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

then it happens. The swarms of people are just too much. I feel my sweaty palm begin to slip.

‘Akeal! Akeal!’ Huda screams. I feel her fingers slide through my hand.

‘Don’t let go! Please, Akeal!’ Even through all the noise, I can hear the desperate crackle in her voice.

But I can’t call back to her. Because my hand has already lost hers.

I try to fight back through the crowd, to get back to my sister, but it’s like I’m trying to swim in quicksand. The crowd of people has its own plan. I don’t know where to go or even which direction will get me out, so I let it swallow me. I let the people push me and shove me until eventually they spit me out, somewhere on the other side.

I collapse on a nearby bench and put my head in my hands. I close my eyes and make a dua.

‘Please, Allah, please. Don’t let anything bad happen to Huda. I know she’s annoying, I know she does irritating stuff, but she’ll be better when she grows up a bit. Please, Allah. Please let me find her. Please keep her safe.’

I want to stay strong, but I realise I’m alone too. I squeeze my eyes tight to try to stop the tears.

A voice cuts through my thoughts. ‘Akeal?’ I know it’s Michael from the way he says my name.

I open my eyes and wipe my face with the back of my hand.

‘You okay, man?’

I swallow hard. ‘I lost my little sister.’

Michael’s eyes dart around a bit and he scratches his head.

‘We tried so hard to get to Mum and Dad. I tried to look after her, but the crowd was too big.’ My throat hurts when I speak.

Michael doesn’t say anything. He just stands there. I have nothing to say either. I get up and begin to walk away.

‘Isn’t that her over there?’ Michael points – past the glass doors we hurtled through earlier, past a crowd of people. Huda’s bawling, her back to a wall.

I scream my sister’s name at the top of my lungs and race towards her. She sees me and stops crying. I move my legs as fast as they can carry me, my only focus getting to my sister. I don’t notice the small suitcase lying on the floor. The suitcase that someone left in my way.

My right foot strikes it and I fly into the air. With my backpack still on, I feel like I weigh a hundred kilos as I crash to the ground. My wrist twists beneath the weight of my body, and my head cracks onto the tiled floor. But I don’t have time to feel the pain or care about the blood dripping from my forehead – I have to get up and get to Huda. I use the back of my hand to wipe the blood away and feel it smear across my face.

Huda runs over to me and I grip onto her to help me off the floor. She looks at my head and winces.

‘It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt. I’m all right,’ I tell her, even though sharp stabbing pains shoot through my skull.

‘I thought I’d be lost forever, Akeal.’ Her words come out in hiccups.

‘You know I wouldn’t leave you. I’ll always look after you.’ Some blood drips down my head and onto my jumper.

Huda sniffs and nods. ‘Here, wipe your head.’ She unzips her bag and pulls out a bunch of serviettes with Dubai written on them. Then she glances over my shoulder and it’s like she’s seen a ghost. My sister lifts her arms to head to protect herself. I turn, ready to leap. It’s Michael, standing behind me. He has his palms in the air.

‘I’m … I’m not gonna hurt you.’

Huda lowers her eyes to the floor and keeps her arms over her head.

‘I’m really sorry about what I did to you before.’

My sister doesn’t look at him.

I step forward towards Michael to shield her. He gasps when he sees the gash on my forehead, but I don’t let it stop me.

‘She’s raw. You can’t blame her.’

Michael bites his lip and nods. ‘I get it. I know she must be scared of me. But I am sorry.’

This time I nod. ‘It’s a start, I suppose.’

I wipe away the blood with one of the thick serviettes. The swarm of passengers begins to break and I catch a glimpse of Miss Rosetta only metres away. A security guard stands with her, scanning the area for us. I grab my sister’s hand.

‘Run!’

Miss Rosetta spots us and shouts to her sidekick. ‘Over there! Grab them!’ she calls, pointing and running towards us as we flee. Luckily there are still a bunch of people around, blocking her path.

I pull Huda behind two rubbish bins.

‘They’re gonna find us,’ she pants.

Miss Rosetta and her guard reach the spot where we were just standing. ‘Where’d they go?’ Miss Rosetta screams at Michael.

Michael glances at us, hiding behind the bins. ‘They ran that way!’ he says, pointing in the opposite direction.

Miss Rosetta and the security guard scuttle away.

‘They said something about jumping out of the bathroom windows!’ he calls out after them. He looks at me and smiles.

‘Well, who would’ve thought …’ mutters my sister.

‘C’mon,’ I say. ‘We have to get through the big queues before they come back.’

Time to Leave

The sun was rising as I started scooping the chicken poo. A flash lit up the backyard and I glanced at the sky. It was filled with grey clouds, and little drops of rain began to fall.

I saw the lights on at Mr Kostiki’s house and the smoke from his chimney. The few times I’d been over to his place, it had been so warm and cosy. He’d let us play with his medals and his cool old-fashioned polaroid camera. But he never let us take any photos, because he said the film was too expensive. One time, he’d offered us Krakus ham sandwiches. Me and Huda had