Huda and Me by H. Hayek (readict txt) 📕

‘No, of course—’

‘Do you enjoy scooping chicken poo every morning in the freezing cold?’

‘No, I don’t—’

‘Do you want to be back with Mum and Dad and away from that horrible fruit brain?’

‘Yes, I hate—’

‘Well, what are you sooking about?’

I had no answer.

She patted me on the shoulder reassuringly. ‘I know you’re scared. I know you’re worried we might get caught. I am too. But what’s the worst thing they can do to us? Like you said, Akeal, we’re just kids.’

I swallowed. Hard.

‘Okay, so let’s pretend for a second that we do go ahead with your plan. You know we don’t just buy the tickets at the Sunday market, right? Plus we haven’t fixed the computer screen since you knocked it off the table.’

My sister had thrown a potato at me more than a month ago. She’d missed and hit the monitor.

Huda snorted. ‘Oh, brother, I might look stupid, but I’m not. I saw how Dad booked his tickets for him and Mum. On the website when we went to the library. And …’

She paused. She was smiling. I hadn’t seen her smile like that since before Mum and Dad had left.

‘And what?’

‘And I know where Aunt Amel hides her handbag. I’m going to use that old avocado’s credit card to do it.’

Huda was scary when she was on a mission. I hadn’t seen this extreme side to her before.

‘So, what do you say? Are you in? Or are you going to stay here and slave away like an animal?’

I wasn’t convinced we could pull it off.

‘Look, I think it’s a good plan, but—’

This was the fifth time she’d cut me off mid-sentence. ‘That’s good to know that you think that, because I want you to know I’m doing it whether you come or not. I also want to remind you that you’re my big brother, and if anything happens to me … you’ll be dead meat.’

My mind raced. I had no choice. If Huda went alone, she’d end up kidnapped, arrested or lost in another country. If we went together, I would be able to look out for her. And we might stand a chance of getting to Mum and Dad.

My mouth was dry. ‘Okay, fine. Let’s do it.’ I could barely believe the words had come out of my mouth.

Huda didn’t smile. Instead, she raised one eyebrow. Her black pupils gleamed, and my head felt dizzy. I could’ve sworn I could feel the earth spinning.

‘Okay, so, what do we need to do first?’ I asked weakly.

‘Steal the passports. We can’t book tickets without them,’ said Huda quickly, licking her lips.

‘Where are they? Dad always says he hides them in his special hiding place.’

Huda leaned in closer. She was like a changed person, compared to earlier. She had an energy I hadn’t seen since she ate five icy poles in a row at the sports carnival.

‘Remember when I nicked those gobstoppers from Kholoud’s bag a couple of weeks ago and she went ballistic?’ she whispered.

‘Yeh, I remember.’

‘Well, I hid under Mum and Dad’s bed and was gobbling them when Dad came in. He went into their wardrobe, and right at the back, behind all the clothes, he pulled out a black rectangle bag with a handle. I saw him open it and pull out lots of money and some papers. Then I saw him take out a bunch of passports and look at all the pictures until he found his and Mum’s.’

Huda must mean Dad’s briefcase. I’d seen him with it when he went to important places like the bank. I’d also seen him put money in it after he’d come home from work at the shop. But I didn’t know where he hid it. None of us did, before now, but then again none of us had ever thought we needed to know.

‘I saw heaps of green money in there, Akeal. Enough for a taxi to the airport, enough to buy snacks, enough to get us to Lebanon and even back again if we needed. Enough for anything we want!’

Huda giggled. She was rubbing her hands together.

‘Hang on, we can’t steal – especially not from our own parents.’

‘We’re not stealing. We’re borrowing, to get out of here. Are you telling me Mum and Dad would want us to stay and be treated this way?’ There was attitude in my littles sister’s voice now.

‘Well, no, but we can’t just blow their money.’

‘Don’t worry, we won’t.’ And Huda quickly changed the subject. ‘So, listen, we need to pretend to go to school and then get back inside the house to grab what we need.’

I had to give my sister credit – she had really thought about this.

Huda slapped me roughly on the back a couple of times, as if to say toughen up, and rolled out of the bushes like she was some type of superhero. She picked bits of twig off her red jumper as she walked towards the house and stepped up onto the patio. Before she reached the last step, she turned and winked at me.

Turbulence

I don’t have the stomach to finish watching my alien versus zombies movie. There’s a pain in my belly that keeps coming and going. Every now and then it moves into my chest. When it does, I feel like I can’t breathe.

I glance over at Huda. She’s still wearing her fancy hijab.

‘You don’t want to take it off?’ I ask my sister.

‘Why would I do that?’ She scrunches up her nose and tilts her head to the side.

The pain comes back sharper and I cross my arms over my belly.

‘Your guts still hurt?’

‘A bit.’

‘Have some lollies. They’re like medicine.’ She passes me the last of her jellybeans, but I shake my head. She shrugs and stuffs them into her pocket.

Mum always knows what to do, no matter what pain I’m in. The last time I had a sore belly she filled up a bucket of hot water and helped me put my feet in. I felt the warmth