Choosing The Right Path

4)<<I Am Lucky>>

⚠Sensitive Content

Raeesa and I talked for a little bit longer before we decided to get off our lazy butts and do something productive. We left Midlands Mall and took the bus to Seaview Centre, a small shopping centre with a few boutiques, two little hair salons, a printing shop, a platics shop, baby care stores and finally, the grocery store. Seaview Grocer's was owned by Penny Rutherford, the mother of Jana Rutheford, the other girl that Raeesa and I sat with during our breaks at school. I grabbed a shopping cart at the entrance of Seaview Grocer's and headed straight for the bakery. My eyes scanned the store for Penny but I didn't see her anywhere so I dashed from one end of the store to the next with Raeesa at my heels, ticking of the shopping list that Aunt Husna had given me. By the end of our shopping trip, the list looked something like this:

✅ Sliced Bread
✅ Rolls
✅ Tomatoes
✅ Toothpaste
✅ Feta Cheese
✅ Butter
✅ Mixed Herbs & Spices
✅ Lifestyle Magazine
✅ Canned Tuna
✅ Pasta Shells

After paying for our items, Raeesa and I made our way next door to the local library. Raeesa gave me a mouthful when she realised that I'd been dragging my books around in my satchel. They weren't thick books. They were just books with mostly pictures that I had been using for research on marine life for a school project. The sweet librarian scanned my card and gave it back to me.

"Thank you, Gillian."

"You're welcome, Aamirah. I hope to see you and Raeesa again soon. Take care."

"You too, Gillian." Raeesa and I choroused. Once we were out of the library, Raeesa yawned for what seemed like 5 minutes, then stretched.

"Wow, tired?" I smirked. She was on of those people that tended to fall asleep at 7:00pm and wouldn't care about what other people said.

"Well, sleep is precious." Raeesa shrugged and yawned again. I understood exactly how she felt. The more she yawned, the more tired I began to feel. I rubbed my eyes and giggled at my bestie.

"Standing there with your eyes closed is not going to help the situation, dude. Let's get you home." I egged Raeesa forward by pushing her ever so lightly because at first, she refused to move which caused me to think that she really had fallen asleep on the spot.

I wouldn't have put that past her.

Raeesa slept throughout the bus ride, so to make sure she was safe and actually got off at her stop, I decided to drop her at her house first.

"Thanks, Aamirah. I would've probably landed myself in Timbuktu if you hadn't gotten me home safely..."

"Timbuktu is in Africa. You're the only crazy Arab-American citizen that would take a bus to Africa." Raeesa's sleepy laugh caused me to laugh harder. A few old people towards the back of the bus gave me a few disapproving looks before turning back to whatever it was they were doing.

Ah, that lovely wave of déjà vu.

Not.

The bus ride back home was terrible. My nerves twisted and turned and I couldn't stop thinking about Rubina's stupid house party. If only she didn't have to make life so difficult. I mean, it was not like I brought any trouble upon myself. Was it?

I decided to go home and make dua. The beautiful thing about making dua is that you feel lighter afterwards, cleaner even because of wudu and any bad feelings would disappear. Right now, I was extremely anxious. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths in. By that time, I think I was drawing too much attention to myself

"Are you okay, dear?" I was told not to talk to strangers so I kept any conversations to a minimum. It was not necessary to get personal with every single person that you meet. Sometimes, people pick out your weaknesses and use them against you. The old man seemed genuine in his concerns so I told him that I was alright, just a little nervous. "Now don't you worry, child. Just make dua with all your heart and everything will be alright."