"I mean, ehm—Meow, go home now? My mom is waiting," Khadija very poorly tried to cover up the unmistakable, crispy meow.
It was so unconvincing it was laughable. In fact, Isra couldn't help herself—she slipped and laughed, worsening the already delicate situation. At this, the furious, fire-breathing mother turned and stared her down, instantly extinguishing her giggle.
"Isra, you do know how much I hate cats, don't you?" Ms. Amna straightened her posture, brushing imaginary dust off her apron, trying to appear as composed and cool-headed as possible. In contrast to Isra's stoic nature, her mother had a flair for being comically overdramatic in situations like these.
"Yes, Ammi."
"So where did the meow come from, Isra?"
"What meow?" Isra nonchalantly denied hearing any such sound.
The tension was rising, and the slow ticking of the wall clock only amplified the pressure. The birds outside had long since stopped chirping, and the situation was unraveling. At this pace, it was only a matter of time before the cat would quite literally be out of the bag.
Before anything could happen, a sharp hiss cut through the tense air—it came from the kitchen, where the milk had boiled over, spilling across the stove. Ms. Amna shot the girls a stern look before running towards the kitchen.
"This isn't over! Stay there!" she commanded.
The girls ignored and bolted. Isra knew it was only a matter of time before her mother would think to check Khadija's bag, spelling doom for them both. They darted to her room, closing the door as silently as they could. Then, like well-trained burglars, they got to work. Their coordination was so perfect it almost seemed unnatural.
Khadija unzipped the large bag and pulled out the vacuum cleaner.
She pressed the eject button, and a lazy cloud puffed out of the nozzle, slowly taking the form of a chubby cat.
Khadija quickly stuffed the bag back into place.
"Please, I have a family—" the cloud began, but before it could finish, it was stuffed into a large plastic box. The lid snapped shut on top of it. It wasn't airtight, so theoretically, the cloud could have sabotaged everything. But not today. Today, Isra sat in front of it, calm and composed. Just one look from her was enough to intimidate the cloud into cowering in a corner.
She didn't say a word. She simply raised a finger to her lips and shushed it. So it shushed.
A second later, the door creaked open. Ms. Amna entered, as silent as a stone and moments away from spewing lava. She began scanning the room. She knew for a fact that Isra had smuggled another cat into the house.
Just two weeks ago, Isra had hidden a stray kitten behind the TV cupboard, feeding it treats and milk for an entire day until Ms. Amna and the kitten's mother discovered it. Now, she just knew there had to be another one. But where? Where is it?
Her gaze shifted to Khadija.
"May I see your bag, Khadija?" she asked sweetly.
Khadija handed it over without protest. Ms. Amna patted her gently on the head before opening the bag with extreme care. All she found inside was a vacuum cleaner.
She frowned, her suspicions gnawing at her. There seemed to be no limit to what these girls would do. She hesitated, then sighed and pulled out the vacuum cleaner.
Clack!
The lid snapped open, and a massive cloud of dust and dirt exploded in her face, instantly blackening it.
"Mom, please," Isra said, trying to stifle a laugh. "There is no cat. You won't find one because there is none. It was Khadija, really. Just let it go. I'm hungry."
Ms. Amna looked up, resigned. What could she even say? After all, who opens vacuum cleaners expecting to find a cat inside? She felt a wave of embarrassment but not too much. Deep down, she knew that antics like this were not far-fetched for these two.
She sighed and wiped her cheeks with her sleeve.
"I want you both at the table in two minutes," she said sternly, before leaving the room.
And so, the game ended. As it stood, Isra had once again swept a clean victory from her fire-breathing mother with sheer genius and brilliance. She was slowly becoming undefeatable in her own house.