Chapter 4:

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I jumped out of the bed with sweat glistening on my forehead. My palms and feet felt clammy as I tried to calm my beating heart. The room felt small and my breathing quickly escalated to a maximum. The world spinned round and round and the air felt compressed. I threw off the blanket and opened the window and closed my eyes. It was about to rain last night and the scent soothed my heart. Trees circled our house, so every time it rained it smelt like a jungle. I absolutely loved it.

The sky was calm and blue as the sun rose from the sky. I sighed and opened the whole curtain. It was salat time, no need of going back to sleep. Sleep. That's was something I didn't get much of last night.

These dreams were getting out of hand.

I silently went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. The water trailed down my face to my chin and down my chest. Some people hated the feeling of cold water in the morning, but to me it felt like freedom. After a night of being cooped up in bed, the first thing I always did was feel the rhythmic flow of cold water trailing down my face.

I pulled on a shirt and stood for salat. A sense of calmness immediately enveloped me as the soothing cold breeze entered the room from the window. Tranquility filled my body and soul as I recited surah Fatiha and bowed down to Allah.

After I finished my salat and sat there and starred at the box next to me. I grabbed it and trailed my finger down the sides of the cold wooden box, wondering what could possibly be inside.

My finger trailed down the lid and front of the box and froze. I realized that there was something carved into the box. My heart pounded as ran a finger over the groove that had been engraved into the wood. It was small and ridged, but securely imprinted into the box.

I frowned and squinted to see the word but couldn't make it out due to the darkness that surrounded the room. The only source of light was my phone, so I grabbed it and turned on the flashlight app and shined it on the carving.

In small Arabic letters, I made out a name.

Imran Ahmed.

I gaped at my name and gulped. Why would dad engrave my name into it? My finger shook as I trailed the tip of it on my name and felt it again.

Suddenly someone pounded on the door and I jumped. The box flew out of my hands as my back landed on the shelf.

The door screeched and came to a halt. I looked up and sighed in relief when mom smiled at me.

"Oh you're awake. I just wanted to tell you that it was fajir time sweetie." She frowned when she seen me in pain and narrowed her eyes at me.

"What happened here?" I gave her a strained smile and stood up, ignoring the pain that rippled in my back.

"I'm okay alhamdulilah. You just scared me, but I prayed already." She smiled and came to stand in front of me.

Her face gleamed as the small amount of light shined on her face. She always and a younger face than everyone her age, but ever since dad died she looked like she aged years. I cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead.

"How are you mom?" She grinned and sat down on my bed. I dropped my hands to my side and sat on the floor.

"Good alhamdillilah. The baby is growing you know. Last night I was sitting on the chair reading Quran, and it kicked me. Wallahi, Allah's my witness, this baby is going to be a fighter one day." I laughed and felt her stomach. It was growing mashallah.

"Hey mom, how about we make a deal. If it's a boy, I get to name him. If it's a girl, you get to name her. Deal?" mom chuckled and rested her hand on top of mine.

"Deal, but what would you name him?" I frowned and thought for a second and smiled.

"I'd name him Bilal. I always liked that name." Her smile widened as she ruffled my hair. I smiled and gazed at her stomach.

"Bilal. I like it. We'll name him Bilal, and if it's a girl well name her Sana" A sad felling captivated my thoughts as I focused at her stomach. Little Sana or Bilal is never going to see dad. I looked down and sighed. As if reading my mind mom lifted my chin with her finger and gave me a sad smile.

"Even though they don't have their father, they have us. Inshallah that will be enough for them" I smiled but deep down I knew that the love of a father is not replaceable.

"Now, go shower it's time for school. Go." She chuckled and pushed me towards the bathroom.

I heard the door close behind me as I grabbed my towel and took a quick shower. As I was getting dressed I kept in mind that I'll have to talk to imam Musa today and ask him exactly what time he got that box from dad.

I ran down the stairs with my backpack and grabbed a muffin that was on the table. Mom chuckled at me when I stuffed half of it I my mouth and gave her a cheeky smile.

"I'm late! I'll see you later mom." I kissed her cheek and hugged a sleepy Hana on the way and ran to the car.

I quickly parked at the front of the school and ran through the school gates. The bell rang, and quickened my pace and rushed to class. I wasn't looking where I was going and ran smack into Mr. Flemings.

My eyes widened as he frowned down at me with his square glasses and gave me a glare. "Mr. Ahmed, are you aware that class starts when the bell rings, meaning you're supposed to be in class right now." I swallowed and started to stutter.

"I-I know sir. I was running late and was talking to my mom-"Mr. Flemings shook his head and took out a pink slip.

"Excuses, excuses Mr. Ahmed. Detention today after school, it's mandatory so I expect to see you there." I sighed and snatched it from his hands.

"Now, get to class Imran" I frowned and entered the class mad.

Well, there go all of my plans.

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"Hey, are you still having those dreams?" I sighed loudly and sat down as the loud laughs, talking and munching encircled us. Mrs. Salmon gave us our homework assignments early so we left early ahead of everyone else.

It was lunch time and I kept getting these weird stares from everyone now that I'm back to school. Abdullah tried to cheer me up by changing the subject but the staring was still there, and to top it off I get a detention. Today is officially the worst school day ever.

"Yup, and they seem like their getting worse each and every day. Their all different...but in a way their all the same." I groaned and rubbed my head in exhaustion. I hadn't slept a good sleep in days and my attention span wasn't so good.

Jafar sighed and gave me a stern look. "There's only one solution. We come to your house; I doubt you'd have a nightmare if we're there." I smirked and shook my head.

"Do I look like a little girl to you? I don't need you guys, I'm a grown man. I could handle these dreams." Abdullah raised an eyebrow as Jafar shook his head in disdain.

I sighed and smiled. "Fine, but at one of your houses. I'll tell Hana she can invite friends over if she wants since I'm gone." Jafar smiled and ate his lunch in silence.

My head hurt because of all the stress these past days. I felt like everything was crashing down on me again. Taking care of mom and Hana, passing my classes even though I missed two exam says, and solving the will while maintain a good amount of sleep. That's a lot for an eighteen year old to do all at once.

I sighed and pulled the will from my pocket and stared at it. It's time for the second ayah. Jafar eyed me while he bit into his burger and grinned at me.

"I told you this one is hard. You can't get it either, can you?" I narrowed my eyes at him and read the ayah in my head.

I frowned and folded the paper. What surah was that ayah in? Jafar seen and raised an eyebrow at me and nodded. He was right. This one is pretty hard. Abdullah looked between us and narrowed his eye in suspicion.

"What's going on?" I sighed and passed him the will and waited until he read it.

Before Abdullah could even begin to read it, it was snatched from his hands and read out loud by Salma. "oooh! Passing notes are we? Let's see what it says." She cleared her throat and smiled when we all gave her shocked expressions.

"مَّا جَعَلَ اللهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِي جَوْفِهِ " She paused and frowned until it hit her.

Her eyes widened as she read the ayah again and sat down. Jafar frowned and mouth 'you let her sit here' I shook my head and mouthed 'no' back as we all starred at her in confusion. Salma threw the will on the table as her face brightened in happiness.

"This is my favorite ayah in the Quran guys! It's surah Ahzab. Why are you passing ayats of the Quran?" I sighed and looked down in agitation when someone quietly sat down next to her.

Anisa smiled shyly and looked at her sister in anger. "I told you not to sit here. Why don't you ever listen?" Salma sighed and rolled her eyes.

"If you want to sit next to the group of monkeys over there, I won't judge. But me, I'd rather sit with the Muslim people. Sorry sis, you're on your own on this one." Anisa looked down and shrugged. I frowned in confusion and gestured between them.

"Aren't you even going to ask if you could sit here? We had some important business going on." Salma smiled and took out her water bottle.

"Oh you missed it. They were passing notes like little girls." Anisa smiled cheekily and gave me an astonished look.

"Boys pass notes? Really? About what?" Abdullah frowned as Jafar looked disgusted.

"Girls. This is strictly an all guys table so please; skedaddle on with your lives." Salma stopped searching her bag and eyed Jafar.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's an all gender table so go stuff it. We're supposed to be a united ummah, and we can't do that if one group is sitting in peace while the other is being terrorized by a group of low-life hormonal teenagers. There's nothing wrong with us sharing a table. So, in conclusion, we're not moving." Abdullah chuckled as Anisa smiled and held back her laugh as we all watched Jafar. He turned bright red and glared at Salma with rage and anger.

Salma smiled in victory and fixed her hijab. "So... Whatchya guys doing?" I sighed and opened my mouth to tell her about the will when Jafar gaped at me and covered my mouth.

He turned to Salma, who gave us a weird look, and gave her a fake smile. "Excuse us for a second. This is important bro talk." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat.

Abdullah stood and followed us as Jafar dragged me to the hallway. He released my hand and gave me a stern face. "What the heck is your problem? You were about to tell a member of the female population about our plan. How could you?" I frowned in confusion and cracked a smile.

"Female population? That's absurd Jafar. She was just wondering what it was about so I was just-"Abdullah frowned and took a step closer so no one would hear.

"You don't know girls like I do. Look, I have a sister and she's the craziest living person I know. We can't trust girls. They're different then us. Trust me. Tell her one thing and the next thing you know the whole plan is changed to rainbows and fluffiness." I smirked and crossed my arms.

"Abdullah, your sister is ten. You don't know anything about girls our age." Jafar just shrugged.

"Doesn't matter Imran. Their all the same. They'd trick you with their girly powers and completely take over your mind. We cannot bring them into this." I smiled and shook my head at them.

"Fine. We won't tell them." They both smiled and walked back into the loud cafeteria. I smiled and sighed as we sat down.

Salam intertwined her hands, rested them on her chin and smiled at us. "So, what was it about?" I kept quiet and nudged Jafar and Abdullah.

Anisa blinked when no one said anything and frowned. "Is anyone going to say anything?"

Jafar and Abdullah looked around and tried to fill their mouths with food so they didn't have to say anything. Salma narrowed her eyes at us and gave me a stare. She opened her mouth to respond but her response was muffled by the loud ring of the school bell.

Abdullah and Jafar jumped and made a bee line for the door. I chuckled and shook my head and collected my stuff. Anisa and Salma narrowed their eyes at me as I smiled.

I shrugged at them and walked to class.

Everyone was settling in their seat when the teacher walked in. She took out her markers and began to teach the class, when the door was flung open. Salma walked in lowering her head so the teacher wouldn't see and rushed to her seat.

Mrs. Parker eyed her and gave her a pink slip. "Class started minutes ago so Salma." Salma frowned and waved the pink slip around.

"What's this?" the class laughed as Mrs. Parker glared at her.

"It's a detention slip for being tardy to my class. If you don't come, it's a referral so I expect to see you there." Salma gaped at her and threw her bag on the table mad.

I sighed and shook my head. Looks like another person just got added to the party.

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The bell finally rang and Mrs. Parker dismissed us. I sighed and grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom. Jafar followed as we met up with Abdullah at the hallway.

"Hey so your coming to my house right?" I shook at Jafar and gestured to the detention room.

"I've got detention for being late. Sorry guys, I'll meet you up later okay?" Jafar smirked and shook his head.

"Okay Mr. Rebellious. See you at five." I nodded my head and pulled the door open.

Mr. Flemings sat at his desk with headphones on while everyone else chatted about. I walked to the back of the classroom and pulled my backpack off. This is going to be a long hour, might as well make myself comfortable.

The door was closed behind me as Salma entered the classroom. She frowned until she spotted me and smiled. She rushed to the seat next to me and sighed in relief.

"Alhamdulillah! I thought I'd be stuck in a room full of people I didn't know." I gave her a short nod and hid the will before she could spot it.

She shifted in her seat and faced me with a curious face. "So. What were you guys talking about at lunch?" I shook my head and smirked at her, she must have gotten the curiosity gene instead of Anisa.

"Nothing, just guy stuff." She narrowed her eyes at me and shook her head.

"No, it seemed important. The one with the blonde hair seemed too caught up in it for it to be just nothing." I smirked when she called Jafar the 'blonde one'. He hated that. His mom, Aunty Aminah, was a convert and from the English decent. Because of that his eyes are blue, and he's blonde. We always used to mess with him about it.

I smiled and placed my hands on the desk. "It was really nothing. He was just planning something and didn't want you guys to hear. Don't sweat it." She nodded slowly and fiddled with her bag.

"So, you and Anisa are twins huh?" she cracked a smile and nodded.

"I'm older by a minute but yah, were twins. Sisters for life." I frowned when her smile faded away.

"What? What's wrong?" she sighed and looked at the wall.

"A year ago, we lived in a little town up in northern united states. I loved it. We had friends there, and we actually knew people. One Day, Anisa was stocked. This friend of hers wouldn't leave her alone. Dad tried everything but I didn't help. Tray would do anything to terrorize Anisa. At school, I would defend her and help her, but we weren't always in the same class. I hated it when someone would bully someone else, forget my own sister. Eventually he left her alone, but she was never the same. She never smiled the same, never laughed the same. She completely changed from a bubbly and happy Anisa, to a cold and isolated Anisa. So dad, in hope she'll feel better, brought us here. I didn't say anything because I thought it would help, even though I left everything there. I did it for her." Salma paused and looked at me then turned away.

"The first day of school, I missed it because I still didn't finish packing. Little did I know that Anisa was bullied here too, on her first day. I was furious. All the anger and rage came out so I took it out on Chad. On the airplane ride here I promised myself I would protect her, and I failed to do that. I- I just wanted to say thank you for sticking up for her when I wasn't there to do so." I nodded and looked down at my hands. Subhana'Allah. They went through a lot but I realized that that was wrong.

You can't always fight someone's battles for them; they're going to have to learn to fend for themselves some time in life.

"You know Salma, you can't always protect her." Salma frowned and waited for me to explain.

I sighed and sat up straighter. "Anisa is going to have to learn to defend her sometime in life. If you fight her battles for her, then what will she do when you're gone?" Salma looked me in the eyes for a second and looked down.

We sat there in silence the rest of the hour and did nothing. When the teacher let us go, I gave Salma a small smile and walked to my car.

I got into the car and drove down the block. My mind was busy thinking about Salma and Anisa the entire ride. I felt anger for the person that did that to Anisa, and sadness for Salma and everything they've been through.

I was so caught up in their lives that I forgot about the masjid and the box.

I drove down the block and got out of the car. I wasn't wearing a jacket today so my shirt blew in the winds that circled the masjid.

It was definitely going to rain today the winds were strong everywhere. The masjid doors were open so I quickly ran to the building and took off my shoes.

The inside of the masjid was empty except for imam Musa who was silently reading Quran in the middle of the masjid.

I sat the box down on the floor and sneaked up behind him.

I closed his eyes and smirked when he jumped and laughed. "Imran. I know it's you." I laughed as he turned around and gave him a hug.

When I was younger I'd always go behind him and dad and cover their eyes. It was a little game I made up and it was cool that he remembered.

"Asalamu A'laikum Imran. How are you?" I smiled and crossed my arms on my chest.

"I'm good Alhamdulillah. How's everything?" He nodded and gestures to his kitab.

"Just good. I was reading surah Al Imran when you came so I thought that was funny." I laughed and remembered the box.

"Oh! Uncle Musa, I want to ask you a question about the box. The one you gave me a while back." He nodded as wakes there while I grabbed the box and handed it to him.

He twirled it in his hands and smiled up at me. "What's your question son?"

"When did dad give you the box?" Uncle Imran laughed as he remembered and sat down. I sat down next to him and smiled.

"Oh! It was a while back, the day we went hiking as a masjid. A group of us from the masjid went on a road trip to across the country when we stopped at a camp site. Out of nowhere you father decided to give me this and told me to give it to you when the time was right. He never saw it since." I nodded and smiled.

"Where was I when he gave it to you?" Imam Musa thought for a second and grinned at me.

"You weren't born yet Imran. Come to think of it, your father wasn't even married." I froze and frowned as I slowly dropped my hands to my sides and shook my head. That makes absolutely no sense.

"Uncle that doesn't make any sense. Why is my name engraved into the box if I wasn't born yet?" Imam Musa gave me a genuine smile and handed me the box.

"Son, your father knew he was going to have a son name Imran long before that. He dreamt about you, loved you, and would tell all his friends that he would one day have a son named Imran." His words warmed my heart as my grin widened.

"Thank you for helping me Uncle Musa. Really, jazakallah" uncle Musa chuckled and shook my hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow at salat Inshallah. You welcome Imran and Salam." I smiled and waved when he left.

It was still thirty minutes till five so I didn't have to be at jafar's.

I sat down and grabbed a kitab. The clouds filled the sky, and the scent of rain overwhelmed me again, and I knew that it was going to rain tonight too.

I sat down and opened the kitab to surah Ahzab. Today at lunch Salam said that the second ayah was in surah Ahzab.

I opened the surah and slowly read through. My eyes focused on the Quran as every other thought in my mind left. The silence that spread in the masjid overtook me as I closed my eyes and read until i came to the ayah.

I stopped and looked at the ayah and smiled. This was one of my favorite ayats in the Quran, and apparently Anisa's favorite too.

I closed my eye and tried to remember the meaning when it came to me.

"مَّا جَعَلَ اللهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِي جَوْفِهِ"
The ayah wasn't a complete ayah; it was only the beginning of the ayah.

It meant that Allah hasn't made any man two hearts. I frowned and crossed my legs. What does that have to do with anything?

Dad obviously wanted me to focus on this part only and not the rest of the ayah. Two hearts. Does he mean that no man could have two loves? I don't get it.

I sighed and carefully put away the kitab and stood up. I walked to the car and drove off.

It was raining severely and I couldn't see anything. Instead of taking a normal way, I went through a neighborhood. One I haven't ever driven by.

My hands clenched the steering wheel as the rain poured harder and harder, completely overtaking the car window.
I couldn't see anything at all.

I turned on my full lights and started to recite ayah kursi. The rain poured harder and harder. I worried that I wouldn't make it in time and increased my speed.

The rain came harder as thunder struck like never before. I jumped as the car swerved to the right. I tried to control the car but the slippery street and the rain took control and I lost all control. Suddenly a thump came from my car as it came to a stop by force.

A blood curling scream erupted as my head crashed into the steering wheel. A scream that didn't belong to me.

My vision blurred as my breathing slowed. The sound of crushed bones, screaming and the beating of the rain completely surrounded me. My heart pounded in my chest as the rain came harder like the beat of a drum. Time seemed to stop as I frantically looked up and watched the faint silhouette of a young boy covered in blood, slowly and carefully sliding down my windshield.

The blood rushed from my body as my breathing stopped all together. The rain came harder and harder as the screaming filled my ears. A loud thump came from the window as the screaming grew louder and louder. I slowly closed my eyes and fainted with one thought in mind.

I hit him. I killed the young boy.

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Comment and like! Hope you like the ending. Inshallah I'll update soon.