will be assured a spot in hell?
Do you know what the difference is between you and your father? He loved me with nobility while you love the Human with villainy. Your father repented when he loved me, and you will sin because of the Human.”
How could I respond to that? These were the harshest words I had ever heard from mother in my life.
“Hawjan. Bury me here,” she said.
“Wait. What?”
“My will is for you to bury me here when I die. Under this tree, next to your father.”
“My father is buried here? Then whose grave have I been visiting for the past thirty years?”
“If your uncles ever found out where your father is buried, they would dig him out and bury him with them. That’s why no one knows his real gravesite other than me—not even your grandfather. I buried him here.”
A shiver went through my body as my mother fell on to her knees and started weeping. “Oh, Meehal, why did you leave me? Oh, how I wish my day came before yours! I wish I would die now and be relived of the burdens of this life!”
“Mother, do not say such things. Forget about the Humans. We can take our stuff and go live somewhere else.”
“May Allah ease my pain for leaving you, Meehal.” Then she suddenly stopped crying and stood up straight. “Your grandfather! We can’t leave him alone.”
She raced back home as if her intuition had told her that Grandfather was in danger, and I followed. I saw him at the dumpster near the villa—I saw Xanam. A black cat with a filthy, mocking gaze. I knew what he was up to, and I wished I could sever his head from his body, but I couldn’t touch him when he was formed in your world.
Mother noticed him and went toward him. He tried—but failed—to hide his fear of her behind a sarcastic smile. She told him “What business do you have here, son of Santool?”
“How did you know me, daughter of the Nafar?”
“Your uncle taught me a lot of things that you cannot imagine!”
Xanam quickly moved behind the dumpster and came out the other side in his original form. He understood what Mother meant
She could easily kill him while he was in his cat form, as he could only do what the body he was in could do unless he were an Efreet or a Marid. That’s why most Formers like to form as snakes, cats, or dogs. Each has its own abilities, and none of these animals are hunted, thus reducing risk. Formers also prefer the color black as it’s easier and more intimidating, so Humans will avoid them. If you want to know a formed Jinni, look directly into his eyes. His gaze is different from a normal animal’s, and you can easily distinguish the two because of the spark of intelligence that normal animals do not have and Jinn cannot hide, that is why a Jinni would avoid eye contact in fear of being found out.
Xanam was now back in our world in fear of Mother, who he suspected of being an Efreet.
“I heard there’s a haunted house here,” he said. “So I thought I should come ask about the rent.”
I attacked him for his repulsive mockery of my mother. He pushed me aside as I was trying to get a grip on his throat.
“Behave yourself, you filthy animal!” he said. “I told you before I’d kill you if I saw you here again!”
I think he avoided a clash with me and Mother as he was scared we would overtake him…yet he went on with his mockery. “Behave yourself, boy! When adults are talking, teenagers shut up. Just worry about your sweetheart!”
Mother kept her cool and used her strict voice. “I said , what are you doing here, son of Santool?”
“I came here on personal business. A wizard requested I do a project in this house.”
And for the first time I heard Mother defend the family of Dr. Abdulraheem: “You filthy liar. The family in this house are better than you and your wizard! Its owner knows God, he prays, fasts and worships, God’s name is always remembered in this house by him or my father!”
Xanam replies: “You have such confidence in