Under the Olive Tree

8. Thamaniya

"Oh, that reminds me. You'll never guess what she told me."

"Fayza?"

Amani nodded.

"What did she tell you?"

"Well, Yasmeen approached me to tell me she and Muhsin were going to be engaged very soon and their families were already planning everything together. Then I asked Fayza and she said she doesn't even know who Yasmeen is," Amani whispered, keeping her volume lowered and away from all the curious ears in the street.

Reema nearly screamed in laughter then covered her mouth so only her wide eyes peeked over her fingers. She laughed. "She came to you to say they were getting engaged soon? Yasmeen did? She didn't even know who you were when I mentioned you."

Amani nodded. "That's exactly what I thought when she called me in the street. She was telling me so much information that I didn't know and, honestly, had no business being informed about. All I was trying to do was go visit Sity."

"I don't like that girl," Reema shook her head.

"You're lying."

"I'm not. She isn't a good person to become involved with. Don't try to talk to her again, okay Amani? Yasmeen has never been good news for any of the girls in town."

Amani didn't argue. She's easily sensed the unfriendly energy that had followed Yasmeen since the first day she saw her in the street going on about how Muhsin always took the long way home to see her. So she just nodded in response to her cousin.

Reema smiled, both of them coming to a pause as they neared her home. "You know what that means though, don't you? She feels threatened by you. Her friend at the pharmacy must have told her about the time he paid for your bandaging. Otherwise, she would've continued ignoring you as she's been doing since you arrived in town."

"Good," Amani joked. "She should be."

"Oh? Is there something I should know, baby cousin?"

"Nothing worthy enough. Not yet, anyway."

"Reema!" Reema's mother called down from the rooftop. "Finally, you've come home. Come up, I need your help. Did you take the box of fertilizer to Muhsin? He called about it this afternoon?"

Amani saw her cousin's color drain. "Yes, mama. I was just coming back from the garden. I'll be right up."

"We were in class-," Amani began, but stumbled as her cousin yanked her up the three steps and into the first floor of her home. She flinched when Reema pushed a box into her chest.

"Take this to the olive garden for me, will you?"

Amani frowned. "What? But I-."

"Muhsin is waiting there. He'll take it from you."

"Is he really?"

Reema nodded. "See, perfect opportunity for you. The garden is down the street to the right of the bakery. Walk straight through the houses until you get to the open land. He should be in the plot between the two cornfields by the creek. Be careful not to step in the mud or you'll slip, it's really slippery."

Amani turned as her cousin pushed her out the door, opening her mouth for clarification just as the wooden door slammed shut in her face. She huffed but, with the box in her arms, made her way back the way they'd come until she arrived at the closed bakery.

She followed the instructions, continuing down the long trail between the homes until the tall green grass appeared in the distance. The creek was a short walk to her left and a narrow parting between both cornfields was enough to carefully walk through. Amani watched the cracked floor as she walked, wondering why her cousin had warned her of mud when the ground seemed so dry. But when she stepped on the cracked floor and her foot slid forward with a speed that made her question if she'd accidentally stepped onto black ice, Amani understood what Reema had said.