Bitter Almonds (25 page)

Nadia's lower lip quivered. ‘You know. The rumors some women . . .' She swallowed, tears gathering in her eyes.

Omar patted her hands before releasing them. He dug his checkered handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over, waited for her to blow her nose. So women gossiped about her and Marwan? He should have seen that coming. Taking a deep breath, he sighed his words, ‘It will all work out soon.'

Nadia crumbled the handkerchief in her hand, keeping her eyes cast down. ‘I just don't understand how someone could think that about me and . . . you.'

He jerked his head. ‘What did you say?'

She lifted wet eyelashes, tears running. ‘Everyone knows we are one family living together. So what if we are not related by blood. That doesn't mean we are doing anything wrong. I don't understand what changed all of a sudden. People are stupid and . . . and evil.' Nadia broke down in audible cries.

Omar left the bench. The birds above his head screeched in his ears, deafening him. Or was it the sound of his blood boiling, rushing through his veins? His mouth went dry as a desert, his entire body tensed, gearing for a fight. He searched for something to strike at. Giving Nadia his back, he grappled for composure, afraid to make a scene and attract attention. Someone was using him to tarnish Nadia's reputation in the community. Why? Who? Truth be damned. The suspicion alone would be damaging enough.

Nadia touched his shoulder.

He swung around, knocking her hand away as if she had branded him with a hot iron.

‘Huda was trying to find out who started the rumor. Did she tell you? Is that what you brought me here for?'

‘We'll discuss it at home.' He forced his voice to stay steady, but it vibrated in his chest and erupted with a strangled sound. ‘Coming here was a mistake.' He let her walk home ahead of him and remained quiet along the way.

A loud commotion sounded on the stairs outside the front door to the apartment. Omar jumped over the remaining couple of steps and pushed open the door. It took him several seconds to understand the scene he had walked in on.

Mama Subhia bent over Sameera in one corner of the living room, fistfuls of Sameera's hair in her hands. Huda held her mother from the waist, trying to pull her back. Everyone was screaming.

Nadia closed the door behind Omar and stopped short.

Omar sprang to action. He pried Mama Subhia off Sameera and dragged her to a chair. Huda tried to keep her seated while he helped Sameera to her feet.

‘Let me tear her apart, the conniving bitch,' Mama Subhia yelled, her chest heaving with exertion and anger.

‘Calm down, Mama. Your heart.' Huda turned toward a stunned Nadia. ‘Fetch cold water.'

Nadia ran to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. She sprinkled water over Mama Subhia's face.

Omar didn't know what to do with Sameera, who was sobbing and clinging to his neck. Afraid she might collapse like a squid once he let her go, he allowed her to use him for support. ‘Someone tell me what's going on.'

Huda fixed fierce eyes on Sameera. ‘She has been spreading lies about you and Nadia.'

The glass in Nadia's hand crashed to the floor.

Omar unlaced Sameera's hands from around his neck. ‘Is this true?'

Mama Subhia slammed her chest. ‘From inside my house. No wonder women listened to this nonsense.' She tried to push her body off the chair, but Huda held her back. ‘They heard it from this snake living among us.'

‘I said what I know,' Sameera hissed.

Releasing her, Omar took one step back. ‘And what the hell do you think you know?'

Sameera ran hands over her hair, wiped tears dripping down her chin. ‘I know a lot.' She pointed at the women huddled together. ‘They never accepted me into this house, thinking their precious Nadia was better than me. They despise Shareef for marrying me.' She straightened her back. ‘I'm not stupid, or blind. I see how you look at her. I know that look.'

‘You know nothing,' Omar shot back, his heart racing.

‘I know you two spent a night alone.' Sameera jutted her chin in defiance, challenging Omar. ‘Now, that's not a lie, is it?'

Nadia grabbed Sameera's arm and swung her around. ‘You are out of your mind.'

‘You think you are above reproach? All proper and innocent? Well, look whose reputation is in the dirt now.'

Nadia slapped Sameera across the face with enough force that it caused Sameera to lose her footing and slump against the wall.

Huda lunged at her with both fists. Nadia reared for another slap.

Omar grabbed Sameera and shoved her behind him, offering his body as a barrier. Huda's blows landed on his chest; Nadia's nails scratched his neck.

‘Everybody calm down.' He held back Huda with one arm and Nadia the other, attempting to control the situation, hoping he would fail and let them tear Sameera apart. ‘You're upsetting your mother.' He released them and they both went to Mama Subhia's side.

Crying, she slapped her thighs over and over. ‘We are ruined. Ruined.'

‘The night Fatimah went into labor,' Sameera yelled at Nadia. ‘You called my family's house and asked us to stay there with the little girls, knowing your mother and Huda were spending the night with Fatimah.' She cowered behind Omar's back. ‘You planned it so you would be alone with Omar.'

Omar swung around, slammed a palm against the wall by Sameera's head. ‘Go to your room, woman,' he barked. ‘Lock the door and wait for your husband.'

Sameera's surge of defiance vanished in a heartbeat. She hurried away as instructed, bumping into furniture until she reached her room.

Omar slumped forward to land his forehead on the wall. His insides were twisting without mercy. He closed his eyes in anticipation of a possible spasm attack, welcoming it at this point.

Mama Subhia wailed behind him. ‘May God curse the day Sameera came into this house. May He show me the day she gets what she deserves for what she has done. And Shareef, I curse—'

‘Mama, please,' Nadia sobbed. ‘Don't curse your son.'

Omar lifted his head, turned and leaned his back against the wall, needing it for support.

‘No decent family will approach you now, Nadia. Or any of your sisters.' Mama Subhia rocked back and forth in her seat. ‘We are ruined.'

‘Stop that nonsense, Mama.' Huda knelt in front of her mother. ‘The lie didn't spread like the bitch designed. I learned about it from a woman I tended, and she knows the kind of people we are, never believed a word of it. She stopped it from passing her doorstep and agreed to help me flush out the instigator. I never imagined it would be Sameera.'

Nadia sank down beside Huda. ‘You mean no one else knows?'

‘I don't think so. I told you women are gossiping so you would be extra careful until I found the source.'

‘It came out of this house. Someone
will
believe it.' Mama Subhia held Nadia's hands. ‘The damage is done.'

‘You need to rest.' Huda got to her feet, pulling Mama Subhia up with her. ‘Help me, Nadia. Let's get her to bed.' She raised her eyebrows at Omar. ‘We'll take care of things.'

Before she let the girls escort her inside, Mama Subhia lifted disappointed eyes to Omar. ‘You promised Mustafa to take care of his girls. Now see what has happened.'

Holding himself together by a thread, Omar went into his room. He lowered his body onto one of the chairs by the window, placed his elbows on his knees, and held his head in the palms of his hands. How could he have let this happen? He should never have returned home after he left the hospital. He could have rented a room somewhere close by, maintained a distance for people to see, or stayed at Fatimah's place. He knew something was off with the way everyone had behaved the day he came home. He knew, and he ignored it. Sameera had it in for him from the start, moving around him like a sneaky fox, watching, calculating, scheming.

He lifted his head, gasping for air. The windows were shut, Huda's attempt at keeping the neighbors out of earshot. How could he fix this? How could he keep his word to Uncle Mustafa? Redeem himself in Mama Subhia's eyes? Stretching to his feet, he tried to fill his lungs with air, trapped and powerless.

Nadia's intermittent sobs drifted from the girls' room. He took hold of the chair and threw it against the wall. The night lamp followed, then the nightstand it stood on. The contents of his drawer scattered across the floor. The bed was next. He flipped it over, then kicked the bottom over and over until his foot went numb. Everything inside his body hurt. But most of all, the pain from Mama Subhia's accusing words was the ultimate blow. Gulping for air, his lungs burned with each breath.

Huda stood in the doorway. ‘Are you done?'

‘I need to get out of here.'

She spread her feet apart and placed her hands on the doorjambs. ‘You can't leave now.'

‘Move.'

‘Shareef will be home soon. What do you think my selfish brother is going to do once he learns of this?'

‘I don't give a shit.' He shoved her aside and hurried to the front door.

‘Knowing how Shareef feels about you, who do you think he's going to believe? Nadia or his wife?'

Omar's hand froze on the door handle.

‘Are you really going to let Nadia face him alone?'

Omar let go of the door handle, balled his fists by his sides.

‘I spared Mama and Nadia one crucial detail.'

Omar swung around, his legs unable to hold him upright. ‘There's more?'

‘Sameera claimed you had your way with Nadia that night.'

A deep groan rumbled out of Omar's throat. He pressed his fists to his abdomen as if Huda had dealt him a physical blow.

‘And that is exactly what Sameera is going to tell Shareef the minute he walks in.' Huda folded her arms on her chest. ‘We need to contain him. Like Mama said. The damage is done. The snake has been planning this for a while.' She unfolded her arms and pointed at the girls' bedroom. ‘Nadia is in there crying her heart out, Mama is almost catatonic at this point, and you want to smash furniture and leave?'

‘Call Waleed. We're going to need him.' Dragging his feet to the sofa in the living room, he slumped forward. ‘Tell him to leave Fatimah at home.'

‘I took the little girls over there this morning to keep them away from here. Fatimah will have to stay with them anyway.'

Omar nodded. ‘Please open a window. I can't breathe.'

 

27

Trying to put his room back in order proved too arduous a task for Omar in the condition he was in. The surge of anger that propelled him to destruction put a lot of strain on his muscles, and he staggered at every move he made. His thoughts swept over events in disarray, jumping from past to present, lacking focus or reason. The unjust accusation leveled against him contradicted the guilt over the way he felt about Nadia, and his bruised honor blanketed every thought and sensation. He kept his distance from Nadia and Mama Subhia, suspecting if he opened his mouth, he would do more harm than good.

Huda withdrew with the women into their room. Not a sound drifted his way. The silence in the house cast an eerie vibe, the kind that descended after a thunderstorm, promising relief from the charged atmosphere. This one delivered none. Omar sat on his reassembled bed, faced the open door of his room, and waited for either Waleed or Shareef to walk in.

Waleed arrived first. Eyeing the destroyed furniture pieces piled in one corner, he scratched his head. ‘You had another episode? Do you need to go to the doctor?'

Omar pointed at a chair. ‘You need to sit down for what I have to tell you.' He didn't waste time, or stumble on his words. He explained the situation in a straightforward manner, keeping his jumbled emotions in check as much as he could.

Waleed listened without interrupting, releasing a couple of sighs every now and then. ‘So what Sameera said was partly true? You two were alone that night?'

Omar placed his right hand on his chest and surged to his feet. ‘I was passed out half the time. As God is my witness, I never did anything to suggest any of this.'

‘You don't have to swear to me. I'm not doubting your honor or Nadia's. I just want to make sure I have all the facts.' Waleed rubbed his chin. ‘I had no idea Sameera hated Nadia that much.'

Omar dropped down on the bed. ‘I brought this on. I made Shareef marry her and bring her to this house.'

‘If you're going to think that way, then I'm as much to blame as you are. We need to think ahead. Find a solution.'

‘I will do whatever it takes.'

‘First, we need to control Shareef. We can't have him talk to his wife before we have a chance to fill him in.'

Huda walked into the room and greeted Waleed with a curt nod. ‘What's the plan?'

‘Don't let Sameera come out of her room.' Waleed stuck an index finger in the air. ‘Not before Omar and I have explained things to Shareef.'

Omar approached Huda. ‘How is Mama Subhia?'

‘I gave her a pill to relax. She's calm.'

‘And Nadia?'

‘I'm fine.' Nadia joined them, her voice raspy and weak, her eyes red and puffed. She avoided looking straight at him.

He clenched his jaw, hoping to God she didn't blame herself. If only he could talk to her alone, make sure she understood she hadn't brought this on with her actions that night. Sameera would have found another excuse to attack her. He turned to address Waleed. ‘Please stay close to Shareef. Be ready to hold him back if he's stupid enough to lash out at the women. I'm not strong enough.'

They passed the time in silence. Huda and Nadia sat side by side on Omar's bed, Waleed paced the room and Omar rested his back against the wall. He locked his eyes on Nadia's bowed head. When he heard
Shareef's key in the door, he hurried to usher him into the room. Returning to his spot by the wall, he folded his arms on his chest and gritted his teeth.