Page 123 - A Woman Is No Man

was a reminder of how far she had come since that day. How long had it
been—thirty years? Longer? She’d tried so hard to forget. For a long time
Fareeda had believed she was cursed, haunted by the jinn. But then Adam

had been born, and then Omar and Ali, and her memory of what happened
began to fade, bit by bit, until it was almost gone. Like a bad dream. But
then Sarah was born—a daughter—and the memories Fareeda thought she
had put to rest burned a hole inside her anew. How much she hated looking
at Sarah, how much she hated to remember. She had hoped her memories
would fade when Sarah got older. Only they hadn’t. And now it was Deya
who reminded her.

Please, God, Fareeda thought, staring at Isra’s belly. Don’t let this one
be another girl.