She Wore Red Trainers (27 page)

***

When we got to Departures, Rania pulled over, bumping up onto the pavement. ‘OK, you guys go, I'll try and find parking.' And she sniffled a little and blew me a kiss. ‘Inshallah, it all works out. See you in a minute!' She wiped away a tear, waved, and drove off with a screech of tires.

At that point, I grabbed my backpack from Zayd and began to run towards the terminal building. Zayd kept close behind me.

Were we too late? Would we find him? And what would he say when he saw me? Was this really the craziest thing I had ever done?

I had to fight through a group of Spanish students on a school trip to get in through the automatic doors.

Once in, I scanned the screens, desperation stinging my eyes. It felt like every change of the display took hours and still, I didn't see the destination I was looking for.

‘Ams,' Zayd's voice behind me. ‘There it is: Mexico City…' His voice trailed off and I struggled to focus, my eyes scanning the list.

Mexico City: Gate Closed.

Gate closed
.

We were too late.

I heard myself let out a cry of anguish, ‘Oh, Zayd, no!
No
!' The tears came so fast, I couldn't stop them. I gasped at the force of the pain that shot through me.

How could I have been so stupid?

Why did I walk away that first time?

Zayd let me sob into his shoulder, stroking my hijab. ‘It's alright, sis,' he was saying. ‘There's a reason for everything. You know that…'

I pulled away from him and wiped my nose. ‘You don't understand,' I wailed. ‘You weren't there. You didn't hear the things he said to me, the way he looked when I told him to forget about me. Now he'll never know how badly I wanted to say yes, how I wanted to be that girl, the girl of his dreams.' My words were lost in sobs. ‘Zayd, I swear, I felt like our souls knew each other before, like we understood each other…' I shook my head, thinking of every little thing I knew about him, everything that made me love him: his respect, his kindness, his generosity, his sense of responsibility, and his humility. And that smile, those eyes, the way he moved…

‘Oh, Zayd,' I gulped. ‘The craziest thing is that I love him. I do. And now he's gone and I'll never be able to tell him…'

Zayd smiled then and said, in a voice full of tenderness, ‘Why don't you tell him now, sis?'

And he turned me around and there, standing in front of me, holding his backpack, was Mr Light Eyes himself and, from the smile on his face and the tears in his eyes, it was safe to say that he had pretty much heard everything I'd said.

‘
As-salamu ‘alaykum
, Amirah,' he signed to me with those perfect fingers. ‘Now are you ready to fly with me?'

49

Zayd's text had been cryptic:
On my way to the airport. Don't leave until I get there. Trust me. V. important.

Had it been anybody else, I would have disregarded it, but this was Zayd. So I waited for him, waited to see what it was that was so important.

I won't bore you with all the details of the tears and laughter, excited calls to family and friends, Islamic marriages in airport lounges in front of surprised onlookers, new tickets, and words of advice given before boarding.

But I will tell you this: I first touched Amirah when we had boarded our flight to Mexico, as man and wife. At last, I was able to kiss her fingertips and stroke the cleft in her chin. At last, I could feel her touch the mole on my left hand and caress my knuckles. At last, we could laugh about our matching trainers.

We had so much to catch up on, so much to share. But there would be time for that later. The next day, and the next day and the day after that.

In fact, we had the rest of our lives, inshallah.

Glossary

A'udhu billahi min ash-Shaytan ir-Rajeem:
I seek refuge with Allah from Shaytan the accursed

Abaya:
Flowing outer garment worn by Muslim women

Adhan:
The Muslim call to prayer

Akh/Akhi
: Brother/my brother

Akhirah:
The Hereafter

Alhamdulillah:
All praise is for Allah

Allah:
God

Allahumma barik
: May Allah bless it

Amu:
Uncle

As-salamu ‘alaykum/salaam
: The Muslim greeting, ‘Peace be upon you'

Astaghfirullah
: I seek Allah's forgiveness

Ayah
: Verse from the Qur'an

Barakallahu feek
: May Allah bless you

Bismillah
: In the name of Allah

Da'eef:
Weak (in religion)

Da'wah
: Invitation or call to Islam

Deen
: Way of life/religion

Du'a
: Supplication

Dunyah
: This world

Dupatta:
Light scarf, often worn with Asian suits

Fajr:
The dawn prayer

Fatwa
: Religious verdict/ruling

Fitnah:
Trial/temptation

Ghayrah:
Protectiveness/jealousy

Halal:
Permissible in Islam

Haram
: Forbidden in Islam

Hijab
: Head covering worn by Muslim women

Ikhwan:
Brothers

Imam
: Mosque leader

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un
: To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return

Inshallah:
God willing

Jazakallah khayran:
May Allah reward you with good

Juz:
Part of the Qur'an consisting of a number of verses

Khutbah:
Sermon

Kufi:
Skull cap worn by Muslim men

La hawla wa la quwwatta illa-billah
: There is no power or might except with Allah

Madrasah:
Religious class/school

Maghrib
: Sunset prayer

Mashallah:
Allah has willed it

Miswaks:
Tooth cleaning stick

Mu'min:
A righteous believer

Mus'haf:
Copy of the Qur'an

Niqab:
Face veil

Qiblah:
The direction Muslims face to pray

Qur'an:
The Muslim holy book

Raka'at:
A unit of prayer

Salah:
A ritual prayer for Muslims. Performed 5 times a day. One of the pillars of Islam

Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoken after the Prophet Muhammad is mentioned

Shahadah:
Testimony of faith. What someone says to convert to Islam. One of the pillars of Islam

Shaytan:
Satan/ the devil

Shisha:
Hookah pipe used to smoke flavoured tobacco

Sujud:
Prostration in the ritual prayer

Surah:
Verse of the Qur'an

Talaq:
Divorce

Tarbiyah:
Islamic nurturing/upbringing

Thobe:
Robe worn by Muslim men

Urdu:
Language spoken by Pakistanis and some Indians

Wali:
Guardian

Wudu
: Ablution, performed before prayer

Zinah
: Fornication

Zuhr
: Mid-day prayer

Acknowledgements

This story is for Aaminah. She knows why.

A huge thank you to my beta readers from Hayah International Academy in Cairo, who lived and breathed these characters: Laila, Nour, Malak, Nada, Salma, Kenzie and Omar. And to Sarah el Meshad for making it happen.

I am grateful for the support of my family, particularly my husband and my father, my wonderful agent and my demanding new editor!

Last, but not least, jazakallah khayran to all the young people who have let me into their lives in some way or another, and have helped shape the characters and concerns of this narrative. Auntie loves you all.

About the Author

Na'ima B. Robert, who has South African Zulu and Scottish roots, was born in England, grew up in Zimbabwe and converted to Islam in 1998 at the age of 21 after visiting Eqypt as a student. She graduated from the University of London and is founder and editor-in-chief of the UK-based Muslim women's magazine, SISTERS. She has published many picture books with Muslim themes and four young adult novels:
From Somalia, With Love
,
Boy vs Girl
,
Black Sheep
and
Far From Home
. She has also published a memoir,
From My Sisters' Lips
, and a series of children's non-fiction books under her family name, Thando McLaren.

Na'ima B. Robert is married with five children and divides her time between London and Egypt.