AMBREEN BUTT HUSSAIN I kept my eyes focused on the floor trying hard not to let the tears come I may have been at the front of the line but I knew I had failed My cover had been blown 6
Chapter Two My dad pulled into the school parking lot in our rusty red car He greeted me with his usual big smile and chirpy Assalamu alaikum That's an Arabic greeting that basically means peace be upon you How was school today he asked Somehow he was always in a good mood Fine I said not returning the smile I closed my eyes and slumped my head back thankful that the weekend was here I tried hard not to imagine what I'd have to face next week now that my secret was out My dad was getting used to my monotonous replies He had been dealing with them for the past few days now and I had no plans of giving him anything better After all he was the reason for all this The lifelong curse that was my last name The move Everything I didn't say another word for the whole ride home We pulled up to our shop King's Fruit Market That's what it was called when we bought it We live on top of it 7
AMBREEN BUTT HUSSAIN in a tiny apartment Not long after we moved in everyone on our street started calling my dad the king So since my dad was now the king I guess that made our house the castle and me the princess I sure didn't feel like it though I just felt like a butt I rushed past the rows of colorful baskets of fruits and vegetables lined up outside and throughout our shop I had to weave around customers carefully inspecting a single mango from the dozens of boxes or searching for just the right bunch of cilantro I kept my head down to avoid making eye contact with anyone I really wasn't in the mood to talk I ran upstairs threw my bag down rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me The tears instantly started streaming down my face They had been waiting for me to be alone I turned on the tap to drown out my sniffling But my mom with her sixth sense somehow knew something was up She knocked on the door Alina What's wrong You didn't even take your lunch bag out Come quickly Your food will get cold Ahhh What's the hurry I had literally just gotten home and my mom already expected me to have taken out my lunch bag put away my uniform and probably even finished my homework While my dad always appears to be in a state of bliss as if he's just returned from an island vacation my mom runs around like she's the prime minister with a million 8
THE UNLOVABLE ALINA BUTT things to do and a billion things to tell us I guess they balance each other out I'm coming give me a second Ammi What's for dinner I heard my sister yell Daal chawal my mom replied Oh yay I love it my little brother chimed in Nooooo I hate lentils with rice It's my least favorite food I would rather starve Can this day get any worse We always had dinner together as a family our quality time my dad calls it I sulked as my mom plopped a spoonful of yellow daal on top of my rice Chew slowly Fahad Butt my mom reminded my brother He was scoffing down his food as if he had a train to catch But when my mom uses our full names we know we could soon be in big trouble Fadi started chewing in slow motion Pass the salad please my dad said Salad in our house doesn't look like the ones I see Ms. Pheasant eating at her desk a mix of lettuce and all kinds of different vegetables Ours is just cucumbers With some black pepper sprinkled on top You would never think we were sitting on top of a fruit and vegetable shop My sister started talking about every single detail of her day Clearly hers had gone a lot better than mine That's nothing new Nadia always has a much easier time making friends in school So far I have barely managed to say three words 9
