ALONGSIDE YOU

36| All wrong

Cumar Xirsi Husseins Pov

On a Friday night 1 month earlier..

"I'm hungry, can we just ditch this? We already know the truth..." I hear Ismail whining in the background.

I simply ignore him.

"Moha, drive a bit closer and turn into that corner," I say as I try to locate my binoculars.

"Okay, but it's dark... are you sure you saw Ahmed?" he asks while driving slowly forward.

"No, who else but him would be wearing a neon yellow shirt with a picture of Tupac and some jorts in the whitest neighborhood in the world?" Ismail sarcastically asks with a laugh.

"Hahaha, true," Mohammed says while chuckling.

I try to adjust the binoculars, oh Allah. I wonder why Ahmed is in a completely different city at this time of evening when he clearly told us he was going to help his father with something.

"Seriously, we've been following him since Richmond... can we just go home now?" Ismail says while trying to look out the window.

"Ismail, shush for ten seconds!" I say to him as I try to focus on the figure of Ahmed.

"Cumar, why are you sitting in the front seat anyway? I called shotgun!" complains Ismail.

I lower the binoculars and say, "Well, some of us are trying to figure out why our friend has been acting strange lately... something you're not doing," as I look back at him.

"We already know why... he ran over Jaxton. Ya Allah!" Ismail says upset.

"Oh my Allah, can you two just stop? We don't know if it's true!" Mohammed says, trying to get us to stop bickering.

"Well, all the evidence points in that direction. Do you remember what Ayaan said?" Ismail points out.

"Yeah, yeah, I know... that he wasn't home that night Jaxton was run over. But it doesn't prove anything," I say, looking back at him.

"Um, what about the dent in his car? What about the fact that he's been acting weird lately... do you guys remember what Dante said too?" Ismail says.

"That he saw Ahmed stop on the road where Jaxton was hit, the same evening when Dante asked Ahmed what he was 'fixing' on his car?" Mohammed adds.

Great, so now everyone believes that Ahmed ran him over. Deep down, I also feel that way, but he's my best friend. He would never do something like that.

"Remember what Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) said," I say as I look at them.

"Peace be upon him," Ismail says.

"Peace be upon him, what did he say?" Mohammed asks.

"He said that even if you see alcohol on someone's beard, you should assume the best and think that it got there by accident," I reply.

I love that precisely because it shows us humans that we should never judge others at all. And that we should always assume the best.

So why couldn't the boys do that?

I notice Mohammed's concerned voice interjecting into the conversation. He has always been the cautious and thoughtful one among us.

"Wait a minute, guys. Before we jump to conclusions, we should consider all possibilities," Mohammed says calmly.

Ismail sighs and look at Mohammed. "What else is there to consider? All the evidence points to Ahmed. I don't want to believe it, but it's hard to ignore the facts."