The Badboy, the Catfish & Me

Twenty-Nine

Later that night, with our bags packed, I stepped out of the house and into the family car. While the girls of Maxwell High were still dancing under pounding music, I was buckling my seatbelt with a Polaroid camera on my lap.

My family of three, plus one aunt, found themselves talking over each other as we loaded our luggage into the car. We would fly to Buffalo since Baba didn't want to drive six and a half hours straight to the Canadian border. Aunt Naomi was in the backseat next to me so she could drive our car back from the airport to park it in the house's garage.

The drive took well over an hour, and it wasn't long into the trip that I found myself thinking of my friends. Neither Salah nor Ameena had applied to Cornell. Salah applied to colleges farther away, and Ameena was going for a gap year to consider possible career options as an artist while managing her upcoming wedding.

I sighed and remembered I brought a notebook to compose my salutatory speech. I rifled through my hand luggage and opened the small book. The blankness of the pages only intimidated me. I put the notebook away and decided to take a nap for the duration of the plane ride to ease my mind off my thoughts.

Unpacking our things with tired eyes, I glanced at the time on my phone to see if I had gotten a few texts earlier. It was a message from Ameena and Salah in our group chat.

I sat on the bed beside my open suitcase to see a picture of Ameena with her prom date. Blurred in the background was the entrance of the venue for prom.

👑 Queen Salah 👑: yesssss girl

I knew you could pull off carnival

Inaya: You and your man look sooooo cute!

Match made in heaven!

Can you tell us now if he goes to our school? I've never seen him before

👑 Queen Salah 👑: That's because you only have eyes for Valentino

Inaya: So you're telling me you've seen him around??

👑 Queen Salah 👑: He looks familiar

I waved my arm to get her mom's attention. "Mama! Look at this," I called her over. "This is my friend Ameena. Her parents are planning to get her married to that guy."

"Really? Masha'Allah." Mama observed the picture with wide eyes. "They look happy. Yusuf, come look."

I tilted the phone to let both my parents see the picture.

"Yeah, they look good," Baba agreed.

"What do you think about marrying young, Inaya?"

My cheeks went red at the question. "No. Well, I don't know. I like my life the way it is. Plus, you said no boys until the end of college."

"All right, I just wanted your opinion," Mama said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Stop giving her ideas," Baba said to Mama with a serious frown. "I'm not ready to let go of my princess yet."

"Don't worry, Baba. I'm not going anywhere," I laughed. "I haven't even gotten my driver's license yet. You guys are going to be stuck with me for years!"

Baba's lips widened into a smile. "And I wouldn't mind one bit."

"You're just saying that because she'll drive you to that fishing spot with your work friends," my mama rolled her eyes.

"As if you wouldn't have her drive you and Naomi to every museum in the city!" Baba shot back.

Mama gasped at the accusation. "I wouldn't! Inaya would enjoy it as much as we do! Oh, and this is for you, Inaya," she added. She turned away and retrieved something from the suitcase.