by Beth Fred
“I don’t want the money,” I said.
“You’re turnin’ down twelve hundred bucks you worked so hard for?”
“It wasn’t work. I want the girl.”
Josh laughed. “Suit yourself.”
“What did Farrah want with Mirriam?”
“I don’t know. Girls always go to the bathroom in packs,” Josh said.
“It’s kind of weird,” Matt added.
“Right.” My voice trailed off as I turned my head in the direction the girls went. They never made it to the bathroom. They stood a couple of yards from us in a triangle with Mirriam as its point. Morgan was right behind her, reaching out to grab her arm.
Mirram caught me watching them. The expression on her face was more pained than the day she saw the picture of my dad. Her look knocked the air out of me. I could try to deny it. Tell her it wasn’t true. She had no reason to trust anyone else we went to school with except Morgan, who couldn’t have known. M’s face hardened, and my eyes gave me away. No question about it. She knew.
Mirriam ran for the exit with Morgan following. I limped toward them. I’d only made it a few steps when Mirriam passed me. Morgan came to a halt. “You promised me you wouldn’t hurt my friend. You involved me in this.” She punched me in the stomach. She had a good arm for a girl.
The guys laughed behind me, but I couldn’t worry about it. I didn’t have time to respond to Morgan. Only one thing mattered. I had to get to Mirriam.
“Mirriam?” I called.
She whipped her head over her shoulder. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Take the limo.”
“No.”
“M—”
“I survived a war zone. I think I can navigate Killeen, Texas.” She passed the parking lot. She was way ahead of me, but I kept limping behind her. “If you follow me, I’ll have Abrahem re-break your legs and your ribs.”
Not for the first time I watched Mirriam walk away when I wished she would stay. I hadn’t made it far from the door, and when I looked behind me, Josh and Matt stood in the entryway with their arm candy. Morgan was beside them, glaring at me.
“Dipshit, I’m taking your limo. If you need a ride, I suggest you get one of your jocks to drive you home.” She came out the door. I expected her to walk past me, and she did. But then she turned back. “You really are sorry. She’s been through hell, and it’s not like she was exactly chasing you. You had to put some effort into this. I hope it was worth the energy.”
“I love her.”
Morgan laughed. “Good luck convincing her.”
She stomped off.
“If you ever wanna see that girl again, you better go after her,” Josh said.
Farrah elbowed him. “Or you could call Kailee.”
“Give me a ride?” I asked Josh.
“It’s prom night.”
“I didn’t take the money.”
“Our limo is out front. Take it. Just send it back when you’re done. The driver can call me if he needs to. And dude, you got it bad.”
“Which one is yours?” I asked.
“I’ll walk out there with you.”
We walked to the parking lot as fast as my cane could go. Josh opened the back door. “Take this man where he needs to go,” he said.
I stepped in and shut the door.
“Did you see a girl go running past here in a black dress?”
The chauffer laughed. “That was your girl?”
“Go the way she went. If you see her, stop.”
“You’re the boss,” he said still laughing.
In a few blocks, we caught up with Mirriam. I slid my window down. “Wanna ride?” The stride of her steps never changed, so I wasn’t sure she heard me. “Wanna ride?” I asked again. She didn’t look back. “Mirriam?” She kept walking.
“Silent treatment,” the driver mumbled.
“Will you mind your own business and shut up?” I snapped.
We followed her all the way home, and I sent the driver back to school. I figured I could make it across the street on my own. I knocked on Mirriam’s shut door. I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t answer.
Chapter 38
Mirriam
Zmal. I forgot to lock the door, and that jerk let himself in. I was lying on the couch crying. I sat up, wiping tears from my face and screamed, “Get out!”
“No.”
“What do you mean no? This is my house. Get out.”
He wobbled to the couch, and I wanted to get up and help him. I wouldn’t though.
“M, I won’t leave you like this. I’m sorry.”
“Fine. When my brother gets home, he’ll probably bash your head in for being here alone with me. He’s not working tonight.”
“I’m not worried about that.”
“You will be when he bashes your head in.”
“I’d like to bash my own head in.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because I love you.”
“Twelve hundred dollars worth, huh? After the dress and the corsage you made a profit. Congratulations, Caleb. You’re a business man.”
“Mirriam, stop it. I told Josh to keep it. The day I met you, you went off on me in front of everyone. You were a total bitch.”
I gasped. I was not a bitch. I merely pointed out the truth, and even if I were, he didn’t get to say that.
“That same day Josh more or less dared me to take you to prom. If I had known you like this then, I would have kicked his ass for it. Yes, Mirriam, I volunteered to be your government partner on a dare, but every second we spent together was real.”
I was sobbing. I pulled the “M” off my neck and threw it at Caleb.
“I gave this to you. I don’t want it.”
“Neither do I,” I forced the words out through tears.
“Come on, Mirriam. After all we’ve been through, you can’t walk away from this.”
“All we’ve been through was a lie. I was a bet you won.”
“From the first time I saw you, I knew you were special.”
“Yeah, right. You’re such a player, Caleb.” I didn’t know if I used that word right. “I’m sure the back of my head told you a lot.”
His forehead creased. “Do you think when you were standing in front of me in line that day was the first time I saw you?”
I rolled my eyes. “When else did you see me?”
“Nearly being hit by a car to save a turtle.”
“Someone left him on his back in the parking lot. It was cruel.”
“Yeah, well, most of the girls I’ve dated wouldn’t dart down in front of a car to save a turtle from becoming soup, so you got my attention. My bad attempt at a pick up line was supposed to make you talk to me.”
“I did talk to you.”
“No, you talked at me.”
“Sorry. I hate it when guys openly flirt with girls they don’t know. So shallow.”
“I was shallow before I met you. You changed my life. You changed my whole world, and I’m not letting you go.”
He reached out to put an arm around me, and I didn’t move away. Instead, I scooted in closer, lay my head on his chest, and cried. He closed his arms around me. “I’m so sorry. Mirriam, I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
He stroked his fingers through my hair. I tilted my chin up and moved my lips toward his. He cupped my face and pushed his lips down to mine. His mouth was soft. His tongue pushed against the part of my lips. I opened my mouth, deepening the kiss, and locked my fingers in his hair. I held on to him as tightly as possible. Every second, the kiss moved faster—deeper—than the moment before. Every second, I became more consumed. For a moment, I’d thought this thing we shared was over and knowing that loss made this kiss sweeter than all the times before.
I trembled as Caleb’s fingers caressed the spot on my back the dress didn’t cover.
“Oh my God!” Ommy scr
eamed in Arabic sounded behind me. Followed by, “Get your dirty hands off my sister,” in English.
I pulled away from Caleb. He scooted away from me. Abrahem was in front of the couch before I could see him move. He glared at me. “We should have stayed in Iraq. That would have been better than this.”
He grabbed Caleb and threw him into the wall.
“Abrahem!” I screamed.
“Go to your room,” he said.
“I will not! Stop!”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? In my house? Are you crazy? I gave you fair warning.”
Abrahem’s fist came up, and I leaped from the couch to grab his arm, but I was too late. It connected with Caleb’s face.
“What do you want to do about that? Huh, soldier boy?” Abrahem taunted.
“Stop it! Abrahem!” I screamed.
“I gave him fair warning. I told him my sister doesn’t date.” He had Caleb pinned to the wall, but he turned and looked at me. “Mirriam, you should be ashamed of yourself. I can’t believe you would let this loser talk you into something so stupid.”
“He didn’t talk me into anything.”
“I don’t believe it.” Abrahem turned to Caleb. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Umm, I should have talked to you about it. I’m sorry.”
“Do you think I would have let you date my sister?” Abrahem brought his fist up again. “God, white boys are stupid.”
“Stop!” I grabbed his arm.
“He hasn’t tried to defend himself or you once. What do you want with this coward?”
“I love her,” Caleb shouted. “Do you really think I’m going to hit her brother?”
Abrahem shook his head. “I’d kick your ass if you did.”
I already knew I would be forbidden to see Caleb again, and I couldn’t watch Abrahem pulverize him, so I used the only ammunition I had.
“He’s not a bad guy. It was his dad who saved me.”
Abrahem dropped his fist, but didn’t loosen the hand pinning Caleb’s neck to the wall. “Oh my God,” he said slowly. “I heard something about that. That dumbass that killed himself shot some guy trying to save a girl whose dad got killed. I never thought she was you.” He looked back to Caleb. “Your dad saved your ass tonight.” His eyes darted back to me. “How long exactly have you known we’re living among murderers? Were you ever going to say anything?”
I was saved from answering when an annoying high-pitched voice with a Southern twang called, “Abe?”
Abrahem dropped the arm he used to pin Caleb to the wall as a guilty smile spread across his face.
It all made sense. The way Abrahem asked about my afternoon classes the first time I skipped, how she knew I wasn’t Muslim, the person at the gas station who asked if I was sick. And why Abrahem couldn’t give me a name.
We all said the name simultaneously. It rolled off my tongue in disgust. Shock carried in Caleb’s voice, and my brother said it like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Kailee.”
“You have the worse timing,” Abrahem added.
Ommy stood behind the couch, flapping her arms around like a helicopter. “What’s a Kailee?”
We were all speaking at once again. “A whore from hell,” I said.
“A girl,” Abrahem said.
“A manipulator,” Caleb answered.
“Don’t talk about her like that,” my brother growled at me.
“It’s true. Zmal. You’re playing with Kailee Hill, and you have the nerve to talk about me, because I’m dating someone?”
“Mirriam, Kailee wasn’t on the couch being groped. That was you.”
I threw my arms up. “It was a kiss. She’s been with every guy at school. You know that, don’t you? They all talk about her.”
“Abe’s” smile widened, and he looked at Caleb. “No, just one, and he broke up with her two days later. That was how it happened, wasn’t it?”
Now Caleb wore the guilty smile. He shook his head. “If that’s true, it’s news to me.”
Chapter 39
Mirriam
I sat at my desk working on my trig final when someone tapped at my bedroom door. “Come in.”
Abrahem opened the door and sat down on my bed. “You’ll thank me for this one day.”
“For keeping me from Caleb? No, I won’t. For the first time in years, I was almost happy. I hope you have fun playing with your blonde. I wasn’t lying last night. Every guy at school has slept with her. Ommy’s not going to be any happier about you with a white protestant than me. It doesn’t matter, though. I’ll leave for college soon, and you won’t know who I see.”
“She hasn’t, Mirriam.”
“What?”
“The only guy Kailee has been with is Caleb Miller. He broke up with her two days later.”
“They all say—”
“Rumors,” he interrupted me. “Rumors, Mirriam. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask him about it? I can tell you from his reaction last night, it is.”
“How can I? I’m not allowed out of my room, remember? How did you get mixed up with the girl that wrote ragheads on our house anyhow?”
“I caught her.”
“What?”
“I caught her. I was pulling into the driveway, and I saw the backs of three people in jeans and black hoodies. I thought they were guys. I never really thought three girls would vandalize a house. That’s why I called you freaked out that night. I was afraid you were home alone when they showed up. When you told me you and Ommy were safe, I got out of the car to kick their asses. Two ran off and when the third one turned to face me, I realized she was a girl.”
“So you were like ‘Hey, let’s hook up’?”
He rolled his eyes. “No. She was crying, and she was obviously drunk. She asked if I was friends with the girl who lived here, and I said ‘sometimes.’ She begged me not to tell anyone, said she’d never done anything like this before, but the new girl stole her boyfriend.”
“They broke up in January.”
“I told her I thought she was confused, obviously I was wrong. I drove her car home, because she was drunk. She was talking about killing herself, so I gave her my number and told her if she needed someone to talk to she could call me. She did.”
“Good for you.”
“He used her, Mirriam. He’d do the same to you.”
“No, he won’t. I’m not nearly as stupid as Kailee Hill.”
“Let’s leave Kailee out of this and be adults. I know the culture here is different, and you’re lonely. But I won’t have you associating with men like Caleb Miller. I’ve arranged your marriage.”
I burst into tears. “What? You can’t. I won’t do it.”
“It’s done, Mirriam. It’s Rahim. You had a crush on him. Don’t tell me you didn’t. You used to follow him around. He’ll let you go to college and grad school. I had to call in every favor I’ve ever had to do this. He’s in med school at John Hopkins.”
I had lost Caleb and was being sent back to the East coast. I wished I was dead. “I hate you,” I whispered through tears.
“Mirriam, in ten years, you’ll realize I did the right thing.”
There was only one question left to ask. “When?”
Chapter 40
Caleb
Saturday night was crazy. First Mirriam hated me and never wanted to see me again, with good cause. Then she loved me. Then her brother forbade her from seeing me again and threatened to kill me. I hadn’t seen or heard from her all day. I called her cell time after time, but it went to voicemail.
I stayed up after midnight, willing my phone to ring or vibrate with a text. Anything. Eventually, I gave up. I fell asleep with my phone in my hand.
I woke up to tapping on the back door. I grabbed my cane and wobbled through the kitchen to open the door. Mirriam stood outside crying. I locked my arms around her waist and pulled her in. “Mirriam?”
“They’re marrying me off.”
Abrahem punched me yesterday. I couldn’t say I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t really angry about it. He only wanted to take care of Mirriam. But now I wanted to kill him.
“What do you mean?”
“Arranged marriage. Abrahem thinks I’m dating you, because I’m lonely. He’s found me someone to marry.”
She let out a sob as she finished her sentence.
“Do you want to marry this guy?”
She looked at me like that was the stupidest question on earth. “What do you think?”
I held her closer to my chest. “When?”
“The day after graduation.”
Wow. Three days from now. “That’s fast.”
“I know. I’m supposed to be happy about it, because he’ll let me go to college.”
I could have strangled her brother. How could he marry his sister off to someone who thought it was his right to decide if she went to college?
“Don’t marry him.”
“What choice do I have? I’m not eighteen. I have no rights.”
“Do you love me?”
“You know that.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
How in the hell are we going to get out of this one? We’ve got to get away from here, but I have no idea how.
“Mirriam, I can make sure you don’t marry someone else, but I only know of one way to do it. It will be a hard life for a while. I don’t know how we’ll pay for college. You have to know you want this, because there is no backing out later.” Assuming we can even get away with it, and I don’t know that we can.
“How?”
I nudge the door closed with my foot and led Mirriam to the kitchen where I put on a pot of coffee. It would be a long night.
I cannot believe I’m about to do this. This was not in the plan. Well, it was but not for ten years minimum. I sighed. “No one can be married to two people.”
A whole minute passed before she showed any reaction. That solid sixty seconds could have been an eternity. Did she not love me? Was she willing to marry someone else?