Page 61 - A Woman Is No Man

She put down her cards, cleared her throat. “I don’t want to sit with
Nasser again.”
“Excuse me?” Fareeda looked up. “And why not?”

She could see Khaled staring at her, and she met his eyes pleadingly.
“Please, Seedo. I don’t want to marry someone I don’t know.”
“You’ll get to know him soon enough,” Khaled said, returning to his
cards.
“Maybe if I could just go to college for a few semesters—”
Fareeda slammed the remote down with a thump. “College again? How
many times have we talked about this nonsense?”

Khaled gave Deya a sharp glare. She hoped he wouldn’t slap her.
“This is all because of those books,” Fareeda continued. “Those books
putting foolish ideas in your head!” She stood up, waved her hands at Deya.
“Tell me, what are you reading for?”
Deya folded her arms across her chest. “To learn.”
“Learn what?”

“Everything.”
Fareeda shook her head. “There are things you have to learn for
yourself, things no book will ever teach you.”
“But—”
“Bikafi!” Khaled said. “That’s enough!” Deya and her sisters exchanged
nervous looks. “College can wait until after marriage.” Khaled shuffled the
cards for a new deck and turned his eyes to Deya again. “Fahmeh? Do you

understand?”
She sighed. “Yes, Seedo.”
“With that said . . .” He returned his eyes to the deck. “I don’t see
what’s wrong with reading.”
“You know what’s wrong with it,” Fareeda said, shooting him a wide-
eyed look. But Khaled wouldn’t look at her. Fareeda’s jaw was clenching

and unclenching.
“I don’t see anything wrong with books,” Khaled said, studying his
cards. “What I think is wrong is you forbidding them.” His eyes shifted to
Fareeda. “Don’t you think that will lead to trouble?”
“The only thing that will lead to trouble is being easy on them.”
“Easy on them?” He fixed Fareeda with a glare. “Don’t you think we
shelter them enough? They come straight home from school every day, help

you with all the household chores, never step foot out of the house without