Part 6 (1/2)
He shook his head. ” I told you, that's blasphemy. ”
”I t's blasphemy when you use Allah's name for somethin g trivial . T his may be the single most important discovery in th e history of the human race . S wear to Allah that you'll keep th e c arpet secret. At least until we both agree it can't be kept a secre t any longer.”
He paused. ”All right. But you have to do the same. ”
” Fine . I swear on the holy name of Allah that I'll never . . . ”
”S top! ”
” What's wrong? ”
” You're not a muslim. You can't swear to Allah. ”
” Why not? ”
” He's not your G.o.d. You have to swear to Jesus. ”
”B ut I don't go to church regularly. ”
” You don't? Why not? ”
”I don't know. Why don't you pray to Allah fiv e times a day? ”
”I do. ”
” Gimme a break . I haven't seen you pray once. ”
”I do it when you're not looking. ”
” You mean, you were praying in the bathtub? ”
” Yes. ”
” Didn't you get water up your nose when you bowed down? ”
” Don't make fun of our prayers. ”
”I 'm sorry. Let me start over . I swear to the Father; and t o the son, Jesus; and to the Holy spirit, that I'll keep secret th e unique and mysterious qualities of this carpet. ”
” Why don't you just say you'll keep the carpet carpet secret? ” secret? ”
”I would but there's a good chance my father will see it. I'm going to tell him it's just something I bought.”
Amesh shook his head. ”You're not keeping it here. ”
” What are you talking about? Of course I'm keepin g it here. ”
”I t would be safer at my house. ”
” Your house? I don't want to hurt your feelings, but fro m what you've told me, your neighborhood's not that safe. Besides, y ou're gone all day at work. ”
”T hat's why mira . . . ”
”M ira's ten! she can't be trusted with a secret this big! Plu s you promised not to tell her! ”
”A ll right, you can keep it here.” Amesh lowered his head .
”I swear on Allah's holy name to keep the carpet secret. ”
”T hank you.” I gave him a hug . I had not known him lon g but somehow trusted that his word was good .
His body was pretty good, too . I let the hug linger; he di d not push me away . I rested my head near his collar, on the lef t side, where I could hear his heart beating .
Like mine, it was pounding .
But it was no time to fool around. He would have been to o shy, anyway . N ot that I wasn't feeling shy, too . S ad to say but I was fifteen and had never been kissed .
We turned back to the carpet . I t was still acting like a mirror of the heavens . T he darker the sky got, the brighter th e carpet's stars became .
”While you were in the bathtub, I read up on magic carpets,” I said. ”they're historically connected to genies, or wha t y ou guys call djinn . . Do you know how many times the djinn ar e mentioned in the Koran? it speaks of them like they're real. ” Do you know how many times the djinn ar e mentioned in the Koran? it speaks of them like they're real. ”
”M y Papi said something about that. Did you find ou t anything about how to operate the carpet? ”
”M any magic carpets are controlled by spells or incantations . I f you know the secret words, and repeat them three times, t hen the carpet lifts into the air. ”
”A lot of good that does us,” he grumbled .
”I felt the same way until I discovered another techniqu e listed on two sites . T hey said magic carpets don't fly just anywhere, b ut follow what are called ley lines. Have you heard of them? ”
”N o. ”
”I hadn't either . T he British are the experts on them. Le y lines deal with lines of magnetic energy that cover the earth . T here are legitimate scientists who have mapped them throughout en gland . S tonehenge, for example, is supposed to be a foca l point of dozens of ley lines . T hat's why it's considered a plac e of mystical power. ”
” We're not taking the carpet to en gland. ”
” We don't have to! I'm just saying the British studied them . T here are probably as many here as there are there. We just hav e to find them. ”
” You think the carpet will fly on such lines? ”
”I t's possible. We know the carpet has twice tried to fly i n this room. But it's never really taken off . M aybe it can't withou t a ley line to float on.”
”Did these sites tell you how to find one? ”
” Just hold a compa.s.s in your hand, and when you cross a ley line, the needle will dance. ”
” Dance? ”