Marya Khan and the Spectacular Fall Festival (Marya Khan #3) by Saadia Faruqi

Author:Saadia Faruqi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

The next day, Baba drove us to school in his car. I was thankful for two reasons. First, I didn’t have to sit in Mama’s stinky flower van with the bags of fertilizer sliding into me at every turn.

Second, this was the perfect time to ask Baba for money.

“Baba dearest,” I began with my best smile.

He gave me a suspicious look in the mirror. “What is it, Marya jaan?”

“I’m guessing she wants something,” Aliyah said from the front seat.

I ignored her. “Baba, you know I need to sell tickets for the fall festival,” I said. “Would you be so wonderful and kind as to buy ninety?”

“Wonderful and kind?” Baba smiled knowingly. “How much are these tickets, eh?”

I shrugged. “Only a dollar each. A very good deal, if you ask me.”

Sal laughed beside me. “That’s ninety dollars!”

“I know, Salman dear!” I replied, trying not to get annoyed.

“Ooh, calling your big brother by his full name,” Baba teased. “You must be serious about this festival.”

If I were standing up, I’d stomp my foot. But since I was sitting in a car, I just gave Baba my best grumpy look. “Focus, Baba. I need to sell tickets! It’s for charity!”

“Which charity?” Baba asked.

“It’s an animal shelter,” I said. “They shelter animals.”

Baba frowned. “Do you even know what that means? What does a shelter actually do?”

I gulped, because let’s face it: I had no idea. “Well . . .” I started.

Aliyah turned around in her seat. “Tell the truth, Marya. You don’t care about the charity. There’s something else up your sleeve!”

I gritted my teeth. Did my siblings exist only to annoy me? “I already told you. The student who sells the most tickets gets a prize.” I held up a hand. “And don’t ask me what the prize is. I don’t know.”

Sal hooted. “I hope it’s something cool, like fake vomit. Or a fart cushion!”

I ignored his very stupid ideas and tapped Baba’s shoulder. “Can you please buy my tickets?” I begged. “I need to win this thing! I really need to!”

He looked at me in the mirror again. “Need to?” he asked.

I nodded so fast, my hair flew all over my face. “Yup!”

Aliyah held up a hand. “Wait, how come Sal isn’t begging like you? He’s in the same school. Doesn’t he have to sell tickets?”

I rolled my eyes, because I didn’t care about Sal right now. Or in general. Then suddenly I got scared, because what if he started asking Baba for money too? That would be a disaster.

“Nah,” Sal said. “I don’t care about ticket sales.”

“Not even for the animal shelter?” Baba asked.

Sal shrugged. “I’ve got my Eid money saved. I’ll make a donation on behalf of the Khan family.”

Baba and Aliyah looked impressed. Me, not so much. The shelter was very far from my thoughts right now. Should I care about animals? Probably. Should I care more about winning? Definitely!

The car came to a stop outside Aliyah’s school.

“So, Baba, what do you think?” I asked.

Baba sighed and turned to face me.

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