The Lost Pearl (2012) Read Online Free PDF

father.”
    “No one can be like my real father,” I replied, my voice raised and my tone harsh.
    “My father is in heaven. You just said that this man would be nice to us if we were nice to him. Papa was nice to us even if we were disobedient. He loved us on all the days, even when we were rascals. That’s why a stepfather is a stepfather. And many years later,
you
will see that.” I could not believe I had been so defiant in my tone to my grandfather, and deep inside I startedto develop a dislike for my new self. This was not me, the well-mannered girl my parents had been raising me to be. But it was as if he did not have any idea of the emotional turmoil he was causing. I left him standing alone at the door with his cane, without assisting him down the three stairs that led to the outside. I could not help noticing how frail he had become, how he had to pause between words to catch his breath, and how the wrinkles on his face seemed to have become suddenly darker and deeper, and how there seemed to be so much effort hiding behind his smile. His daughter’s widowhood had been an unthinkable tragedy that had befallen him at this difficult age when arthritis had settled in his knees and impaired his walking somewhat, when vision was not as clear, and hearing not as sharp as his younger days. I felt a pang of sympathy for him, realizing that he too was a victim of this misfortune that had come into our lives. That emotion was strong enough to overcome the anger I felt for the devastating decision he had taken for me.
    My mother had not talked much to me since the day she had broken this news to me. I was angry with her but had not had a chance to express it to her. She had purposely been hiding behind the shield of wedding preparations to avoid an unpleasant confrontation with me. Sure, my grandfather had a major part in this, but as my father had always said, everyone is responsible for his or her own actions. He was not forcing my mother to remarry; ultimately it was her saying the three-letter affirmative that was about to change all our lives.
    The wedding was a simple affair. My mother wore a solemn expression yet somehow looked beautiful again. My stepfather was in real estate, and everyone called him Mr. Rehman. He was tall and somewhat stocky with a carefully trimmed black moustache; he had the appearance of a rather proper gentleman. However, even if he had he been the greatest humanitarian with the most generous heart, I could not have done anything except despise him. My hatred for my stepfather was nearly as intenseas that for Papa’s killer with the cold green eyes. No one in this world could replace my father—not in the family portrait, not in my home, and certainly not in my heart.
    “For the official adoption, your names will now be Sana and Sahir Rehman,” my mother had informed me as if it were part of a newscast. Not Sana Asad Shah, but Sana Rehman: the new me. I felt like my identity was slowly disintegrating, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Sahir, on the other hand, seemed to be adjusting quite well to the new situation. He was bonding with our new papa and they seemed to easily form a father-son relationship. He even managed to bring a smile to the very serious Mr. Rehman’s face on occasion. I saw Sahir playing cricket with him, laughing and chatting, not noticing me at all, not seeming to feel Papa’s absence at all, and I realized an important reality: I was alone.
    Whenever my mother was with my stepfather, I would turn away; I could not bear to see Ammi with anyone other than Papa. I had not yet come to terms with my father having passed away and already had to deal with a new man in her life. She had always been a people pleaser, but I had never thought this trait would become a drawback and take her further away from me. She was forever trying to please her new husband, making us do everything in accordance with his house rules. It seemed as though he had done us all a