Page 198 - A Woman Is No Man

“I just mean you shouldn’t worry about marrying her off so quickly.
You should enjoy the time you have left.”
Fareeda didn’t like the look on Nadine’s face. There was a time when

she had enjoyed Nadine’s company, a break from Isra’s dullness and
Sarah’s rebellions. But now it was Nadine who irritated her the most, with
her constant sense of entitlement. The girl did whatever she pleased,
regardless of what Fareeda asked of her. As annoying as Isra was, at least
she did what she was told. At least she knew her place. But one damn child,
and Nadine walked around as though the world owed her something. As
though she wasn’t a woman like the rest of them. You have to earn the right

to bend the rules, Fareeda thought, and Nadine hadn’t earned a thing.
“But I guess you’re lucky,” Nadine said. “She’ll get married right here,
and you’ll see her all the time.”
“See her all the time? Do you think you’d see your mother all the time if
you were living back home?”
“Of course.”

Fareeda laughed, her eyes squinting into tiny slits. “When a girl gets
married, she puts a big X on her parents’ door.” Fareeda drew the letter with
her index finger as large as she could in front of her. “A very big X.”
Nadine stared at her, fingering the tips of her hair. “No man wants a wife
still stuck up her family’s back end when she should be home cooking and
cleaning.” Fareeda spit out her gum, squashed it into a tissue. “Believe me,
I’ll kick Sarah right back into her husband’s lap if she starts coming around

here after she’s married.”