The Magical Reality of Nadia

by Bassem Youssef

  * * *

  “Baba? Mama?” Nadia said at dinner that night. “Why did we come to America?”

  Baba paused with the serving spoon halfway to his plate. “That’s a big question, habibti. It’s complicated. Does this have something to do with the other night? All that about wishing we weren’t in the US?”

  Nadia hung her head, but nodded. “I want to know why we came here. Can you try to explain it?”

  Her parents exchanged a glance.

  “Okay, habibti, we will try,” said Mama.

  Nadia put her fork down. Her mom had made a delicious stew called molokhia. It was one of Nadia’s favorites, but she wanted to give this conversation her undivided attention.

  “When you were a baby,” Baba began, “there was an uprising to bring democracy to the Middle East and Northern Africa. It was called the Arab Spring. After years of corruption in the Egyptian government, the ruler, a dictator named Mubarak, was overthrown. Mama and I took part in it. We brought food to the protesters and treated their injuries.”

  “We fought for years for a better Egypt,” Mama explained. “And things did change. At least for a while. We had high hopes for the future. But sadly, it was just more of the same. People who opposed the government were still being imprisoned, and tortured, and killed. We realized we did not want to raise you in that kind of environment.”

  “And we had been identified as troublemakers,” Baba continued. “It was too dangerous for us to stay. So we left our family and friends and made a new life here with you.”

  Wow. Nadia stared at both her parents, wide-eyed. “How did I not know any of this before now?”

  “It was a scary time,” said Mama. “We don’t talk about it very much. But you are right; now you are old enough to fully understand.”

  “It must have been so hard to leave everyone you loved behind and start over completely,” Nadia said.

  “It was hard,” said Baba. “But we wanted the best and safest life for you. In a place where everyone can speak their mind, without fear.” He took a sip of water. “But where is all this coming from?”

  Nadia twisted her napkin in her lap. And then she told her parents everything that had happened with Jason.

  “Is that why you took off your amulet?” Mama asked when Nadia was done.

  Nadia went to grab for it out of habit, but of course it wasn’t there. She nodded.

  “We’re so sorry you’ve had to deal with this,” Baba said.

  “I wish you had told us sooner,” added Mama. “Baba and I have had our share of unpleasant situations ourselves, like when another Egyptian family moved into the neighborhood. A cashier at the supermarket told me that ‘my people were taking over the town.’”

  Baba told Nadia about the nervous looks he often got at the airport from other passengers.

  And the extra security checks he was “randomly” subject to.

  Nadia shook her head as she picked her fork back up. “Why do people think that’s okay?”

  “People are afraid of what they don’t know,” Baba said. “Maybe Jason didn’t meet a lot of people from different backgrounds where he used to live. Or maybe his parents are narrow-minded and he gets his attitude from them.”

  Nadia stopped mid-bite. “You’re defending him? Are you saying I should let him off the hook?” Maybe talking to her parents wasn’t a good idea after all.

  “No, of course not, but he may not know any different,” Mama said. She helped herself to more molokhia. “Or he may think that because someone is not the same as him, it might mean they are better than him, so he puts you down to make sure you—and others—don’t start to think that. He may not even know he’s doing it.”

  Nadia nodded. That was classic Nemtynakht.

  “But what am I supposed to do about it?” Nadia said. “Everything I’ve tried so far has backfired. And it’s not my fault he doesn’t know any better.”

  “That’s exactly right, Nadia,” said Baba. “It’s not your job to teach him a lesson. But he can learn a lot from you.”

  “I’ll share a secret,” Mama said. “I’ve found that the best way to get through to people like Jason is to let them get to know you. That cashier at the supermarket? She saw me with you one time and told me she has a daughter the same age. We chat about you girls now—”

  “What?!” Nadia said. “You talk about me with a random cashier?! That’s weird, Mama!”

  Mama laughed. “It’s something we have in common. It showed her that we aren’t so different after all. And now sometimes she asks what dish I’m cooking when I buy ingredients. Getting to know me has allowed her view to shift.”

  “I know it’s not easy, habibti,” Baba said. He got up and put his arm around Nadia. “But you can’t let him stop you from being you, from doing what’s important to you.”

  “Speaking of …” Mama said. “How’s that project coming along for the museum? It’s coming up soon, isn’t it? You’re welcome to have your friends over to work on it some more.”

  Nadia bit her lip. “It … it’s complicated,” she said. She wasn’t quite sure what to say.

  But she did know one thing: That contest was important to her. And she wasn’t going to let Jason—or anyone—keep her from winning.

  “May I be excused?” Nadia asked.

  Upstairs, she typed out a group text.

  Calling all Nerds! Can we meet at my locker in the a.m.? I need to talk to you.

  She took a deep breath and pressed the send button. Then she put her phone down and stared at it, willing it to chime.

  Ding! Yeah. Vikram was the first to respond.

  Ding! Um … sure, Chloe replied next.

  Ding! Okay, Sarah texted.

  Nadia smiled each time her phone chimed. She waited for the final reply, but an hour later, Adam still hadn’t responded.

  “Well,” she said to her bobbleheads, “three out of four is a start.”

  Nadia was so nervous, she woke up extra early. She got dressed, then swung her backpack onto her shoulder.

  PLOP. Her backpack knocked something from her nightstand onto the floor. The amulet.

  As Nadia picked it up, she flashed back to seeing the hippo for the first time at the Egyptian bazaar. The necklace felt good in her hand just like it had that day.

  She held it up in front of the mirror. Titi or no Titi, she just felt more like herself while wearing the hippo. She fastened it around her neck and turned to her Amelia Earhart bobblehead.

  “I’ll just have to remember not to say hel—I mean, the magic word—while holding it, right?”

  Amelia nodded.

  * * *

  “So, um, thanks for meeting me,” Nadia said. She, Sarah, Chloe, and Vikram were huddled in front of her locker. Adam was down the hall. He’d glanced their way as he’d passed, but had continued walking.

  Nadia grabbed the hippo nervously. “Can I ask you something?” she said to her friends. “What Adam said at Ice Scream—did I take over the project?”

  Her three friends exchanged glances. Sarah finally spoke up. “Um, yeah, you were kind of bossy,” she said.

  “And you went with your idea over any of ours,” added Vikram. “Twice.”

  Nadia swallowed. “But … I thought we agreed that by using those ideas we’d have a better chance at winning the contest, right? You liked my ideas. At least, I thought you did.”

  Chloe sighed. “Your ideas were good, Nadia. They always are. But that’s not the point. You hardly listened to us, hardly even gave us a chance to share our own ideas before barreling ahead with your own.”

  Vikram jumped in again. “We love working on projects with you, Nadia, but sometimes you get carried away. You try to figure out everything by yourself.”

  “But you don’t have to,” Sarah said. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

  Nadia didn’t know what to say. She’d never thought about it like that before. Being a leader didn’t mean telling people what to do or doing it all yourself. I
t was about guiding everyone else to come to a solution together.

  She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry—really. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, like I wasn’t interested in your ideas. I’m going to be better about that. And if I’m not, you have my permission to—”

  “Burp in your face?” suggested Vikram. “I could get on board with that.”

  They all burst into laughter and Nadia let out a sigh of relief. Things were going to be okay with the Nerd Patrol.

  “So …” Nadia grabbed the amulet again. “How is the project going? Did you figure out the costumes? Is there anything I can do to hel—ah!” She dropped the amulet just in time. That was close. This whole not-saying-help thing was going to be harder than she thought.

  “Hey! You’re wearing your hippo amulet again!” Chloe said.

  “Yep,” Nadia said. “I sort of took a break from all the Egyptian stuff for a few days, but now I’m back … and was wondering if I could come back to the project?”

  The three friends exchanged another set of looks.

  “Sorry, Nadia,” Chloe said. “We decided not to do it. Without you and Adam, there was no way we’d get everything together by Saturday.”

  “Without Adam?” said Nadia. “You mean he …”

  Sarah nodded. “He quit, too.”

  Nadia’s heart sank.

  “If it makes you feel better, Nadia,” Vikram said, “Adam was never super into the project after that first day at your house. He told me he was thinking of dropping out even before the stuff that happened on Monday.”

  “What do you mean?” Nadia asked.

  Vikram shrugged. “That’s all he said.”

  Nadia thought back—there seemed to be a lot she didn’t understand about her BFF these days. Why wasn’t he into the project? Why did he want to be friends with Jason so badly? But she did know that she missed her best friend, terribly. And even though she still felt like he owed her an apology for calling her a know-it-all, she knew she owed him one, too, for keeping the comic book so long.

  She turned to her friends. “If I talk to Adam and get him back on the project—are you guys still in? We’d have to work really fast, but I think we could figure something out, don’t you?”

  The three friends exchanged looks one more time and smiled.

  “A-ffir-ma-tive,” Vikram said in his robot voice.

  * * *

  Nadia stood on the doorstep of Adam’s house and took a deep breath, then rang the bell. The comic book was under her arm. To give it to Adam meant no more dives into it with Titi, but she was okay with that. The magic stuff was definitely not for her.

  Charlie answered the door wearing a sports jersey. Some basketball team, or maybe football. Nadia wasn’t sure.

  “Oh, hey, Nadia,” he said, then turned to look over his shoulder. “Adam, there’s someone here to see you!”

  Adam bounded down the stairs, an expectant smile on his face. But when he spotted Nadia, his face fell.

  “Hey, friend,” she said. She held up the comic. “I think this belongs to you.”

  Adam was still for a moment, but then nodded. “Let’s go out back,” he said as he took the comic from her.

  They walked to the backyard, and without even discussing it, they sat down on the porch swing where they had played countless games of cards and drunk lemonade over the years. Nadia pushed off and they swung back and forth.

  “Thanks for the comic,” Adam said, putting it on his lap.

  Nadia nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t give it to you sooner. And … well, I wanted to say thank you again for standing up to Jason on Monday. That meant a lot to me.”

  “Yeah,” Adam says. “What he said to you was awful. I can’t be friends with someone who says stuff like that.”

  Nadia gulped, glad to hear her friend admit that.

  A couple of moments passed without either of them speaking.

  Finally, Nadia couldn’t take it anymore.

  “How come you wanted to be friends with him so badly anyway?” she asked. “He’s funny, but not that funny.”

  Adam stopped the swing with his feet, then pushed off again. “You know Charlie, my stepdad?”

  Nadia nodded.

  “It’s been sort of hard to get to know him. He’s so into sports; half the time I feel like he’s speaking a different language. I thought maybe Jason could help me learn some sports stuff so I could connect with Charlie more, you know?”

  Huh. That actually made sense. It was sort of like how she asked her cousins to explain Egyptian pop culture memes to her so she could laugh along with them.

  Nadia sighed. “I’m sorry Jason wasn’t who you thought he was,” she said.

  Adam nodded. “It’s a bummer.”

  They swung in silence for a few more minutes.

  “So,” Nadia said. “I talked to the Nerds about the project and apologized for how I acted. But they told me you quit. How come? I thought you were psyched about it.”

  Adam squinted at Nadia. “You’re sure you won’t get mad if I tell you?”

  Nadia frowned. “I’ll try.”

  Adam took a deep breath. “It was a hard project for me because I actually don’t know much about my background. The rest of you guys all know who you are and where you’re from. Especially you, since you were born in Egypt. I know it’s hard for you sometimes—maybe a lot of the time—but I wish I had as clear a picture as you do of who I am. And I know you said to ask my parents, but I’m not in touch with my dad’s side and my mom was adopted—”

  “Really? I didn’t know that,” Nadia said.

  “Yeah,” Adam said. “So she doesn’t have much info. Maybe her family is from Italy, maybe Germany … So the project … I just had a hard time getting into it.”

  Nadia paused. Sometimes she forgot that not everyone had such a strong connection to their heritage as she did.

  “I wish you had told me,” Nadia said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Adam said. “But you were all gung ho about the topic. That made it hard.”

  “I guess I’m not winning the Friend of the Year award,” Nadia replied.

  “Nope,” said Adam. “But … I haven’t been the best friend in the world either. I should have stood up to Jason a lot sooner.”

  “Yeah,” Nadia said. “Maybe they should have just canceled the Friend of the Year awards this year.” Then she grinned at Adam and they both burst into laughter. Adam grabbed the comic book to keep it from falling off his lap.

  Suddenly, Nadia had an idea. A reckless, possibly very stupid idea. But if it could help her best friend, it would be worth it.

  “Hey, can I borrow that comic book?” she asked.

  “You mean the one you just gave me?” said Adam, holding it to his chest.

  Nadia rolled her eyes. “Just give it to me.” She grabbed the comic and held it up. “You know how I’m all about facts?”

  “Obviously,” Adam said.

  “Well, here’s one: Did you know that I also have some experience with magic?”

  “Huh?”

  Nadia grabbed the amulet and closed her eyes. “Help, Titi, help!” she said.

  POOF! Titi appeared on the back cover of the comic book, hanging from some big letters.

  “Good Giza, Nadia!” Titi exclaimed. “Talk about leaving me hanging! I was beginning to think I’d never see you again.” He dropped down from the letters to the bottom of the comic and started pacing. “I was even considering skipping town—went on the internet to book a ticket and everything. The internet—boy, that’s a scary place. I’d stay away if I were you.” He froze, remembering where he was. “But here I am. Here you are! Wahooo!” He did three handsprings. “So, should we try out my new power? Where do you want to go first? The heyday of the Inca civilization? You’ve never seen so much gold, I promise. Or the fall of Rome? No, I take that back. Even more depressing than the internet. Where should we go, huh? Oh, I can’t wait!”

  Adam was staring at Titi, his mouth hanging open,
just as Nadia’s had been when she first met Titi. The teacher hadn’t noticed Adam yet. He was too busy bouncing from corner to corner of the comic.

  “Actually,” Nadia said, “we’re hoping you can tell us where to go.”

  Titi paused. “We? Who’s we?”

  Nadia pointed to Adam.

  Titi looked up and his eyes went wide. “Well, steal my scribal palette and call me a dope! Is this Adam? You’re introducing me to your friends, Nadia?” He spun three cartwheels in a row, then offered Adam a fist bump. “How the heck are you, Adam?”

  Adam returned the fist bump, a look of utter shock on his face.

  “So, Titi,” Nadia said. “Adam doesn’t know where he comes from. You think you could use the comic to help show him his family’s hist—”

  “The sixth solution?! Woo-hoo! Yes, yes, yes! I just have to do a little research. Hang on!”

  POOF! He disappeared.

  “Wh-wh-what was that?” Adam stammered. “Was that for real? What’s going on?”

  “Just wait,” Nadia said. She opened the comic and they both stared at it.

  POOF! Titi reappeared.

  “Hang on to your hats, kids—”

  “But I’m not wearing a h—” Adam said. Knowing what was coming next, Nadia grabbed Adam’s arm before he could finish.

  WHOOSH!

  * * *

  Ten minutes later, they whooshed back into Adam’s yard.

  “That. Was. AMAZING!” Adam yelled. “I’M AUSTRIAN!” He jumped up and spun around like Julie Andrews in that musical about the singing Austrian family, The Sound of Music. “The hills are alive, with the sound of muuuuuusic …” he sang.

  Nadia joined in. Titi grinned at them from the comic book as Nadia and Adam spun around and around until they fell down in the grass with laughter.

  “I can see why you kept the comic book now,” Adam said. “And I’m glad you finally decided to show it to me.”