A year after Omar leaves Lebanon and the family that took him in, he embarks on a new journey with them in an attempt to turn his upside down life, right back up.
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If you haven't checked out Coincidences (Book 1), check it out as this story is a...
These last couple of days since the concert, I felt pretty accomplished. I had sung in a crowd of thousands, sang one of my favorite songs sung by my uncle, and I felt more alive than I had in a long time.
We were also preparing to go back to Beirut, which I was really looking forward to. I was also really looking forward to seeing my friend George. He and I got along beautifully and he was always willing to talk about anything and no matter the subject or how simple it was, it was always a fun and wholesome conversation. I really wanted to see him and the last time I saw him was maybe two months ago, about a month before leaving.
Even though we have only known each other for six months, he and I became close and often sang songs and even translated songs from other English singing artists into Arabic.
He was a character and a fun one.
My family walked into the room, all of them with their faces downcast, which was odd because ten minutes ago they were all chuckles and giggles. So what changed all of a sudden? What was the reason for that dark cloud hanging over them?
"What's going on?" I asked, somehow scared of their response.
"Something's happened and you're going to need to be strong!" my uncle said with urgency.
"What do you mean?" I asked, now scared. They all remained silent, noticing how their eyes were watering up with tears. "Okay, you're scaring the hell out of me. What's going on?"
"I think you should sit" Khaled said.
"No, I'll stand!" I said. "Is it my mom, my brothers?"
"No, they're fine. It's about your friend George" said Louai.
"What about him?"
My uncle sighed, loudly, more tears streaming down his face.
"He was on his way to Beirut and he..." he hesitated. Somehow it was like I knew before he told me,
When he remained silent, I began to go stir-crazy.
"What happened?!" I demanded. "Tell me!"
All of them began to sob and I felt my eyes watering.
"He was...he was killed in a traffic accident on his way near the Syrian/Lebanese border" my uncle finally said and it was as if my entire world had fallen apart.
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George El-Rassi ***
It felt as if I was losing the air in my lungs as if something was suffocating me but yet nothing was at the same time.
I fell back on my bed, feeling pain in my heart that I had lost yet another friend and one that I had managed to get close to a level that would take years but really, only took a couple of months.
