*The Police station smelled like urine. Zainab had scrunched up her nose ever since they arrived, the rank odour forming a cloud within the walls which she desperately wanted to leave. She was aware of the numerous pairs of eyes on her, and the veil of suspicion over them. The officer who was questioning her, Inspector David, sat across from her with an old file in his hands. He was a short man, his body a glut of muscles, his hair thinning and with a rough mustache over his lips. When he looked up at her through hooded eyelids, she avoided his gaze and chose instead to stare at his mustache. "I'm going to ask you a few questions," he began in a bored tone, the drawl characteristic of one who'd practiced the same speech over and over again. "I expect you to answer them truthfully. It will be best if you cooperate with us here. You have no fault here, so we have no reason to suspect you. Should you refuse to cooperate however, I will be forced to take any precautions necessary. Do yo

*Afrah would make a good mother. Everyone said so. None more than Adnan, who keep looking at her with a moist expression of warmth in his eyes each time he saw her. He'd changed since she told him about the pregnancy. He was more attentive than ever before, which came as a surprise seeing as how she couldn't imagine him paying any more attention to her than he usually did. He became more quiet, walking almost in tiptoes so he wouldn't disturb her. "What do we name her?" he asked one day while massaging her feet. Afrah's hand was resting on her slightly protruding belly, a distant look in her eyes until Adnan had spoken. "How are you so sure it'll be a girl?" Her smile came easily, as it always did whenever she discussed the baby. "I know it's a girl, Afrah," he said. "I just do.""Well then, if it's a girl, I want to name her Hafsah," she said. "And if it's a boy, we name him Aliyu.""You've given this much thought, haven't you?" he asked with a chuckle. "It's all I've done these

*The naming ceremony was held at Afrah's parent's home. Adnan didn't want the security of his house to be compromised during the event, so he agreed to have it at her parent's. The night before the ceremony however, he stayed with her until midnight. They took a walk in the backyard, circling the perimeter several times. Hafsah was sleeping soundly in Halima's room upstairs, barely a few minutes after Afrah finished feeding her. Soon she would be waking up when her diaper got full. They'd just endured over three hours of her crying when her grandmother decided to pierce her ears that day. The wind was cold and harsh. When Adnan noticed Afrah shivering, he drew her close and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You smell nice," she said with a sigh, wrapping her arm around his torso. "Did I not smell nice before?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "You always smell nice," Afrah said. "And you smell amazing," he said, kissing her forehead. "You look beautiful too."On their sevente

*Some say terror brings an overwhelming sense of confusion, so sharp and painful that the person isn't able to decipher his left from his right. It robs the mind of its tact, and ensnares the person in its claws. For Afrah, terror brought an overwhelming sense of calm. In the seconds after Adnan spoke to her on the phone, her senses heightened, and something inside of her seemed to snap. She was neither aware of walking out of the hospital, nor was she aware of hopping into her car and driving off. Her heart was racing, and the wailing of a thousand exhausted cars desperately trying to maneuver around each other was lost to her. All she heard was silence, so pure and complete that even her breathing was faint, almost nonexistent. And then she screamed.No one heard her, of course. No one heard the anguish in her voice, or the desperation in her every breath. The pain came from within her, seeping out of her pores and wrapping her in a dreadful blanket. Remarkable however, was the f

*"I remember it like it was yesterday," Halima said. "And I know how cliché that sounds, but it really does feel like yesterday even though it was almost thirty years ago."Adnan tilted his head to the side, trying to detect a hint of deception in her words. "I was a little girl, so foolish and ignorant. I guess I've always been like that. But we can say that my ignorance and foolishness were somewhat exaggerated at that point in my life. Before I tell you how it happened however, I think you should understand the beginning of it all. I believe I was on my way to my uncle's house that day. I'm sure your father told you all about the village we grew up in.""Bakura," he replied indifferently. "Yes," Halima replied, twisting her hands. "It's a small settlement, and we grew up so close that everyone knew the name of everyone else. It was so small that it was impossible to leave home without everyone being able to give a detailed account of where you went. Your paternal grandfather and