One day, I called my cousin Najla. We spoke in Arabic. I changed my voice and my accent from Yemeni to Saudi Arabian. I told her, “Congratulations, you won a million.”

She didn’t believe me, so I spoke to her and convinced her. I said, “I’m working with MBC channel.” She knew the channel. “We have a program where someone wins a million riyals.”

She still didn’t believe me. I said, “We choose the country, and then let the computer choose the winner. Then I got your number.” She started to believe. I said, “Okay, next week, I’ll call you to find out how we can give you the money.”

I waited one week, and then I called her again. I said, “Do you remember you won a million? Today, I want you to tell me the best way for me to meet with you or put the money in your account.” She said, “I have to ask my husband.” Then, I could hear them talking. So I got shy, and I laughed. When I laughed, she recognized my voice. She was amazed that I did all this, and she hadn’t realized it. She said, “You got me. Next time I’ll get you.” I heard her laughing with her husband. Later on, her mother asked me, “Why are you giving your cousin a million and not me?”

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Suaad Almaflehi writes, “I am from Yemen. I have four children, three boys and one girl. I started studying English at CUNY’s City Tech when my youngest son enrolled in school. My teachers are Jay Klokker and Charles Perkins. I love the old monuments of my country, like Dar al-Hajar, a stone house that was built in the eighteenth century.”