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‘Capital for a business?’
‘Yeah.’ He seemed quite happy to talk about it but Ba
You lied to us and said ‘Rob’ so that it didn’t look as if it was about you?’
Omar nodded at the table.
‘But it was about you.’
‘No, no, no, it wasn’t anything to do with me-’
‘They came looking for you. Gunmen were after you and you just stood back and let them take your dad.’
The force of indignation brought him to his feet. ‘No!’ but his lawyer slid her hand over the table again, a flat hand that commanded him to sit back down. She had coached him well because he did.
Ba
‘OK,’ said Ba
‘You wouldn’t put your hand up to it. S’counter intuitive.’
‘OK.’ Ba
She spoke softly. ‘Why were you and Mo sitting outside in the car?’
He sucked a hiss through his teeth, thinking about the consequences. ‘OK: Nugget’s well religious-’
‘Nugget?’
‘My da.’ He scowled at her. ‘His name in the family. Nugget.’
‘How come?’
‘It’s what Aleesha calls him – Naggy Uganda Guts.’
Morrow smiled. ‘She’s got quite a strong character, Aleesha?’
Omar nodded admiringly. ‘If that’s what you call it.’
‘What would you call it?’
‘Mental. Scared of none of them. Told Meeshra to fuck off and shut up when she was in labour.’
‘Someone told us you expected her to run away when she turned sixteen.’
‘I’m amazed she hasn’t. They treat her like shit.’
‘Your mum treats her like shit?’
‘Nah, Mum admires her. I think she wishes she was her. They sent us to private school and sent her to a comprehensive, did you know that?’
‘Did they run out of money?’
‘No. Girls don’t need an education, according to him. What is this, the 1850s?’
‘You don’t agree with that?’
‘She reads all my books on her own, my uni text books. Didn’t go in for the last three months of school and still got top grades in her GCSEs. School don’t want her to leave. She’s upping the entire year’s average.’
‘Has she got a boyfriend, friends who could have done this?’
‘No.’ He was certain. ‘Stays in her room working, reading mostly, only comes out to watch telly when no one else is around.’
‘Doesn’t go to Mosque?’
‘She’s an atheist.’ He was so impressed by her he could only whisper it.
‘But she doesn’t get on with your dad?’
‘Naggy Uganda Guts.’
‘Is he a nag?’
‘Non-stop. Calls from the shop, on the hour, to find out what we’re doing and tell us to stop it and do something else.’ Omar didn’t sound bitter but fond, wistful, as if he was missing it.
‘So he’s very religious?’
‘Um, yeah, he is now. Never used to be much, sent us to Catholic school and that, but Billal got big into religion and Nugget sort of started going mad for it as well. I think, well…’
‘Well what?’
He shrugged. ‘Getting older, eh? Sort of feel your family move away from you. Religion’s something to have in common. Now I have to go along with it, condition of getting help wi’ my business.’
Whenever he mentioned the business she could feel Ba
‘Why did Billal get religious?’
‘Du
‘When?’
‘Couple of years ago.’
‘Nothing to do with 9/11 or anything, the backlash to that?’
‘Nah.’ Omar was sure. ‘Long after that. To be honest I’ve taken less religious abuse since 9/11, but, I suppose, I’m not making my way to school everyday in a green and gold uniform anymore.’
Green and gold, Catholic colours. The school would be just as well sending the kids home with a ‘kick me’ sign on their backs.
Morrow smiled. ‘Did you take abuse for that?’
‘Fuck aye, non-stop. Boys on the train used to chuck lit matches at us.’
‘So, a couple of years ago Billal got religion and then your dad got into it?’
‘Yeah and he’s mad for it. Thinks it’ll bring us together as a family but, well…’ And suddenly here before them was the terrified son, bent, tremble-chi
Ba
Omar took the hankie. ‘I’m not that… You know… committed. I was outside in the car when the gunmen… because me and Mo left Ramadan prayers early. I knew if I went in to the house early Nugget’d be mad… I was just waiting… till it was the right time, so he’d think…’
Morrow asked, ‘Was Billal converted by someone?’
‘No, no.’
‘Just spontaneously got very religious?’
‘Uh huh.’ Omar wouldn’t look at her, swallowed as if he was trying to stop himself saying something and brought it back to himself: ‘I’m not that committed.’
Ba
Omar looked surprised, but it was hardly a difficult deduction. ‘Aye, he does.’
‘But you never even went for interviews?’
‘Nah. Not for me.’
‘We met Tormod MacLeòid.’ Morrow raised an eyebrow.
‘Yeah, you might understand what put me off then.’
‘So, you’ll defy your dad on that issue, but not on the matter of religion?’
‘Well, different thing, eh?’
‘How?’
‘Well, it’s about being part of something for him. Nugget’s not part of much, he’s had a hard life… I want to please him, he’s my da, he’s financing my business but I mean, Ramadan’s two hours prayers every night-’
Ba
‘Importing cars.’
‘Cars?’
‘Yeah, classic cars. They don’t last here because of the weather. You can import them from, like, Spain and Italy and that. Fraction of the price. If you can get them here you can make a big margin selling them on.’
‘How much does shipment cost?’
‘I don’t know. Shipping companies won’t really tell ye until you’ve got an actual thing to import but on the Internet I noticed the differential in the market and the prices between, like, here and there. Could be making like three, four thou on every single car…’
Ba
This had clearly never ever occurred to Omar. He shrugged, exhausted. ‘It can’t.’
Morrow butt in. ‘Can’t?’
‘Yeah. It can’t cost that.’
‘Why not?’
He shrugged. ‘Just… can’t cost that much.’
She thought about Billal. ‘Why did you tell your brother you were importing silicone chips?’
Omar snorted a laugh. ‘Silicone chips?’