The Rejected Bride
No jewelry, no makeup.
No color, no life.
I was to become a shadow, a living ghost, for four months and ten days.
The law of Allah.
The duty of the widow.
The mourning of the good wife.
The grieving of the loyal widow.
Even now, in death, he would trap her.
By sunrise, the Imam had arrived.
I sat quietly as he recited verses from the Quran, praising my dead husband’s soul, praying for mercy, speaking of love and loyalty.
Love.
Loyalty.