Salaam.
So this chapter was supposed to be up earlier but Wattpad lost the chapter and it got me angry 🙂😂😒
So I didn't rewrite it until now.
But I'm over it.
So let the games begin.
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"So what do we do now?" Nick pondered.
"Let's just go home. We might find a number to call in the suitcase. Hopefully it's just the ID card that's inside. Right Karim?" Dean asked from the driver's seat.
There was something else in the suitcase. Just a piece of paper. But it could ruin everything. But he wouldn't tell his uncle about it.
" Just the ID. " Karim answered.
They drove for a while until they got to their house. It hadn't changed just been improved. But Karim still remembered him.
Nick entered first and proceeded to screaming for his mother.
"Mom! We're back!"
Karim saw his Aunt Bella come from the living room. Behind her was Aunt Halima.
"Karim. How are you?! We've missed you." Isabella exclaimed and went ahead to hug him and he hugged her back.
She let him go and he went to hug his Aunt Halima.
"Aunt Halima."
"Karim. How are you doing?" Karim knew what they were referring to.
He just ignored the pain and smiled.
"I'm doing good."
"And how is that cute little baby of yours. The one your mom won't let go of." Halima mumbled the last part to his hearing and he chuckled.
"She's good. Alhamdulilah. Healthy and strong."
Just then they heard loud footsteps from upstairs. And down came Arthur and Iman. Rushing towards Karim.
"Karim! You are here." Arthur beamed at him.
"Yes I am." He returned the smile. He had grown bigger since the last vacation.
"We've been waiting ages for you." Iman grinned at him.
Her brown skin glittering like pearls under the lighting. She was just a sight to behold.
"Well I'm here now."
"We can't wait to play all the time with you and..."
Nick cut them off.
"And he's tired from his trip. So why don't you guys go upstairs and play with Jamil, Hanan and Sienna."
Jamil was his uncle Zain's second child. He was just 5 years old. And Hanan was the third. She was just 2 years old. Whiles Sienna was Uncle Dean's daughter. She was 3.
"Well Jamil and Hanan are asleep and Sienna is just awake, staring. She's scary." Arthur whispered to Karim.
Sienna was a special girl. She liked to observe stuff a lot. Sometimes it was weird.
"Karim is also tired so let him get some rest first." Nick insisted.
"Your brother is right." Isabella added.
Arthur just huffed and walked upstairs mumbling something about Adults always being right. Iman hugged Karim and ran upstairs.
"Where's Zain?" Dean asked.
"He's been called on short notice to work. He will be back soon." Halima explained.
Karim just nodded as he followed Nick upstairs to the guest room.
Nick opened a room for him.
"Your room." Nick announced.
"Dad said you could stay home all day if you want but I said you'd want to start uni with me."
"I have already been to the university, Nick." Karim reminded him.
"Knowledge is never enough. It's settled then. We are starting next week."
He had decided it without even asking him about it. But Karim didn't mind. He needed his mind off stuff. And school was just the right thing.
"So the suitcase." Nick pointed to it.
"I don't think I can stomach it. I mean the stuff inside are just.... Hrrr" He got goosebumps just listening to the idea.
"But we need to find yours so we have to." Nick added.
"You are right."
Karim opened up the suitcase and laid it out.
"Does he or she bath in make-up?"
"He?"
"You'd be surprised."
"It's obviously a she. With all these corsets and underwears."
"I don't think we should be seeing this." Nick made a face.
Karim began to search through the suitcase. Most of the items were clothes, toffee wrappers, mostly rubbish and loads of make up stuff. Was she a distributor?
He found a hidden compartment inside the suitcase. You wouldn't realize it was there unless you were sharp and it looked like it was well protected from the outside.
It was sealed shut. He passed his fingers and could feel something rectangular inside with something else he just couldn't pinpoint.
"How do we open it?" Nick asked as he stared intently at the compartment.
"You've got a knife?"
Nick ran out and into his room which was just opposite Karim's. He came back a few minutes later with a pocket knife.
"Don't ask." Nick said and handed over the knife.
Karim didn't know what was inside so he had to be careful not to destroy anything inside.
He opened it slightly but he still couldn't get his hands through.
"To hell with this."
He cut open it fully. Nick's eyes widened. Karim stepped back.
"Oh my Go..." Karim shut his mouth before he could scream.
"Don't."
"Why!? It's fucking cocaine!"
"We don't know that." Karim said.
Nick took one rounded ball of it. It looked like pebbles. He smelt it.
"It is cocaine, Karim."
"How do you know its cocaine?"
"OH come on. Half of the people in this country know what cocaine looks and tastes like. It is up to you to develop a taste of it." Nick explained.
He had tried his hands on some stuff a few years ago but knowing his parents. He stopped before he even started.
" Okay so maybe it's cocaine. What do we do now? " Karim wondered.
" We? Let's just tell my parents. They will know what to do." Nick suggested.
He so did not want to go down for drugs he did not own.
"We can't. She has my suitcase. Remember."
"I know. But this is cocaine. We could go to jail. What's so important about your suitcase?" Nick wondered.
"My ID."
"That's not it. You'd not hide cocaine for some random stranger because of your ID."Nick was smart.
" Okay. There is something else in the suitcase which she must not find. Especially if she already knows who I am. "
" What is it?"
"I can't tell you, Nick." Karim looked away.
"Fine. But I'm telling dad." Nick got up to leave buf Karim stopped him.
"Please Nick. I'm begging you. For old times sake. Let me handle this. No one can know what is in the suitcase." Karim looked troubled.
But Nick still didn't agree. It would be very bad if the crown prince was arrested for drug possession. Before he could decide further, they heard a phone ring in the bag.
Karim pushed aside the clothes and found a phone under the clothes.
He analyzed the number and realized it was his number calling.
"That's my number."
"Pick it then!" Nick urged.
He pressed the answer button. And put the phone to his ear.
He didn't say anything at first. He just listened.
"Hello." He said after a good 3 minutes.
"Took you long enough. I believe you remember me." The person on the other side asked.
The voice sounded familiar. He just didn't know where he heard it.
"You tried to help me after you poured my coffee all over the floor in the airport."
The red-haired girl or woman. She didn't look 20 at the very least. But you never know.
"You! You have my suitcase! " Karim exclaimed.
"No need to be shocked. Yes I do. By some mistake I ended up taking your suitcase and you mine." She said.
"I need my suitcase though. And I can't stress on the need enough." She added.
"I suggest we meet and exchange the bags before this gets out of our hands. Nothing needs to be done except the exchange." She ended.
"How do I know that this is not a trap to just get me to meet up with you to steal from me." Karim pondered.
"Oh honey, that's not the case at all. My suitcase is worth more than a few dollars." She said. "I think we can meet up tomorrow. At the bus stop before the subway station. I will be there by noon."
"What shows I will come?" Karim asked her.
"From the way you are still entertaining this conversation I think you also have something valuable in this suitcase. I mean look at your phone." She chuckled roughly.
Karim didn't reply.
"Be there by noon. I will be waiting." She added. "Oh and darling. I suggest we keep this meet up strictly to ourselves. For the good of both of us." Her voice held a threat to it. "I almost forgot. Don't forget to bring my suitcase too. Toodles."
The call ended.
What on Earth!
"Who was that?" Nick questioned.
"The lady with my suitcase." Karim answered.
What was a young girl like her doing with so much cocaine?
"What did she say?"
"She wants us to meet up and exchange bags."
"You can't go. I have to tell dad. She is literally a drug dealer."
"No, don't. She doesn't seem to want people to know about our meeting."
"But it could be a trap. Maybe she knows who you are. And wants to kidnap you for ransom money from your dad. Worst case scenario, you end up dead or worse."
"Fortunately for me I know my dad will pay for it. So there's no problem. I'm not sure she is going to kidnap me. And I know her. Sort of." Karim added.
"You know her!? How!?"
"Well we bumped into each other briefly in the airport. That's how come we exchanged bags because our bags are similar." Karim explained.
"That doesn't mean that she can't kidnap you." Nick said bluntly.
"She's a girl. I was trained by my dad. I think I can protect myself." Karim eyed the suitcase again.
"Just... Just don't tell your dad yet. Please. Let me handle it." Karim pleaded with him.
"Fine! But if I feel anything is going wrong,I'm calling dad... and your dad too."
He'd be so dead if his dad found out. No major problems, his dad had said. Drugs was pretty major.
"Nothing will go wrong. In Shaa Allah."
Tomorrow couldn't come any more quickly.
~
"Be careful, Karim." Nick warned as he dropped Karim off just three blocks ahead of the bus stop.
"I will. Go on ahead. Cover for me to your parents. I will be back in an hour or two." Karim assured him.
He had planned to go around after the exchange too.
Karim took the suitcase from the back seat and Nick drove off.
He just had to walk 3 blocks with a suitcase with cocaine in it. Every step he took felt as if the bag will open to reveal the hidden compartment.
He was just one block away when he heard police sirens. His heart stopped for a second. But the police car just passed by. He was overreacting. You would think being a drug dealer was easy.
He saw the bus stop and almost sighed. He just hated the idea of drugs. Getting caught with it was even worse. His dad would kill him. And his mom would die of heartache.
He stood by the bus stop and watched around. He checked his time. 5 minutes till midday. He was looking around weirdly when he heard the police siren coming towards the bus stop.
He wanted to disappear when the police car stopped in front of him.
Ya Allah. He was so dead.
He tried to calm down.
The police man got down from the car and his partner followed from the other side.
They moved to Karim.
"Good day sir." The big one asked.
Karim couldn't speak but he tried to.
"Good day officers." Karim greeted back with a polite smile.
"Well we couldn't help but wonder if you were lost." The man asked again and looked at his suitcase.
"Why would you think that sir?" Karim had to act like he had no idea what was going on.
"Well you have been walking around with your suitcase and looking around. Looking for something specific?" The smaller one eyed the suitcase suspiciously. And it looked like they were analyzing him from head to toe.
Karim was confused. It was like he looked like he was not carrying drugs but a bomb... Wait.
They thought he was a terrorist. Oh pleasant. Because he wasn't white like them. And he was walking around with a suitcase whiles looking around suspiciously. He fit the description of a terrorist. Wow.
"I'm actually waiting for a friend. He is supposed to pick me up from here. And trust me we are not terrorists. Officers, Larry and John is it? I think you eyeing my suitcase points out that you think I'm a bomber or something. But trust me. I'm as American as you two. I was born here so I know I have rights. So if there is anything else I think I would like if you talk to my lawyers. "
" I'm Abdul Karim bin Abdul Malik Tawfiq. Crown prince of the Emirates. I do believe my lawyers are ready to speak to you. "
" You..you are the son of the king?" Larry almost shivered.
" Yes. Larry and John, I suggest you keep my presence in the country. We wouldn't want a strong friendship with my country to end because you couldn't keep my secret. " Karim smiled at them.
"We are sorry for disturbing you." Larry quickly got into the car and left with John.
No one wanted to be the reason why America stopped receiving oil and important commodities from the Emirates. Being crown prince had it perks.
He checked his watch again. It was 12:15. Where was she? Maybe the police scared her off.
The phone rang in his pocket again. It was his number calling.
"Where are you?" Karim said irritated.
"You were expecting me to come to you when you had police on you. You got them to leave. How?" She asked.
"Doesn't matter. I asked where you were?" I'm opposite you. "
Karim looked ahead of him and there she was. With her face caked up it felt like she was being weighed down. She had changed her hair color. Wow that was fast.
She crossed the road and walked towards him with his suitcase in her hands. She moved to stand by him like a stranger. She ended the call.
"Good day,..."
"Karim." He mumbled.
"Karim. A handsome name for a handsome man. A fine specimen if I should say so myself. I'm Z." She looked ahead so it did not seem as if they were talking to each other.
"Z, I didn't come here to receive compliments. I cam here to get my suitcase and you yours." Karim said to her. Looking ahead as well.
"I'm in no hurry, love." She said with mischief lacing her voice.
"I should think you were. I do not know how you can just change your hair color from red to orange. And do you not feel congested with so much makeup on. I mean come on! Even clowns don't wear that much makeup these days." Karim pointed out blankly.
"I must say. I didn't take you for a talker. I like it. But my makeup has nothing to do with you and my hair for that matter." Z replied to his taunt not at all fazed the slightest.
If anything she had a glint in her eyes.
"Let's just change the suitcases and go." Karim wanted her to hurry up.
"I do hope for your sake and mine, you didn't go through the suitcase. I don't think such a handsome boy can stomach the things in it." Z looked at his reaction from the corner of her eyes.
Nothing.
"If I did that's up to me to stomach. Not you. Now my bag." Karim insisted.
"I'm inclined to think there is something much more valuable than my stuff in my suitcase here. Pray do tell."
"I don't even know you."
"Oh you do. And you will."
Before Karim could try to understand her she let go of the suitcase and moved to the other side of Karim.
Karim quickly let the suitcase go and went for his. He had his back to her and when he turned again she was gone.
Oh the heavens.
Karim checked the compartment he had put his phone in. His phone was in it. He took it out.
4 missed calls from Dad
39 missed calls from Mom
1 missed call from Habiba
2 texts from dad
~Where are you?
~ Your mom is worried sick.
55 texts from mom.
He smiled. His dad was a simple man. His mom on the other hand took things too seriously. 55 missed calls already and it had just been a day. He was sure his Uncle had texted his dad to tell him that he had arrived.
He was about to zip it close when a paper caught his attention. He opened it up and read it.
Ya Allah!
She knew.
'It was fun doing business, your highness.
We will meet again. 🙂.
~Z'
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I DID IT😁. YAAAAYY.
And autocorrect is in love with Tawfiq. Before I type Karim, it has already made it Tawfiq. It's getting annoying. 🤨😂😂😒
Any ways who the heck is Z! I don't know 🤨🤷♀️
Author :Karim darling would you hurry up and tell me who she is?
Karim: You have to wait like everyone else to find out. 🙂
Argh I hate this boy. 😒
Author : Fine.
I told you I don't know.
Anyways #VCS
Ciao 💥🤸♀️✨❤️