Fortune Favors the Bold

19

Tamara turned her head to the side, spoke under her breath, then turned to the other side. The rug she'd been provided for prayer smelled freshly of the bathroom's soap. She'd watched it last night for the third evening in a row, feeling like she could never truly clean the prayer mat. No part of her felt clean in this place.

She sighed, letting her hands slip off her thighs and fall between her legs. Her thoughts slipped back to her first moments in the building when she thought she'd been spared one dark fate before she realized the far more horrid truth that awaited her. At that time, she'd thought the offered rug was considerate. Not she realized the intentions may not have been as pure as first believed to be.

Folding the rug as she rose and laying it on the bed's end, Tamara made her way over to the nightstand beside her pillows. The bed squeaked beneath her weight as she sat down, reaching into the first drawer to pull out the familiar book they all shared.

She flipped open the hard gray cover. Her fingernails moved delicately against its inside, carefully peeling the tape away from the hard book to reveal the folded paper within. The girl's touch became feather-like with the fear of crumbling the sheet that she pulled out.

Raising it to her nose, Tamara could still smell the faint smell of crayons and chocolate. She smiled at the image of her daughter that drew itself into her mind. The little girl grinned brightly at her, putting all her effort into throwing a ball that only landed a few feet in front of her. Her blonde hair had been cut into the bowl-cut Tamara had hated so much. She'd scolded him when she'd first seen it.

But now, as Sohila pouted at the ball that wouldn't make it half as far as she'd wished. Tamara made an unusual sound, awkwardly stumbling forward until the ball met with the front of her shin.

"Oh, no!" She groaned, falling to the ground, and pretending it had knocked her balance off. Sohila laughed but didn't waste any time moving to her mother's side. Tamara had smiled like a fool as they watched her daughter still grow accustomed to walking. It had taken her quite a bit of time to wobble over.

Her mother had patiently waited in her place on the ground until the little girl reached her side. Sohila began to tug at her shirt to lift her off of the carpeted ground.

"Ha! I tricked you!" Tamara shouted, sweeping the girl off the ground, and dropping her into her lap. Sohila screamed when Tamara's fingers danced over the thin material of her onesie to tickle her. The toddler instinctively kicked her feet and flailed in an attempt to free herself as more tickles rained down on her small body.

She cried out, throwing her head to peer into the kitchen behind them for the man who chuckled while cutting the vegetables. "Ba!"

Tamara's eyes widened.

She whipped her head around to meet her husband's similarly shocked gaze. They both held their breath, sensing what was to come. "Baba!" Sohila finished the world.

Tamara squealed in excitement, continuing to tickle the girl.

"Ya rouh alb baba!" He shouted, his voice carrying with the clatter of the knife on the counter. Tamara looked over just as the man she'd married ripped off his apron, jumping over the back of their couch. His brown hair bounced on his head with a considerable length after he'd failed to cut it –too focused on his studies. "I'm coming to save you!"

"Never!" Tamara laughed, attempting to resist his stronger attempt to tug their child out of her grip. But she couldn't hold on too firmly for the sake of the girl and the mother ended up surrendering her.

He placed her on the ground before turning his dark brown eyes to Tamara, smirking devilishly. The scruff around his sharp jawline made the man appear all the more intimidating. Tamara's eyes widened as she lifted her hands in front of her anxiously. "No-."