Chapter 1- Majd

   Mama was getting hungry so she wanted to start dinner.

   "You must help me, Lina." she said to me. "I can't do this myself." She could've, but in our culture always had to cook.

   "Yes mama." I raced to the kitchen eager to eat because it was during Ramadan. I got some pots and pans from the cabinets.

   "What will we make?" I asked Mama. I was getting hungry too.

   "Lentil soup. Maybe some bread also." I decided to get lentils from the pantry and go to the market place to get some broth and chicken to go with it.

   "I must go to the market place." I said quietly.

   "I'll go with you." We walked to go to the big market place. I figured she didn't want me to go alone. Our city was called Casablanca and it was big.

   "We need some broth and chicken please." she welled as we walked up to a stand in the market place.

   "Yes, coming right up." the man at the stand said. "What kind of broth?"

   "Chicken." We had to wait a minute to get the ingredients.

   "Here you go." the man handed us food.

   "Merci." we said. The walk home was painful because we were getting hungrier by the second.

   "You know mom, you've never told me about my dad." I said while we were walking.

   "I'll tell you over dinner."

   "Yes mom.

   "Salam alykoum Lina and Jirna." a man walked up to us.

   "Salam Uncle Abdou." I said with a smile.

   "How are you my brother?" my mom asked with a smile and hugged him. I hugged him after.

   "Great, great. And you?"

   "Hungry." she said with a laugh.

   "Perhaps you can join me for dinner. Lulja's almost done." Lulja was my aunt.

   "Yes. Thank you." I thought that Mama would forget the dad talk.

   "Uncle, how's Auntie Lulja?" I asked.

   "Very great. Great indeed."

   "How's cousin Hamada and cousin Nour?"

   "Great, also. They've achieved greatly in school." We neared Uncle's house.

   The house had ome story. When you walked through the door, you could see the living room on the left and the kitchen on the right. In the wall seperating the kitchen and the living room was a big rectangle shape window.

   The living room was small with a little television and couch. It was the plainest room in the whole house. The kitchen was huge. The dinning table was by the window. The kitchen wasn't a modern kitchen. Like our kitchen, it had most of the traditional tools. There was a brick oven. The only modern things were a stove and refrigerater.*

   The yard had a big lawn with a gigantic tree.

   "Come on in! How are you Jirna and Lina?" Auntie Lulja said with a smile from the door.

   "Great." we both said opening the door.

   "Hamada, Nour, Auntie Jirna and cousin Lina are here!" Auntie Lulja yelled turning her head. Hamada was sixteen and Nour was fourteen. Nour was my age. 

    My two cousins ran toward us. "Salam Lina and Auntie Jirna." Hamada and Nour said.

   "Salam Hamada and Nour." Mama and I said.

   "Dinner's done. Let's eat!" Auntie said after she walked to the kitchen.

   "Sit down at whatever seat you'd like." Uncle said.

   I picked the seat next to Hamada and Mama.

   "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell Auntie Jirna and Lina that I have a guest visiting. He'll be here in any minute." Hamada announced.

   "He'll be here! He'll!" I thought.

   "He's here." Hamada said after head a knock at the door. He walked back with a handsome boy after he got the door.

   "Hello everyone! My name is Majd." the boy said.

   "Everyone this is Majd. Majd," Hamada pointed at Nour. "this is my brother, Nour, this is my mother, Lulja" then he pointed at my mom after pointing at Auntie "this is my Auntie Jirna, this is my father, Abdou, and" he started to point at me "this is my cousin, Lina." Majd stared at me the longest.

   "Hi everyone! Nice to meet you all!" Majd said.

   "Now let's eat." Auntie said. We all got in our seats. Hamada sat next to me on my left and Mama on my right. Majd was across from Hamada. Nour was next to Majd and Auntie. Uncle was at the head of the table.

   "Let me start the prayer." Uncle said.

   "Allah o akbar. Allah o abkar." It went on from there.

   Auntie served lentils and cous cous* with bread and chicken.

   "So, Lina, how are you doing in school?" Hamada asked me.

   "Good. I've been achieving well. So has my friend, Dida." Dida had been my best friend since I started school.

   "Great."

   "Abdou, Lulja, Nour, and Hamada, you have a great house." Majd said smiling."

   "Thank you." Abdou said smiling.

   "Lina, where do you go to school?" Majd asked me.

   "Casablanca High School like Hamada. And you?"

   "Same. I'm surprised I've never seen you."

   "We probably have. It's my first year going there."

   "Me too. So you must be fourteen too."

   "Yes, I am."

   "Good."

   Dinner went great. Majd talked to me most of the time, but I expected it.

   "Lina, would you like to go to the school dance with me? Forgive me for asking if you're going with someone else." Majd asked me at the end of dinner. The dance was coming up and I didn't get asked yet.

   "Sure, I'd love to."

   "Great. Well, I must be going now. Thank you for having me as a guest." he said rising up.

   "You're very welcoe. It was a pleasure." Uncle said.

   "See you tomorrow Hamada. You too Lina." Majd said with a smile.

   "See you." Hamada and I said.

   He walked up to the door and opened it. He soon disappeared outside.

   "We should be going too." Mama said.

   "Ok. Would you and Lina like to go with us to the mosque on Saturday?" Auntie asked us.

   "Sure. We'd love to." Mama replied. "Thank you for having us."

   "You're welcome." Abdou said. We rose to leave. We dissapeared outside.

   "Mama, could you tell me about my dad?" I asked her while we were walking.

   "Now's a good time. I met your father here. We stayed here and after a year had you. He was American, born and raised in California. He left one day because he said he couldn't handle having a child. I've never seen him since."

   "So, that's why my skin is lighter than everyone else's?"

   "Yes."

   "Ok."

  

  

   

 

 

Author's Note

*don't know if spelled right
ignore spelling mistakes if any

Reviews

[Jovie]

This seems good so far, I suggest trying to better describe the environment.

[Dutch Jr.]

Good writing, but try to mix it up with a more vivid description of the environment/atmosphere. Other than that, I really like how your plot is developing, and I plan to read more.

[Titan]

The storyline was interesting. One tip: try to vary a little in your writing and add a little less dialogue. Don't be afraid to use imagery and metaphors and include even paragraphs describing your characters' environment. :) All in all, though, very nice. I look forward to reading some of the following chapters in the future.

[Frantzuu]

great intro good job.

[Mary]

Had a little trouble following all of the characters, but it was good i liked it! Interesting dialouge and maybe it could use a little more description, but i could paint a picture in my head so great job:)

[Coyote Poetry]

A good beginning to the story. I like the conversation and education of a culture. The character are interesting. Look forward to reading more.
Coyote