I had the worst luck today.
I glanced at the kitchen drawer I’d opened and had left slightly ajar. It stuck out a half centimeter farther than the counter. I was sure he checked it every morning before he left. I breathed the shallowest breaths I was able without passing out. Only inches and a door stood between us. The floorboards squeaked as Kamal passed right in front of me and moved into the kitchen. I had become stone. He paused a millisecond before pulling out the silverware drawer. His eyes lit somewhere in the middle of the counter. He must’ve been trying to remember if he’d closed the drawer the last time he’d been in here. He was definitely on the phone.
All he had to do was turn and look my direction and he’d see me. “For you, I’ll make it work. You’re my best customer.” Kamal smiled that winning smile even though he thought no one was there to see it. I closed my eyes.
I could hear searching noises and then the sounds of the ledger being opened and thumbed through. “I’m pretty sure I have one like that, but I don’t have it with me. I’ll have to let you know.”
My eyes darted to Kamal’s hands. He held a key. Had I seen a key when I looked in the drawer? No.
“Are you serious? That much? We keep the same fifty-fifty split, right?” Kamal looked my way. This was it. I was busted. But he wasn’t actually looking at me but at some unknown object in the air. I wanted to look behind me and see what he was seeing, but forced myself to remain a stone.
“Good.” He tossed the key into the air and caught it. “I don’t really care why this buyer wants to pay triple for flash drives collected in the next week, but I’ll take it. I’ll keep them for you.” He put the ledger and flatware back into the drawer and shut it.
They had been talking about flash drives. I wished I could hear the other end of the conversation.
“I have a girl who seems to have the touch with knowing where those are. I’ll encourage her to get more.” Kamal’s voice sounded truly thankful. “I could use the extra money for sure.” He walked out of the kitchen, only an arm’s length from me, staring at the key in his hand before slipping it into his pocket as he passed me. Kamal’s laugh was pinched, forced. I could feel rather than hear him move toward the door. Kamal was going to get a lot closer to his goal, whatever that was.
He stepped outside and talked a bit more before bidding the buyer farewell. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek, and I took the chance while he was outside and wiped it away. Kamal’s fingers curled around the door. The question was, would he come into the apartment again or was he leaving? If he caught me, the mission would be a total loss. Be the coat. Be the coat.
He started to pull the door closed and then stopped and started talking again. “Marni?” There was a pause. “No. I’m happy you called.”
He was speaking in Arabic. I didn’t know a lot of Arabic, but I had learned the basics while at Bresen Spy Academy. It was a required course. By the end of the month, I’d gone through the entire Arabic to English dictionary. And while I could recognize all the characters and had said most of the words at least once, I hadn’t had someone speak it enough to understand everything.
He continued, and I was glad to discover I could understand enough of what he’d said to piece together a lot of it. He was surprised Marni had called because they had planned on talking that night. He told her about the possibility of getting extra money this week and talked about having enough money in ten months. That when he got it, everything would be all right and they’d be able to get her the help she needed. He also talked about a girl who was going to make it easy to make the money in ten months because she was twice as productive as his seasoned pickpockets. Apparently, they’d calculated it taking five years to get the money they needed, and he was hoping to cut that time in half.
He told Marni that he couldn’t wait to be with her and even called her habibi, which was Arabic for my love. He told her he couldn’t quit just yet but that he wished he could. It was a sacrifice, but it was also the only way. They spoke about his paintings, but I didn’t understand it all. Then he told her when he came to her in ten months, he would be a full-time artist. Again he mentioned a girl that was making it possible to happen so quickly. Then he told her he loved her and couldn’t wait to see her.
I wondered who this girl pickpocket was. Was he referring to me? It seemed a reasonable conclusion to draw. I assumed he ended the call, because his hand reached out and shut the door behind him. I heard his footsteps pound down the wooden apartment building steps. I exhaled sharply.
I stayed where I was. People forgot things all the time. I waited the two minutes and forty-five seconds necessary to make sure he was gone for good as my mind whirred with what I’d just heard. Someone was excited about buying drives and was willing to pay a considerable amount for them. This changed everything. Not only
