The tales of Gaby and Seline

******* 

Episode 1– the glass deck Incident 

Mama....with your striped pyjamas and glasses......

We get home from school. We’re having exams right now so school gets off at 10:30 and then we have the entire day to ourselves. Yay. That is until we have Tutions and tomorrows exam… We’re in fourth grade 

I run to the guest room bathroom to pee and Gaby goes into the glass deck to feed the bunnies. We have two bunnies and they live there. 

Topsy and Fluffy. They’re both these fat white bunnies that Gaby got a few months ago for her tenth birthday. 

I say hello to mama, and she’s nagging. 

We start feeding them. She’s feeding them one carrot and I pet floppy. 

Floppy is so cute. I think I like her more than Whiskers. I don’t know why. I just do. 

“Girls you’re supposed to be studying for the exam tomorrow and they sent this worksheet. Have you done it?” 

“No mama we haven’t.” I reply and then she says

“You guys need to come out here and finish this worksheet.” 

“It’s only 11:30 mama. Can we just do it later?” 

She says, “Okay thirty minutes… and then you have to finish it.” 

“Okayyy.” We say and we pet the bunnies. 

“Girls thirty minutes have passed..” she gets up from her seat and we make a face. 

“Mama …” I scream out and she comes back into the glass deck. 

“She’s locked us up again?” 

We see baba with his bald head walking up the stairs through the glass railing and he waves at us. We wave back. 

Then we ask the maid walking by. 

It's Madina…. And she covers her face with the scarf as we scream. 

“Madinaaaa.” 

“No.” She says, and we put our hands together begging. “Please…” 

“If I give you food. Your mother will fire me.” 

“She can’t fire you Madina. She just says that.” 

“Please.” She goes and holds her head and we tell her NO. Madina…. she sucks up to mama too much. She walks away and then Zaibun comes along.

Pleaseee get us some food.

We like Zaibun because she hates mom… But lowkey we suspect that she stole all our piggy bank money… but she hates mom so she's okay.

“Zaibun get us food.” We scream and she after making a scrunched face gets us these lays chips from the pantry that she sneaks in through the grilss.

Wow. We munch on the food and it feels like —- like we haven’t eaten in forever. The food tastes so gooood. 

Then MAMA COMES ALONG so we hide the chips…  she gives us this worksheet and says when you guys finish the worksheet you can come out?!!!?! 

“Does she really think we’re gonna finish the worksheet?” We ask each other. “What are we her prisoners?" 

And Gaby starts feeding the worksheet to Floppy. 

“Gaby no…” I say and then I put my hand over my mouth. 

And then I think oh well. I’m not doing the worksheet either. 

So I feed it to bunny who spits it out. 

“Even bunny doesn’t want it.” 

“I think we should try to escape.” 

Oh look there’s Shahid. We see him through the glass deck. He’s walking and he looks up. 

“Hi Shahid!” we wave and he waves back so confused. 

Mhm. Should we jump? 

We ask eachother, and it’s a floor down. There’s trees that are ginormous. 

We can technically just jump out. 

Then we think. 

Oh we can just make a rope.

We’re still in our uniform. 

So we take our sashes off. They’re half our size and wrap them around the railing. 

MMhmmm. It’s not long enough. 

I think we should just make a jump for it—

—— no? I look at Gaby 

“It’s not that bad.” 

Oh well—- we almost make a jump for it but then we don’t. 

“Mamas gonna let us out.” We both kind of look at eachother. “Mamas gonna let us out “ 

“Mama.” We scream through the window and mama goes away. Everyone goes away. 

Aaaah what?! 

The sun turns dark… eight hours go by… EIGHT HOURS go by....

Mama comes back and our Tuition teacher is there. 

“You girls will only be allowed outside if you finish this worksheet.” 

No. I look back at Gaby. I’m going to pee. I’m going to piss my pants right here right now. 

Mama let us out of the glass deck you PSYCHO. I want to say but i can't I have to pee

And mama makes the ugliest face she’s made and goes no. Finish the worksheet. 

I finish it. My hands scribble scribble and scribble and I finish it and I come out and I HAVE TO PEE 

SHE DOESNT LET ME PEE. 

“Haha... I scammed you." She says and I say... there's no way she just saaid that... there's no wayyy...

“—-MAMA NO.” I scream back. 

“I’ve been locked in this glass deck for EIGHT HOURS MAMA ITS DARK.” 

“MAMA LET ME PEE.” I repeat over and over again. “MAMA LET ME PEEEE.” 

“NO. You cannot use the bathroom THATS FINAL.” 

And then she looks back… at my Tution teacher… who's face is terrified... but it's also a face that says. I don't get paid enough for this... if I step in.....this woman is gonna fire me.

No. NO YOU CANT PEE…. 

**** 

Episode 3~ two inches to the right... OH MY GOD

Gaby and I are whispering in our room upstairs… It’s a pink and purple room with butterflies. We have a monkey bar. Half the bars are pink and half of them are purple. Baba got that for us. If it was upto mom she’d just let us live in the servant quarter. 

We hear noises... the maids say it's because mom does weird things in the house... like locking her kids away... so the angels have run away...

“Do you want to join our beds?” We say ...because wer'e terrified of the dark..

"Yes please."

So we move our beds together and the next morning....

Mama comes in. 

She’s pissed. Like crazy pissed. And she has this UGLY look on her face where her eyes are frowning all weird. And she’s pressing her teeth together. Bleeghh 

“What did you do to my floor?!” She says and we look down.

Your floor?

She says and we look down at her marble floor...and nothings happened to it....but she screams and calls baba. He comes in and asks what? 

“THEY JOINT THEIR BEDS TOGETHER.” 

“So?” He asks. 

“So your FLOOR. THEY HAVE RUINED OUR MARBLE FLOOR.” 

he looks down... ther'es nothing on the floor. and he makes face.. "please deal with this. I have work.” 

And he leaves and I glare at mom. 

“okay. Now you Wait and watch.” She says and we make a face and leave for school. 

I forget about it in school. 

The teacher tells me to finish work and my friends and I just wait for it to be break time. We buy these chips for like 10 rs. Tringo.  THATS SOOO EXPENSIVE.

But the canteen guy doesn’t give us any discounts. 

And then we all huddle up and we wait for a 5 rupee coin to come out of them but it doesn’t so we eat and eat the chips and then sigh. 

“I can’t believe they stopped putting the 5 rupee coins in.”

That really is the only point to eating these chips. Is that we buy them and then buy more and more and more. 

“Yeah… same.” I sulk and zara looks at me.  “Do you think we could come over to your place?” 

“It’s been sooo long.” I reply. I don’t know, mamas kind of mad at me. 

Ask her pleaseee. 

I …. I contemplate okay. 

I get in the car. Wave at Akber bhai our driver and Gaby’s in the car too. 

“My friends want to come over.” I tell Gaby who looks back at me.

“So?” 

“So mamas angry at us for the bed thing.” 

She says as she sips her water. “No way. I’m sure she’s forgotten all about it by now.” 

“You think?” 

“Yeah sure just ask her.”

I get home and I don’t go to my room first. I go to mamas. She’s sitting there with her legs on top of each other with her eyes glued to her phone and then I breathe in as I say….

“Hi mama.” I say and she looks over at me with her glasses on her head. She really needs to change those glasses but I can’t say that to her right now.

“How was your day?” I ask her and she says fine. “What do you want?” 

“Um…  my friends want to come over for a pool party. Do you think they can?” 

“And before you say no—- I’m so so so sorry for moving the beds…” I look down…..“and ruining the floor,” which is a lie... the floor is fine... but she makes a face and then smiles? 

Mama’a smiling. She’s making that psychotic smile she makes as she says….. “It’s okay.” 

Huh? 

“Really? It’s …. Okay?” I say. “I can call them?” 

“Yeah you can call them. Lets call them right now.” 

“Omg mama really!” I say and I hug her, “you’re the best mama ever.” I say and then I tell her which friends to call and she makes a group chat and calls them. 

“Thankyou sooo much.” I say and then I run outside. 

Gaby is waiting for me outside and I tell her what happened. 

“You won’t BELIEVE  it. Mama said yes to the play date,” but Gaby looks upset. She looks upset and her face is sulken.

“What happened?” 

“Have you seen our room?” She says and I frown. 

“No…..” I say and then I frown… “Why? WHAT did she do to our room?” 

“You need to see for yourself.” 

She says and I walk in and open the door and DROP MY BAG. 

“WHAT THE —— “ 

THERES NO BEDS. OUR BEDS ARE GONE. 

IT'S JUST TWO MATTRESSES ON THE FLOOR. 

I rACE back to the room. “MAMA WHAT THE ——

“——You’ll get your beds back in two weeks.” She says and like a purple cheshire cat her face lights up with joy..

“TWO WEEKS?” I say… and then I Remember NO. 

“But my friends are coming….in two days… Cancel it!!!” 

“Can’t.” She says and she shrugs her shoulders. “I’ve already sent the invites.” 

“I don’t care!!!! Cancel them. I’m going to tell baba.” 

“Okay tell him.” She says and I stomp out of the room and go back to our room. gaby is there with her colouring book already colouring. 

I flop on the mattress. 

It’s so low… my face sulks. We have to sleep on materesses for two weeks...

HOW DID MAMA EVEN MANAGE TO DO THIS? 

OH IT WAS SHAHID. gaby tells me. 

Mama just said dismantle the beds and he did. 

Damm it. Shahid. 

I say as I stomp my foot and a new maid walks in….  “Oh hello.” We say and she just looks at us like why are we the only kids in the house with no beds...but we don't even bother explaining... because she's gonna realize that our mother is the is the problem... which she did because she quit in a week...

a few days later my friends come over for the pool party and their faces drop. ass they say.. "where is your bed.."

And mama with her face is laughing in the corner....

*** 

Episode 4 ~~

Mama starts yelling. like really yelling this time.. my heart is beating out of my chest.... I'm terrified....and then she chases us around the house with a slipper. 

Damm it. 

So we run and run into the basement. 

The basement had two rooms. One was my fathers office. The other was this room with a ping pong table and a pc because growing up laptops weren’t a thing yet. 

We ran into the ping pong room, and because it was a sliding door that closed it, it shut and there was a lock but we didn’t have a key. Gaby and I look at eachother terrified. I still to this day don’t know how we came up with this but there was this scotch tape on the desk. 

“Should we tape the door?” 

I nodded my head, holding the two doors tight as Gaby taped it down the middle. 

Mama comes in screaming. “Shahid open this door right now.” 

Shahid is this grown ass married man, who pulled the door with all his might. “Bhabi I can’t open the door.” 

“You’re saying this scotch tape is stronger than you? Have you lost it?” 

“Bhabi what can I do?” Shahid said almost laughing but I think he was too scared of mama to fully laugh. 

Mama gave her threats as usual and then left upstairs. Gaby and I spent hours in that room but it was so hot. 

And then I had to pee really bad. 

For all the rooms in the house, the basement had no bathroom. 

But mama wasn’t there anymore. She had gone upstairs. It’s a three story house and her bed room is on the top floor. So I’d just use the one on the ground floor. There’s no way she’d hear me if she was all the way in her room. 

So I went upstairs to use the powder room. I was gonna pee really fast and then Habibah was going to open the door for me again when I came down. 

I went upstairs and there’s mama sitting on the staircase… this farigh woman. I raced downstairs but she beat me to it and Gaby’s face was terrified on the other end. Oh ya it’s a glass door so you can see from both sides. 

I didn’t know where to go… what this woman was planning… She was holding the key of the room and flaunting it around like look at me. And then she took the key and locked it from the outside. 

To separate us. 

“Now you stay in there all day.” She said, “you’re not getting out till you learn your lesson.” 

The thing is that really should have worked, but I went upto the kitchen and grabbed a lighter and ….  cocomo. Mhmm I looked at it and then went outside and Shahid was right there. 

I looked at him and he looked at me with the lighter in my hand. 

“Whatever you’re going to do don’t do it. Bhabi will get really angry.” 

“Shahid please just don’t say anything.” I said and I lowkey just wanted to bribe him with the Cocomo but then Gaby would starve so I just told him. “Shahid. Just don’t tell her.” 

I went down the ramp to the basement and saw Habibah through the grill. Girl was already trying to cut it through the scissor. but it’s a metal grill… 

The room had these lined grills one by one. think a window but with grills so you can fit your hand through it… pass food etc. So I passed her the cocomo, and then we came up with a strategy.  

“I also need water.” she said munching on the cocomo. 

“Then you’re gonna want to pee.” I said and we thought hmm how are we going to get her out of here? 

“What if we burn the grill?” 

“Burn the grill?” I said and Aaah—- okay sure. Why not try. 

So I took the lighter and started burning the grill. So each grill was like one one stacked on top of the other. 

So there’s enough space for like two hands to fit through. But if you burn one off or cut it off we can just fit a person through….. and we were thirteen at the time. So we started burning it off. There’s no way this is actually going to work, and as we’re doing that Habibah and I are just sitting there mesmerized as ever. 

“Aaah this is actually working.” We both said and then click—— it came off. 

We both looked at each other in shock. How did this work?! 

And the grill actually came off. Gaby crawled her way out of there and then jumped on the ramp. 

We both laughed so loud and Shahid was just there in the background upstairs because again the basement was open. 

And he’s looking at us and he knows Mama is going to kill us but we laughed so hard and ran into the garden. 

**** 

That night mama lost her mind as if she dosen’t haave this FANTASY of locking her kids up in every room in the house in the first place....

“Have you two lost your fucking heads?!” And Gaby and I are looking at eachother. 

“Do you realize what you’ve done? Now the servants can come into the house… oh God…” she looks over at my dad who’s sitting there unbothered. “What if a burgler comes in? Have you girls lost your shit?” 

And Gaby replies, “Yes mama a burgler will choose our houses of all the houses. Get past the giant gate outside. Shahid will not see him come in and instead of just walking in through the main door, he’s gonna say oh. This tiny grill opening. Ima squeeze myself through that.” 

And I held my hand on my mouth and she looks over to her husband and says. “What the fuck is this behaviour.” 

“I’m seperating both of you. Bus. Ab TO THUUU DEKH.” 💀

**** 

Episode 6 ~ Thermophile incident

We’re on vacation staying in this hotel comfort in. We’ve been staying here for about two months now. 

Baba goes comes back on the weekends. It’s fun when he’s around… we go out… visit everywhere…. Mama doesn’t let us DO ANYTHING EVER…. So all we can really do is watch Shawn the Sheep and then sleep at 6 pm…. Lights off… 

“Mama it’s Summer.” 

“I don’t care. Your brother has an early morning class. That’s the only reason we’re here.” 

So Gaby and I stay up all night talking. 

We watch Shawn the sheep during the day, and then we don’t really go out much. We only go out when baba comes so we get bored out of our minds one day and order thermophome. 

Just to break it apart. 

It’ll be fun…. Right. So one by one we start talking and laughing as we watch this episode where the Sheep is stuck in a house..

And we pluck the thermophome out one by one… “Do you think the sheep is ever going to go back home?” 

And Gaby shrugs her shoulders, as we keep plucking the thermophome out. 

A few hours later the house keeping rings the door bell. 

“Oh.” Gaby and I look at eachother and we go open the door. There’s a man dressed in a black and white suit with his name Bobby written. 

“Hi— house keeping.” He says and he looks into the room. His eyes pop out and Gaby and I shrug. 

“Oh mamas not here right now. She’s out.” 

“Right.” He says and he leaves. 

“What was that all about?” I ask and Gaby shrugs her head. “I have no idea.” And we just sit and pluck the thermophome out more. 

Not thirty minutes after that there’s a key lock and mama opens the door. “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS?” She comes in and HABIBAH and I stop… touching the thermophone. 

“What did we do?” 

“What did you do?” She says as she looks at the thermophome and then the couch and then the thermophome and it takes me a minute to realize—- “Oh—- no no no.” I say. “It’s not from the couch.” 

“Well the man at reception said your daughters have trashed the hotel room so we’re kicking you out.” 

Oh…. what a Stupid man. Does he not know it’s thermophome. 

“What am I going to tell your dad? He’s in Karachi!” She says and my brother walks in dissapointed. 

“You guys are in so much trouble.” 

“Shut up…” we say and then we tell her we’ll just clean it up. 

And then me and Gaby and I look at eachother disappointed and start picking it up one by one… by one by… one…. By one.. by one.. 

“This is really hard.” I say and then mama cuts in. 

“Should have thought that through——“ 

“—— oh MY HUSBAND IS CALLING MY LOVEEE.” She says as he finally picks up her call and we look at eachother in disgust. 

It was your idea. I say and she crosses her hand. 

It was yours…. 

It was ours? 

We come to an agreement. Oh well… atleast well both get the punishement. 

And then mama comes into the room dissapointed. 

“What did he say?” We both look at eachother… 

“Nothing. You girls are off the hook.” 

And we look at eachother and smile… mamas always causes problems for no reason. 

****** 

EPISODE 7 – 

We‘re on our way home from school. 

Mama calls Akber Bhai and asks him, where have you reached? 

And he replies, “zameen ke uper. Aasman ke neeche.” 

Above the floor. Beneath the sky. * in English 

And then he cuts the call. 

I love it when he does that. 

Unlike our other driver who says things like 

I can’t lie to your mom. It’s wrong. 

Akber bhai has been with us since before my parents got married. He was there when my dad first started his factory. And he’s been with us since then… so even he knows… that this household went insane only after mama came around. 

We start yapping and then our driver starts telling us this story. 

There was this….The story where they keep spinning the bail or whatever and then one day it gets too much and the boat flops.. we laugh. 

We get home. He doesn’t take the car down to the basement. Not today because there’s some work happening there. I don’t know what it is. 

There’s workers here. There’s men in these yellow helmets and t shirts. They’re painting the walls this taupe colour and I wave at them as I step out of the car. They wave back. HABIBAH steps out from the other side and I pause as I look down. 

Mhmm. I frown as I see there’s a giant hole cut in the ground and card board stacked on top of it. 

That’s weird 

I think to myself as I step on it. 

Nothing happens. 

And then I think oh well. 

I jump on it—— oh. 

The card board breaks through and I fall in and there’s a splash…

Oh crap. 

I’m in water. 

Holy crap.  

“Mama—- I say as the water floods into my mouth and I spit it out, and I start to wiggle my way up but it doesn’t work. 

Darn baba for not teaching me how to swim. 

And then I kick my feet. 

I kick my feet. 

My legs keep coming back and I see the surface for a second—- there’s four men just staring at me.

Why are you just staring at me? Saveee me. 

“Mama—- I cry out and I want to say more but I can’t. The water just gets in my throat. 

No ones moving. 

And the water reaches in my nose. 

Up my throat. 

Into my lungs as I gasp for any air. 

And then I almost give out. 

Oh no. 

Everything is going blaccck. 

—-SPLASH. 

This GIANT jumps in and he holds me by the hair and pulls me out. 

Oucccch stupid giant. 

And then he takes me out and I spit the water out. It explodes out like vomit and I look around blinking screaming Mama. 

The giant holds me and carries me on his back and I start punching him. 

Where’s my mama?!!! 

let me go let me go!!!! 

“I’m taking you to your mom.” He says and then puts me down, and I think by this time mama has been alerted. 

Because Madina opens the main door and there mama is running down the stairs with the phone in her hand in her ugly yellow pajamas. But I think this is the only time I don’t find her looking ugly. 

She’s confused. I’m shaking and then she says 

What now? 

And I frown. What now? 

Does she not see me drenched in water?? 

“Did you jump into the water fall?” 

No. Why would I jump into the water fall? Does she think I’m stupid? 

Mama is silly.

But I don’t know why I can’t speak and everyones screaming as mama tries to understand what’s happening. 

Can she not see? 

the giant carrying me —- his name is shahid  explains her everything and she starts panicking even more. 

She calls babas secretary.

“Put Khalid on the line NOW.” 

I think the secretary is as scared as we all are of mama by this point—- everyone knows she’s coooco. 

“Asma I’m in a meeting—-“ 

“—-Khalid come home right now.” 

“Asma—“ 

“—-KHALID NOW.” 

And then mama hugs me. 

I go inside and take a shower, dry myself and eat cereal and Madina asks me what happened? 

And I say I don’t know the thing just fell open. 

And then she gives me a hug and says something stupid like..

Baba comes home and he tells me it’ll be okay and I grin through my cereal teeth. Everything’s gonna be okay. 

But then GOD —- my stupid mama. 

“Get ready for Tution. You have class in thirty minutes.” 

“BUT I JUST FELL IN THE WATER.” I scream and cross my hands and this woman with her straight face looks me dead in the eye… no emotion on her pale face…. As she says. “YOU’RE going TO TUITION." 

***