Hidden Depths

Rashid Runs - Continued

Still sweating from ten laps of the park, Rashid arrived at the door to his block of flats shortly before his sister. As ever, Ameera was dutifully wearing both her hijab and abaya, even though Rashid knew she resented the clothing that covered her completely. This wasn't because of any dislike of the items themselves - she may even have chosen to wear them if given the choice - but the choice had never been offered, so she lived her life silently aggrieved.

Just like with everything else, the decisions about what Rashid and Ameera wore were made by their father, and, while Rashid invariably rebelled and accepted the consequences, Ameera complied while quietly planning her escape. She walked up with a powerful confidence that belied the timid persona she portrayed to her parents. Rashid reflected that he could have easily spotted her determined gait amongst a crowd of covered-up girls.

Engrossed in her phone, Ameera didn't notice Rashid until she reached the door.

'Wallah Rashid, you're in so much trouble.' She grabbed her younger brother by his arm and quickly bustled him through the door.

Inside the stairwell, she looked around before removing her veil. Rashid could see from her expression that Ameera was both worried and excited by her brother's predicament.

'Everybody's talking about it,' she said, showing him the chat app on her phone. Rash saw a blur of exclamation marks and emoticons fly by as she scrolled to the top of the group.

It was titled: Who broke Sajid Saleem's jaw? and the first reply simply said: Rashid Shadid.

'I didn't know I broke it,' Rash said, wondering if he should feel guilty. 'Still, he had it coming.'

'How did you know it was him?' Ameera asked.

'What do you mean?' Rashid replied, 'Who is he?'

'You never listen, do you?' The smile on his sister's face took the edge off the harsh words. 'You know they've always wanted me to marry as soon as I finish school, but since, well...' Ameera gave up on the sentence but Rashid knew what she meant.

'Anyway, the Saleems are old friends of Dad's and since they moved down here to set up the new factory with him, he's been pleading with them to take pity on me.'

Rash remembered all this and he knew Ameera was less than thrilled with the situation. With that, and everything else that had happened last year, he wasn't surprised she was planning to run away as soon as she'd finished her exams.

'I didn't think anything had been agreed. Don't they have four sons?'

'Yea, Sajid is the youngest and I've heard he's a total nightmare. What was he like?'

'I won't be sending him an Eid card, that's for sure. Anyway, it wasn't my fault, he just kept coming at me. I was going to walk away but then he...he just crossed the line.'

'Well, whoever started it, you really messed him up and everyone's saying his parents are going berserk.' Ameera scrolled back down on her phone to show Rashid the evidence, but he decided to just take her word for it.

'Dad's going to literally kill me,' he said. 'I take it the wedding's off then?'

Ameera's smile widened as she replied, 'You better bloody believe it, and the business deal. I think they'll probably move back up north and never speak to Dad again.'

He couldn't get his head round how much trouble those two punches had caused him. Rashid knew that he had inherited his quick temper from his father, and he'd regularly experienced violent punishments for a long list of comparatively minor offences. Thinking back on the beatings he had received over the years, he realised that none of the crimes that had caused them had come anywhere close to this.

The Ameera situation had caused his dad a lot of embarrassment already. Now that her final lifeline had been whipped away, along with the biggest business deal of his father's life, Rashid knew he would be livid. It would, undoubtedly, turn violent and, although Rash would most likely win a fair fight now, he could never bring himself to return his father's blows. He had to plan his next move very carefully. He shook his head and turned slightly away from his sister, as if looking at her face was impairing his decision. In the end she made it for him.

'You've got to go,' she said simply.

'Yeah,' Rash replied with a nod, as the gravity of the situation sunk in. 'He will actually kill me.'

'Not if you're in a different country he won't.' Ameera started running up the stairs and Rash followed.

They snuck into the flat, being careful not to let their mum hear the door close from her usual post in the kitchen. With flushed faces, they made their way into Ameera's room and Rashid stood still as he watched his sister crouch down and pull a loose strip of wood away from the base of her wardrobe.

She smiled at Rash and then looked up at an angle as she reached blindly inside the hiding place. She pulled out a small pouch and chucked it on her bed, before holding out her hand and gesturing for Rashid to pass her his school bag.

She removed his books and stashed them back under her wardrobe, before opening its doors and taking out another abaya. She stuffed it in his bag along with a spare hijab, and then retrieved the pouch from her bed and pointed it at him.

'Passport, train ticket, guide book and €500.'

'I can't take that, Ameera,' said Rashid. 'It's your only hope of getting out of here.'

'It was until you knocked out Dad's only hope.' Ameera's eyes twinkled with glee, but Rashid was still confused.

'Everyone round here knows what happened to me, and with the Saleems out the picture there's literally no one left to marry me off to.'

Rashid finally understood why his sister was so excited.

'Without marriage, their only option is to let me go to college, and maybe even university.'

Ameera looked at her brother intently before stuffing the pouch into his bag and closing it up. 'You've given me a way out, so now I'm giving you one,' she said, giving Rash a hug.

'Now hurry, before he gets back.'

Through a fog of tears, Rashid took the bag and turned to leave.

He heard her whisper 'Send me a postcard,' as he crept out of the flat and away from his family forever.