Chapter 7: A Mom and Her Boy

Aladdin stared at Abbi in wonder as she explained her escape from the drunken sleazebag her foolish father had picked out for her.

"Stupid girl," Abu hissed snottily.

Aladdin shushed him, but he had to agree. He had thought Abbi might be smart, but who in their right mind would get undressed in a strange place and then leave their clothes behind for anyone to nab?

It was asking for trouble.

The easy mark hadn't even noticed that Abu had stolen her headband eight times in the last few hours. The first seven times, Aladdin had returned it. After the eighth time though, he decided to hold on to the headband. He found it easier to concentrate when she wasn't wearing it.

And anyway, if she couldn't guard her stuff, she was destined to lose it, so why not lose it to him and Abu? They needed the money more than she did.

It became clear as Abbi talked that she was some kind of rich. She said her father was a high-ranked merchant or noble or something and Abbi worked directly for the princess. Apparently, they were really close. It seemed like even Abbi's super special white tiger might be real, though Aladdin still wasn't sure on that score.

But never mind the tiger. Abbi's story let Aladdin know that she was too well-off to miss her headband that much.

Probably.

So, for now, he kept the thing in his pocket and focused on keeping Abbi talking, by interrupting her story with a bunch of questions. Surprisingly, she never got annoyed by it. In fact, Aladdin found that his mystery girl enjoyed answering all his questions, in detail, and even better, he actually enjoyed listening to her responses. It was just so cute how expressive she got when she did a play-by-play of the card games she won or described how overrated alcohol was. Even something that should be boring like her dad's job, she talked about it with so much energy that it became interesting.

However, even with Aladdin's prying, sometime in the late night or possibly early morning, Abbi finally finished her story and said, "I believe it is your turn now," before she let out a yawn.

Aladdin faked his own yawn. After he gave his monkey a look, Abu followed his lead and yawned as well.

As he wanted, Abbi yawned again. After this second yawn, she said, "Please, excuse me."

"Sure thing," Aladdin replied.

There was a beat of silence.

Aladdin knew he was supposed to start up his tale now. Abbi was waiting for him to do it, but Aladdin didn't say a word. He was focusing on looking like he was unintentionally blinking very slowly.

Abbi was not affected by this tactic. After a moment, she lost patience and said in a voice that sounded way too awake, "Perhaps, I was not clear. I have finished, so please, begin your story."

"No, you were super clear," Aladdin said. "I was just thinking about how to start. Give me another two minutes."

"Alright," she said. She seemed to relax a bit.

Aladdin pretended to be in deep thought as a cover for him stealthily motioning for Abu to move one of the cushions so that when Abbi started to lie down later, she'd find herself in a comfortable sleeping position.

After Abu set up the sleep trap, Aladdin began speaking in his best bedtime story voice, "Once upon a time, on the morning of a hot day, at the end of a hot summer, where you could smell heat baking the world, people moved slower than lazy camels and even the camels were sweating away as it just kept getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

On a hot hot day like that, most people decide to stay inside and rest. The animals do the same. Even the plants seem to curl into themselves. They all know that on a day like that it is much better to sleep than-"

"You are rambling," Abbi cut in.

"No, I'm setting the mood," Aladdin lied.

Abbi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want this story or not?" he huffed.

"I do, but it does not have to be an epic," she complained.

"Yeah, it does," Aladdin said, giving her a superior look, despite the fact he had no idea what an epic was. The street rat just thought it sounded cool. He spoke with authority as he informed her. "You can't hurry a good story like this or interrupt it whenever ya feel like it," he warned, "It's all or nothing. So, what will it be?"

Abbi looked at him for a long time.

Aladdin tried to act like her steady gaze didn't bother him, but it was making him nervous. Was she going to call his bluff about the epic stuff? Was she going to point out that she had let him interrupt her story countless times without consequences? Or worst of all, was she going to reveal that she knew he had no intention of sharing the story behind tonight?

But to his relief, at the end of their staring contest, Abbi just sighed and said in a tired and slightly annoyed voice, "Fine. If those are my choices, I choose all. I will not interrupt or ask you to hurry again, so please proceed."

Instead of proceeding, Aladdin yawned again, causing Abbi and Abu to yawn as well. Then Aladdin cleared his throat. "Ahem."

Abbi narrowed her eyes at him. She was not speaking yet, but she might if he ventured to do another yawn. Aladdin guessed it was time to begin again.

"So," Aladdin said in his same lullaby soft voice, "As I was saying, it was a very hot day, hot enough to melt sand and burn steam. It was the type of day where the ground turns to fire, the sky is white with heat, ice is a memory, and you pray for rain, a cool breeze, or a taste of un-melted ice cream like they're better than heaven's garden with its springs of milk and water, endless food, and shaded walkways. On a day like that, it's too hot for much of anything to happen. And if by some chance something does happen, most people are too overheated to notice or care."

Aladdin paused for a moment and peered at Abbi. She met his gaze, but her eyes were a bit unfocused and she was already leaning on that well-placed cushion.

It was only a matter of time.

"Anyway," Aladdin continued in an even softer voice, "on that hot hot hot day where anything alive enough to sweat was finding a shady place to rest, I was at home with my mom. My dad wasn't there. He was gone. He's been gone a long time. So long that I've never met him, so it was just me and my mom at the time. Now, my mom, she was a tough woman. She worked very hard, so hard that it made me tired just looking at her. And that's the way she liked it. The hard work I mean. She was always telling me how hard work was the key to success and she believed it. She worked herself sick and still kept on working.

And on that hot hot hot hot day, she wanted to go to work like she always did. But it was too hot and she was sick. I told her it was too hot for her sick self to work. She didn't listen. She said, 'Aladdin, my boy. You won't get anywhere if you're not willing to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when life is hard. A willingness to work hard and a healthy dose of stick-to-itiveness is the way to a happy life.'

Maybe she was right. That day I didn't think so. I told her. I said that I thought she was crazy. It was what the townspeople said all the time behind her back and in front of mine. She insisted on doing too much, all to pay for me to get an education which I didn't need or want.

Somehow, despite the heat, we managed to get ourselves into a big fight that day. You know how it is. Soon we were just saying stuff to hurt each other. My mom was better at that than I was since I was just a kid, but that day I was feeling hot, sweaty, and extra mean, so I finally got her by saying, 'You care more about work than me, you, or anybody! This is why dad left!'

The look on her face, well…she didn't stick around after that. That's stick-to-itiveness for ya I guess. I think I just shocked her. Like she had never considered it before which seems unlikely, but who knows with parents? All I know is that that was one of the few times, I remember having the last word with my mom. And it really was the last word if you get my meaning. It-"

Aladdin stopped talking for a bit because he realized he could feel tears coming. He opened his eyes wide. He didn't want to start bawling in front of Abbi. After a few blinks to ensure he wasn't going to turn into a crybaby, he looked at her.

She was asleep.

Thank god for that. He wouldn't have to relive any more of his life tonight.

Abu put a hand on Aladdin's knee and looked up at him in concern.

"I'm alright, Abu," Aladdin quietly assured him.

That day with his mom had not been a happy one. If Aladdin was being honest, he had few good memories of his mother. He wished it was different. That they had acted like a normal family, but he had just never been good enough for her. He was not hardworking enough, not serious enough, not honest enough, not tall enough, not humble enough, not smart enough, not handsome enough, not old enough, and it had gone on and on and on. A year or so later, after he had become friends with Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, they had explained to him:

His mother's real complaint, the reason why she would never be proud of him or love him or even really like him, was that Aladdin was both too much and not enough like his father.

So yeah, their fight and her death did get to him, but he usually was not this bent out of shape about it. It was just 'cause he was already raw from Kassim, a person who had actually treated Aladdin like he was worth something.

Aladdin wrapped an arm around Abu and squeezed. "Come on Abu. Let's get some shut-eye."

Abu yawned for real.

Aladdin got up. He put out the fire and carefully returned Abbi's headband to her for the eighth time.

Abu, who was already lying down in their favorite spot, scowled at Aladdin.

"We can take it tomorrow," Aladdin whispered.

Abu just rolled over angrily.

After Aladdin shook his head at his grumpy monkey, he gathered up some of the threadbare blankets off the floor. The street rat carefully laid most of them on Abbi. The poor girl was already shivering from the lack of fire. Then he took the three remaining blankets, lied down with them, and curled up beside Abu.

Abu showed his gratitude by making sure to grab more than his fair share of the blankets.

Aladdin didn't protest. He just closed his eyes.

As the silence of the night invaded his home and mind, Aladdin wished for sleep and did his best to forget about the past.


A/N: So yeah, Aladdin has weaseled out of telling us his story for now, but at least we learned something else about him?

Speaking of learning something, I have been meaning to drip trivia throughout this fic, but I keep forgetting. So I guess I'll start here:

In chapter 4, Jasmine decides to call herself Abbi. She mentions it is a name in Shehrabad in that chapter which is her mother's country, but its actual origin comes from the original Aladdin script. Abbi is the name of Aladdin's childhood female BFF and love interest in that script. She was eventually merged with the princess character to create the Princess Jasmine we know and love.

In chapter 5, Jasmine pretends to be a servant just like in the 2019 movie.

In the last chapter, I mentioned a few princes. Princess Jasmine has had several "first suitors" depending on the media you consume. Lots of them have silly names. The Killjoy, Prince Dhiren, is from the Tiger's Curse series. He's actually pretty lovable, just a bit high-strung. If you want to know more about him, then check out my other fic, Rajah's Curse. As for Nadim, he is an OC. However, something interesting is that the meaning of Nadim's name is 'drinking buddy.'

Finally this chapter, the headband stealing is partially inspired by the 2019 movie and him and Abu stealing Jasmine's mother's bracelet. The story about Aladdin's mother is inspired by a song from the original Aladdin script called: "Proud of My Boy." It's worth a lookup on Youtube.

You may be wondering about Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, but Aladdin hasn't talked about them yet so I won't either. That's enough dwelling on the past. Next chapter will be the dawn of a new day.

See you then!