Chapter 12: A Father’s Shadow

After hours of laughter, food, and games, the gathering began to wind down. The sun had long since set, and the cool night air brought a calmness to the scene. Ahmed yawned, resting his head on Ali's shoulder, exhausted from the day's festivities. Ali looked around at the others—Bilal, Fatima, and the rest of his friends—all in high spirits as they packed up the remains of the barbecue and cleaned up the yard.

"Alright, it's getting late. We should head back," Ali's father said, clapping his hands and motioning toward the car. Everyone agreed, though none seemed to want the day to end. They piled into the family's SUV, Ali at the wheel, while his father sat in the passenger seat, with the others crammed into the back, still buzzing from the good vibes of the day.

As they cruised through the streets, the moonlight reflecting off the asphalt, Fatima spoke up. "Ali, stop at the corner shop. We need snacks for the ride back."

Ali nodded, pulling into the small convenience store parking lot. "Alright, who's coming?"

Bilal, Ahmed, and Zubair hopped out with Ali, while the others stayed in the car. Inside, they grabbed cold drinks and chips, joking around as they wandered through the aisles. The shop was small and quiet, the only sound coming from the faint music playing over the speakers.

As they approached the counter to pay, the door swung open, and a group of rough-looking guys strolled in. There was an immediate shift in the atmosphere—something tense. One of the guys, clearly the leader, shoved past Ali without even acknowledging him, knocking the bag of chips from Ahmed's hand.

"Hey, watch it," Ali said, his voice calm but firm.

The guy turned, sneering at him. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Bilal, always the hothead, stepped forward. "He said watch it, man."

The tension escalated quickly. The leader of the group, clearly looking for trouble, squared up to Bilal, cracking his knuckles. His friends spread out, surrounding Ali and the others.

"Looks like you boys picked the wrong night," the guy said, his grin menacing.

Ali's dad, who had been standing near the entrance, observing quietly, stepped in. "Alright, no need for this," he said, raising his hands in a calming gesture. "Let's all just go our separate ways."

But the leader wasn't interested in peace. He eyed Ali's father with disdain, clearly mistaking his calm demeanor for weakness. "Old man, why don't you stay out of this?" He smirked, nodding toward one of his men, who lunged forward, swinging wildly toward Ali's father.

That was when everything changed.

In a blur of movement, Ali's father stepped to the side, effortlessly dodging the punch. His body moved with precision and control, far quicker than anyone expected. Before the thug even knew what was happening, Ali's dad delivered a sharp, calculated kick to his midsection, sending him sprawling back into a shelf of snacks.

Ali's eyes widened in disbelief. His father, who had always been the quiet, composed man of the family, was suddenly a force of nature. The air in the shop shifted.

The leader cursed, rushing toward Ali's dad, but it was like he was moving in slow motion. Ali's father slipped under the wild punch, countering with a quick jab to the ribs followed by an uppercut that knocked the guy off his feet. The sound of the punch echoed through the small store.

The other thugs hesitated, but not for long. One swung at Ali's dad, who blocked the punch effortlessly, delivering a flurry of sharp strikes that left the guy doubled over in pain. Another thug tried to come at him from behind, but Ali's dad spun around, landing a high kick that knocked the attacker out cold. He moved with a speed and precision that stunned everyone in the room. Each hit was clean, powerful, and devastating.

Ali, Ahmed, and Bilal just stood there, frozen in place, as they watched the fight unfold. They had seen fights before—Ali was no stranger to the streets—but this? This was something else entirely.

In less than a minute, the fight was over. The group of thugs lay scattered on the ground, groaning in pain. Ali's father stood tall, barely out of breath, his expression calm as he adjusted his jacket, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

Ali's heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. His father had taken out five guys in a matter of moments, with a skill and efficiency that spoke of years of experience. But experience in what? Ali had never known his father to be anything but a regular, hard-working man. Yet, here he was, having just wiped the floor with a group of street thugs like it was nothing.

For the first time in his life, Ali looked at his father with a sense of awe—and a little bit of fear.

His father turned to him, catching Ali's wide-eyed stare. "You alright, son?" he asked, his voice as calm as ever.

Ali nodded slowly, still processing what he had seen. "Yeah… I'm fine."

They gathered their snacks and headed back to the car in stunned silence. No one said a word as they drove back home, the excitement of the day overshadowed by the strange, unexpected revelation about Ali's father. Ahmed, sitting quietly in the back, kept glancing at their dad, trying to figure out what just happened.

When they finally got back home, the silence broke, and the night's tension melted away. The group settled back into the living room, playing cards and watching TV as if nothing had happened. Laughter filled the room once again, and the weirdness of the encounter at the store faded into the background.

But Ali couldn't shake the feeling. As his friends laughed and joked, he glanced at his father, who was sitting on the couch, sipping tea and watching TV like it was any other night.

Ali knew things weren't what they seemed. His father wasn't just a quiet man who worked a regular job and looked after his family. There was something more, something buried deep in his past that Ali had never seen before. And now, Ali couldn't help but wonder—just who was his father before all of this?

"Let's get some sleep," his father said, standing up and stretching. "It's been a long day."

As Ali lay in bed that night, he couldn't stop replaying the fight in his head. For the first time in his life, he felt like he didn't really know his father at all.