Chapter 2

I was born in Rabdah. I grew up here. This is where I have spent the last seventeen years of my life.

Everything I hold dear is here. My family, my home, my religion and my culture.

Those are the four pillars on which my entire life is based. If I lose one of them then I will no longer be who I am. I will lose my personality, and without my personality I will be insignificant.

I suppose that's what's making my leaving so hard to actually comprehend. I watched as tears streamed down my mother's soft cheeks. The same applied to my three sisters. My two younger brothers were also clearly feeling the effects of my departure. I had never been away from home, apart from a couple of years ago when my aunt Faiza insisted I visit her in the states. I had loved it there, but after a while it all became very foreign and I actually found myself longing to be back home in the safety of my palace walls. In the safety of the rules that governed my life.

And now I was leaving.... traveling to an entirely different place. A different continent even. 

The school I would be enrolled in was situated somewhere in London. A place I have only read of or seen on the internet. And now I would be studying there for the two or so years I had to complete my high school education.

" Don't forget to pray, do you hear me Jerald? Always pray..." My mother's words ended in a sob as she rolled my prayer mat and placed it neatly in my suitcase. Right on top of my clothes.

I know she did that so that it would be the first thing I saw when I opened up the case. It was to serve as a constant reminder of where I had come from...of who I was.

Religion....one of the pillars of my life. One of the greatest foundations of who I was.

I could only nod at her. She and my father had had a fight and we're currently not in speaking terms. All because of his decision to send me away. He said he wanted me to get a firm backbone. A grip on the real situation of the outside world....my mother could not disagree more.

But my father had two other wives apart from her, she knew that she was not irreplaceable. So she kept quiet and chose to swallow her pain just as she had been doing throughout the course of her marriage.

The maidservant packed everything while I sat on the edge of my bed and simply watched. Listening to my mother painfully rumble on and on about how I ought to always keep warm since she read about the terrible weather in London. And about how I should not forget to eat healthy....but most importantly, about how I ought to not forget to fast when required.

She asked the maid to get me some spices, for what purpose I had no idea. Then she packed her special handmade oils and showed me where they were.

" The sun there is just awful, but the oils will help your skin stay soft. "

" But ma, I thought you said it was very cold there. " I countered, a teasing smile playing at the corner of my lips. She wanted to scold me lovingly. I could tell.

But instead, she just shook her head and came to where I was, engulfing me in a tight hug as she sniffled back her tears. My siblings joined in the hug, and I felt terrible for secretly wanting to leave 

To experience a life that was outside of this place.

It was early morning, the sun just rising. And I knew my father was impatiently waiting for me outside. 

After the hug ended and everyone stepped aside, I stood . My violin case held securely in my hand, and I sucked in a deep breath. I promised my siblings presents when I returned to try and cheer them up and it worked for the most part. 

Then I walked out. Fully aware that I was going to a place where no one knew who I was.

Down the hall, I came across a red eyed Simra and was unaware of what to do. Her love was unrequited. I did not share in the feelings she had, mostly because I knew almost nothing about her.

She leaned against the wall as I passed by, the scarf that was supposed to be on her head had been draped over her shoulders. If my mother found her like that she would give her an earful.

Culture......another pillar that held my life together prohibited her from having the feelings she had for me the same way it prohibited her from unveiling her hair.

I slightly waved at her to say goodbye and she turned her head to the side.

I found my father waiting outside, already seated inside the car.

I had been told that I bore a striking resemblance to him. Same dark hair, sane bone structure. But I had my mother's green eyes, the shade was rather rare in the whole of Rabdah. 

After getting in the vehicle and settling down next to my father, we waited for my luggage to be placed in the trunk. Then we rode off. I caught a glimpse of my family standing outside the house waving goodbye and I returned the gesture until they were out of sight. Then I leaned my head against the seat and tried to imagine what the future held.

" This is what's best. " My father curtly stated. I could do nothing but nod.