I usually don’t answer phone calls from family back home as it’s almost always family asking for something and usually that something is money. But one night I got a call from my cousin at 2 am. I declined the call and silenced my phone.
When I woke up I had twenty missed calls.
“This must be serious,” I thought to myself.
I sat on the edge of my bed and called him back. There was no answer.
I checked my voice messages. None of the messages he left gave any insight, it was just him panicking. I called my mom to see if she knew what was going on she said she didn’t know. Then when I got home he called again.
“Ali, you have to help me.” Haaron shouted, “you have to.”
“What happened? What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“I’m on trial. I don’t even know what I did. It’s not fair. I can’t even see them!”
Nothing Haaron said made any sense but I just let him talk. I rolled my eyes when I heard he was in court again. He had a way of getting into trouble.
“Well how much is the bail? I get paid this week.”
“Ali, listen to me man. It’s not like that.”
“No it’s fine. I’ll send it this week.”
“I was on trial by Jinn. They kidnapped me and there was a whole jury. A-a-and they were so mad at me.”
“Haaron, what the hell are you talking about?” I was getting annoyed at this point. He is a prankster but this has gone too far.
That’s when he started crying. In all my years of knowing him and visiting him back home, I have never heard or seen him cry.
“You don’t understand.” He cried.
“I’m sorry. Tell me what happened. I’ll listen. I’m sorry.”
We talked for almost two hours. I had to Google everything after we spoke. I heard of Jinn before but I never knew they were real.
Apparently, Haaron was dumping trash in one area by his house. Because humans can’t physically see Jinn he didn’t know that he threw some trash on one of their family members. They went home and complained and then the leaders or chief, I don’t know what you’d call them…well they decided to hold a trial.
Haaron woke up one night in great pain and incredibly dizzy to realize he was being dragged by his feet toward a cave. He tried everything to get free but nothing worked. Finally, when he arrived he saw some figures. Then he saw a jury of twelve. He said they weren’t quite human and they weren’t quite animals. That’s when he wondered if they could be Jinn.
Only one could communicate with Haaron. After he panicked upon seeing them, one explained why he was brought there. He explained to Haaron that he had been throwing trash in an area where one of their children was sleeping. Haaron apologized, pleaded, and begged for mercy. He explained that he couldn’t see Jinn and he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. The jinn gathered together in a circle and excluded Haaron. That’s when they decided his punishment.
“Ali… I wish the punishment had been a beating or something. I could handle that.”
I hesitated to ask, “What…what did they decide on?”
“I can now see Jinn. At all times, everywhere. They thought that’d resolve the issue and I’d never make the mistake of dumping anything on them again.”
“Well did it?”
“Of course but now I see them everywhere, all the time. It’s scary. I can’t handle it. I’m always scared. I don’t leave the house anymore but sometimes they walk by my window. Sometimes they’re in my room.”
“I-I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to help.”
“Just believe me. Nobody else believes me….I…. have to call you back,” Haaron’s tone changed. He hung up and I didn’t hear from him again. I’ve decided to take time off work and go back home to see if I can find him. I need to know if he’s okay.