Finding Islam

12: Help - Importance of Prayer

--- KING ---

"What time was it?" I asked as I took another bite of my burger, looking up at Tyler as he explained how cops had busted the party they were at on Saturday.

"It was about 11 which sucked." He muttered with a roll of his eyes as he sipped the coke through the straw and placed it back on the table.

"Yeah, and there were no other parties either so we just took drinks and drank at the park." Peter added with a snicker and I shook my head with a faint, yet still forced smile.

"Did anyone get arrested?" I asked and Jackson looked up to face me with a smirk.

"I was with the group smoking in one of the rooms and they all got arrested. I jumped out the window." He said making me laugh.

"Off the second floor?" I asked, looking at the scratches on his arms. Clearly there was a tree to break his fall, yet the tree didn't do him much good either.

"He was limping but too high to even realize the pain." Tyler laughed. If this was a month ago, I would have practically been laughing along with them, rolling on the floor and clutching my stomach, but the whole he was high and jumped out of a second floor window to run away from the cops just wasn't humorous to me anymore I suppose.

Slowly but surely, I was starting to accept that. It was no longer 'why am I like this' but it was now 'why are they like this?'

"You guys, done?" I asked as I got out of the seat and looked at their finished trays. They all nodded slightly and stood up also as we left and began walking back to school.

Sometimes we left the school to eat somewhere else, like today, we had come to McDonald's. When we did, we usually didn't make it in time for class but we arrived about halfway through the lesson so it didn't really matter.

Peter and Tyler were talking amongst themselves about something I eventually zoned out on as we walked along the footpath. My eyes narrowed slightly as I saw a guy with a clenched jaw talking to a girl who was wearing a Niqab, which I had learnt were the face veils.

I glanced around at the guys who were speaking amongst themselves, Jackson walking slightly behind me with a cigarette between his lips.

Just ignore it, King. Keep walking.

I felt my breathing get deeper and louder as I lifted my glance and watched the girl look down and try to side step him to leave, but he only stepped in front of her to stop her.

My heart was pounding in my chest as we got closer and I knew in that moment that I couldn't give a crap less about what the guys would say if I stepped in and tried to help the girl. After all the things the guys at the mosque had done for me, the least I could do was stand up for one of their women. For all I knew, this could have been Ahmad's sister or mum or cousin.

Even if she wasn't. She was a human. A woman. And she needed help.

"Can you please leave me alone?" I heard her strained voice as she took a step back, putting distance between herself and the guy. 

"Do your people leave our people alone!?" He shouted, his fists clenched at his sides and as soon as I saw her flinch slightly at his voice as he took a step closer to her, I lost it, shoving him into the wall on the side before he could lay a finger on her and hearing him groan.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" I shouted. "Come on! Speak to me like you did to her." I seethed as I held a hand around his throat, squeezing. His hands quickly came over mine, his eyes wide as he tried prying my hand off but to no avail. He was scrawny and I was livid. My fingers tightened around his throat and he began kicking his feet, his eyes wide as the blood drained from his face, leaving him pale. "What's wrong? Your strength's only enough for a woman?" I spat narrowing my eyes at him further. If looks could kill, he'd be 6feet under already.