Strings - Capstone Amal Al Shamsi (1)

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chin, the hair on his lip was the same that framed his eyes. He wondered which of the boys couldpass as his brother, Faisal probably, maybe because he liked him best.When he had enough of their faces, he looked out of the window. Regular people passedby the scene, but to him, they seemed meaningful. A woman pressed her back into the glass,crumpling her blouse as she talked loudly into her phone about her roommate. He had thisstrange feeling that he couldn’t explain. He felt it again when they were walking home, takingthe long way because Salem found a park on one of the maps that he wanted to pass by. Raedhad gone home. It was getting dark and something about the streetlights made Hamza want towalk slowly.The park was more of a patch of grass in between streets. A young male trio was sittingon the seesaw, laughing obnoxiously. None of them looked up at them as they entered theenclosure. The place was lit only by the streetlights outside, almost completely dim in the center,almost as if it were a blind spot.“Feels like I’m in Paris,” Hussain said, kicking at the pages of a newspaper stuck to theleg of a bench.“Don’t say that,” Raed snickered, “Wouldn’t that be full of couples together?”Hussain, sated, seemed not in the mood to be annoyed. “I was joking.”“Good, I thought you were thinking of Paris because you were in love with one of us,”Faisal laughed before pausing. “Is this even a park? Really felt like getting on some swings.”Salem smiled a little. “This is how parks look like here. At least now we know.” Hewalked in the opposite direction of the laughing boys.Hamza also smiled a little.They tried and failed to find the swinging door again to exit before they agreed to justclimb over the little fence. Salem raised one long leg over it. Hamza was lifting his own, laughingat Hussain almost tripping, when the gate began to move. Slowly, it began to stink into the grass.On their way back home, Hamza bumped into a man bringing out old picture frames thatwere rotting at the corners. He seemed to be in the middle of adding it to the various otherpieces of furniture alongside the street.He apologized, but the man couldn’t hear him over his own loud cursing.“You’ve made a lovely living space for the garbage bags,” Hamza told him. The mangrabbed him by the lapels of his coat, gripping tightly before letting go.27
That was one of their last outings as a large group. Interests faltered and Hussain wasone of the main advocates of just staying home. He knew all the shortcuts from his classes backto the apartment, calculated the most minimal exposure he could have with the city.It was often Salem, Hamza, and Faisal that roamed the city. Salem often picked thedestination, marking it on a map that he carried in his shirt pocket. They almost always endedup around Alphabet City, a name that Hamza wished he came up with.28
Page 1 and 2: StringsAmal Al Shamsiaas1005Literat
Page 3 and 4: LeavingThe kids in the neighborhood
Page 5 and 6: Lamya looked at him sideways, picki
Page 7 and 8: Walking through the now-abandoned r
Page 9 and 10: They continued to discuss the futur
Page 11 and 12: StringsIn two instances, Hamza reme
Page 13 and 14: She had overcome the urge to press
Page 15 and 16: FamiliarWhile they were young, most
Page 17 and 18: Neck of the Hourglass“Is it hered
Page 19 and 20: Hamza leaned his head back exaggera
Page 21 and 22: “Let me at least put my things do
Page 23 and 24: “I read that in a poem.”“When
Page 25 and 26: out a hand, making the introduction
Page 27: The living room was indistinguishab
Page 31 and 32: Faisal was suddenly re-animated for
Page 33 and 34: CavityFaisal left New York, in stag
Page 35 and 36: Salem tried to take the basket from
Page 37 and 38: across the soiled mattress. Hamza q
Page 39 and 40: West VillageA quarter of a lifetime
Page 41 and 42: Picking up the cutlery, he began to
Page 43 and 44: They were in Hamza’s apartment. H
Page 45 and 46: father’s Suzuki Patrol while his
Page 47 and 48: “Because then Sara got married an
Page 49 and 50: JasemThere were things that Hamza f
Page 51 and 52: falling. The boy was starting to cl
Page 53 and 54: “Right,” he told her.“If you
Page 55 and 56: Hamza stood before the history clas
Page 57 and 58: especially in a city that was flock
Page 59 and 60: ThiefWhen the day reset, he decided
Page 61 and 62: “Who is Eisa?” one of the other
Page 63 and 64: Almost CrescendoAfter a brisk walk,
Page 65 and 66: Hamza stared at the glass table bef
Page 67 and 68: “Thank you. But it’s a little b
Page 69 and 70: “Hamza, you could know and not wa
Page 71 and 72: “Lamya had let it happen.” Lamy
Page 73 and 74: “My hands are broken, just for yo
Page 75 and 76: She partially closed the door, but
Page 77 and 78: “I hope you didn’t do anything
Page 79 and 80:
It occurred to Hamza a couple of ti
Page 81 and 82:
exhale smoke. She continued to laug
Page 83 and 84:
with reverence. But that was anothe
Page 85 and 86:
“Sorry,” he said, trying to tak
Page 87 and 88:
KickingThe sound of children came f
Page 89 and 90:
When she returned, before she got t
Page 91 and 92:
Hamza could maybe trace it all back
Page 93 and 94:
She looked up at him, almost in sur
Page 95 and 96:
DiceHe got a call from the woman at
Page 97 and 98:
out. She did not address him desert
Page 99 and 100:
“Baba, when we get home, can I us
Page 101 and 102:
“Everyone is so relaxed,” she s
Page 103 and 104:
Pajero friend’s sister, she had a
Page 105 and 106:
Jasem managed to move his hair out
Page 107 and 108:
DetourThe desert only gets hotter t
Page 109 and 110:
Oneway Street“Who is this cake fo
Page 111:
.The door closes in the New York ap
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Strings - Capstone Amal Al Shamsi (1)

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