Page 239 - A Woman Is No Man

“Hannah told him she wanted a divorce,” Fareeda said, her voice
cracking. “He says he doesn’t know what happened. They found him
standing over her body with a knife.”

Sarah let out a wail. “And you want to do this to me? ‘Get married! Get
married!’ That’s all you can say to me. You don’t care what happens to
me!”
“Not now,” Fareeda said, staring at a spot outside the window. “This has
nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me! What if some man kills me? Would
you even care? Or would you just be glad that I was no longer your balwa?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fareeda said, though Isra could see her upper lip
trembling.
“Hannah was only eighteen!” Sarah shouted. “That could’ve been me.”
Fareeda’s eyes were locked on the window. A fly buzzed against the
glass. She squashed it with the edge of her nightgown. She had told Isra
once, years ago when Adam first beat her, that a woman was put on this

earth to please her husband. Even if he was wrong, she had said, a woman
must be patient. A woman must endure. And Isra had understood why
Fareeda said it. Just like Mama, she believed silence was the only way. That
it was safer to submit than speak up. But watching the tears gather in her
eyes, Isra wondered what Fareeda thought about her words now.