Then, turning to look at her friend, she said, “Lari, you can keep him. I like him.”
Everyone laughed at that and headed for their cars—laughing and talking until the last door was shut. Everyone was waving as the little caravan pulled onto the highway.
“That was awesome and your camel won!” Shan exclaimed as the return trip began.
“I am glad you liked it. I am glad I won too. I am tired of buying sandals for Mohammed!” said Abdulla.
“Oh, there is a prize?”
“Yes, we each agreed that the winner will be awarded a pair of leather sandals,” he explained.
“That is nice, but what are the usual types of prizes?” she asked.
“It depends. Sometimes an owner can win a car or sum of money, a tent or cell phone; it really depends on who sponsored the race. I’ve heard of people winning iPads and laptops or gaming systems,” he said.
“Okay, cool. That seems a good reason to race to me! I never really imagined you as an owner of camels. It seems like something people who live far from the city would own,” Shan said.
“Almost everyone has a farm they are managing in the desert. While we have irrigation and water collection tanks for plants, most people are raising animals of some sort. I also own goats, lambs, chickens and I have two cows. I don’t keep the cows in the desert; it is too hot for them. They have an air conditioned barn for the extreme heat days. The cows are mainly to keep my family in cheese, yogurt, milk and cream. My father prefers camel milk, but not my mother! That is why we have cows,” Abdulla explained.
The miles and hours to Muscat flew by as they talked all the way to Shan’s door. They argued over whether or not fútbol or football was the superior sport. Abdulla scoffed at Shan, “Football? Look at all the equipment they wear. Rugby players don’t wear all of that.”
Shan’s response to that was, “You are right. They don’t have any teeth either.” He laughed so hard he almost drove into the sand.
Shan was the DJ and they took turns talking about their favorite artists and she made sure to play songs from all the artists they discussed. They discovered they both had a penchant for jazzy R&B and house music. Abdulla was surprised to learn Shan also listened to Arabic music and was a fan of Amr Diab.
“Why do you listen to music you cannot understand?” he asked.
“I don’t have to understand the words, I have to feel them,” Shan responded.
“This is true, but still, I don’t think I could listen to music if I could not understand the words. I would always want to know what they were singing about, to be honest,” Abdulla explained.
“This is probably not something you should really be concerned with, because you speak so many languages,” Shan said. “You probably understand the words to a wide range of songs.”
Shrugging, he said, “True. The world is too small to speak only one language.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Abdulla had driven Shan safely to her door and kissed her breathless before making his way to his own home; she was still smiling as she dialed her mother to let her know she had returned.
Katy heard the phone ringing and made her way to the cordless base as she sipped her coffee. She knew it was late afternoon in Muscat and expected it to be Shan.
“Hello Mother love,” Shan practically sang into the phone.
Taking the receiver away from here ear and looking at it in astonishment, she answered, “Hello daughter dear.”
“You sure do sound as if the long weekend agreed with you,” Katy told her.
“Oh, Mama, it did,” she sighed and repeated herself, “it really did.”
Laughing, Katy said, “I am so glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. I hate to burst your happy bubble, so I will wait until tomorrow to give you the news I have been holding for a couple of days.”
Sitting on her wide chair and putting her feet up, Shan disagreed, “No, what’s going on—is everything okay with you?”
“Oh yes, nothing at all is wrong with me, but that Carmen person has been looking for you,” Katy told her.
For a moment Shan didn’t understand who her mother was saying was looking for her and then as she reviewed in her mind what was said, she felt herself getting agitated. The first thought she had was, “No, she’s not looking for me!”
“Carmen. As in the female I caught with both legs in the air at my house ten years ago?” Shan asked with a note of incredulity in her voice.
Grimly, her mother responded with a single word, “Yes.”
There was a moment of silence while Shan digested this information and Katy waited on her to do so before giving her all the details.
While it was true Carmen had been very busy, so had Katy. Having allowed her a couple minutes to digest the fact that Carmen was looking for her, Katy went ahead and updated Shan on what all had been going on in the past few days.
“First of all daughter, the best thing you ever did before leaving the States was give me power of attorney over your stateside interests. If we hadn’t done that, we would be in a pickle right about now,” she began.
“I am glad too, Mom, please fill me in on what this chick wants now,” Shan said.
“First of all she has been harassing Jack for the past month! She wanted him to tell her where you were. At least, that is what she told him. After she would not leave him alone, he had to file a restraining order against her. He also called me to let me know she was looking for you and he felt she might be a problem,” Katy continued.
“Really? She has started stalking him after all these years, too? She is ill,” Shan said.
“True, but I think she lied to Jack. She had already found you, because I am sad to say she committed identity theft using your information. All the credit cards she opened and other things like the apartment and car require more than thirty days to get together,” Katy told her.
“WHAT?! This crazy broad has opened credit cards, bought a car and signed a lease in MY name?!” Shan yelled into the phone.
“Listen baby,” she said and Katy proceeded to run it all down for her daughter.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Katy had alerted her friends of many years about the situation and asked for their help. Carmen was not as slick as she thought she was.
One of Katy’s friends had placed a watch on Shan’s credit and before the first bill was due, Katy had seen the activity. Katy immediately pulled up Shan’s information, which included copies of her passport and visa they kept for emergencies in the safe, scanned it in and alerted the companies that her daughter’s identity had been compromised.
A police lieutenant friend of Katy’s had also been alerted to keep a lookout and when an abandoned car had been found, registered in Shan’s name. This information was relayed to Katy as soon as the officer made the discovery in her twice weekly search.
Little did Carmen know, it may have been a bad neighborhood, but the streets are always watching! She, a stranger to the area, was seen by all manner of folk driving into the hood and calling a cab. They thought it was fishy, so one of the neighborhood old ladies had been made aware and called the police. There were plenty gangsters who could have used a car for some dirty work, but it was obvious whomever that lady had been wanted someone to take the car. It seemed like a trap, so a granny was put on the job.
They had enough trouble of their own without borrowing some fancy lady’s. The police now knew someone fitting the description of “fancy lady”, had dropped off a car purchased in the name of someone who was currently out of the country and had been since the end of August!
Once the credit bureaus had been made aware of the situation, they put a flag on her social security number and told Katy they couldn’t do more than that until they heard from Shan. Thankfully, because Katy had power of attorney, all credit cards but one had been cancelled. The car had been returned to the dealer and the police department was starting an identity theft case. It was a separate count for every credit card because the c
harge was based on how many times you used someone’s identification to secure credit or goods. So far, this was an eight count charge and the dollar amount of stolen goods was high enough to warrant felony level charges. One card was left open because they wanted to track it.
Katy had explained about Carmen and her stalking ways, so she was a person of interest to the police. Still, until Shan was informed and able to file an actual complaint, the police could only do so much with regard to Carmen. Plus, they felt it might not have been Carmen. After all, Jack could have just told a big exaggerated lie to deflect from the fact he was using his ex-wife’s information to steal. Identity theft was a huge problem. The police had seen stranger things than a lying ex.
Katy concluded this amazing story with, “So, for now, we are all waiting on you, Shan. You will need to file an official complaint of harassment and file a restraining order against Carmen.”
“Thank God you had that power of attorney or those credit bureaus would never have worked with you,” Shan sighed into the phone.
“What are our next steps?” Shan asked, because it was clear her mother had a plan in place and it seemed to be working.
“Daughter, I think our next steps are for you to talk to detectives I’ve been working with and get those complaints filed. You will also need to scan your passport with the stamps, so we can prove your entry and exit dates. I don’t think this will be as much of a problem as it would have been had we not been forewarned by Jack. The damage has already been contained,” Katy said.
“I agree; I will send him a brief note of thanks. He has definitely saved me a huge headache,” Shan said.
“You too, Mom, thank you so much. I am so glad you are on top of all this. I hope this doesn’t make my visit home this Christmas unpleasant. I don’t want to expose Abdulla to some crazy woman. I don’t want to run him off!” Shan worried aloud.
“Oh daughter, never fear, this Christmas visit will be lovely and peaceful. That woman better not show her face! By the time you get home in two months this will all be a wrap and the only thing we have to do is make sure your cousins don’t kidnap your sweetie and corrupt him with beer and dancing women,” Katy told her.
Laughing, Shan said, “I seriously doubt they can corrupt him, he is very upstanding but knows how to have a good time. They might be surprised to find they can’t keep up with him!”
“You are right,” Katy said before ending their conversation with, “I love you daughter, I will keep you in the loop on what is happening and check your email for the contact information for Detective Smith and Detective Wesley.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
After talking with her mother, Shan just sat for a while, looking out her window at the courtyard. She couldn’t believe the news she had just received. She was so grateful her mother had taken the necessary steps to minimize the damage, but still. She wondered why, after all these years, Carmen had reared her unwelcome head back up from under the rocks she normally dwelled? What about her attracted this woman and why was she so motivated to disturb her hard won peace? Why now?
There were really no answers to these questions and Shan determined in her spirit she would not give this woman so much head space. With that decision made, she went to her room to pray. After praying, she meditated for fifteen minutes and allowed silence to wash over her mind and peace to fill her heart. Feeling peaceful and spiritually energized, Shan went about her evening preparations. When night fell she had a week’s worth of lunches prepped, her clothing for the next day laid out and freshly twisted hair. Falling into her comfortable bed, she dialed Abdulla.
“Hello habibti,” he said.
“Hello handsome. I can tell you are smiling,” Shan said, “Care to tell me why?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked.
“Yep,” she said.
“I was sitting here thinking about you wondering what you were doing when my favorite body part realized it and rose up to take a look around to see if you were nearby,” he continued, “I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Then, the phone rang and it was you.”
Smiling at the story, Shan told him, “That is the best possible way for me to go to sleep, thinking of you, thinking of me,” she said.
“I agree. So, are you officially calling to wish me a good night’s rest?” he asked.
“Yes, Abood, I am. Good night, handsome,” she said.
“Good night, jamila,” he said before they disconnected.
She fell asleep smiling and thinking, “Jamila means beautiful.”
Chapter Forty
It had been a busy week and Shan was ready for the weekend. From the moment the first bus emptied and children began filling classrooms, Shan and her sister teachers had been moving nonstop. With such young students, classroom routines had to be revisited after every holiday. This one was no different. At one point in the week, Shan and her sister teacher had looked up and noticed one of them was helping a boy remove sand from his hair and the other was helping a girl covered in paint from fingertips to elbows. All they could do was laugh.
It was now Thursday, the school was quiet and Shan was setting up her morning message board for Sunday. She really liked the Sunday to Thursday work week. It felt so decadent to have Fridays and Saturdays off. It seemed to her she had the entire weekend, versus her old stateside schedule. She had not had any problem with the work week change when she moved to the Middle East.
Her body was on auto pilot, while her mind was preoccupied thinking about her ex, Jack. It had been years since she allowed herself to thing about him. Her mind went back to the day their divorce had been final when she told herself she could have one last cry and then it would be time to move forward emotionally. She had memorialized the passing of their marriage. She had bought two bottles of champagne and raised toast after toast to their memory. She had shamelessly taken the slow route down memory lane and relived their landmark moments, from first meeting to buying the house. The last toast was to the closing on the house.
Then, full of champagne and fully drunk, she relived one more time the awful moment she walked in and saw him with his lover. That was when she cried. She cried as she washed her glass and threw out the bottles. She cried as she turned the music to the sounds of rain. She cried in the shower. Then, lying in bed, she cried until her digital bedside clock struck midnight. Speaking aloud to herself she said, “It’s over. It’s tomorrow. You survived.”
She stopped crying, smoked a special occasion joint that had been donated by a friend and went to sleep a single woman with no more tears.
Now, ten years later, in a different country, navigating a different career and reflecting on that time, she was glad to realize she really didn’t have any more tears. She wasn’t angry, anymore. She had forgiven and moved forward emotionally. The relief wasn’t even that strong; because she had known for a long time she had healed. She really couldn’t say why she hadn’t allowed another man in her life to get as close as Abdulla. She could only imagine her soul had been waiting.
She would email Jack tonight, hopefully his old address still worked. He deserved a note of thanks. His warning had helped save her a lot of trouble.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Re: Thanks
Jack,
I hope you are well. It has been a long time since we’ve talked. I guess an email doesn’t count as talking, but you know what I mean.
Mom told me how you called to warn her that Carmen was looking to start some trouble.
I very much appreciate you for that. She did, in fact, start a mess but because of your warning, we were able to manage it almost immediately. I don’t know if she is planning more, so I urge you to check your credit report.
Mom has kept me in the loop on your remarriage and the birth of your children. I am glad you are happy.
Thanks again and be well.
Sincerely,
Shannon
After sending the email, Sh
annon got up to get herself dressed because Abdulla would soon be there to pick her up so he could take her to her very first tennis lesson.
She was still trying to figure out how he managed to talk her into learning tennis. She just hoped she didn’t injure herself trying to learn a sport. She had never really been all that athletic, but she did keep herself semi-fit with walking, so it wouldn’t hurt to stretch her limits a bit.
Chapter Forty-One
Longview, Texas
Carmen was looking at the screen, fury building. She had been trying to order more items to donate in Shan’s name but each card she submitted for payment was rejected. This was odd, because surely she hadn’t already found out about the cards.
She then logged into the account for one card and clicked the icon for online customer service. Then, she found out through a brief chat with a service agent that the card had been closed by the owner. When she explained she was the owner, the agent apologized and said she was unable to help with this account. It was closed with a fraud code, if that was incorrect, she would have to call ‘Who the Hell Ever’ and file ‘What the Hell Ever Report’ and alert ‘No Agency She Wanted to Talk To’ that her identity was not stolen.
She thanked the agent and quickly logged out of the chat room. Her heart was beating fast and her breathing was erratic. One thought after another was whirling through her head, “How did Shan discover the cards so soon? Why was only one card working but with a much lower limit? Was that intentional? Did she think it was a card she used only when she was home? Did she know about the apartment? The car? What happened to the car?”
Adored in Oman (Book 2 in Teach Me, Love Me Series): Interracial Romance Page 12