Imam had been firm about the move. He'd believed it was in her best interest. Jack had been more than reluctant.
They'd both stood in the kitchen the evening he told her, preparing dinner together when he brought up the subject that had weighed heavily on both their minds for months by then.
"But, Imam, you're like an adopted father to me, why do you want me to leave?" she asked, knowing she would have to leave the only permanent home she'd ever known, and not liking the idea one bit.
Imam's brow furrowed with both sadness and concern. "I do not wish for you to leave me, Jack. We have done well making a home here. But I am aging and my health isn't what it once was. I must move to a place where I'll have assistance available at all times, for when I need it. If I were a rich man I'd pay rent for this apartment as well, so you could stay near me, but money doesn't grow on trees. Not even for holy men," he tried to tease, but the mood remained heavy between them.
"I'll take care of you!" she said desperately, and she meant it. She would take care of him, if he'd let her.
"Shh," he shushed gently, taking a step toward her and placing his hands softly on her shoulders. "I will not burden you, Jack. You are too young to be caregiver to an old man."
She laughed with him as the tears gathered in her eyes. It was their joke. Before his rheumatism and arthritis had set in she'd teased him about his age so often, and he'd teased her back about how head strong she could be, running into things without thinking.
He was her only friend, her only family. Why did she have to go? Sure it would probably only be temporary. She'd start college in another nine or ten months and then she could come back, perhaps get a scholarship to attend the university on New Mecca. But in her heart of hearts she knew this journey she was about to take would not be pleasant. Things had not ended well between her and Riddick.
"Imam, I don't trust him, isn't there anyone else?" she asked solemnly.
Imam shook his head, "Unfortunately there is not. Men grow more powerful, more intelligent--they conquer the skies and the depths of space, yet they never grow wiser. To the few members left of my family you are an infidel, Jack, and if you were to go live with them you would be treated as an outsider. Besides, I thought your preference would've been to stay with Mr. Riddick, seeing as you can't seem to help but become irritated in the presence of my family and friends whenever they suggest that your mannerisms and habits do not befit a young lady of New Mecca."
Her eyes dropped to the floor. Imam understood her so well. He tried to guide her, not change her. Until that moment, when leaving him became a reality, she'd had no idea just how much her foster father meant to her.
"But why him? I don't see how you can trust him after..." she trailed off, allowing her eyes to fall to the ground in shame. It was still painful for her to talk about it.
Imam's warm hand tipped her chin back up, so she had no choice but to look at him. He smiled sadly in an attempt to comfort her. "After he abandoned the girl who loved him for a woman you so fondly describe as a...what is it that you call her, Jack?"
"A crack ho?" Jack offered deadpan, causing Imam to smile briefly and shake his head as though she were beyond his practical understanding.
"Yes, he left for a woman you obviously held in contempt...and to top it all off, he crept away in the middle of the night without a word of warning after promising he'd never leave. I agree, he's given you no reason to trust him, Jack, save one. He saved your life three times on that night so long ago, risking his own to do so. Therefore, a wise man would conclude that your life must be of value to him.
"Do not forget Zeke, Shazza, Paris, Johns, Hassan. He watched each one die without shame or pity in his eyes, and did not make a single move to help them."
"He only helped me because Fry was watching. She was the only one he cared about. He made it very clear when he left that he had to go because of me," she spat, a hint of jealousy she'd never overcome present in her tone and in the memories she used to cherish of how Riddick had fought to keep her alive on T2.
Imam sighed, again squeezing her shoulders. "You are young, Jack. Too young perhaps to know how a child can slip into a man's heart when he leaves it unguarded even for a moment. I know little about Mr. Riddick's past, but I do not think it would be very far off for me to guess that someone did once leave him alone in the darkness to die, perhaps when he was no older than you were four years ago. It was you who saved him, Jacquelyn, because you reminded him of the child he once was. He went back to save that child--to save himself and to save you. He could be the one to free you from all your demons, child, the ones that still haunt you day and night. Where your schoolmates have failed to reach you, I pray he will."
She almost winced upon hearing him say that. So, he did know after all, no matter how she'd tried to hide it from him. He knew about the nightmares and the panic attacks, about her separation from humanity.
She listened morosely as he continued, "Allah help me if I'm wrong about him, because I fear he will crush what's left of your spirit. If you aren't happy with him, Jack, I've already prearranged for you to return whenever you wish, and should you come back we'll find a way to make ends meet together, I promise."
She had gripped his forearms tight then, trying to draw strength from him, encouraged by his words even though she knew they weren't true.
No number of good intentions would pay her rent in New Mecca's capital city
"All right, Imam, I'll go to stay with him, but only if he agrees."
And in the back of her mind played the words she'd only recently turned to again after such a long period of disuse.
All the king's horses, and all the king's men...
