“He’s good, too,” I add. “Really good.”
Haytham turns to me. “Ah, thanks. You heard me?”
“Yeah, in the car.” I smile at him, and he smiles back. “And you got my vote.”
“Awwww,” Nuah says, grinning. “You got Janna’s vote, you lucky dude.”
I shake my head. Why would he even say it like that—with raised eyebrows? “So you want to practice later on? The roast?”
“Sure! What about tomorrow after Jumah? Muhammad’s got me on a packed schedule before then.” We’re almost at the patio table, so I nod quickly, and the three of us make our way to everyone else.
After Jumah.
Me-and-Nuah time.
Finally.
Chapter Nine
I’m staring at the ceiling of the gazebo in a reverie, my half-eaten burger on a plate on the floor beside me, when I get jolted back to the present with the words “Nuah won’t be able to stay after the wedding. He’s going back to Pasadena on Sunday.”
Sarah lured me to the gazebo again to talk wedding, with Khadija this time, and I reluctantly came—only because Nuah had gone to town with Muhammad to pick up snacks for movie night.
Now Khadija was saying Nuah wouldn’t be in Eastspring when I got home from Dad’s.
I right myself. “Why? I thought he was back for the summer?”
“He got a job. It’s warehouse job, but it’s at the company where he wants to work when he graduates, so he’s excited.” Khadija shifts herself in the deck chair Sarah brought for her to sit in. “He’s going to make it for a quick visit again a bit after the baby’s born, but other than that, he’s gone until Thanksgiving.”
“Aw, then that he made it a point to come for the wedding makes me so happy! He’s such a sweetheart.” Sarah turns to me. “What do you think, get him in on Team Take Back the Wedding or not?”
“Maybe.” I want to know more about Nuah not being in Eastspring, so I slide my butt closer to Khadija, my heart beginning to thud with worry. “So he’ll be working the whole summer?”
“The entire summer.” She crosses her hands on top of her baby belly and addresses Sarah. “Don’t get him involved in the prep. The guy can’t keep anything to himself. If you tell him it’s a secret, he’ll just avoid being around anyone and everyone, because he knows he’s going to leak the information.”
Really? I’m surprised. He’s always struck me as someone who you could trust with your biggest secret. Well, that was because he did keep mine before, the terrible secret of my assault, while helping me feel ready to talk about it.
But, of course, Nuah’s sister would know him best.
“He’s such a cutie,” Sarah says, writing on the purple clipboard she’s assigning Khadija. “He must be a hit at college, especially at the MSA, being so sweet and with those eyes.”
“Oh, I’m sure of it. Though he’s into someone. Majorly.” Khadija rubs her belly now in slow, circular motions and turns to me. “Don’t mind me. This is something I’ve read is good for the baby. You know, like a massage. Especially while I’m talking, so Maysarah knows it’s her mama who’s showing her this love.”
“Absolutely adore that name. Especially since it has SARAH in it,” Sarah laughs.
“It was Lateef’s choosing,” Khadija says. “He’s lucky I liked it right away.”
I want Khadija to back up.
Nuah. Into. Someone.
Me.
Nuah told his sister about me.
But how to get her to pedal back to the topic without giving myself away?
Lucky for me, Sarah saves the day. “You said he’s into someone? That’s so cute! Who?” She turns to me. “We get Nuah gossip! Which is rare. The guy keeps such a low profile.”
“I don’t know who it is. All he said is that she’s really hard to get. And he’s worried about that.”
“Khadija. I’m so shocked you wouldn’t ask details. Come on, what kind of big sis are you?” Sarah tut-tuts and crosses off something on the clipboard. “When Dawud grows up and confides something like that in me, I will immediately set out to amass a wiki’s worth of information on the girl.”
“He told me just as we were arriving here, like literally five minutes before we opened the car door. I’ll take my big-sis cred back, thanks.” She stands and stretches. “And that, girls, is not the most comfortable chair. Especially for my butt right now.”
I hope I’m not turning red, or even slightly pink. Though I don’t know if anyone would see. It’s almost Maghrib, so there’s darkness descending.
He talked about me to his sister right before he got here.
Something that feels like it’s flicking on and off takes over my body. I pull my knees up close to my chest and hug them to keep the feeling from exploding out of me.
It’s joy.
How am I going to make sure I don’t burst with joy being around him this weekend?
But he thinks I’m hard to get.
No. I’m going to make sure he knows that’s not true.
I’m going to let myself be got.
“Janna? Have you heard anything we’re saying? About organizing Logan, Luke, and Dawud to pass out the wedding favors?” Sarah waves her hand in front of my face.
“That’s on my clipboard. I already know about that.” I let go of my legs and stand up slowly to join Khadija. The floorboards are definitely not good for butts, even unpregnant ones, either.
“But could you update it that they’re to pass them out the minute the nikah is done? Because I’m adding a slip of paper with a dua we want everyone to say right after, so we have to make sure people have it on them. So they can join Amu.”
I write this to-do down in my phone, smiling at the thought of seeing my uncle again. Besides officiating, he’s also giving the wedding sermon—which I helped him edit.
A message pings on my phone. It’s an unfamiliar number.
I open it just as Sarah’s phone rings. She takes a look at the ID and moves off the gazebo to answer.
My message is from Haytham.
Taking votes for movie night: Star Wars or Stardust?
Princess Bride
Oh ok
It’s on the movie schedule
Sorry, didn’t know there was a schedule
On the basement fridge
Right. Ok setting up princess bride
Before I click off, I hesitate on whether to save Haytham’s contact on my phone.
When I look up from adding it, Khadija’s staring at Sarah. Well, Sarah’s back.
She’s wandering farther and farther away, phone to her ear, not toward the water or the house but to the far right of the house, where the neatly mowed field ends at the beginning of the forest that leads to a second beach, one with a firepit. Then she abruptly turns around, conversation ended.
Khadija and I watch her come back, and as she gets closer, it’s obvious that she’s upset. “I gotta go. I can’t stay here.”
“What?” I gather the clipboard and our plates and position them so I can take them back to the house. Sarah reaches over to help me, but I shake my head. “What’s wrong?”