MANAL

69; Jawaad

I walked back into Imani's house and sat on the couch; my head bent in-between my folded hands.

"How did they manage to steal the car?" Imani's voice was laced with anxiety. "Who will even do that?"

"While I was rushing here, I forgot to lock the car. Someone must have seen it open with the key hanging in the ignition." I replied. Thinking about it now, if I had met the car there, then I'd be really surprised. It was a perfect chance for the thief to get a car at the platter of gold.

"And they thought it was okay to take it?" She gnashed her teeth. "People are really wicked. This is uncalled for!"

I sighed. It was.

"What are you going to do about it now?"

"I guess I will have to go to the police station and report the case."

Imani hummed in a somewhat disapproving manner. "I would have advised you to go there myself, but as I said earlier, this is Nigeria, Jawaad. You might end up wasting your time."

I gazed at her. "What then do you want me to do? Sit and let the thief get away with stealing my car??"

"Yes." She blurted. "Because you won't be able to find him anyways. He must have probably changed the plate number and repainted the car as well..." Her voice trailed a bit. "Besides, it's not like you don't have money to buy more cars. I —"

"This isn't about me not having money to buy another car. This is wrong. It's a crime. I will not allow the criminal to get away with what he has done. I will track him down." I was hell-bent on doing just that.

Imani shrugged. "Alright then, if that is what you want. I will try to help you find him, but just remember that we will only be wasting our time. Shall we go? My car is here. We can go in it."

I nodded and rose to my feet.

Imani walked out of the house and I followed right after.

•

When we got to the house, Mom wasn't around. She had left for the naming ceremony of one of her friends' daughters, so Imani only got to see Dad and he seemed to be sleeping.

"Assalamu alaikum." She crouched to greet dad, who was lying on his bed with both of his eyes now open.

"Wa Alaikum Salam." He responded in a subdued voice.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Imani inquired; her knees now resting on the floor.

I wanted to tell her it was okay to stand, but then again, I felt she was doing that to win dad's heart. I hoped it would work because unlike mum, dad wasn't so difficult to win over.

"Alhamdulillah."

"May Allah grant you shifa." Imani continued.

"Ameen." Dad and I responded in sync.

After that, dad didn't say anything to her and whenever Imani would ask a question, he would give her a curt reply.

I cleared my throat and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Dad, this is the girl I told you about." I reminded. Perhaps he had forgotten I promised to bring her to him as soon as I could.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "She is the one?"

I was right. Dad had no idea she was the one. He must have thought Imani was a friend of Farida or the neighbors' daughter.

"Yes, dad." I beamed. "Her name is Imani."

"Imani?" Dad called, sitting up.

She scooted closer to him.

"Get up. Come sit here. Besides me." He patted the space.