Abdullah woke up to his mother calling him from the living room.
"Hey, I'm on call with Big Nano and Papa. Come talk to them."
It was three o'clock on a Saturday.
Abdullah rubbed his eyes and walked over. The screen lit up with familiar faces.
"Hey, Nano. How are you?"
"I'm fine. You look tired—did you just wake up?" nano replied.
"Yeah, I did."
"What time is it there?" nano said.
"Three in the evening."
"My boy's getting his sleep in, I see," she said, smiling.
Abdullah's heart warmed instantly.
"Listen," she added gently, "pray for your papa's vision. It's starting to get worse."
"Oh… okay. I'll pray for it."
"Yes," she said, teasing softly, "without his sight, how could he see his beautiful boy?"
"That's true," Abdullah replied, laughing.
The following Monday, Abdullah walked into school.
Tomek was standing with Alois, holding a black cloth.
"I gave her a tissue," Tomek said in a bragging tone, "and she gave me her bra strap."
"Why the hell would you give her a tissue?" Alois asked. "What's she gonna do with that?"
"I didn't have anything else."
"Who are you talking about?"
"You don't need to worry about it," Tomek said, brushing it off.
On a non-uniform day, Abdullah saw Tomek and Erop together.
"Bro, what the hell are you wearing?" Tomek said.
"What? What's wrong with it?"
"Don't you have any normal clothes?"
"This is normal," Abdullah replied.
"Why are you wearing all brown?"
"I don't know. It's comfy."
"You have brown skin, black hair, and you're wearing all brown," Erop said."You literally look like a monkey right now."
"Okay… I guess."
Jan walked in wearing an all-blue Adidas tracksuit.
"Bro," Tomek said, "shoes, socks, pants, shirt—everything Adidas? Don't you wear anything else?"
"Nah, I wear everything Adidas. I have like a million Adidas things."
"At least wear Nike shoes."
"Adidas shoes are ass."
"Yeah," Erop added, "why does bro wear Adidas socks?"
Jan just stood there, shrugging it off.
Another day, Tomek and Abdullah walked home together.
"Yo, you know that girl, right?" Tomek started."I went to Castleisland to see her, but I told my dad I was seeing a friend."
"Then when we got there, he said, 'Let me see this friend.'"
Abdullah laughed. "Bro, you must've panicked."
"I was shitting myself," Tomek said."We waited ten minutes, then I just told him, 'Dad, I'm here to see a girl. There is no guy.'"
"What did he do?"
"He just said, 'Why the fuck did you waste my time,' and left. Let me hang out with her."
"Damn," Abdullah said. "Your dad's actually chill."
The days passed as usual, but Abdullah started noticing things.
Why did Jan keep trying to talk to Tomek when Tomek kept saying shit to him?
Abdullah watched as Jan blew his nose loudly into a tissue.
"Ew, what the fuck," Tomek said. "Stay away from me."
That guy really has the mind of a kid, Abdullah thought.
He also noticed how Kai, Kyle, Agim, and Alois were almost always together.
Kyle caught his attention.
He usually looks relaxed… so why does he tense up when I'm around?
Abdullah walked over.
Kyle took a small step back.
"Are you scared of me or something?"
"What? No."
"Do you not like me around?"
"No, I don't mind you at all."
"You're very interesting," Kyle said awkwardly.
"Thanks," Abdullah replied.
"How'd you all become friends?" Abdullah asked.
"Well, me and Kai are in each other's base classes. I met Alois through him. And me and Agim go way back—we were friends in primary."
"Oh, that's cool."
"Can you ask Agim when he'll arm wrestle me again?"
Abdullah said laughing. "Yeah, sure." kyle replied
Over the next few days, Abdullah saw Nadeem talking to Erop.
The second Erop spotted Abdullah, he rushed over.
"Please deal with this guy," Erop whispered."He's been talking about Central Cee for ten minutes."
"Alright, I got you."
"Hey, Nadeem. What's up?"
"Yo, why'd he just run away? That guy plays too much."
"Yeah, who knows. What class do we have next?"
"I don't know. Check the journal."
"Good idea, thanks."
Does this guy not realize Erop doesn't like him? Abdullah thought.
That evening, Abdullah's dad spoke up.
"Your cousin Sami has made it to Ireland."
"Who?" Abdullah asked. "I've got like a hundred cousins."
"My sister's son."
"Oh. Yeah. That guy. He made it cool."
Exams came and went, one day after another.
On the final day, Abdullah finished his religion exam. Since they were first years, they stayed for activities afterward and wore whatever they wanted.
"It's so damn hot," Abdullah thought, sitting in the locker area with Tomek, drinking water.
"Isn't it crazy how fast everything went?" Abdullah said.
"Honestly," Tomek replied. "A lot happened."
"Remember what Mr. Erik said? About everything changing?"
"I don't think I was in that day."
"Well," Abdullah said, "he was right. Especially you. Remember us in primary?"
"Bro," Tomek laughed, "we were such goobers."
"Yeah. You changed the most, though. You're all skinny now."
"I didn't change that much," Abdullah said. "Feels like everything else did."
"Honestly," Tomek said, "you're still the same."
"Yo," Abdullah added suddenly, "when was the last time we talked to John?"
"You're right. Not since he stopped coming."
"We should hang out with him more this summer."
"aren't you excited first year has ended my friend" Abdullah added
"Bro, shut your corny ass up," Tomek said.
"I can't lie, I'm bored. I'm signing out."
Abdullah signed out and walked past his primary school.
Kids were playing outside. Teachers he didn't recognize stood nearby.
Looks like even this place doesn't stay the same, he thought.I was here longer than some of them.
A kid called a teacher over.
Abdullah stopped.
"Donal?"
"Abdullah," Donal said, smiling."Wow. It's been a year already. Look at you—all grown up."
"How's secondary school treating you? Having fun? Making new friends?"
Abdullah thought of the year.the any Paul's incident. Erop. Alois. Tomek. Nadeem. Agim. Kyle. Jan.The trip. The arm wrestle. Tomek changing.
"You wouldn't believe it, Donal," Abdullah said confidently."I'm the man of the year now. Made the whole school laugh on day one. Everyone knows my name. I've got way more friends than before."
Donal laughed.
"Look at you," he said. "Living the dream. Your grandmother would be proud."
Abdullah froze.
"Hopefully," he said quietly.
Later that day, Abdullah lay on his bed.
He spoke softly, as if God were listening.
"Hey, Nano… sorry I haven't talked in a while. School's been busy."
"I've done a lot. I've been enjoying life—for you."
"Donal said something today… and I just hope you're proud."
"I'm really trying my best here."
"Anyways… end of message."
Abdullah lay flat on his bed, thinking about Donal's words.
I really hope that your
proud…