My fingers are almost shaking as I carefully type in the ten digit phone number I have had memorized my entire life. The buttons on my home phone seem to glow a bit more dull, and even the ringing of the phone from the other end seems to be agonized, almost as if the world is telling me to hang up. But I refuse to give up; I canât let my lily-white friends down. Not again.
The phone rings once. Twice. Three times. Still no answer. Just as I am about to hang up, there is a click.
All I can hear is heavy breathing.
âHelloâŚ.â I say quietly, my voice shaking. âIsâŚ.. Is this Muslim?â
There was a long silence before I heard a voice answer âya lol.â
âI was thinkingâŚâŚâŚ..â I begin cautiously. âMaybe murder isâŚâŚâŚâŚbad.â
âHabibi, IâŚ..I donât understand. What are you trying to sayâŚ.?â The voice seems shaken.
âWhat ifâŚâŚ.world peace is good and killing people isâŚâŚâŚâŚnot goodâ
He lets out an audible gasp. âAre you saying ISIS isâŚâŚ.bad?â
âMaybe death isâŚâŚ.not good.â I continue. My heart is racing. I remind myself that I am saving thousands of lives, and inhale.
The silence from the other end of the line is almost deafening. He seemed to be thinking, as if he had never considered this idea before in his life. Truly I had opened his heart and his mind. ThisâŚ. This could end terrorism.
âMuslimâŚ.Please.â I whisper.
I hear a tear roll down his cheek, with my Muslim Communication Hearingâ˘, and hold my breath as he finally breathes out his next words.