Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 20: Dinner is served

A/N: I finished Unintended Consequences and I will be releasing the final chapters as I edit them. I also won NaNoWriMo, so I am very happy and will be getting back to completing the Good Husband. Thank you all for reading along with me. More drama ahead. Here we go!

Dinner began the way you would expect it to. Zara disrobed while I was asleep but was no less elegant in her regular clothes than she was in her abayah. The seafoam and teal ensemble she wore flattered her skin tone and her mannerisms made me feel like a galloping horse on rollerskates. Still, I didn't let it intimidate me.

"So, Unique, did you convert after you got married?" Her question landed like a flaming boulder shot across the table.

"No, I was a Muslims for years before I met Rayyan."

"Oh, really! I was not as smart as you," said Liu Wei, without looking up from his bowl of soup. "This way of living is very comfortable. Compared to how I was brought up, this is very comfortable."

"I don't really think of it as a choice. It's not about being smart or not," I said softly.

"Oh? And what do you think it is?" Zara lifted an eyebrow and smiled menacingly.

"Well, it's more like a calling. When you find your calling or your purpose, you can't ignore it. For me, being a Muslim was more like that. I got the call and I couldn't ignore it," I said, ignoring her surprised look. "It's like, I always believed in luck, and then I realized that luck was just another name for fate. Islam was my fate and there's no point in fighting fate."

"I wasn't as lucky as you. I was born into the religion. It took a long time for me to see it the way you see it. In my family, we just all went that way. We had Ramadan and hari raya, and all of these things, but it was just life. We just lived that way. It was different for us."

She was explaining herself; I couldn't understand why she felt the need to do something like that. I wasn't in any position to judge her at all.

"I also didn't give my son a good education in that way. I didn't look after his tarbiyyat. You understand this word?"

"Yes ma'am," I nodded, trying to give her the respect that any elder was due. Darletha Gregory had her own method of teaching tarbiyyat and as I faced this mother confessing her inadequacies I couldn't help but feel grateful for all of the tough lessons she taught me. 

"I didn't correct him when he made mistakes. I didn't show him the right way. I was too busy with other things. "

Tears begin to fill her eyes and I realize that she isn't talking to me. She is talking to her son.

"It took a long time for me to understand that. I not only failed to teach him about his religion. I failed to teach him right from wrong. I failed to be his mother. By the time I understood what I did wrong, it was too late. He already hated me. Because, you understand, all children want their parents to teach them. When they don't teach them, they think the parents don't care. "

I nodded solemnly. Rayyan exhaled loudly but kept his eyes on his plate, not looking up at his mother at all.

"I'm sure that you tried your best," I assured her, unsure if that was true or not.

"NO. I did not. It was not my best. That is why I am regretting it now. If it was my best he wouldn't hate me right now."

"He doesn't hate you. He's just.." What do I say? What truth can I tell that can help clear the air? "Maybe you two don't understand each other very well. You don't understand what he wants, and he doesn't understand how you feel."

"It's my fault," Liu Wei said, finally looking up from his bowl. "I made a mistake. I took a mother from son. He was young when we got married, and I sent him away. He was too young and I was too selfish. I told his mother it was a good school. He would grow up to be a big man one day. He would have a better future than his father. I did that. And I am sorry for it. "