"Rafiq and His Son, Raihan"
Rafiq is not a big man. He just runs a small tea stall beside the bus stand. The name is simple too: "Rafiq Tea Stall." But Rafiq himself is very serious. Five times a day he says,
"Brother, life is very hard."
Strangely, people laugh the most when they sit at his stall.
One day a man came and said,
"Give me a tea, but not red tea, not milk tea. Something in between."
Rafiq scratched his head and said,
"Brother, what does in between mean? Tea isn't mathematics."
Everyone laughed.
The closest person in Rafiq's life was his son, Raihan. He studied in class seven. After school, he sat at the stall and helped with the accounts. When a customer came, he would say,
"Dad, he has taken tea on credit before."
Rafiq would glare at him, and everyone would laugh again.
One day it suddenly started raining. No customers came. Rafiq sat quietly. Raihan said,
"Dad, when I grow up, I will become an engineer."
Rafiq smiled and said,
"Yeah, sure. Then you'll break down my shop."
Raihan replied seriously,
"No, Dad. The shop is yours. I'll just fix the roof."
The next week, Raihan fell sick with a fever. At first, everyone thought it was normal. But the fever didn't go down. When they took him to the hospital, the doctor went silent.
That was the first time Rafiq argued with life.
"I've never harmed anyone. I only sell tea."
Raihan left quietly. Just like the way he kept the accounts.
The shop stayed closed for a few days. Then one morning, Rafiq opened it again. He wrote a new line on the signboard:
"Rafiq Tea Stall (Accounts kept by Raihan)"
Now, when someone asks for tea on credit, Rafiq smiles and says,
"I would write it down, brother, but the accountant isn't here."
People laugh.
And inside, Rafiq cries very softly.
That's life.
It gives you laughter, and then it takes something away.