Amal Unbound(36)

“Not for me,” I said. “For Fatima—she’s a child who works at the estate. I’m teaching her to read.”

“A fellow teacher.” He smiled and handed me a book. “Of course.”

A fellow teacher—me? I almost laughed, but he was right. I might not have had my own classroom, but I was teaching Fatima. So I was a teacher.

I walked out of the center with a smile on my face. I had forgotten how my mind buzzed after a lesson. I’d forgotten how each answer my teachers gave led to ten new questions. I’d forgotten how alive it all made me feel.

My new teacher had given me a reason to dream again.





Chapter 38





I have a surprise for you,” I told Fatima the next evening.

I had left Nasreen Baji watching television in the living room and slipped into the kitchen, where Fatima was putting the leftovers from the evening meal in the fridge.

“Surprise?” Fatima squinted at me.

I pulled out the book from behind my back.

“A book?” Her eyes widened. “Could I read it?”

“Well, maybe some of the words!” I said. “Want to read together? We can see which ones you can try to sound out.”

Fatima hurried over to me as I turned to the first page. I read her the story of a lion and a mouse. The lion saved the mouse, and as the story continued, the mouse saved the lion in return. I watched her mouth form some of the words in disbelief. Sure, the words were simple, but it was happening. Fatima was learning to read.

“Fatima! You’re doing it! See how many words you knew?”

Fatima beamed.

The doorbell chimed. I shut the book and glanced at the clock. It was just after dinner. People never came at this hour.

Fatima and I stepped out of the kitchen and walked down the hallway to the foyer. We saw Bilal hurrying to the front door. He looked out the window. His hand tightened on the doorknob before opening it. I knew before he opened it. It was the police again.

Nasreen Baji strode toward the door as the two officers stepped into the foyer. They were different from the ones who came last time.

“I apologize for disrupting you at this late hour,” the bearded officer said. “We need to speak with Jawad Sahib. It’s an urgent matter, and we are unable to reach him by phone.”

“He’s not home,” Nasreen Baji replied.

“Where might he be?”

“I’m not sure.”

“His own mother doesn’t know where he is,” the other officer muttered.

“Excuse me?” She raised her voice. “Do you think we enjoy these regular intrusions? Khan Sahib will not be amused when he finds out how late at night you came to harass his wife.”

“I apologize for Usman,” the bearded officer interjected. He handed her a card. “It’s just that it’s important we speak to him.”

“I will relay the message.”

Her face remained stony until they walked out of the foyer.

“They’ve never done that before,” she exclaimed once they were gone. “They would never dare.” She looked at the card. “What on earth is going on?”

She picked up her phone.

“I need to make some calls,” she said to me. “Go look and see if anything needs to be done in the kitchen.”

She headed up the stairs to her bedroom.

“Can you read the book to me again?” Fatima tugged at my kamiz.

“Tomorrow.”

“One last time? Please?”

We slipped back into the kitchen. She listened, not moving a muscle as I read to her again.

When I finished, Fatima leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Thank you,” she said.

I knew learning to read wouldn’t change the fact that Fatima was trapped here like I was, cleaning floors, dusting baseboards, and peeling potatoes. But at least by teaching her to read, I gave her a window to see worlds beyond ours and a chance to imagine leaving the walls of this estate and to feel free, even if it was only for a little while.





Chapter 39





Asif was already sitting at the desk at the literacy center, typing on his laptop, when I walked into his classroom. His eyebrows were knit in concentration. He nodded when he saw me. I sat down across from him and pushed the book I’d borrowed across the table to him.

“Thank you for lending me the book,” I told him.

“How did she like it?” he asked.

“She loved it! She made me read it so many times this morning, I think she’s memorized the story.”

“That’s great.” He smiled. “I have some easier ones you can take for her today. She might even be able to read those all the way through on her own, based on the letters and sounds she knows. And good news! I found some great software that teaches math and reading. I’ve ordered it for the center, and it should be here in time for our next session.”

“Really? Thank you so much!”

“While we wait for it to come in, I thought you could practice how to take a multiple-choice online test. I found a few basic reading passages. They’re a little silly, but they’ll do the job while we wait for the software.”

He pushed the laptop toward me and pulled his chair next to me.