Love from A to Z(25)

I told myself that the Saluki Mission Shelter was the woman in the well: noble and selfless.

And that I should have a tiny iota of this compassion too. Enough to proceed to see this sad, neglected dog.

Nothing. It did nothing to erase my fear.

I hung back.

Until I saw the change in Ariel. She was sitting down in front of the barrier across from Hanna and Adam, who was also cross-legged. Whatever they were saying to her was making her calm.

I inched forward slowly, stealthily.

Then Ariel whipped her head up, noticing me and, maybe, my intense stare. She began yelping and running around in a frenzy again.

It took my all not to scream and run the other way.

I mouthed, I’ll wait out there, to Adam and walked quickly to the front office area that we’d entered through.

? ? ?

Afterward, after I’d played twenty rounds of Angry Birds Rio on my phone while I waited for their visit to end, Adam’s father picked us up.

Adam kept apologizing on our way back home for me “not being able to enjoy the dogs.”

“Totally okay,” I said, finally happy and at peace. I loved the feeling of fearlessness again. “I can tell Ariel has had a difficult life.”

“She was tortured,” Hanna said. “They tied her.”

I swallowed.

“Some people think dogs are bad. Like they actually think they’re evil. So they hurt them.” Hanna crossed her arms.

“Unfortunately, there are so many misconceptions about certain things in Islam,” Adam’s dad said. “And too often it’s us Muslims who have them. Like the thinking that dogs are unwanted. Yet in the Qur’an itself, the surah of the cave describes how loyal that dog was to the young people it was with. How important their dog was.”

I nodded and told myself, You hear that, Zayneb?

The image of Ariel kneeling calmly in front of Hanna and Adam came to me. Maybe she’d been okay with them because she knew they cared about her.

But when Ariel had seen me, she’d become agitated. Somebody had hurt her, and it wasn’t me, but, still, she didn’t know what I was about. And I’d become agitated when I saw her—even though she wasn’t the one who’d hurt me so long ago.

I teared up. “Does the shelter take donations?”

Adam nodded. “You can do it online or at the shelter itself.”

“Okay.” I made a note to myself on my phone.

A picture showed up in my messages. It was an AirDrop from Hanna’s iPad.

Ariel. Sitting on the floor of the shelter, head settled on her front paws, mouth firmly closed, no teeth in sight.

I smiled at Hanna. She leaned over and whispered, “You’re scared, right? Of dogs?”

“No, just when they get hyper,” I whispered back. “And do things like biting people, you know?”

She nodded.

For the remainder of the ride I taught her how to play Angry Birds Rio on my phone.

When I got out in front of Auntie Nandy’s building, Adam got out too. He looked like he was going to say something, and I waited, spending a bit of time opening my bag to get keys out, so that he could say what he wanted to say.

Like maybe he’ll ask me to do something else with him tomorrow?

But he just stood there.

When I glanced up to say salaam, he had a weird expression on his face.

Like it was closed. Even his mouth wasn’t turned up in that slight smile he wears.

Instead it was just a straight line that moved a tiny bit to say salaam.

And then he got back in the car.

Maybe he’ll text me later.

Yes.

This Is What You Missed, Bulletin III by Kavi Srinivasan, filed as FYI for Zayneb Malik: Sitting?

Now I am. Was lying down before.

Lie down.

What’s up?

Wait, is this about Ayaan? ISTHISABOUTAYAAN

I got off the bed. I’m standing now.

Ayaan got removed as vice president from student council. From student council, completely. Fencer provided information that “resulted in Ayaan’s removal from student leadership, as her actions contravene school guidelines on responsible social media use.”

No.

She’s supposed to provide a written explanation of her “online activities running a campaign against a teacher and encouraging hatred toward him.”

No.

Kavi.

Fencer “provided ample evidence about her incessant monitoring of him.”

I hate him so much.

I got this information from Trevor. He screenshot it for me, the e-mail that student council members got. Ayaan is super mad at us.

I’m done.

We’re all done.

I did this. If Fencer hadn’t caught me, Ayaan wouldn’t be in trouble.

It’s not that simple.

My big temper. I have to talk to Ayaan.

I don’t think she’s ready. This is traumatic for her. You know how long she’s been gunning for student council. She’s not going to want to talk now.

Okay. We’ll have to respect that. But we have to help her. Well, I have to.

We will. Just wait a bit. What’s happening in Doha?

I sent her a photo of Ariel.

Pretty. But a dog? You?

Right?

You’ve changed.

Right. Or am on the way to it. Zayneb, more mellow.