by Zanib Mian
Why would he be happy that the mosque had to close down?
Then he said, “Dear brothers and sisters, children, neighbors and friends, I am so pleased to announce that we have we needed to save the mosque. There have been many generous donations from all of you, and even young children have been going out in their communities to fundraise. Together we raised an amazing $25,000. But we still didn’t think we would make it until we had an unexpected donation last week of a whopping $5,000 from a complete stranger—a Mr. Lancelot Macintosh.”
I practically choked on my own saliva. I couldn’t believe it. What? Whaaaaat? Lancelot Macintosh? Our prime suspect? What the Batman bananas was this? Where did he get $5,000? He couldn’t even buy himself pants that fit, so how could he give money to the mosque? Nothing made sense.
CHAPTER 21
Mom and Dad were as flabbergasted as I was. They didn’t have the answers to my questions, either. But one thing was for sure: their secret smiles were as sparkly as ever.
In fact, I had never seen so many teeth on display at the mosque before. Yellow ones, white ones, missing ones, crooked ones, perfect ones, braced ones and even gold ones. All in the most
I couldn’t WAIT to get to school and ask Mrs. Hutchinson what was going on.
When we got home, I found a shiny quarter on the driveway, which I decided was an extra piece of luck. I snatched it up quickly before Maryam saw it, and shoved it into my jeans. That’s when I felt the $10 bill Dad had given me for weeding. I had completely forgotten to donate it at the mosque, so I shot upstairs to my secret underwear hiding place to keep it safe.
I put my hand into the back of the closet to fish out my green underwear, but something was different.
The envelope of cash from the talent contest was there! With all the money. Every bit of it.
I screamed all the way back down the stairs, tripped over my own foot and crawl-hopped through the hallway into the kitchen, where everyone was.
Mom and Dad looked extremely confused.
“It was in my secret hiding place!”
“Wow. That’s. Wow. Alhamdulilah,” said Mom, which basically means “thank Allah.”
“Who else knows about the hiding place?” asked Dad, scratching his head again.
“Nobody. Just me.”
“That’s a mystery . . .” said Dad. “So weird.”
“Wait!” shouted Maryam, and she darted up the stairs at the speed of light.
“What’s gotten into her now?” said Mom.
Maryam came back with her phone in her hand. “Look, look. This explains everything.”
She unlocked her phone and brought up a video on the screen. It was a video of me. Or was it a Well, at least I looked as if I was the star of some sort of zombie show. I didn’t have blood all over my face or anything, but I was definitely different than usual. Maryam was saying things to me, but I was just walking around like I couldn’t hear her.
“I recorded this after the talent show, when Omar came into my room AGAIN. But I was so sleepy I forgot all about it, and I only just remembered,” said Maryam. “Now look carefully at his hand. He’s holding a white envelope!”
We all looked up from the phone at each other’s faces.
declared Maryam. “He moved the money when he was sleepwalking!”
Dad laughed. “Wow. And this whole time, we were going nuts thinking someone had stolen it.”
I opened my mouth wide like a shocked emoji.
“Why do you think you hid it, Omar?” asked Maryam.
“Well, I was thinking about the money before I slept and that you’d be really jealous about it . . .”
For that, I got a whack on the arm from Maryam, and Maryam got an eyeballing from Dad. Then Maryam got a pinch on the arm from me, and I got an eyeballing from Dad.
Then Esa said,
and Mom decided it was time for lunch.
By the time food was on the table, we’d stopped being shocked and found it hilarious instead. I couldn’t wait to tell Charlie and Daniel, and give the money to the mosque. We giggled about it for the rest of the day.
Poor Lancelot Macintosh, I thought. He never should have been a suspect at all. And it turned out
not me or Daniel or Charlie! I guess she’s not such a bad big sister after all . . .
CHAPTER 22
I practically flew into school on Monday morning, and when I skidded into the classroom, I saw him sitting there on Mrs. Hutchinson’s chair. Walking stick in hand. Pants too short.
I pounced on him with the biggest hug ever and didn’t let go until Mrs. Hutchinson started asking why I was stuck to her uncle like a
Lancelot Macintosh had come in to talk to the class, just like we’d asked him to when he was our prime suspect.
we found out that Lancelot Macintosh is super rich. He’s practically a
When he was a “young lad” he had invented a small that has gone into all cars ever built since then.
He told us all about it, saying “Marvelous, marvelous” every other sentence and twiddling his mustache at least twenty times.
“So what do you do now, Mr. Lancelot Macintosh?” asked Sarah. “Do you just sit around and count your money?”
Lancelot Macintosh laughed a real hearty laugh. “Well, I keep myself very busy trying to invent new things. Some serious things and some things just for the fun of it!”
Yup, it turns out that Lancelot Macintosh spends a lot of time trying to invent new flavors of bubble gum in his house. That explains a lot!
When he was leaving, he said quietly to me, “Omar, you remind me of myself when I was a young chap. You really impressed me with your marvelous attitude. It reminded me of the days when I chased my dreams and
“Thanks! Is that why you gave the money to the mosque?” I asked.
“Yes, because I want you to believe in yourself and never forget the community that will be there to support you while you’re chasing your dreams.”
Then he chuckled and said, “Either that or something about that big smile of yours must have made me do it.”
No way, I thought. I guess it works after all:
Charlie and Daniel threw me their OHHHH WOWWWW looks.
* * *
• • •
At home, when I filled Mom and Dad in about Lancelot Macintosh, they were really impressed. Dad was even familiar with the that he invented and couldn’t believe he had met someone who had contributed to his driving experience so much.
Even Maryam was in a good mood, talking about how she loved his mustache style. “It’s so hipster,” she said, like she even knows what that means.
Mrs. Rogers was over for a cup of tea, and she said, “I could alter his pants to fit, you know.”
“I bet he could pay to alter pants that fit with all that money,” Mom said, laughing.
“I think he wears them like that on purpose,” I said. “And I like him just the way he is.”
* * *
• • •
That evening, the doorbell rang. I thought it was another of Mom’s online orders, but it was Daniel and Charlie.
I didn’t know they were coming!
“I invited them, said Maryam. But she said it sweetly somehow, as if she was using the funny insult in an affectionate way.
“Why would you invite them??!” I asked.
“Well, I did sell one piece of art,” she said. “To Dad!”
“Sooooooo?” I was still super confused.
“And I didn’t give the money to the mosque.”
“You called us here to tell us that?” said Daniel.
“Okaaay,” said Charlie.
“Not exactly . . .” Maryam was enjoying this so much.
“Come on, Maryam, stop being weird!” I pleaded.
She giggled. “Follow me, then!”
“For you three,” she said, pointing.
We jumped on them like they were going to vanish if we didn’t open them in three seconds.
Maryam had bought us the
that we wanted with the money she had raised.
“Well, you do have but I’m kind of
she said.
I pounced on her with a big hug. Then Charlie joined us, and Daniel got super excited and jumped on us, too.
CHAPTER 23
I don’t know why, but whenever something unusual happens in my life, we seem to end up with biryani on our dinner table. Mom and Dad had invited Lancelot Macintosh over for dinner to thank him for what he did for the mosque. Mrs. Hutchinson was coming, too, since he was her uncle and she’d helped so much with the talent show.
That day, Mom and Dad fussed around in the kitchen more than usual and cleaned until their backs hurt, because a gazillionaire had never been to our home before and they were nervous.
“What are you making, Mommy?” asked Esa.
“We’re making biryani, spinach curry, naan, samosas, lassi and moussaka.”
From The Lion King?” said Esa.
Mom giggled and explained that moussaka was an Arabic dish made with eggplant and ground meat, and not Simba’s dad from The Lion King.
“Remember when Esa used to call rice ‘mice’?” said Maryam, and then, doing a squeaky impression of him, she said, “I want curry and mice for dinner.”
While we were in the middle of practically wetting ourselves with laughter, I heard the roar of an engine and I ran to look out the window. There was a bright-yellow Ferrari!
For a minute, I thought Allah had finally sent my reward for the fast I kept during Ramadan. But then I saw Lancelot Macintosh and Mrs. Hutchinson hop out.
I guess gazillionaires have lots of money, and people with lots of money can buy expensive nice cars. And it was just like him to go for the most fun color of all.
What happened next was better than anything in the
Can you guess? I got to go for a ride with him before we had dinner! Sure, he didn’t let me drive it, even though I offered to pay him the $10 from my secret money-hiding place, but still it was the
ZANIB MIAN grew up in London and still lives there today. She was a science teacher for a few years after leaving university, but right from when she was a little girl, her passion was writing stories and poetry. She has released lots of picture books with the independent publisher Sweet Apple Publishers, but the Planet Omar series is the first time she’s written for older readers.
NASAYA MAFARIDIK is based in Indonesia. Self-taught, she has a passion for books and bright, colorful stationery.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.