Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan

Author:Hiba Noor Khan [Khan, Hiba Noor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
Published: 2023-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

20

Safiyyah had never seen her father look this way before. He was gripped by a wave of intense emotion and it seemed for a moment as if it might drown him. He perched on the edge of his desk, his head in his hands. Panic, anger and terror contorted his features as if he was in pain, his cheeks flushed pink above his beard. Safiyyah wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She considered begging Baba for forgiveness, but her limbs were ice, frozen stiffly in place.

Despite still not being able to slot any of the pieces she’d uncovered together, she began to realise the scale of the secret she’d stumbled upon. Baba wiped his face with his hands, looking up towards the ceiling as if help might descend from the corners of the room. Whatever it was that he’d been hiding, it was far more serious than Safiyyah could have fathomed. She wished deeply that she’d never got tangled up in any of this in the first place. The silence was agonising, when would Baba say something?

Instead of speaking, Baba stood up suddenly, reaching to the top shelf of his bookcase. The wooden drum at the foot of the shelves fell onto its side as he knocked it off balance with his leg. Safiyyah jumped as it thudded onto the rug and rolled a little. Baba barely seemed to notice, and came towards Safiyyah with his Quran cradled in his arms. Even more confused than she had been before, Safiyyah stood up and took a step back, but Baba implored her to sit. He kneeled on the ground in front of her before untying the embroidered cloth adorning the book. The gold threads stitched in leaf designs through the fabric shimmered as Baba pulled out the Quran. He thrust the intricate green book onto Safiyyah’s lap, and she gripped it tightly in surprise, imploring Baba with her eyes for an explanation.

He sighed deeply, breathing exhaustion out into the air in the room until a heavy fatigue enveloped Safiyyah too.

Eventually, he spoke sternly. ‘You will swear secrecy on the Quran, Safiyyah. Everything I’m about to tell you has the capacity to destroy people’s lives. Hundreds of lives. For ever. Irreversibly. In fact, let me just be clear now. People will die, Safiyyah, people will be killed if any of this information gets out. Anywhere. To anyone. Not only is my neck on the line, but Ammo Imam’s, Ammo Kader’s also, as well as innocent, desperate people all over our city.’

Safiyyah listened wide-eyed, stunned at the words coming out of her father’s mouth. He wiped beads of sweat from his temple with a handkerchief.

‘This isn’t a weight I wanted you to have to bear, but clearly you wanted otherwise. We have entered very, very dark times. It is absolutely vital that ALL of this remains in this room. Do you hear me? You’ve proved incapable of listening and obeying any of my past instructions, but, Safiyyah, if you care even one iota about human life, you will keep your mouth shut.

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