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  To my strong and beautiful mother, who showed me the magic of books

  1

  This is the worst Eid ever!” Aleeza flops onto the sofa and grabs the TV remote.

  “You’ll wrinkle your outfit,” Bisma warns.

  “I don’t care,” Aleeza says, then quickly adjusts her kameez beneath her. “It doesn’t feel like Eid. Baba’s not here. We were supposed to leave for the party like an hour ago. And now we’re stuck at home, because people are coming over.”

  “Your whining doesn’t make it any better,” I snap at her. She’s right that it’s been a pretty disappointing day so far. Baba had to fly out for an interview in Maryland early this morning, before the rest of us went to the mosque for prayers. It’s our first Eid without him, and everyone’s been on edge. But it’s only three o’clock in the afternoon. Maybe things will turn around.

  “Come on, guys—it’s Eid,” Bisma pleads. “Can’t you be nice to each other today?”

  “She should be nice. Jam’s always mean to me!” Aleeza shakes her finger at me, and her eyes fill up.

  So much for things turning around. There’s no way to sugarcoat it: My youngest sister is spoiled rotten. Aleeza’s only ten, but that doesn’t stop her from bossing around Bisma, who’s a year older than her. And it doesn’t matter to her that I’m thirteen and in middle school. Aleeza doesn’t respect me like she should.

  “Jameela!” Mama calls to me from the kitchen. “Can you go down and get the nice napkins? From the garage?”

  “Okay.” I’d rather face the lizards in the garage than listen to Aleeza whine for a second longer. Ever since Bisma saw a baby gecko scamper along the walls and freaked out like it had escaped from Jurassic Park, I’m the only one of us girls who dares to go in there alone.

  The air inside the garage is suffocating, which isn’t surprising, since it feels like five hundred degrees outside. This year Eid fell in August, the hottest month of the summer. Today also happens to be the kind of record-breaking scorcher of a day that earns Atlanta the nickname Hotlanta.

  The jumbo pack of napkins is on a crowded shelf, next to a box marked “JAMEELA’S STUFF: PRIVATE!!!” where I’ve stored my old journals and collection of last year’s middle school newspapers. I was the only sixth grader who was an assistant editor and had an article in every issue of the paper, so I saved two copies of each. I resist the urge to carry the box inside so I can reread them, savoring each word like I want to.

  Out of the corner of my eye I spot a lizard, frozen in place near the garage door opener. I decide it’s going to be the subject of a future article in the Mirza Memos, the family newspaper I’ve been writing since I was nine years old. Maybe I’ll research whether geckos have ever harmed humans, or how to get over the fear of creatures that resemble tiny alligators. If that includes hypnosis, I hope my sisters will let me try it out on them.

  I make sure my box isn’t at risk of getting crushed by the endless stream of things that flow out of our town house into the garage. Then I grab a stack of napkins and head upstairs to the kitchen. Mama is arranging mini samosas on a platter, while Maryam cuts the raspberry bars she made into neat squares.

  “Can you put those on the table with this fruit?” Mama’s brow furrows as she eyes the simple cotton shalwar kameez I threw on for Eid prayers earlier. “Aren’t you going to change into your new clothes?”

  This morning I hit my snooze button over and over, which left no time to iron the bright green outfit with sparkly gold thread work I’d left crumpled on my floor after trying it on last week. All I needed was a big star on my head, and I would have looked exactly like a walking Christmas tree decorated with tinsel. But since Mama’s cousin in Pakistan had sent me the outfit, and because I knew it must have been expensive, I pretended to like it.

  “Please say you will,” Maryam adds. My older sister is elegant in her silvery-gray outfit with black embroidery. Her makeup, perfected after hours of watching tutorials on YouTube, is flawless. She’s wearing a high bun, with wisps of loosened hairs that frame her cheekbones. As she bats her dark lashes at me, I squint at her, trying to tell if they’re fake. She looks older than fifteen, and is glamorous.

  “It’s too hot for silk. Who’s coming over, anyway?” I tuck a curl that escaped my ponytail behind my ear and try not to think about how my rolled-out-of-bed look compares to Maryam’s. “Why do we need to impress them with fancy napkins?”

  “Uncle Saeed. He’s bringing his nephew. I’m just trying to make it special for Eid,” Mama says.

  I perk up when I hear “Uncle Saeed.” He’s Baba’s best friend, and our dentist. He’s always armed with corny jokes and free toothbrushes.

  When the doorbell rings, my mother gives me a gentle shove.

  “Go change your clothes, and fix your hair, please,” she urges. “There’s a big stain on your kameez.”

  “It’s fine,” I say as I bound down the stairs for the door. “Uncle Saeed won’t care. I’ll change before the party.”

  I throw the door open.

  “Eid Mubarak!” Uncle Saeed declares. He’s holding a light blue box in his outstretched arms, and beads of sweat have already formed on his forehead. “Something sugary for the sweetest of days.” Uncle often speaks as if he’s quoting a Hallmark card.

  “Eid Mubarak.” I take the box and scan the label. Yes! It’s from Sugar Kisses Bakery. Mama thinks it’s overpriced and refuses to take us there. But when I tried their salted-caramel cupcake at Kayla’s birthday party, it was literally one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted. “Thank you! Come on in.”

  “Oof. It’s too hot today. Eid Mubarak.” Farah Auntie manages a weak smile, but her nose wrinkles slightly when she scans my hair and outfit.

  “Are you feeling okay?” she whispers before hugging me three times, enveloping me in the overpowering scent of her perfume. “Such simple clothes for Eid?”

  “I’m great.” I brush off Auntie’s questions, since she’s always one to gently point out how I dress too plainly for parties. Or weddings. Or Eid. If I were wearing my tinsel-tree getup, I’m sure I’d hear “Oh mashallah, today you look nice,” no matter how uncomfortable or sweaty I felt. I’ve learned to let her and the other aunties comment about me, and then gush over Maryam. She puts enough effort into dressing up for both of us.

  Uncle clears his throat.

  “Jameela, this is my nephew, Ali, from London.”

  A tall boy with curly hair steps out from behind his uncle. I don’t know anything about Pakistani fashion, but his crisp blue shalwar kameez with silver buttons isn’t like the plain beige- or tan-colored ones Baba and Uncle wear. That, along with the way he’s shielding his eyes from the bright light, makes it seem like he could be posing for the cover of my mom’s glossy South Asian lifestyle magazine, Libas. I almost want to laugh.

  “Asalaamualaikum,” he says to me, extending his hand like a grown-up, although he can’t be much older than me. “Pleasure to meet you.” Ali’s accent is definitely British, and his voice is deeper than I expected it to be.

  “Wa . . . waalaikum asalaam,” I stammer as his dark eyes pierce mine. Suddenly I have another vision of how disheveled I must appear, and my cheeks heat up from more than the hot sun. I offer a limp handshake, try to cover up the stain on my shirt by folding it over, and gesture toward the stairs.

  “Come on in. It’s a lot cooler inside. Everyone’s upstairs,” I mumble. “I have to . . . um. I’ll be right back. I just have to change and um, get ready.”

  2

  How do you like Atlanta, Ali?” Mama asks when we’re crammed around the dining table. Everyone’s plates and bowls are filled with the traditional Pakistani treats that my mother serves on Eid, along with other favorites my sisters and I have added over
the years.

  “It’s pretty good,” Ali answers politely after he polishes off his fifth or sixth samosa.

  I try not to stare at how much he’s eating or fixate on Ali’s mouth while he speaks. I know that Desi people can have British accents and that there are tons of people who immigrated at some point from India and Pakistan living in the United Kingdom. But I haven’t met any of them before, and Ali’s voice doesn’t seem to match his face.

  There’s a cupcake sitting on my plate, and I slowly unwrap it from the paper, thinking this Eid might be getting better after all. Then, as I bite into the buttery cake, a glob of toffee icing falls into my lap. It leaves a greasy smear mark on the green silk of my new outfit when I try to wipe it off. I look up, but no one noticed except for Ali, who hides his mouth behind his napkin and raises an eyebrow ever so slightly.

  “Were you born in England?” Aleeza asks. She’s hanging on Ali’s every word and seems to have forgotten about sulking and the party we’re missing as she grills him.

  “Ah, yes. Born and bred.”

  “Why did you come here by yourself?” she presses.

  Ali shifts in his seat, and I see Mama give Aleeza a signal that means “don’t be nosy.”

  “My mum’s finishing up work and selling our house. I’m here so I can begin school on time,” Ali replies. He pauses for a moment before continuing. “My father died last year, and we’re moving here to be near my uncle and auntie.”

  “Oh.” Aleeza frowns and drops her head.

  “We were so sorry to hear of your father’s passing,” Mama interjects. She reaches over the table and pats Ali’s hand. “It was a huge loss for your uncle, and I know for you.”

  “Thank you.” Ali nods, but his eyes seem darker than before.

  I swallow hard, remembering when Uncle Saeed’s younger brother passed away unexpectedly. Mama took massive amounts of food to their house to feed the crowds of people offering condolences. When I went over, I saw Uncle Saeed cry so intensely his shoulders shook, even though he made no sound. The image of his grief haunted me for days. It feels weird to connect that moment to Ali months later, realize I don’t know any details about how or why his father died, and imagine how Ali must feel.

  “I’m sorry Faisal isn’t here.” Uncle Saeed changes the subject and brings up my father.

  “He had a meeting that couldn’t be rescheduled,” Mama explains.

  “We understand. But how terrible for him to have to miss Eid.” Auntie pours herself a piping-hot cup of tea despite the fact that she was just complaining again about the weather. It doesn’t matter that we’re in the South. My parents and their friends aren’t ever going to switch from drinking chai to my favorite thing about living in Georgia: extra-sweet tea with lots of ice.

  “We know how it is,” Uncle Saeed adds. “Don’t worry.”

  Mama’s definitely worried, because her lips are pressed together like they are when she’s anxious, but she doesn’t say anything else to explain why Baba’s meeting is important enough for him to be away. The truth is, there’s no way Baba would normally let work get in the way of celebrating Eid. But a few weeks ago, the contract he was working on for over two years at the Centers for Disease Control ended without any warning. That’s why he doesn’t have any work right now. And that’s why he flew to Maryland to explore what he called “a new opportunity.”

  “Do you have to go?” my sisters and I whined in a chorus when we heard the news.

  “No one would schedule meetings on Christmas,” I argued. “Eid is like Christmas. It’s no fair!”

  Baba shrugged, jokingly asked me not to write letters to the editor to protest the unfairness of his interview date, and promised to be gone only for a night.

  I study my mother’s face while she tries to act like everything is fine. I know it’s an act, because I’ve overheard my parents discussing money and how we’ll need to make “major changes” if Baba doesn’t find a new job soon. I have no idea what those are, but Mama already took extra shifts at the physical therapy practice where she works as an office manager.

  Since there’s no sweet tea, I pour myself a cup of chai and take a careful sip. Bleh. It’s bland.

  “Can you pass the sugar?” I point to the sugar bowl in front of Ali. “Please.”

  “How much?” He uncovers the bowl for me.

  “Three,” I say.

  “Jam likes tea with her sugar,” Mama explains.

  “Bad for your teeth.” Uncle Saeed jumps at the chance to offer free dental advice. “Did you know some people hold a sugar cube in their teeth as they sip tea? Terrible idea.”

  Ali hesitates, not sure what to do, but I push my cup forward. He obliges me and drops three heaping spoons of sugar into my teacup.

  “Thanks.” As the sugar dissolves, I feel everyone watching us, and warmth fills my cheeks. It might be the steam from the tea that’s making me flushed again. Or the fear of cavities after Uncle Saeed’s warning. Or maybe it’s the way Ali is looking at me?

  “You’ll be in eighth grade, right?” Mama steers the conversation back to Ali’s plans. “Maryam will be starting at the high school this year. But Jameela will be at your school, in seventh grade. She can help you out.”

  “That’s fab,” Ali says.

  “Don’t you mean ‘brilliant’?” Aleeza asks. “Isn’t that what you people say?”

  “Don’t say ‘you people,’ ” Bisma whispers loudly. “It’s racist.”

  “Racist against who?” Aleeza shoots back while I roll my eyes.

  “Hey, hey.” Mama suppresses a laugh. “If you guys are done eating, why don’t you go show Ali around?”

  Maryam picks up her dishes. “Come on, Ali.”

  “Brilliant,” Ali says. He winks at Aleeza and lifts his plate and cup, and we follow him into the kitchen.

  “You’re our guest.” Maryam places her dishes in the sink and takes Ali’s out of his hands. “You don’t need to do that.”

  “So, this is the kitchen,” Aleeza announces. She waves her hand as if she’s showing off a prize on a game show.

  “This is twice the size of our kitchen back home.” Ali takes in the counters crammed with appliances and canisters, and then walks over to the refrigerator, which is covered with photos, magnets, and coupons.

  The most recent issue of the Mirza Memos is tacked up on the fridge too. I write new issues to celebrate things that happen in the family, share big news, or deliver not-so-subtle messages. This one’s headline screams MISSING LEFTOVER PASTA! INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY, PERSON OF INTEREST SOUGHT. I try to pull Ali’s attention away before he notices it or the photo booth images of me making duck faces with my best friends Lily and Kayla from the school carnival last May.

  “If you think this kitchen is big, you must think Uncle Saeed’s house is a palace,” I say.

  Ali turns to face me.

  “A bit, yeah. The bedrooms and closets are huge! My sister would be over the moon.”

  “How old’s your sister?” Maryam asks.

  “Zoya’s three years younger than me. I’m fourteen, so that makes her . . . man, almost eleven already.”

  “Same as me.” Bisma taps his arm and smiles shyly.

  “Is that right? No wonder we’re going to be mates,” Ali says with a gentle smile. I feel a rush of gratitude and wonder how he already seems to see Bisma the way I do—something precious to handle with extra care.

  We walk into the family room, and Ali sits on the worn, overstuffed armchair I’ve claimed as mine. I feel three sets of eyes on me, as my sisters probably wait for me to tell him to “move it” like I would to them. I’m tempted, but imagine my mother’s warning to behave and be a good host. So I let him stay put, and settle onto the sofa to see what else we can learn about our brilliant British guest.

  3

  He’s nice, for a boy,” Bisma declares. She’s wearing owl pajamas and is nestled into the pile of stuffed animals on her bed.

  “Yeah.” Aleeza is lying across
the foot of the bed. “It’ll be fun to have a brother around for a change.”

  That’s what Mama called Ali when we said good-bye to him. Actually, she didn’t exactly call him our brother. She’d given him a big hug and said, “You’re going to be the son I never had.” That stung a little, since I’ve grown up hearing elder aunties ask for years if she was going to “try for a boy.” I always felt proud when she’d respond that she was perfectly happy with her girls. I decided that Mama was probably just being motherly with Ali, the way she is with my friends whenever they come over.

  We sat talking in the family room with him for at least an hour and ended up missing the Eid party completely. Aleeza continued to interrogate Ali with questions like when would his mom get here (he doesn’t know yet), whether he’d ever met the queen of England (not yet), and if his school was like Hogwarts (not quite). Ali quickly turned things around and started asking us about our lives, like what we do for fun, what activities we enjoy, what school’s like, and so on.

  While we were talking, he looked directly at each of us when we spoke about ourselves. But he dropped his eyes and twirled the tassel on the end of the pillow next to him whenever we asked about his life in London. The only thing he was excited to discuss was his favorite football team, Arsenal. It was confusing at first, until he explained that football in England is what we call soccer, and that he doesn’t understand American football. I invited him to watch a Falcons game with Baba and me so we could teach him, and he acted surprised at first but quickly accepted the offer and thanked me.

  I caught him staring at Maryam a few times when she wasn’t paying attention, which is no shock. She has one of those faces you want to keep looking at. People gawk at her all the time, and I’ve gotten used to it. Mostly. Sometimes it’s hard to not feel bad that I don’t have the same effect on people.

  Maryam and Mama share wide eyes, high cheekbones, smooth brown skin, and thick wavy hair. I look more like my father, but with long dark wild curls, softer features, and a rounded nose. Bisma has curls like mine, only hers are a medium brown. And it looks like she’s not done growing into her face, with eyes that are too large for it and a tiny nose. I’m accustomed to hearing that Aleeza is the sister whose face most resembles mine, but all I see is that we share the same scowl. She’s got silky shoulder-length hair that’s usually in a headband, and turquoise-framed glasses.