've sucked the blood right out of us with worry," Hamoud said.
"We greet our own people this way," Gami smiled.
"Our own people?!" Hamoud exclaimed.
"Well, well-wishers belong to 'our own', right? Since we are your well-wishers, you are our own! Why is such a simple thing so hard for you to understand? Unbelievable!"
"Fine... accepted, you are our well-wishers. Now tell us... what kind of well-wishing brings you into our home in this fashion?" Farooq asked.
"I can't tell you that just yet. I'll tell you when the time is right, and I definitely will. Don't worry," Gami smiled.
"You're very strange..." Farhana said.
"We are indeed strange, but... thank God, we aren't poor."
"And that's a very good thing," Farooq remarked.
"What's a very good thing?" Shazy asked quickly.
"That you aren't poor... you're rich!"
"We're rich? Who told you that?" Gami smiled.
"Well, it's simple logic. You aren't poor, which means you must be rich—because rich is the opposite of poor!" Farooq reasoned.
"We aren't rich, but if you say so, we'll accept it. We are rich!" Gami chuckled.
"I'm thinking about something..." Hearing Hamoud's voice, everyone turned to look at him. He looked deeply lost in thought.
"What?!" Farhana asked.
"Just that Gami and Shazy are making fools of us. They are definitely not our sympathizers!"
"Oh... oh..." escaped Begum Junaid's lips.
"I think so too... they are not our well-wishers. They've got some scheme going on and they aren't letting us catch a whiff of it," Farhana said.
"Should I think that too... that Gami and Shazy are not our friends or sympathizers?" Farooq asked in a dazed tone.
Hearing their chatter, Gami and Shazy just smiled.
"Have it your way... think what you like. Regardless, our view remains that they are massive frauds and very cunning," Hamoud insisted.
"Friends! Don't forget... we have eaten your salt, and trust me, we are not ungrateful!" Gami smiled.
"Hmm... maybe we are wrong, but I don't know why my heart is so restless. Inspector Junaid hasn't returned home... Farhana can't reach anyone... what a strange situation," Begum Junaid said. The anxiety on her face was palpable.
"Oh... may Allah have mercy. As long as we are here, not a single hair on your head can be harmed!" Gami quickly assured her.
"But why are you even here? That is the question," Farhana pointed out.
"That is indeed an important question, but we cannot answer it just yet."
"And that brings up another question—why can't you answer yet?!" Farooq chimed in.
"Time will tell how crucial our presence here is. For now, let's just say... a trap is being laid against Inspector Junaid..." Gami revealed.
"W-w-what do you mean?!" they cried out. Then suddenly, Farooq began to look terrified. Seeing this, Gami laughed:
"Farooq! I've heard a lot of praise about you... but you look like a coward to me!"
"Someone gave you wrong information about Farooq. He really is quite a coward!" Hamoud smiled.
"Thanks for the compliment, Hamoud... oh... oh..." Farooq jumped.
"Where did 'oh oh' come from in that compliment?"
"I-I-I don't know... where did it come from?" Farooq mumbled.
"What kind of nonsense is this? An 'oh oh' sneaked into your expression of gratitude and you don't even know it? That makes no sense!" Gami made a sour face.
"Fair enough... but you didn't need to pull such an ugly face over it."
"Well, how ugly of a face should I have pulled? Tell me!" Gami laughed.
"Why should I tell you? Am I your servant? Figure it out yourself—how ugly your face needed to be!" Farooq made a face back.
"Unbelievable! Now you're making a face too!" Gami said.
"If you can make faces, am I under some kind of ban?"
"Farooq... you're forgetting something," Farhana smiled.
"What am I forgetting?" He was startled.
"The 'oh oh'!"
"Oh yes! I completely forgot. Anyway, I'll tell..."
"Tell me quickly!" Gami urged impatiently.
"Why should I tell you quickly, brother?" Farooq glared at him.
"Tell me quickly or slowly... but just don't glare at me! I'll get scared," Gami said nervously.
"Who are you? Why are you talking in my style?" Farooq exasperatedly asked.
"I'm just like this! Now explain the 'oh oh'!"
"Hamoud bhai! Before you guys arrived, you were saying... 'I can say one thing with absolute certainty.' What was that?"
"Oh yes! That thing... that thing..." Hamoud stammered and stopped.
"What happened?" Farhana asked.
"I wanted to say... that once again, we probably won't be able to go to any vacation spot during the holidays." He sighed.
"Oh... why'd you remind me? Truly... there is no recreation in our lives..." Farooq heaved a heavy sigh.
"And you said... 'I can say more than one thing with certainty.' Leave the 'more than one'—just tell us one or two things!" Begum Junaid smiled.
"Mother... you're smiling!" Farooq asked in surprise.
"Yes... I am not banned from smiling, am I? That's why I'm smiling." She chuckled.
"Oh... oh... what happened to you?"
"Nothing happened to me. You tell us..."
"I-I was going to say the exact same thing... that Hamoud already said," he smiled.
"Meaning... what I was thinking, you were thinking too." Hamoud glared at him.
"That's called thinking in sync! Wow... how much your thoughts match!" Gami laughed.
"And... you were going to say countless things with certainty! What happened to those?" Hamoud asked.
"Farhana... out of those countless things, just tell us one thing," Begum Junaid requested.
"One of those countless things is... that Farooq will keep wasting our time by talking nonsense!" She smiled.
"Oh... I waste your time?" Farooq turned to Farhana.
"Yes... absolutely, ask mother. Hamoud and father will also agree with me!" Farhana teased playfully.
"Oh... oh... today I found out what you really think of me... oh... father... where did father go?!" He jumped.
"Wherever he is, he is safe and sound. I am sure of it," Begum Junaid said with a smile.
Right at that moment, the sound of someone jumping onto the roof echoed. Everyone jumped in shock...
"Wh-what was that?!" slipped from Farooq's mouth out of sheer terror.
"Looks like... he has arrived," Gami told his companion.
"Yes... everyone get ready! The enemy is on the roof. He is very fast... very agile... and most dangerously, he is extremely lethal!" Shazy announced dramatically.
"Oh dear lord... the enemy is on our roof!" Farooq trembled.
"Man! Why are you acting scared? I say... this isn't the time for acting; it's the time to roll up your sleeves and face the enemy!" Gami grimaced.
"Hey... you said you wouldn't make faces anymore!" Farooq smiled.
"Forgive me, man... I forgot!" Gami laughed.
"Alright, you're forgiven! What memories you'll leave behind. Listen! Make a face whenever you feel like it—you have my full permission, open permission!"
"Thanks for the permission. Now get ready to face the enemy!"
"Don't worry... we are always ready for a fight!" Farooq smiled.
"Good," Gami said.
At that very moment, someone jumped from the roof down into the courtyard. Everyone looked over in shock. The person who landed was a chubby young man. He was smiling at them... then his lips moved:
"Friends! I have arrived..."
