Halal Heartbeat

Chapter 11

Manal

"I'm going on break early." I say. After Brandon gives me permission, I leave for home. I lock myself in my room and cry silently.

I don't know how long I've been in there, but it feels like an eternity. "Hey Mia." I say, answering my phone. "Hey, girl, where have you been?" I sniffle into my napkin. "I took the rest of the day off. Mia, Mazin left." She sighs. "I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't know he meant that much to you." "Yeah, I didn't either. Just as I started falling for him he leaves, and for what," I pause for a bit. "When's your engagement party by the way, and is it just girls?" "No, it's not just girls, Khalid's inviting a few of his friends. It's on Saturday, which puts it four days from now." After catching up with Mia, I go for a run and try to take my mind off things. When I get back, Baba's sitting on the porch. "Alsalamulaikum Baba." He smiles warmly. "Waalaikumalsalaam Habibti. How was your run?" I take a seat beside him. "Great Alhamdullallah. Why are you sitting out in the cold, let's go inside." He laughs. "If it was warm enough for you to go on a run, it's warm enough for an old man like me to sit on his porch. But yes, let's go inside. Mama's making tagine, your favourite." I smile but decline. "I'm not that hungry." Just as I'm getting up, he pulls me back down. "If there's anything wrong, you know that you can always talk to Mama and I, right?" I nod lovingly and we both head inside. "There you two are. Come have a seat. Dinner's ready."

Mazin

"Hey bro, the engagement party's today, you're still coming, right?" My friend Khalid asks, taking a sip of his coffee. I invited him to a coffee shop to catch up. "Yeah, yeah, Inshallah." I say, snapping out of my train of thought. Since Mia and Manal are friends, Manal will probably show up too. I sigh deeply. "Ok well it starts in three hours, so be there, alright? It'd mean a lot to me if you could show up." I give him a man hug. "Of course, I got your back bruv. Take care." He says his goodbyes and leaves me alone. What would I say when I saw her? How would I confront her.

"Hey Manal, I left because I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me more. I left because if you love someone, sometimes it's better to leave them. I left because I love you."

At the party, I grab a seat beside some of my homeboys and as they chat, I'm looking around to make sure Manal isn't in sight. "Eh, Mazin, you straight man?" My friend taps my shoulder. "Yeah. I'm going to go step outside for a bit, I feel a little sick and need some air." But only half of that was true. While one half of me wanted to avoid her, the other half wanted her. She's like cocaine; once you have some, you can't stop. She's a drug and I'm addicted. Just then, she steps out with a flowing sparkly blue dress. I've never seen her in a dress before. I clear my throat and walk up to her. It's now or never. "Hey Manal. Can we talk later? I need to vent." She looks at me surprised. Maybe even hurt. "We can talk now. You've got a lot of explaining to do." We make our way to the balcony and stand in the moonlight. And without hesitation, I let my heart out. "I left because I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me more. I left because if you love someone, sometimes it's better to leave them. I left because I love you, Manal," I pause. "Manal, you're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. You're the woman I want to complete half my Deen with. Sure, we've got a colourful path, but I love you. And I think you do too." I feel myself smile as she does. "Mazin, I-'' She interrupts herself and laughs. "It's just crazy!" Manal exclaims. "What is?" I ask, confused. "Mazin. You and I used to be rivals, now we're here on a balcony expressing our feelings for each other; and they're mutual!" A wave of relief showers over me and I join in the laughter. "I think I'm falling for my bully."