The Last Caliph by T. L. Williams

Author:T. L. Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: First Coast Publishers, LLC via Indie Author Project

Chapter 26

Zahir’s 10:30 a.m. class was at Boston University’s Geddes Center on Commonwealth Avenue. It was only 8:30, but she needed to check in with her department chair and then meet with students from 9:00-10:00. It was just a short drive from her apartment to the Back Bay, where the language school was located. She usually took the summer semester off, and during the school year, taught advanced Arabic, but this was an opportunity to do something different, something to take her mind off of her personal problems.

She would be teaching one elementary modern Arabic class Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It was an intensive introduction to the language. With its focus on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, the students found it challenging. Walking into the building, she saw a number of them already hard at work in the language lab.

For those who did well in this introductory course, there was a level two class beginning the first week of July. By the time her students completed the two sessions, they would have over a hundred hours of Arabic to their credit. For those deciding to pursue the language as a major or minor during the regular school year, they would have the foundation to study more modern, formal Arabic with its sophisticated sentence structure and advanced vocabulary.

“Zahir!”

Bursting out of a classroom across the hall was Ava MacKenna, the unlikely chair of BU’s Arabic department. In her forties, Ava was distinguished by flaming red hair, which cascaded around her freckled face like chokeberry in the fall. Her father had served as an Arabist in the foreign service. He was a career FSO, and she spent her formative years accompanying him on assignments all over the Levant, principally Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.

By the time Ava graduated from Georgetown, with a PhD in Arabic language and Islamic Studies at the age of 27, she could pretty much write her own ticket.

“Thanks for stepping up, Zahir. I was desperate for help after Arthur’s emergency heart surgery.” She gave Zahir a warm hug and then held her at arm’s length to study her face.

“How are you holding up?” she asked.

Ava knew about Zahir’s miscarriage because they discussed it when she first reached out to see if she was able to fill in for Arthur.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Zahir replied. I’m looking forward to being back in the classroom. If I keep busy enough, maybe it’ll take my mind off everything.”

“You’ll be fine,” Ava said, with greater assurance than Zahir felt. “You’re strong. Look how you managed after you got back from Iraq. With Cooper’s death and your family turning against you, it was more than most people ever have to deal with.”

Zahir sighed. The day she lost Cooper seemed so long ago. What she didn’t admit, although it gnawed at her, was her more recent tenuous relationship with Logan and the rest of the Alexander clan following their separation. The Alexanders’ love was there to pull her through those desperate weeks and months following Cooper’s death.

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