Inalight

Chapter 8- INA

AJAK DENG---> My Ina

I think she is beautiful, but to others she may be viewed as ugly and lets imagine her with long hair to, i mean braids.

Caleb was looking at me through the rear mirror, every once in a while he would smile at me, making me shy away like a hormonal teenager. The front seat was occupied by his uncle Rafe who he had to pick up on the way back from school. It was our thing now since three days ago, he drove me to and from school and I loved it, I am not ashamed to say I like it. It was nice.

"So Ina, you like my nephew?"  Uncle Rafe asked the mischief dancing on his face, he was a very hot guy at 26 with long dreads, mocha skin and the whitest teeth I have ever seen on any man. I shrugged slowly trying to hide the stupid smile that was splashing on my face. Uncle Rafe laughed.

"Young love. I can't fault that myself."

"So erm, how did you become a Muslim?" I asked him honestly trying to make conversation. Caleb had told me before we left school his uncle may be a tiny bit cranky due to fasting, so I should just be careful how I spoke but you couldn’t go wrong with a topic like that, I am always fascinated with religion, I mean I believe in god too, but not as much as some.

"I went to Georgetown, part of the Alpha Chita Si, society of the honourable brotherhood." he began chanting their pledge and Caleb and I looked at each other through the rear mirror, chuckling. "A Muslim brother died and out of respect we attended his sermon, during the lecture I began to get goose bumps not from the fact the lecture was getting to me or anything but because I realised what had I achieved in my 21 years of life at the time, what was my purpose in this world, I mean surely this couldn’t be the end for me, being happy one minute, unhappy the next, war, death, disease, failed love, depression, I started analysing everything and realised I had a purpose, all the drinking smoking and girls, what could it bring me in the ultimate end and it was then I began to look into religions and found my place in Islam, it was slowly I began to change. I mean Islam was the one I felt most comfortable in too, but it's hard sometimes I think about slipping into my old ways again but something stops me…" I understood the pressure to keep on a straight line and not wobble left and right, maybe not religiously but morally.

 Caleb was one of my temptations; he makes it his mission now to do anything for me like carry my books, quickly taking them off me before I could protest, walking me to class and sitting into my radio talk shows as well. I was still self conscious about his niceness especially in the corridor if he tried to hold my hand, I would quickly put my hand behind me to stop me.

I was in the toilet fixing myself when Hannah walked in. I didn’t acknowledge her presence until she settled beside me with a snicker and her friends did too, whispering amongst each other.

"You are nothing to him, you are ugly, you have no friends you are slut- Levi, and now Caleb you make me sick." She spat like some crazy girl, she didn’t scare, not in the slightest. Girls like Hannah were all talk but no walk.

"I'll kindly rephrase that for you. You are nothing to him; yes you are pretty but personality wise you are seriously lacking. When the wrinkles start forming and the anti aging cream doesn't work and honey lets be serious that frowning and laughing is seriously going to have you aging by 30 I can guarantee you.” She gasped but I wasn’t done. “Why don't you mind your own business, it's not my fault the boy got tired of vanilla and decided to try chocolate?" Her face was about to explode and her friends weren’t helping both just looking to the left and right. I had a sharp mouth and I wasn’t afraid to use it courtesy of MacKendrick James.

"You-" I held my hand up.

"Stop it, desperation may be your look but please don’t add pathetic to the list, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do and entertaining your insecurities isn't one."  By the time I walked to talk show room, Caleb was leaning on the brown door, holding a KFC in one hand.