Strings - Capstone Amal Al Shamsi (1)

Salem tried to take the basket from Faisal’s hands.
“Ignore him,” Hamza told his friend.
“Can you all please eat outside, I don’t care.” Faisal said, “I want to be alone.”
Raed smirked. “You’ll burn the building down.”
“I’m serious.”
The boys were quiet for a while. There was a sharp ringing then a woman mumbled
something over the intercom. She must have left it on because it stayed fuzzy for a while.
“If that’s what you want,” Hamza said.
They began to walk in the direction of the fresh produce, where there seemed to be some
people moving about. Raed picked up his pace and Hamza adjusted himself to move out of the
way. The sauce aisle seemed endless, curving into the spice aisles and lab-grown cheese section.
Coming out of the mess of the aisles, they ran into the end of the store. An employee in what
seemed to be a bright green bib disappeared behind a door, it blended into the wall. A glossy
image of an enormous family collectively beaming at an apple was once again complete.
“We should get apples.” Salem said, making Hamza laugh.
When Hamza turned around, Faisal was trying to curb a reaction. His face was pulled
back tight, mouth against his teeth. “Where’s the damn cashier?”
Hamza laughed harder, making Salem smile a little as he moved away to try to find the
exit. The employee swung open the door, knocking into Raed. He wheezed as his body ejected all
the air from inside of him.
“Sir,” the woman said with bemusement, looking around at them before she took off into
the aisles.
“​Sir​? Excuse me, graceful madame,” Raed groaned, holding his back.
There was a low shaking of breath, Faisal was laughing.
“Tell him,” Hamza said, finally swiping the basket from out of his hands.
“I won’t give him that satisfaction,” Faisal told him.
They tried to follow the path that the woman took. Raed complained that his lungs
popped from the shock.
When Salem saw the state of Raed as they met back up at the cashier, he grinned with his
teeth. “Everything happens for a reason. I’m believing it.”
Faisal pushed him out of the way, digging for his wallet as the cashier began her
scanning. Her nails pierced into the bags, leaving small punctures.
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