It was a rainy night. Ali watched as the rain splashed against his room’s window. He sighed heavily and turned back to his homework. A few moments later, he heard his mother calling him.

“Ali dear, come down and have your dinner. It’s getting cold already,” said his mother.

Ali closed his books and went down. When he reached the dining room, he found his mother waiting for him at the dinner table. “So, how was your day today?” his mother asked during dinner.

“The same as usual,” replied Ali, with a tone of sadness in his voice.

Ali was a student of the eighth grade. He was a smart student and the teachers liked him, but he didn’t have any friends. His father had died in a car accident when he was in third grade. He was the only child of his parents. When his father died, his mother had not cried because she knew that she had to be strong for her son and she had decided to take a job to fend for herself and her son, and now she was a manager in a big company.

“Everything alright, dear?” asked his mother with concern.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” said Ali, just as he finished his dinner.

“I think you should try making more friends. That would surely cheer you up,” his mother said as Ali got up from the table, but her son ignored her sentence and went to his room.

The next morning Ali went to school. He took his usual seat at the back and waited for the teacher to arrive. Soon the teacher came in with a new student and introduced him as Mustafa, who had moved into the city recently. The teacher asked the class to be nice to Mustafa and told Mustafa to sit next to Ali.

The day went on as usual, except for that Ali found himself talking to Mustafa, a thing which he had not done for a long time. Ali and Mustafa became friends because they understood each other as Mustafa’s mother had also died when he was young. Ali found that Mustafa’s father was a detective and he sometimes asked Mustafa to help him with his cases.

Ali went home that day, quite happy. The next day when Ali reached his class, he found Mustafa sitting at the back looking thoughtful. Ali went over and asked what the matter was.

Mustafa replied, “My father has got this new case to inspect about a dangerous gang that has currently robbed the city bank. The trouble is that my father is working on another case so he wants me to look into this case.”

“Can I help too?” asked Ali, excitedly.

“Sure,” replied Mustafa.

That day while Ali and Mustafa were walking home from school together, they overheard a conversation between two men.

“Have you told the others where to meet?” asked the first man.

“Yes, I have told them to meet at the back of the abandoned factory at nine tonight,” replied the second.

“Good, because we need a quiet place to discuss our next plan,” said the first.

When the boys reached Mustafa’s house, they discussed what they had heard. Ali thought that they sounded a little suspicious and Mustafa agreed with him. So it was settled between them that they would meet at the place described by the man with some equipment they thought necessary.

So Ali went home happier than he had been in weeks. Soon it was time to meet Mustafa at the abandoned factory. He packed a torch and a phone to record videos. Mustafa was already there with his own torch and smartphone.

The men soon arrived and there were mutters of excitement. As soon as everyone settled in, one of the men spoke.

“So did you bring the money Hassan or have you lost it?” he asked. It was one of those men whom Ali and Mustafa had overheard before.

“Of course, you would think that we robbed the bank to lose the money?” replied the man called Hassan.

“Hand it over then,” replied the first man. He seemed like the boss of the gang.

“That idiot detective Ahmed thought that he could catch us,” laughed one of the man while the boss counted the money At the mention of his father, Mustafa shifted in his place and accidentally stepped on a twig, which broke apart with a large snap. The gang suddenly froze. One of them scouted the area. Luckily, he didn’t find the boys. The boss then handed out the money and told everyone to meet at same place and time the next day.

As soon as the men went away, Ali and Mustafa ran off to the police with what they had recorded. The police heard the recording and decided to hide at the factory before the men came the next day. In this way the men were caught, Mustafa’s father’s case was solved and Ali found a trustworthy and understanding friend.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 17th, 2020