The Wishing Flower

Chapter 19

"Zee" I called out to my sister who was lying down on her stomach drawing a picture with her crayolas.

"Yea Bhaji?" she looked up at me.

"Tell me", I said playfully with my chin resting in my hands, "Who is your best friend in school"?

"Well, I love Rosa, and Katilyn, and Adam. I think they are the best."

"Ooh, Adam, a boy. Is he your boyfriend?", I asked her teasingly.

Zee let out a giggle "Eww. No. Bhaji, you told me I can't kiss boys, because I am muslim. Adam is my best friend because he shares his snacks with me when I'm hungry"

"Wait", Zee continued worriedly, "That makes him my friend, right"

"You're right, he is your friend. That's pretty nice of him to share his snacks. Do you share anything with him? "

"No", Zee said dismissively. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked at me suspiciously. "Bhaji, do you have a boyfriend?".

"Actually, yes I do." I answered, " and his name is Mr.Pengu!". I threw Zee's stuffed penguin toy at her.

"Hey!", she yelled at me.

I hopped off the bed and sat beside her on the floor. I looked at the drawing she was making, "Woah, that's scary! Who are you drawing?".

Zee anxiously played with her fingers, avoiding my question.

"Zee", I asked worriedly, "Who is that?"

"I'm hungry", she said, quickly dashing out of the room

I picked up her drawing off the floor. She drew a man with a bald head, round stomach, and grey t-shirt, but instead of teeth he had fangs coming out of mouth and a big X across his face. There was only one man I knew who looked like that, and that did not make things any better.

Zee's drawing made me worry all night, so the next day at school I decided to confide in Manal to see what she would think of the situation.

"Sajal, I think you're worrying for no reason", Manal said, "Your uncle ever been nice to you guys. He had never really talked to you or asked you about your day. And yelling at you for eating all the bread does not count as a conversation. What I'm trying to say is that he's never done anything kind and children notice these things. And Zee is a smart girl, she catches on this type of stuff pretty quickly. She sees your uncle as a man with a bad temper, round belly, and bald head and her drawing just reflects that. I don't think it's anything more serious than that"

"You really think so?", I wanted to believe Manal, but I couldn't shake off this bad feeling.

"Come on. Don't stress out over such a little thing, you got other more important matters to worry about. Like your crazy boyfriend!"

"Hey!", I yelled in defense. "You're right though, I'm gonna go talk to him during lunch like you said. I think I've mustered up enough courage"

During lunch, I spotted Jayden sitting at the lunch table with his friends, I went up to him and asked to speak in private.

"What?" Jayden exclaimed when I finished explaining what had happened in the bathroom the other day. "Chelsea is a ditz, she's always all over me, but you don't have to worry. She's totally not my type"

Jayden's response was not what I was looking for.

"Jayden, how come they didn't know we were together?", I asked further, "Are you embarrassed to be with m-me?". Oh no my voice cracked.