Chapter Two of Safar
Updated: 4 days ago
“Ricardo Acosta”
“Present.”
“Stephany Alvarez”
“Present.”
“Amanda Arguelles”
“Here.”
“Toussaint Bastille”
“Yeah.”
“Kevin Brown”
“Present.”
She raised her eyebrows and paused as she stared down at the piece of paper in front of her. As she hesitated, a look of confusion, panic, even, slowly spread across her face.
“Well I’m gonna butcher this one. I am so sorry if I mispronounce it.”
The young boy at the back of the class with oil-slicked hair, glistening, polished shoes, and an expertly ironed buttoned shirt and pleated trousers, shifted in his seat, already prepared for what would come next.
“Sham. Shams. Shums. Shums-udd-din? Shams-sud-din?”
The boy raised his hand.
“Shams-sud-din? Is that right? Shams-sud-din Butt?”
A collective chuckle was heard in the classroom. Even the teacher held back a smile as she looked up from the page after re-reading his name. Shamsuddin shifted in his chair once more, slumping down a little to avoid eye contact with the students around him, who of course, stared at him now.
“Shums-uth-deen, miss”
“Oh, I’m so sorry about that, Shums-ud-deen. It’ll take me a while before I get used to everyone’s name.”
She repeated “Shams-ud-deen” several times under her breath, nodding her head and trying to memorize the name she would undoubtedly forget in a few moments. She moved onto the next name as she continued taking attendance.