Faryah

21.

I buried my face in my palms as I began to think of what my family was facing, what my babies were going through. Going through all these hassles just keep our family safe. These were the perks of being very rich and famous. " Zainab" I could never forget this awful voice. The voice that made my life miserable for a few years. " What are you doing here David?" I asked as I rose my head up from my palms. " I came to see my son" He was his son after all. I mean he looked like a changed man. I needed, we needed to find it in our hearts to forgive him. I couldn't look at him right now, or else I was going to break down.

" He's in the recovery room, he's fine, he was shot in the stomach but it didn't hit any of his vital organs" I answered as I felt him sit beside me. " How did you know he was shot?" I asked again. "you don't need to know how" whatever. I rolled my eyes and sighed. He was still arrogant. There was a moment of silence before he finally broke it. " I'm sorry for what happened in Turkey, believe me, I am deeply sorry, I wasn't myself when you two left me, I am sorry, believe me please, I am a changed man, I painfully regret what I made you go through" All the beatings and sleepless nights I got when I was still in Turkey came rushing back into my head. The tiny baby cries from Khalid, they all came rushing back to me. " It's going to be very hard for us to forgive you, just let us be for now, we tried healing but now that you're back, the wound feels so fresh" I said as I tucked my hair behind my ear. I watched him sigh and take a closer look at me. " You're not wearing your hijab or scarf anymore" He began and I knew where this was heading. My religion isn't specific. I grew up in a Jewish home for 18 years, My Mother and Father were both Turkish, but they were Jews. I went to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, to study Medicine in Universiti Malaya, Jalan Universiti. That was where I met Aleeyah, she was a Muslim. She became my best friend then and she made me convert. I became a Muslim then because for her. She let me in on almost everything about the religion and I found peace in it. It really was a religion of peace. I converted and it caused the death of my father, he got a heart attack. I blamed myself for his death but later on, I stopped. It was my life I was living.

I found David in Malaysia, love at first sight. He was a Christian, well just by name. Hardly no practice. After getting married in a court, he took us back to Turkey and converted to a Muslim too and changed his name to Salman, he rarely used it though. That was how I lost contact with Aleeyah, I was never going to forget her. Faryah reminded me of her, they looked pretty much alike. We lived peacefully for a year and after I had Khalid, few months later, David changed. I handled the beatings for six years and finally fled to LA, where I found Brandon. We began to get along, and fall in love. I couldn't marry him without divorcing David, at that time, David couldn't contest the divorce in court, so the court favoured me cause of the abuse I went through. I didn't file any case against him. I just prayed for him.

Brandon wanted us to get married in a church. I didn't want to defy him then, after all what he did for me and Khalid, I felt indebted to him. That was the only condition he gave me. To convert. I was desperate at that time so I agreed. I tried talking to him about Islam time to time after we got married but he always changed the topic. I managed to live with that and the fact that Khalid was happy in his new home made it hurt less. I didn't want us to have a problem. But deep down, I still worshipped and prayed to Allah for forgiveness, protection and guidance and for Brandon to listen to me. I had a good feeling about it when Faryah arrived. I knew she was going to change things I couldn't and I was going to support her. Always. I believed in her. " Zainab" David called as I came back to reality. " Uh, This is how I live now" I answered and avoided his gaze. " I didn't, I'm on the right path because of you, why did you change?" He asked and I tried holding the tears back. I didn't need to explain myself to him.

" Let me be David" I answered as I heard clicking of heels coming our way. It was Pamela. " Mama Zainab" she called as she gave me a light hug. " Good day sir" she greeted David. " what happened to Khalid?" she asked as she sat on my right. She was worried. Poor girl. " He was shot but he's fine now, I'm sure we'll be allowed to see him soon" I answered as I watched tears roll down her cheeks. " He's okay, don't cry" I consoled as she cleaned her eyes. I watched as two of the police men that were outside the hospital walked past us hurriedly. I quickly got up and followed them. " Excuse me, wait please, what happened to those that attacked the hospital?" I asked one of them. " They got into an accident a few blocks away from the hospital, the accident caused their vehicles to explode" oh wow. Blonde twist. " They're dead" I said out loud. " One is, the other one is in a critical condition" How can someone not die from an explosion and car crash all together. " Thank you" I answered.