A Missing Peace (22 page)

My mom was not going to be happy about this. “I doubt it.”

Mirriam grabbed her coffee cup and took a sip. “We need a place to live and a plan.”

“I'll take care of it.”

“You can't do everything on your own, and even if you could, if I wanted that I'd marry Rasheem.”

My jaw clenched. “So he has a name.”

“Sorry.”

My mom's computer sat in the corner of the living room and I limped over to it. I looked to Mirriam. “Come on.”

“What are we doing?”

“Making a plan for when we get back. I have some ideas for getting away, but we'll need help.”

Mirriam stood beside me and we considered our options. “I think Austin is a good place to start. It's close enough to my mom so if she needs something I can be here, and if you work things out with your family…”

“I won't.”

I shrugged. “They're here too.”

“I have scholarships on both coasts but not for UT.”

“Start next year and get one.”

“You never really told me what your plans for college were before this.”

I pushed the chair around so I could see her eyes. “You know when I got hit by the car my plans changed, but it doesn't matter because after the first time I kissed you my plan was to follow you.”

Mirriam smiled so wide her face glowed. “Do you think we can really do this?”

It had to. It was either that or watch the girl I love marry someone else. “Yes.”

We spent the next two hours on Google trying to form a plan for life after graduation which was only a couple of days away. What we found was we could not afford an apartment. “We could enroll at a university and take separate dorm rooms,” Mirriam suggested.

“No. I didn't propose a sham marriage to get you out of your brother's arrangement. This is us and it's real.”

She shrugged, but she also blushed and smiled. “It's the most logical option.”

“And it's not on the table.”

Mirriam nodded as I kept clicking Google links until I found a studio apartment for under $500. It wasn't in the best part of town, but the student housing was all in the same area. If we'd moved for school, we would have been a block away.

“Do you think we can handle five hundred dollars a month?”

“What bills does it include?”

“Everything but electric.”

“If we never run turn on the air. Americans use too much electricity anyhow.”

I grinned. “It's a plan.”

Mirriam checked her watch. “Get home before your brother finds you gone and marries you off sooner.”

She wrapped her arms around my chest and squeezed me tightly before starting for the back door. “M, go out the front door.”

“I have to take the long way, so they don't see me.”

“I don't like you being out alone this late.” If she was taking the long way I'd never be able to make the trek though.

“I'm sorry,” she said. And that's when I knew Mirriam was as serious about this as I was. Because before tonight, she would have lectured me about how she could take care of herself. She stepped out the door then turned back, grabbed my face and kissed me with an urgency she hadn't before.

I held onto her and pressed her body to mine until I realized she had no plans of breaking this. When her body started to curl around mine, I pulled away. “It's going to be okay. I promise, M. I meant what I said. I won't let anyone take you from me.”

After Mirriam left, I used my emergency only credit card to fill out the application for our studio. I paid the first month's rent and deposit. If we both got minimum wage jobs, we could handle this.

Mirriam

I knew Caleb wouldn't give up without a fight, but his words weren't enough to calm my mind. We agreed it would be better not to see each other until after graduation. Abrahem was watching me now and it was best not to be caught.

Caleb bought me a prepaid phone and had Morgan pass it to me at school. But I only used it at school, so my brother wouldn't find it, which meant I could only even hear his voice for a couple of minutes during lunch.

The day of graduation finally rolled around, which also happened to be the day of our presentation for Government. Caleb came to school for just that class, and we were up next.

We sat at our table at the front of the room. My hand shook in his.

“It'll be okay,” he whispered.

“I'm not worried about the presentation.”

“I know, but it's going to be okay.”

“Caleb and Mirriam, you're up,” Mrs. Culpepper called.

We walked to the front of the room, and I pushed a chair out for Caleb. There was no way he could stand the whole time.

“Our project started out as a debate on the Iraq War,” I said.

“But I spent a lot of time with an Iraqi girl, and I've learned that both sides are right, neither side is right, and war is bad for everyone,” Caleb said.

“We can agree that hate yields hate. Violence yields violence,” I said.

Together we said, “The war happened. It's time to make peace.”

“But we won't do that focusing on our differences,” Caleb said.

“So we changed our project. We're looking forward, not back. We've been pairing schools here with schools in Iraq and other parts of the Mid East.”

“Students are raising money and working with local and centralized government to make changes that will reduce emissions and pollution—”

“In an effort to slow down global warming, a problem that is real for us all.”

Later that night at the graduation ceremony, I clasped the edge of my chair so tight my knuckles turned white. One way or another, my life was about to change. Not in that cliché way that high school was over and college would begin soon. My life would really change. I prayed Caleb and I could get away with this, because if not, I didn't know how else to get around my arranged marriage.
Run away while he's at work, and find Caleb, I guess. Assuming he doesn't hate me for marrying someone else.

The principal called Caleb's name, and everyone clapped wildly. Against all odds, he'd survived the past couple of months and made it here tonight. No one noticed when he didn't return to his seat. Most people probably assumed he couldn't make it through the long ceremony. My name was at the end of the alphabet. I was the very last person in our class. I was sure Abrahem would notice when I didn't return to my seat. Chaos would ensue as soon as the principal announced we had graduated, and I was counting on that to have enough time to slip out of the school to Morgan's car.

“Mirriam Yohanna,” the principal called.

I walked up to the stage, shook his hand, took my diploma, and nonchalantly went out the back door. As soon as the summer air hit my skin, I ran.

I hit Morgan's Corolla. Caleb leaned against the driver side door and smiled when he saw me. Morgan stood in front of the driver's seat of his jeep wearing my mantilla, and Matt was beside her.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

“OMG. Like I would pass up being a fugitive.” Morgan clasped her hands together in front of her like this was the thrill of a lifetime.

“Ya'll owe me,” Matt said. “My dad is going to disown me.”

“We have to get out of here,” Caleb said.

“Then get in the car.”

“I have to do something first.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. Caleb put one leg in front of the other in an attempt to kneel then howled out in pain. I grabbed his shoulder and tried to help him straighten himself from one side as Matt bolted to his other side.

Caleb shook us off and released a slow breath. “That hurt.”

I sighed. “You really shouldn't have done that, Caleb. It was stupid.”

He rolled his eyes. “M, I need to do this right.” He shook his head. “And I can't.”

“What? We need to go.”

He flipped the velvet box open. “Asking you to marry me in my kitchen so someone else wouldn't marry you didn't feel right. Mirriam Yohanna, I knew you were different from every girl I'd ever known the day you darted in front of my car to pick up that turtle. When you shot me down in front of everyone, I knew I liked you and I've known I love you for a while.” He took the ring out of the box and slid it on my finger. “So will you marry me?” His eyes darted to the ring. “I'll buy you a decent ring later, I promise.”

I smiled. “I don't need a ring. You're all I need.” I fell into Caleb and crushed my lips to his.

“Uhh—he doesn't see us yet, but you're brother just came out of the double doors.” Thank God for the huge courtyard. I pulled away from Caleb.

“We've got to go!”

Morgan and Matt took their places in the jeep—her in the driver seat, him in the passenger—and drove away. I jumped into Morgan's Toyota and glanced in the back seat. My backpack full of clothes and necessities was already there. I floored the accelerator and pulled out of the parking lot.

“Phantom Soldier or 35 South?” I asked.

“Phantom Soldier. Go for it. We don't have time to waste.”

Caleb took his phone out, did something on the screen, and placed it in its port.

“What are you doing?”

“GPS, and I downloaded an app to act as a police scanner. If they find us, we'll change routes.”

“You're eighteen. You know if they find us, you're going to jail for harboring a run away.”

“Just drive. Hopefully, they're looking for the jeep. Morgan is headed to Dallas.”

I let out a deep breath.

“Airport or straight for the border?”

“Airport, but leave the car at UT first.”

“Do we have tickets? How are we going to have time for all of this?”

“We have exactly three hours. If it seems like we're going to miss our flight, keep heading south. We'll drive to the border.”

We made it all the way to Austin without our names coming across the scanner. As far as we knew, they hadn't really started looking for us yet. I doubted Abrahem wasn't trying, though.

I pulled into a parking lot behind the University of Texas. “Is Morgan's car going to get towed here?”

“I'll pay for it if it does.”

“Come on. We have to move on to phase two of the plan.” I grabbed his duffel bag and my backpack from the backseat.

“Give me that,” Caleb said.

“Caleb, you're doing good to walk. I've got the bags—” I changed my mind mid-sentence. “I know you're worried about the cops at the airport finding the car and then us, but we're taking the risk,” I said, dropping the bags on the seat.

“Why?”

“Our flight is leaving soon. Hopefully, we'll be mid-air before they find us.”

“What good is it going to do? They'll stop us at the airport in Mexico.”

“We'll run. Caleb, we can't stand around here waiting for a bus. Someone is bound to notice a ‘Muslim' girl in Texas with an eighteen-year-old guy using a cane.”

He shook his head. “Go to the airport and park in the garage.”

I headed for the airport, but once we made it to the outskirts of Austin, Caleb demanded, “Pull over.”

I moved to the side of the road and stopped the car.

Caleb opened his door.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting rid of the plates.”

I opened my door and stepped out. We walked around to the front of the car, and Caleb tried to bend. He howled out.

“Are you okay?”

He took a Swiss army knife from his pocket and handed it to me. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. You're going to have to do it. You've got to be fast.”

“You shouldn't have tried. How do I do this?”

He took the knife from me, flipped out a screwdriver, and handed it back to me. “Put this in the screw and turn it.”

I stuck the screwdriver in the screw and rotated as quickly as I could. “Get back in the car. We need to leave as soon as this is done.” I popped the front plate off, moved around to the back, and repeated the process. I jumped back in the car, and we took off.

We boarded our plane with no problem. As we cleared customs in Cancun, airport security asked, “What brings you to Mexico?” I held my breath. Did he know?

“Party after graduation. My girl will be at a different school in the fall,” Caleb said with that confident All-American smile.

“Have fun,” the security guard said.

I exhaled.

Caleb

Five new texts.

A JAG attorney called. Collins has been temporarily dismissed pending a trial for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Mom.

Where was the real charge? What about murder?

We got stopped last night in Dallas. They're looking for you. Matt.

Too late.

Call home. Mom.

Where the hell are you? I thought you were @ project graduation. Cops came by looking for you. Mom.

Call NOW. Mom.

I wanted to call my mom, because I wanted to know about Collins and how the settlement was coming. I never liked the idea of being paid for my father's death, but it would matter now. I needed to call her, because she had no idea where I was. She wouldn't approve.

Before I could call anyone, there was something I had to do. A month ago, I took a chance in my living room with a girl that drove me crazy. It was the kind of thing you could come to regret real quick, but I'd never regretted it.

I was about to take another chance on that girl that drove me crazy. Something told me I'd never come to regret it.

The priest said I could kiss my girl, and in that moment nothing else mattered. People would say we were stupid for doing this so young. A few months ago, I would have agreed.

But if Mirriam hadn't snuck out the day a terrorist cell attacked a hospital, if my dad's platoon hadn't responded to a terrorist cell that attacked a hospital, if her dad hadn't stopped to help a man, if a drunk officer hadn't ordered the death of a doctor, if Mirriam hadn't been accused of terrorism, if my dad hadn't protected her, if a terrorist hadn't seen her with an American soldier, if her family hadn't come to the U.S. and her mom hadn't been forced to take a job in Texas, if the stars hadn't aligned perfectly, we would have never met.