Chapter 18- Hidden Family

   "They'll call me when they land." Mama said in the kitchen that morning.

   "Alright. Will we meet them at the airport?"

   "If you're still in school, then I'm just going."

   "Why?"

   "You know why. You need to put education first."

   "Alright."

   "Now, go to school. It's Friday. Be happy."

   "Ok bye Mama." I walked out the door.

   "Bye Lina." she yelled. The walk to the bus stop was peaceful. I got on the bus when it came and once again I picked a seat in the very back. It was great being the first person on the bus. Majd came on the bus when it was his stop.

   "Hi. Are they coming today?" he asked me when he sat down.

   "Yes. I can't wait!"

   "Are they Muslim?

   "Yeah. I thought they weren't gonna be since my mom and dad weren't."

   "There are seven million Muslims in America. I forgot where I read that. That number is also growing."

   "Are there mosques there?"

   "Some places. Not every city. They mostly have Christian churches."

   "I must wear my hijab no matter what."

   "Yeah."

 

   "Wanna get milkshakes?" Majs asked me on the bus after school.

   "Sure."

   "You're probably excited."

   "Yeah." The bus stopped and we got off. We then walked to the ice cream shop.

   "We'd like two cookies and cream flavored milkshakes." Majd said to the lady at the ice cream shop.

   "Sure." She went to start making our milkshakes. We sat down at a table inside to wait.

   "You wanna get hijabs after this?" he asked me.

   "Sure. I'll pay for half if you like."

   "If you'd like."

   "The milkshakes are ready." the lady said. Majd went up to pay and get them.

   "They look good." I said when he came back.

   "They taste good." He started to drink it. It was good after I tried it. We stayed until we drank the whole thing.

   "Could we go to the hijab shop on Monday? I need to get home."

   "Sure. Let's go." We started to walk home.

   "I hope they're there." I said.

   "Me too. It's your family that you've never seen."

   "Yeah." We walked to the house. Majd knocked on the door.

   "Hi Majd. Hi Lina. Come in you two." Mama said after she opened the door.

   "Hi Mama." We came in and saw the family I've never seen before.

   "Hello. You must be Lina." the oldest woman said. She went up to shake my hand. "I'm Sherry, your aunt."

   "Hi. Nice to meet you." I said.

   "Hello. I'm Majd, Lina's boyfriend." he said and shook her hand.

   "Nice to meet you."

   "I'm Mary, your older sister." She went up and hugged me.

   "I'm Liona, your cousin. I'm twelve." She shook my hand.

   "I'm Roseanne, your other cousin. I'm thirteen." She shook my hand.

   "Nice to meet you all. I should be going now. Bye Lina." Majd said and hugged me.

   "Bye." I said. He then went out the door and walked out.

   "Dinner's done!" Mama called from the kitchen. We all ran to the dinner table. We then prayed and started to eat dinner.

   "So, how was your flight?" I asked.

   "It was great." Sherry replied.

   "It was long too." Mary replied.

   "I imagine. I'll be going to America in the summer time." I said.

   "Why?" Sherry asked.

   "I'm going to learn English there and tour the whole country."

   "Sounds awesome." Roseanne said.

 

   "So, I'm happy I have a sister." Mary said when we were in the backyard after dinner. We were the only ones out there.

   "Me too. When did you find out?"

   "The same time you did. I got kidnapped too, but a month ago. I always knew that my mom was my aunt. When I got kidnapped, they abused me too. They also abused me when I was little."

   "How's America?"

   "It's good. Amazing actually."

   "Are there a lot of mosques?"

   "Not really, but they hav some. I wear my hijab with pride. At school, I get made fun of because of it. They think I'm some kind of terroist. I'm really just an American Muslim girl with some Egyptian in me. Don't make that stop you from coming to America. Some people appreciate it."

   "That's good that you wear it with pride."

  

 

Author's Note

ignore spelling mistakes if any

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the chapter. The ending was amazing. The conversation about the different between the USA and her home. People don't want to understand other cultures and belief. A very good chapter.
Coyote