Mohammed had his hands on Christy’s stomach. He couldn’t feel any bulge or any sign of her pregnancy. He suspected that she hadn’t been pregnant for long, maybe just a couple days. But he was able to feel the life that was growing in her stomach, he couldn’t describe or explain it, it was just something that he felt when his hands were placed on her stomach. Christy saw the look that was on his face, and she knew that he felt it as well. She knew that he was able to feel what she had been feeling for that entire week since she found out.
Christy then held Mohammed’s hand and removed it from her abdomen, she wanted to return to the task at hand. She turned her head to look at Abdul.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
Abdul didn’t say anything. He looked down on the ground. Then he closed his eyes. Christy asked him again, louder this time.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” She said.
Abdul still did not say anything. He continued to look down and kept his eyes closed. Mohammed then turned around and looked at Abdul. Then he slowly placed his hands on his shoulders. Abdul then lifted his head up and looked at him in the face.
“My son, please explain to us what you mean?” Mohammed asked him.
“Jason did not go anywhere, nor did he get hit by that train. Jason is still alive. If what you and Christy is saying is true, and they are both married.” He said.
Then he turned his head to look at Christy in the eyes.
“May I please ask you a question?” He said to her.
Christy gave a long pause, then she began to blink a few times as she stared back at him. She didn’t know what to say or how to respond to him.
“Uhh… yeah, sure.” She said as she cringed her face.
“Have you been with another boy other than Jason, through wedlock or in a sexual way?” He asked her.
She quickly responded and began to shake her head from side to side.
“No, no, he’s the only one, he’s the only one that I’ve been with.” She said as she continued to shake her head from side to side.
Abdul then gave a short pause. He continued to look at Christy in her eyes. Then after a few seconds he turned his head to face Mohammed.
“Tell her what she must do.” He softly said.
Then he placed his hands in his pockets and began walking in the opposite direction.
Christy and Mohammed both stared at him as he slowly walked away. Christy then grudgingly turned her head and looked at Mohammed as he had his gaze forward, watching Abdul as he walked away.
“Mr. Mohammed, wh-what was he talking about?” She said quietly.
“What do you have to tell me?” She added.
Mohammed kept staring, he didn’t say anything. After about a minute or so he finally turned to face her.
“Come on, let’s go Christy.” He said to her then he turned around and started heading up the steps.
Christy followed behind him as he walked. She kept looking at the rhythmic pattern that Mohammed had in each of his steps. It wasn’t fast nor slow, it was right in between. Mohammed didn’t say anything the entire time, he just kept his head up looking forward, a certain shroud of confusion and unhappiness covered his face. As soon as he climbed all the way up the stairs, Mohammed opened the door to the passenger seat of his all black Toyota Corolla, then he walked around and opened the driver seat and and got in and closed the door. Then he looked forward to the windshield and waited for Christy to come in.
A few seconds later Christy got in the passenger seat, she sat down and then she closed the door gently and turned to look at Mohammed, as he had his eyes forward with a blank expression on his face.
“Mr. Mohammed, what was he talking about? What did he mean?” She softly asked him.
He still had a blank expression on his face and didn’t say anything as he continued to stare forward.
“Mr. Mohammed, what—” Christy began to ask.
Then Mohammed turned his head to face Christy.
“May I please ask you a question?” He said to her.
“Yeah, definitely, ask me.” Christy immediately responded.
Mohammed waited a few seconds as he gathered his thought in his head, he wanted to choose his words carefully.
“If your mother would have said yes, if she would have allowed for you and Jason to get married, would you have gone through with it?” He looked at her and asked.
“Yes, yes I would’ve. Mr. Mohammed I love Jason, he’s the only boy that I want to be with. I love him so much and I just want him to come back!” She said as she started sobbing and tears began to well up in her eyes.
Mohammed looked at her as she spoke, he saw the tears that fell from her cheek. He knew that they were sincere, he knew that she wasn’t lying.
“Ok, please Christy. Do not cry okay. Please, you have to be very attentive if we want to bring Jason back.” He said.
Christy nodded her head up and down and she began to wipe the tears from her eyes with the back of her left hand.
Mohammed then turned his head and looked at Christy. He then slowly placed his hand on top of hers.
“Jason is my son. And you, you are my daughter. When I placed my hands on your stomach I knew Jason was inside of you, I could feel him. When my wife Lisa was pregnant with him about 14 years ago I used to touch her stomach and I would feel something, a certain feeling, I just am not able to explain it. That same feeling, I felt it when I touched your stomach.” He said as he continued to look at her.
“Abdul is right. Jason has not gone anywhere, he is still alive, inside you.” He said.
“I am not able to explain it all, but please you have to trust me.” He continued to say.
He lifted her hands up to his face. The same feeling that she got when Jason placed his hands on hers was the same feeling that she was getting now, and she knew that she was able to trust Mohammed and everything that he was telling her was the truth.
“Tonight, okay, after 7:25pm, I want you to go in the bathroom, wash both of your hands and your arms, up to your elbows, wash your face, wash your ears, wash your head, then wash your feet. After you are done, go lay down on your bed, close your eyes. Then simply just ask for Jason to come back. Say that you do not want to bring this child into this world without his father and you want him to come back. Say that Jason is your husband and that you love him and you want him to come back. You have to make a choice my child. Jason, or your son?” He said as he continued to gaze in her eyes.
Mohammed had Christy’s hands in his as they were lifted close to his chest. Christy looked deep into Mohammed’s eye, she saw Jason staring back at her. Then she nodded her head slowly.
“Okay, I will.” She said.
Tears began to well up in Mohammed’s eye. He quickly blinked away the tears and turned his head away to the side and put the key in the ignition and started the car.
They both didn’t say anything for the entire time they were in the car. Mohammed slowly pulled up to Christy’s house, he parked on the side of the street. Christy opened her door and began to step out. Mohammed then gently grabbed Christy by the shoulder before she stepped out. Christy turned around and looked at him.
“Please. He’s my son.” He said as a single tear trickled down his cheek.
Christy didn’t say anything. She slowly closed the door and began walking into her house.
“CHRISTY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I’VE BEEN—” Crystal Angela began to say.
Christy ignored her and headed up the stairs into her room. She closed the door and went to lie down on her bed. She then pulled out her iPhone from her pocket and looked at the time.
“6:33pm” It won’t even be an hour. She turned off the phone and placed it on top of the bed. Then she turned around and began lying down on her left hand side on the bed. She then curled up her legs and began hugging her stomach as she closed her eyes. Images of Jason began to fill her head. She could see his smile. She could hear his voice. She could feel him laying down in the bed next to her, hugging her from behind like he always used to. Then she blinked a couple times, and closed her eyes again and drifted.
She slowly opened them back up, she picked up her phone that was lying down on the bed next to her and she looked at the time. “11:55pm”. She had overslept. Immediately she got up and walked into the bathroom that was in her room. She turned on the light and walked over to the sink. Then she turned on the water and began to wash her hands. Then she washed her forearms, all the way up to the elbows. She then splashed water on her face and into her mouth, and in both her earlobes, just like Mohammed had told him to. As she was doing this she then heard her front door opening and closing. She knew that it was only her mother, Crystal Angela. Today was Thursday and she works the night shift at UPENN on Thursdays.
After she was done washing her face, she drew her long black hair to the back of her head then she splashed water on it. Afterwards she pulled the hair back up front and then she walked to the tub. She pulled the curtains to the side and she sat on the floor and put her feet inside, then she turned on the water on the faucet and drew both of her feet in and began to wipe. When she was done she got up off the floor, walked to the door, turned off the light switch, then she stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
As she stepped back in her room she slowly walked over to her bed and sat down. She wanted to grab the blanket that was lying on the bed and use it as a towel to wipe her face but then she chose not to. She drew the pillow in and laid her head back, then she began to look up at the ceiling.
Thoughts began to fill Christy’s head. Mohammed had told her to just lay down on her bed and just ask for Jason to come back. It can’t possibly be that easy. And who was she supposed to ask? Nobody was in the room with her and the lights were off.
She turned around on the bed and placed her hands in between her legs, then she opened her eyes a bit and looked forward.
“I don’t know.” She began to say.
“Please, I don’t know. All I know is I want my husband back. All I know is I cannot do this, I am not able to. Please help me. Please bring Jason back.” She said as tears began falling down her cheeks.
“Jason is all I have, no one cares about me like he does. I don’t want to bring my son into this world without a father. Please, I want Jason back. I want my husband back. Please bri…” She stopped. Then she looked down.
She had her arms wrapped around her stomach. A huge light began to emanate from her lower abdomen. A huge blinding light. Christy drew her arms away from her stomach as she continued to stare at the light in amazement, she had never seen anything like it before. Her mouth began to open as she continued to gaze down in astonishment. Then she heard a faint crackling sound where her stomach was and the light was emanating from, it began to slowly open. The light grew even brighter, then Christy heard a soft “BOOM!”
A figure then appeared out of her stomach. A small miniature figure, it was tiny like a life size doll, and it had small wings which were sticking from out of its’ shoulder. It also had a small piece of paper which was plastered on its’ chest, the paper read “Arnold”. It looked up at Christy as she looked down on it.
“Wh-wh-who are you?” She quietly asked.
The small miniature figure didn’t say anything. It continued to stare at Christy. Then it slowly flapped his wings and began to hover up. It rose to Christy’s face and drew out his hand and placed it on Christy’s stomach, then it began to touch it. The bright light that was emanating from her stomach stopped shining and the small miniature figure quickly drew it’s head up and looked at Christy. Then it spoke.
“Allah can do anything.” It said.
Christy heard the soft “BOOM!” again. Then everything went dark.
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She then woke up, laying on her bed, she was in her room, the lights were off, and Jason was laying next to her, with his hands wrapped around her stomach. It was just a dream. Jason was still here, he was still alive and breathing. She immediately reached down with her hand and placed it on her stomach. She could not feel anything, the life that she was feeling in her stomach was no longer there. But Jason was. She slowly reached over with her hand and slowly rubbed Jason’s cheek and gave him a light kiss on top of his head. Jason then slowly opened his eyes and looked at his wife.
“What’s wrong baby?” He asked quietly.
Christy gave him a warm smile and began to shake her head slowly from side to side, letting him know that nothing was wrong.
Jason then reached with his hand and began to rub her bottom lip, and then he slowly drew her head into his arms as her long black hair covered his chest, he kissed her lightly on the head and began to rub her back.
“Go back to sleep, I love you.” He softly said.
Christy buried her head in his chest. She then gave a huge smile and shook her head.
“Okay daddy, I love you too.” She said.