Triumph {The Manhattan Trilogy #3}

Ahmed (ST)

It's Saturday morning now, and the date is May 8, 2011. My sister and I are taking a taxi cab to Ahmed's apartment building in Upper Manhattan. Nearly a week ago, on the day of my and North Tower's 21st birthday, he revealed splendid news to us. Osama bin Laden, the evil terrorist that had sent nineteen of his little minions over to strike us with planes until we were dead, had been killed by a group of NAVY Seals in Afghanistan. My family and I were at the top of the Empire State Building at the very moment he called us, and he is still all psyched about it finally happening, after the army had been searching for him for close to ten entire years. We are going to visit his apartment today so that we can discuss the crazy event of last week.

"Did you guys hear about bin Laden getting taken right out by those Seals?" The cab driver asks my sister and I as soon as we are on our way.

"Yes!" My twin and I answer in unison, as we do with every question. I follow that up with, "We are the souls of the Twin Towers, and it all played out on our 21st birthday, too. Triple the fun, in my opinion."

"No way!" The driver laughs, surprised. "Congratulations, girls!"

"Yes way!" North Tower states, "We got to drink at one of the local bars in honor of his death as well. Way to have your first alcoholic drink, eh?"

"I'll say," the driver chuckles to himself as we continue towards Ahmed's apartment complex.

The cab driver drops us off at the brick building, which was completed almost two hundred years ago in 1837, as soon as I pay the required fee. We walk into the lobby together, proudly wearing our New York Rangers: 1994 Stanley Cup Champions shirts. North Tower presses the UP button on the elevator and waits for one to come to us. We climb in the elevator when it arrives, and I press the Floor 6 button. There's another person in the elevator with us, a middle-aged woman.

She stares at us in awe for a moment, glaring at our metallic silver skin. Then, she catches sight of our hockey shirts.

"New York Rangers, eh?" The woman says. "I'm a big fan myself."

"Hey, the Rangers are awesome! I'm glad you like them like we do!" North Tower responds.

"It's quite unfortunate that neither of our three New York teams or heck, even the New Jersey Devils are in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs anymore," I add, shaking my head solemnly. "Those damn Capitals*, am I right?"

"Hey, don't be like that, Miss. Them Rangers did pretty well in the playoffs, even though they lost in Round One," the woman smiles at me. "Did you guys hear about the Atlanta Thrashers from Georgia? They're relocating to Winnipeg in September, and they might be named...the Jets!"

We all continue chatting about the sport until it is time for my sister and I to disembark the elevator to go see Ahmed. We step out into the cutesy little world of the sixth floor of a Manhattan apartment building. My sister and I look around at the vases and paintings they have up for decoration for a moment before continuing down the hallway. When we arrive at Room 0628, we knock on the door and await the response.

"The Staten twins! I know it's you by the knock. Come on in here!" Ahmed exclaims excitedly, opening the door almost immediately after we knock on it.

North Tower walks into the home, with me following close behind her. Ahmed's apartment is decorated with traditional Arabian pottery and a lot of Middle Eastern artwork. He suggests having Turkish food for lunch, which we twins like the idea of. We eat the way that is common for people of Middle Eastern descent, sitting on cushions placed on an elaborate rug on the floor. Both my sister and I enjoy Ahmed's lamb shish kebab the most, out of all the delicious food that he cooks up for us in his kitchen. Hey, who knew an Arabic tutor could also be a really good chef?

"Thanks for the lunch, Ahmed," I shake his hand politely when it was time to leave.

"It was a great meal, for sure," my sister declares, also shaking hands with our former Arabic tutor. "And thanks for calling us about that bin Laden dying thing, especially on our 21st birthday. That was the real treat of the day, you know."

"It was absolutely no problem, my favorite former students," Ahmed replies as my sister and I enter the hallway, preparing to exit. "He planned your brutal murder when you were just eleven, and he made all Americans think all of us Arabs are terrorists. Even Sikh people were attacked, you know, just because they look like Muslims! The death of bin Laden deserved a celebration. Anyway, goodbye for now, Staten twins!"

"See you later, Ahmed!" North Tower smiles at Ahmed and waves goodbye.

"Bye, Ahmed," I shake his hand one more time. "We hope to see you soon!"

It turns out we'd see Ahmed again way sooner than we had expected to see him, and the reason why would be a surprise, and a very good surprise indeed.

*The New York Rangers were knocked out of the playoffs in five games by this District of Columbia-based team in Round 1. Unfortunately for the team's fans, the Capitals were kicked out in Round 2, which they almost always were until their Stanley Cup win in 2018.