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

Amel to pull her eyes away from the screen, but she didn’t. She took another sip of tea instead.

It had been two days since Aunt Amel caught us trying to call our parents and blamed Huda for it. She’d been true to her word, refusing to speak to Huda, or to allow any of us to, ever since.

My sister picked at her fingernail, looking smaller than usual for a moment.

‘Um …’ I cut in, ‘do you mind if we walk to school today?’

Aunt Amel paused, the teacup halfway between her mouth and the small plate on her lap. ‘And why do you want to walk? Isn’t it a privilege to have me and Omar drop you off?’

Huda shot me a look and I shrugged. I didn’t have an answer for that one.

‘It is a privilege,’ Huda declared. ‘We’re so lucky that you take us, every single day. It’s just that early morning exercise gives us lots of energy, and that means we can learn better and work harder.’

Aunt Amel’s eyes skipped between us so many times that her head wobbled.

‘Well, Akeal,’ she said eventually, ‘in that case, you may walk to school. But none of that dawdling business, and make sure you fulfil all your responsibilities before you leave!’

Huda grinned and gave me sneaky thumbs up as Aunt Amel lifted the tea to her lips.

‘Thank you very much.’ Huda curtsied. I didn’t know why she’d do that, but then I saw Aunt Amel trying to hide a smile behind her teacup.

Huda took my hand and practically dragged me out of the lounge room.

‘Okay, hurry up,’ she hissed in the hallway. ‘Get your school stuff ready and put on your uniform before she changes her mind.’

I raced to my room and tore off my pyjamas, throwing on my school uniform. We met back in the hall, schoolbags in hand. Huda’s uniform was creased, her back tracksuit pocket hanging out. I thought she might still have the same ponytail in her hair as when Mum and Dad had left. She looked a mess.

In the kitchen, I opened the bottom drawer of the fridge and two cucumbers rolled towards me. I grabbed them both and threw one to my sister.

‘No time for breakfast, or to pack lunch. I have some money left over from Eid. I’ll get you a lunch order,’ I whispered.

We bolted out the front door, then down the side of the house, ducking between two wheelie bins. Rubbish pick-up wasn’t for another day, and Huda instantly pulled her jumper over her face. It was like every single sea creature had died and someone had put them all in our wheelies. The smell was atrocious. I started to choke loudly. Huda glared at me. She pulled her sports jacket from her backpack and chucked it at me, and I tied it around my head.

We both stepped up onto our tippy-toes to peer through the window into my parents’ bedroom, which Aunt Amel had taken over.

‘We’re too short,’ groaned Huda. ‘Let me stand on your back. I’ll be able to check if the coast is clear.’

I got down on all fours and my sister climbed on top of me. I could’ve sworn she deliberately poked her heels into my back as she popped her head up to the window.

She gasped.

‘What is it?’ I whispered loudly.

She didn’t say anything.

‘Is Raheed okay? What can you see?’

Huda climbed down and sat on the concrete next to me. ‘You’ll never believe it,’ she whispered, shaking her head.

I lunged onto the nearest wheelie bin and peered through the window to see for myself. Aunt Amel was on the bed with Raheed, giving him kisses. He wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a wet kiss on the nose. She threw her head back and chuckled, then rubbed her stomach. Then she lifted Raheed softly into her arms and carried him out of the room. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I guessed it was time for Raheed to have his breakfast.

I grabbed Huda by the arm and pulled her up onto the wheelie bin too, then pulled the window open. Ripping the jacket from around my head, I dropped it so it landed on top of my schoolbag on the concrete below.

‘Go first,’ I told my sister. She gripped the edge of the window and kicked her legs in all directions as she wiggled through. I heard a soft thud and knew she’d made it onto the floorboards of the bedroom inside.

I slid my body through too, landing softly on my feet, expecting to see Huda already rifling through the wardrobe for Dad’s briefcase. Instead, she stood frozen at the foot of Mum and Dad’s bed, sniffling. She didn’t have to say anything, because I already knew what she was thinking. I missed them too.

This was the only room Aunt Amel never let us into – even to clean. There were piles of her clothes on the floor, snotty tissues on the bedside tables, and half-drunk cups of tea everywhere. Raheed’s toys were scattered about, and the room smelled like an old, wet nappy. This was not how Mum and Dad kept the place.

Aunt Amel’s footsteps in the hallway shattered my thoughts. Huda’s eyes darted around the room in panic. I grabbed her by the arm and threw her under the bed, diving after her just as the door creaked open. I could hear my little brother crying from the kitchen.

Aunt Amel stepped into the room. Had she heard us? Did she know we were there? My mind raced as her bare feet walked towards the bed. Each step was careful and slow, as though she wanted to torture us. I thought I could hear Huda’s heart pounding at a million beats a second, then realised it was my own. It was going to explode out of my chest and hit Aunt Amel on the foot. She stopped at the edge of the bed and stood there. Her toes were abnormally long, with