Ava said If we tell you what happened do you promise not to tell Mom I think it will upset her The gentle lines of Granny’s face grew serious Your mother is my daughter kerida Nadeem’s father rest him in peace was my son and his wife is now like a daughter to me Your parents trust me to care for you after school while they’re at work Keeping something important from them would be a betrayal It is not our way That was another thing Granny Buena said a lot It is not our way And sometimes when Granny did things that seemed funny to Ava like kissing leftover bread before tossing it into the compost bin she would say It is our way as a kind of non-explanation Okay then Ava gave in with a sigh I’ll tell you I uh got into a fight with someone Granny arched an auburn-penciled eyebrow A granddaughter of mine would never do such a thing unless she had a good reason So Tell me what it was Nadeem chimed in There’s this girl in our class Fern She has a problem with me being Muslim And with me being Jewish Ava added 4
I don’t know what her deal is said Nadeem We’ve never done anything to hurt her But all of a sudden she’s hassling us and she won’t let up How exactly does Fern hassle you ninyos Ava didn’t want to answer but she did Even though it made her feel kind of sick She calls us names I I refuse to say them out loud Those words didn’t belong in her grandmother’s living room They would pollute the air Nadeem took a deep breath I’ll tell her He whispered in Granny’s ear Granny’s green eyes sparked with anger Today after school Ava explained Fern followed followed us part of the way home She was shouting at us as usual and I guess I finally snapped I mean she’s been on our case for weeks So I got right in her face and yelled back I was this close to shoving shoving her That’s when Nadeem caught my wrist and stopped me She held out her right hand An empty thread hung from her sleeve where a white button had once been Nadeem grimaced Sorry I didn’t mean to tear off your button He turned to Granny I talked Ava into leaving before we all got into a real fight But I’m still wondering whether we should’ve stayed 5
and had some kind of a showdown instead Granny kissed the top of Nadeem’s head before he could dodge You did the right thing she said Ah my little birds I wish I could hide you under my wings and shelter you from the pain of such experiences experiences Too many people in this world are filled with anger They’re looking for an excuse to hate someone someone And unfortunately people like us Jews like you and me Ava and Muslims like you and your mother Nadeem have been convenient targets for people like them for a long long time A voice inside Ava suddenly whispered Say it Say it now Something else happened today She felt both Granny and Nadeem’s gazes on her but she kept her eyes lowered Nadeem you know my friends Eliza and Rochelle They were talking to me about you Me What did I do He sat bolt upright and clapped a hand on his skinny chest his mouth hanging hanging open Was it that goal I messed up in soccer last weekend No She sighed Nothing like that They’ve been trying to figure out a way to get Fern to stop obsessing about you and me They told me they think we should quit hanging out together at school 6
He stared But I thought Eliza and Rochelle liked me They do But they said that a Muslim kid and a Jewish kid spending time together is like wearing a gigantic sign on our backs that says Bully Us Fern Ava hung her head She felt guilty for saying this to her cousin But her friends had only been trying to help Nadeem swallowed hard Do you think we should keep away from each other just because of Fern Ava felt a painful wrench inside of her Well maybe we could try it and see if it makes a difference difference Just while we’re at school No Granny cut in sharply Do not give in to that notion Ava your friends hearts are in the right place But letting this problem keep you two apart is no solution keridos Our family may be hard to understand from the outside especially since after your father died Nadeem your mother raised you as a Muslim while Ava and her parents and I are Jewish Yet while we have some differences we are bound by belief in the Creator and by our love and loyalty to each other Nothing and nobody should break those ties She gently hugged them both 7
