11:58 <Quaker> On Monday Amjad drove his grand-niece Shafiq to her school. 11:58 <Quaker> As he waited for the van's wheelchair ramp to lower, they were approached by one of the teachers. 11:59 <Quaker> "Oh, you must be uncle Amjad. How nice to meet you!" she said. "Nadine was telling me about you. Welcome, welcome. Hullo, Shafiq. Good morning, are you ready to go to class? She's a good girl. Say thank you to your Uncle, love." 11:59 <Quaker> Later, he drove for a ride-sharing app. 12:00 <Quaker> On Tuesday Amjad stopped driving for a while. 12:02 <Quaker> He decided to try for lunch a restaurant which had a sign out in front that read: REAL GENUINE MANCHESTER COD 12:02 <Quaker> AND CHIPS LUNCH SPECIAL. 12:03 <Quaker> In the entryway, he saw a little display that read SEE THE NORTH - TOURISM AND SIGHTSEEING and had some pamphlets with the information of some destinations in the area. He picked one up. The woman behind the counter seemed startled by his presence. He was the only other person in the restaurant. 12:04 <Quaker> The pamphlet showed him pictures of the canal lit up at night, and amusement arcades, and the ruins of ancient Roman baths. 12:04 <Quaker> There was a manor house which had been sold to an avian sanctuary organization that boasted of a real and functioning Victorian-era gaslit greenhouse that also lit up at night. 12:05 <Quaker> There was also the famous local yew maze, and a restored movie 1910s movie theater "of exceeding fine quality." And the Chester Zoo. 12:07 <Quaker> This time he was startled by the woman behind the counter bringing him the food, and some plastic utensils and napkins, and two plastic packages of tartar sauce. He could tell the dull yellow breading on the fish meant that it had been frozen, after all, and it also had black marks from the grill. The chips were uniformly soggy. Amjad ate one piece of fish out of politeness, though the woman had gone back to her counter. He kept the 12:07 <Quaker> uneaten remains between his body and her sight when he threw it away. 12:07 <Quaker> "Very good. Have an excellent day," he said to her as he left. 12:08 <Quaker> Later he texted Nadine. "Perhaps I could take shafiq to the shore on Friday after her school lets out? I am happy to drive of course. It is only an hour away. Maybe she would enjoy it? 12:09 <Quaker> He watched the bubble with three dots appear and disappear. 12:10 <Quaker> Nadine said "Its still a bit far for her Uncle. Maybe". 12:11 <Quaker> Amjad dreamed of pleasure pavilions and white boardwalks. And saltwater taffy and balloons. 12:15 <Quaker> On Wednesday Amjad sat with the men of the Islamic Center's managment board. The discussion was led by a Mr. Zulfiqar, who sat stately in the middle of an irregular circle of folding chairs assembled at the near end of the parking lot. A silver carafe of coffee sat on a card table next to them. It was stamped with the symbol of Mr. Zulfiqar's chain of coffee shops. 12:16 <Quaker> Amjad did not follow the conversation until the topic drifted to scheduling a monthly activity for the children. He looked up and saw a lull. Mr. Tahir, seated at his right, met his gaze and nodded. Amjad cleared his throat. 12:17 <Quaker> Mr. Tahir and Mr. Omar nodded. Mr. Zulfiqar turned to face Amjad. The lull returned. The discussion awaited its leader. 12:17 <Quaker> "Have you considered," said Mr. Zulfiqar, triumphant, "that the salt air could aggravate the rheumatism of our elderly chaperones?" 12:18 <Quaker> "No," said Amjad. 12:18 <Quaker> "If you want to help this board, Mr. Fayaz, that is the kind of thing you must think of." 12:21 <Quaker> Later, when Amjad picked up Shafiq from school, he asked her if she liked the seaside. "Would you like to go sometime, Shafiq?" 12:21 <Quaker> Shafiq, who rarely spoke, said nothing. 12:21 <Quaker> On Thursday Amjad drove for a ride-sharing app. 12:23 <Quaker> When he returned to his niece's house in the evening, he sat and ate dinner next to Nadine's father Syed, who had been a salesman. Neither had much to say to the other,and when Syed retired to his room Amjad turned the television off and lay on the sofa with a blanket drawn over his legs. 12:23 <Quaker> He prayed for sleep that would last uninterrupted until the morning. 12:25 <Quaker> At midnight he woke up to the distant sound of rain at midnight. Amjad stood and walked to the window, and opened the window a few inches, until he could hear the full gentle sound of the falling water. 12:27 <Quaker> He walked to the closet and pulled out his suitcase, and moved clothes until he found a ceramic tile. On the tile was an orange, which had been hand-painted on. He held it to his face, and could smell orange blossom perfume. 12:29 <Quaker> Amjad laid back on the couch, and held the tile to his chest until he fell asleep again. 12:30 <Quaker> On Friday Nadine’s husband Dennis stopped Amjad as they were about to leave the house. “Amjad, what you said earlier. You wouldn’t mind taking Shafiq to the ocean today? Gives me and Nadine some time to ourselves. She won’t ask for it, but I will, if you’re offering” 12:31 <Quaker> if you’re offering.” 12:31 <Quaker> Amjad: “Oh. Yes. Of course. We can stop for dinner. And I’ll bring plenty of warm clothes. We can take the van.” 12:33 <Quaker> Dennis pat him on the shoulder in a friendly way. “Awfully decent of you. She’ll love it.” 12:40 <Quaker> Amjad walked Shafiq back to the van when the school let out, and the teachers and other children waved and called goodbye after her. Her great-uncle helped her out of her wheelchair and buckled her into the front seat. 12:41 <Quaker> From the passenger window, Shafiq stuck her arm through and cried out: “Goodbye!” 12:41 <Quaker> As they drove to the coast, Amjad felt the seat around him transform. 12:42 <Quaker> The automatic gear selector was a throttle. 12:44 <Quaker> The wheel was his old sidestick control grip. The radio panel was his old instrument bank. 12:44 <Quaker> The van was the pride of the nation, his General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. 12:46 <Quaker> Flight Lieutenant Amjad Fayaz, who remembered what it was like to ride towards war with nuclear warheads under his command, turned to his co-pilot. “Do you like listening to music, Shafiq?” 12:47 <Quaker> Shafiq only nodded her head. 12:48 <Quaker> “What sort of music do you like?” 12:48 <Quaker> Shafiq pressed buttons on her talker. “Dance music,” said the talker. 12:50 <Quaker> Amjad fiddled with his phone until music came over the speakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuyyfvWeFZ8 12:50 <Quaker> “This one is my favorite.” 12:51 <Quaker> The fighter jet flew over the road. They would get there and walk through all the pleasure pavilions and see the ferris wheels and the circus. There would be elephants and clowns and cotton candy for her. 12:53 <Quaker> An hour later, they drove into Southport. 12:54 <Quaker> Amjad kept driving along the coast road until they could see a beach beyond the dull brown dunes that stretched in either direction. 12:55 <Quaker> There was an unpaved parking lot next to the beach, and he stopped once he saw they had put a concrete access ramp next to it. 12:56 <Quaker> He helped Shafiq put on her thick coat and gloves and pulled her felt hat down over her ears. He put a blanket on her lap and realized that the motorized wheelchair would be much too heavy for the sand. 12:57 <Quaker> “Not to worry, beta.” He got the light aluminum handpush chair out of the van and helped her into it. “Mind your legs.” 12:58 <Quaker> He tucked the blanket tight around her legs and got behind, and pushed the chair and Shafiq down the ramp and over the sand. 12:59 <Quaker> They were the only ones there. Some birds littered the dunes. Amjad thought he saw someone walking in the far distance, but they were heading back inland. 13:02 <Quaker> The sand gave way to pebbles. The sky was overcast, and quite dark. Here and there on the ground he could see meager patches of wild grass black against the white sand. The clouds were like a bar hanging above the grey water, resembling layered sediments in the earth. 13:03 <Quaker> Banks of mist hung here and there. When one moved Amjad could see the collapsed remains of a tent further down the shore, and the remains of some old picnic, and some broken up chairs. 13:04 <Quaker> He stopped them on a level stretch of sand and unfolded a folding stool from the back of the wheelchair and sat next to her. 13:05 <Quaker> Shafiq remained silent. 13:06 <Quaker> After a while, he took out a book of poetry that Badawi had given him years ago which he had been meaning to read. 13:07 <Quaker> Shafiq pressed at her talker. “Ocean. The ocean,” said the talker. 13:07 <Quaker> Amjad looked up at her. “It is. Do you like it? I love the ocean.” 13:07 <Quaker> Shafiq nodded. “Yes.” 13:08 <Quaker> “I’m glad.” 13:09 <Quaker> Shafiq pressed her talker. “Play dance music,” said the talker. 13:09 <Quaker> Amjad dug through his pack until he found a little portable speaker. “Let’s see…” 13:10 <Quaker> Amjad picked another favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoC9_udLNeU 13:11 <Quaker> Shafiq placed her hand on his. “I love David Bowie,” she said. 13:12 <Quaker> Amjad sat next to his grand-niece and read the book of poems. He noticed Badawi had underlined some. 13:18 <Quaker> Todos mis huesos son ajenos/ yo talvez los robé!/ Yo vine a darme lo que acaso estuvo/ asignado para otro/ y pienso que, si no hubiera nacido/ otro pobre tomara esta café!/ Yo soy un mal ladrón…A dónde iré! 13:21 <Quaker> Y en esta hora friá, en que la tierra/ transciende a polvo humano y es tan triste/ quisiera yo tocar todas las puertas/ y suplicar a no sé quién, perdón/ y hacerle pedacitos de pan fresco/ aquí, en el horno mi corazón…!