• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Diaspora Dialogues

Diaspora Dialogues

Supporting new fiction, poetry, and drama

Donate

Social Links Widget

  • Our Programs
    • Mentorship
    • Professional Development
    • TOK Magazine
    • FAQs
  • Our Writers
    • Mentors
    • Mentees
    • Success Stories
  • News & Events
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • The Board
    • Our Allies
    • Contact Us

The New Canadians

dd
Mayank Bhatt
August 1, 2011
Share Tweet Share

Rafiq Latif, handcuffed and his eyes glistening with tears, stood at the front door of his parents’ townhouse with Police Sergeant Robert Jennings. He turned to his mother, Ruksana, and muttered in muted anger, “Ammi, I did nothing wrong.”

Ruksana couldn’t control her sobbing as her daughter, Ziram, tried to calm her. Rafiq’s father, Abdul, was distraught, too, although he managed to hold his composure.

“Beta, there is still time, tell the police everything you know,” Abdul urged, as his son-in-law Jameel held him by his shoulders.

Rafiq glared at him.

Together with their friends Kartar Garewal and his wife, Harminder, the Latif family were waiting outside for the police officers—inspectors Ravindar Singh and Howard Roff—to conclude their search of the house. It was early fall, the street was getting darker and the porch lights were on. The new bungalow was on a dimly lit, secluded stretch of Brandon Gate Drive, just off Goreway Road in Malton. The only traffic was people heading home from work. Most of the two-dozen families who lived in the recently developed neighbourhood barely knew each other.

Published in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5. Purchase the book to read the full piece.

PreviousNext

Filed Under: Book 5, Excerpts Tagged With: Book 5, excerpt, Mayank Bhatt, TOK

Footer

Our Programs

  • – Mentorship
  • – Professional Development
  • – TOK Magazine
  • – FAQs

Our Writers

  • – Mentees
  • – Mentors
  • – Success Stories

News & Events

  • News
  • Events

About

  • – Our Team
  • – Board of Directors
  • – Our Allies
  • – Contact Us

Donate Now
Top