Sequoia Valley: Risk (Free Preview)

20

After Yâsmeenah left and Jâsim returned inside, he went back to bed and slept for another two hours. He woke up some time before ’Asr, showered, changed and then left for the masjid. After prayer, he scrounged in the refrigerator for food and made himself a turkey and cheese sandwich. He could have cooked up something more filling, but he liked Yâsmeenah to be there with him when he did.

After he ate, he sat in the den and checked his phone for messages. He was hoping to find something from his wife, but she still rarely contacted him so he wasn’t surprised to find nothing from her. The lack of communication didn’t deter him. Even if she’d been inclined to contact him, his mother would probably keep her busy with all the preparations for the wedding tomorrow.

He sent her a message to remind her of his existence as well as to assure her that he hadn’t forgotten hers.

Meena, don’t you miss me yet?

He closed their message window and went back to the main inbox. Just as he was about to close it completely and return to the main screen, a message came in from James.

James:

Assalâmu ’alaykum

Are you busy?

José and I are going to hang out

We’d like you to join us if you can

It was the perfect solution to his boredom problem. He quickly replied that he was free. Moments later, they had agreed to meet up at Bob’s Grill in Hollow Oak, which was closer to José’s home and James’s current place of residence with Ashley. 

After putting away his phone, he redid his turban and left the apartment. The weather was already warming up so a heavy jacket was unnecessary. He reached the parking lot, got into his car, and then drove off.

Several minutes later, he pulled up in front of the designated meeting spot, parked his car, and then went inside. When he entered, he found his two friends seated at a table engaged in conversation. As he approached the table, they both turned, as if sensing his approach.

Though Jâsim had not set eyes on James in almost five years, not much had changed about his friend. He still had that steady, calm presence about him that set almost anyone at ease and a warm smile that made him easy to like and trust. James Curtis, from the time Jâsim had met him when they were eighteen, was one of the kindest and warmest people he knew who had possessed a strict moral code that defied his upbringing, even before he’d accepted Islâm.

James had always been a person of steady moral character, and the realization of the background he’d come from made it something of a miracle. He was a complex man from a complicated upbringing, the child of an abusive alcoholic and a neglectful drug addict, a story he’d exclusively shared with Jâsim and José. Only Allâh could have saved him from following their footsteps.

James Curtis was a very different sort of man than his parents. James had been the only non-Muslim Jâsim had ever met who didn’t drink, other than his sister Ashley. Even José had drank in college, though only casually unlike most of the other students, but he had suddenly stopped in second year without explanation.

Not only did James stay away from alcohol and the partying lifestyle most college students fell into, James hadn’t been interested in taking advantage of the loose sexual morality that had been prevalent. There had been no girlfriend and he’d gone on very few dates.

Then one day, he’d walked in on Jâsim when he’d been in the dorm room he shared with José and heard him reciting Qur‘ân. Everything had changed. James’s questions had been endless, until he’d realized his history professor was an imâm and had started posing his questions to him instead. Two years later, he had officially embraced Islâm.