Huda and Me by H. Hayek (summer beach reads TXT) 📗

little hairs poking out from each one, and her nails were painted purple, care of Kholoud.

I glanced over at my sister. If Aunt Amel pulled us out from under this bed, our lives wouldn’t be worth living. Huda’s shoulders were up near her neck, like she was a turtle trying to clamber back into her shell. Aunt Amel tapped her foot, as if thinking about what to do next.

All of a sudden, Aunt Amel’s arm lunged under the bed, right at me. I wiggled to the side. She lunged again, and I tucked my head into my shoulders to avoid her. The clumsy pineapple wasn’t as quick as me. I looked at Huda in elation – it was a small win, but at least it was something. In fact, I may even have chuckled. Very quietly, though. Huda didn’t smile back. She widened her eyes at me instead.

Raheed’s wailing from the kitchen was getting louder. Aunt Amel went in for the third time, this time feeling around with her long, creepy fingers. I couldn’t believe how uncoordinated she was.

Nappy, Huda mouthed at me. She pointed to a pile of nappies next to me, and the penny dropped. I grabbed one and placed it in the path of Aunt Amel’s next lunge.

Aunt Amel’s hand landed on it. She grunted, then she called to my baby brother, ‘I’m coming to change your little poo-poo, my darling!’ as she walked out of the room.

My body collapsed into jelly and I shook with silent laughter as I rested on the floorboards for a moment. Huda glared at me. I knew she thought this was my fault.

‘All she wanted was a nappy! You could’ve got us caught with all your laughing and farting around,’ she retorted as we climbed out from under the bed.

I had to agree with her. I realised it was best to try to change the subject.

‘We’d better hurry up and grab the stuff,’ I said. ‘Changing Raheed’s nappy will only take a few minutes.’

Huda rolled her eyes. ‘You find the credit card and I’ll get Dad’s briefcase,’ she said.

Huda tiptoed over to the wardrobe, I spotted Aunt Amel’s handbag in the gap between the dressing table and the wall, just where Huda had told me she hid it. The handbag had bits of material flaking off it and looked about a century old. I pulled it open and found Tic Tacs, lollies and chocolates rolling around everywhere inside. A little gold sequin purse with two little clasps sat right at the bottom.

I lifted the purse from the handbag and pulled apart the clasps. There were two pockets on each side, so I unzipped the first and pulled out three hard plastic cards: a gym membership, a pharmacy rewards card, and a library card. I slid them back into their slot.

‘Have you found the credit card yet?’ my sister hissed.

I shook my head, unzipping the second pocket and pulling another two cards out. The first was Aunt Amel’s driver’s licence. She looked a lot younger in the photo. The next one was a shiny card with Mastercard written on it. Aunt Amel’s full name was on it too. Amel Boogie. I pushed down a smile and shoved it into my shirt pocket. Returning the other card to its place, I tossed the purse into the handbag and the handbag back into its spot.

Huda was still fumbling in the wardrobe, but next thing I saw her two small, grubby hands poke out of a pile of clothing, holding the handle of Dad’s black briefcase. The rest of her popped out too, and she let the briefcase fall to the floor. She looked pleased with herself.

‘Open it,’ she whispered.

We both squatted beside it. There were two silver latches, one on either end of the briefcase. I pushed both to the side and they clicked open.

‘Bismillah,’ I whispered.

I lifted open the briefcase and my sister gasped. ‘Holy polony!’ she whispered.

Inside were bundles of hundred-dollar notes. There were so many that I couldn’t even guess how much money it was. Underneath that, I saw seven passports. I knew exactly who they were for. Mum and Dad had been saving for ages to take us kids to visit Lebanon.

Huda and I looked at each other and grinned. ‘Let’s go,’ I said.

Huda grabbed bundles of the money and threw them out the window, onto our backpacks below. I flicked through the passports until I found mine and Huda’s, and shoved them into my pocket next to the credit card. Huda ran back to the briefcase and grabbed more money.

‘Oi! That’s enough!’ I said.

‘Akeal, what if we end up in Japan or something? We’ve got to be prepared.’

‘Mum and Dad work hard for that cash. We should only take what we need.’

‘Yeh yeh, okay.’ She raced back to the window and threw the money outside, ignoring me.

Before I shut the briefcase, I slipped an extra passport into my pocket – my little brother Raheed’s. I was going to miss him so much. This way, his rosy cheeks and round chubby face would stay close to my heart, no matter what happened.

‘Got everything?’ my sister asked.

I nodded.

‘Good. Chuck it back in the wardrobe and let’s get out of here.’ Huda was already half out the window.

I did as she suggested. I could hear Raheed laughing again. His bum must be nice and clean. I spent an extra second listening to his giggles before I ran to the window and jumped out onto the concrete outside.

Huda was already snatching the money from the ground, stuffing the bundles into my backpack.

‘You’re putting all the money in my bag?’ I whisper-screamed.

‘Yeh, I can’t risk being caught with it at school. There’s a kid in my class who goes through people’s bags looking for chips.’

‘What if I’m caught with it?’

‘You won’t be. Trust me. Everyone in your class is boring. Hurry up and let’s get out of here.’

She zipped up my bag and shoved it at me. Then she picked up her own backpack