Varsity had the late practice, so I went to The Center right after school to put in an hour of service. And … for other reasons. Unlike C, M was turning out to be easy. We did money and malab, which means “honey.” As Abdi drew the pictures, I attempted some humor. “My grandmother has a saying: ‘No money, no honey,’ ” I said. “I guess we could change that to ‘No money, no malab.’ ” Blank stare from Samira. “It’s a comment about relationships,” I explained. “Honey, in this case, could mean love. Romance. A few other things, which we won’t mention in front of Abdi here.” Our guy was actually paying no attention to me at all. He loves to draw. The only time that foot stops swinging is when Abdi’s got some crayons or colored pencils in his hands. “So the phrase is a funny, rhyming way of saying that without cold, hard cash in hand, you can pretty much forget about holding hands. Isn’t that right, College?” I said that last bit loudly, in the direction of the glassed-in cubicle where Myla was doing some paperwork.
