5 Years Later...

Chapter 5

"Why you drink now?" asked Jack. "Are you not Muslim?"

Osaid looked down at the table.

"I don't know Jack...."

"What you mean you don't know?" asked Jack.

"After high school...." started Osaid, "My parents were upset with me not finishing my college application. I asked the kids at school to help me out, but they already registered with their school. So they did not want to help me. When I was registering by myself, I saw that you had to do the SAT test or the Accuplacer test in order to attend school."

"I did not pass it," said Jack. "But I still made it to school. Why was it so difficult for you Osaid to take it?"

 "If you saw my pre-SAT scores, you would understand Jack." Osaid said. "A year or two after I graduated, my parents kicked me out of the house and I moved into a low income apartment here in Paterson. The reason I moved here was because, it had a high Muslim population. I thought they would help me get closer to being Muslim. But I was wrong, I became depressed."

"Why your family do that" asked Jack.

"I don't know," quipped Osaid. "I started drinking to relieve myself. Then, I saw a scholarship for the University of Toronto. One of the requirements for me to move out of the country. So I applied for a degree in Computer Science"

"Oh snap," said Jack. "You lost your religion until you found a scholarship? That's crazy. Are you going to stop drinking now?"

"I think I am..." said Osaid. Although Jack wasn't too sure whether Osaid was being truthful or not.

"I just came here for one drink," said Jack. "You know that alcohol is not good. Right?"

"I know..." Osaid replied in a irradiated tone.

"I'm sorry Osaid," said Jack. "I don't want you to be in bad health."

"It's ok." said Osaid. "How long have you been living in Paramus for?"

"A couple of months," stated Jack. "I moved out of the apartment I lived with my sister and mom in Teaneck."

"Where did you live?"

"Lozier Pl"

"That my old home."

Jack couldn't believe that the apartment where he once lived in used to be Osaid's residence.

"For real?" he asked.

"Yes," said Osaid. "What your house number?"

"Oh?" quipped Jack. "Don't you remember last time I gave you my address? I reported you to police because I told you it already.

(7 years earlier...)

"My uncle wants to get the police involved now," Jack explained to Mohsin. 

"Oh, I see that this situation is quite serious now," Mohsin commented. "You should look into this situation some more."

"I try to Mohsin, it hard tho." said Jack. "I don't know how to collect evidence. its hard."

"Well, did you give out your address to someone?" asked Mohsin. 

"I gave my number out to several people. YOU, Johnel, Jahn, Raymond, Estafano..."

"But who did you give your number to? Has that person called you back" Mohsin began to question Jack a little more. It was too complexed for Jack to understand, but he could see that Mohsin was trying to help him.