Tagging Freedom by Rhonda Roumani

Author:Rhonda Roumani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Union Square Kids

CHAPTER 19

KAREEM

Kareem grabbed his soccer ball and backpack, slammed his locker shut, and walked out of the school with Ellie.

“Check it out!” Ellie handed him her phone. “Amari put our piece on the school’s social media board! And look what he wrote.”

My New Heroes. Whoever They Are.

#AllansdaleGraffitiRocks #GraffitiGangHeroes

Graffiti heroes. Kareem liked the sound of that. Maybe he could do something that mattered in this little town?

“This is great!” said Ellie. “Amari is one of the most popular boys in school. If he shares it, everybody else will, too.” She took her phone back. “See? It’s already been shared by forty-six people. And liked two hundred times. Not bad, huh?”

“Not bad,” Kareem repeated, dribbling the ball ahead of him. He thought about how easy it had been. The graffiti, taking the picture, walking to school afterward. And now walking home and talking about it, all out in the open. “You know, if I had done that with Hassan and my other friends in Syria, we would have needed two lookouts. And an escape plan.”

Ellie smiled. “I had an escape plan prepared. I was gonna kick them in the shin so you could get away and then I’d run after you.”

“Great, Eleanora,” said Kareem, laughing. “That’s great.”

“I know.”

Kareem bounced the ball on his knee before gently bringing it to the ground using the front of his foot.

“Hey, you’re good at that,” said Ellie. “Maybe you should try out for a soccer team? There are really good club teams around here, too.”

“No, I am not interested.”

“Why not? You’re as good as the best players. Maybe better.”

Kareem shook his head and worked on another trick. “Eleanora, I’m just here for a few weeks.”

“I know,” said Ellie. “I mean, just in case you stay a little longer.”

“I won’t. I’m going home.” He could tell he had upset her, but he needed to be honest. There was no sense in getting her hopes up that he might stay. Anyway, his soccer buddies were back home—he definitely wasn’t joining a team in America.

They walked on in silence.

“Kareem, what was it like? Being in Syria?”

Kareem stopped the ball with his foot and looked at Ellie. He loved that she was so curious about where he was from. Somehow it made him feel more welcome.

“It was good—and bad—and good.”

He explained how much he loved Syria and Damascus and how one day, she’d have to visit him there. He described his idyllic life. How he lived for soccer and hanging out with his friends, how they went out for sandwiches after every game on the weekends. He told her about Hassan and George and Yusuf. How George was an amazing soccer player, how Yusuf loved to play tricks, and how Hassan had been his best friend since he was five.

“Actually, you remind me of Hassan.” He glanced at her sideways. “He’s funny. A little different. I think if his mom let him, he’d have blue hair, too. But he … he follows the rules too much.”

“A quirky rule follower,” Ellie said, smiling.

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