Rabiya

"What is wrong with you?" she questioned as she gathered her uncle's youngest son, Karim, into her arms. "These are your children. Why do you raise your voice at them so often?"

Karim's body shook, mirroring his sister's as he trembled in fear of his mother. At the age of two, the young boy favored cultural sweets opposed to making troublesome messes. Rabiya had promised her grandfather on his deathbed that she would raise her uncle's children as if they were her own, refusing to let their own mother abuse them when her husband was gone. 

She gazed down at Karim, watching small sweat beads trail down his inky strands, pressing against his forehead in a cold sweat. Many claimed that Karim emulated his father perfectly in physical features with his dark-skinned complexion and toasty, brown eyes. A gaze into Karim's eyes was a doorway to childhood innocence. 

The woman before her screamed, taking threatening steps towards Tahmid and Rabiya, hazel eyes blazing with fury. "Those two are the reason for my predicament. They are the reason for my sorrows. They are the reason for my inability to forget!" she yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"Stop it," whispered Zaina as she tightly held onto Tahmid.

"What did they do?" asked her older brother slowly. 

Her widowed aunt, Tania, screamed again to the point where Rabiya truly believed that she was cynically insane. Aunt Tania did not seem to care. She broke into a fit of tears, falling to her knees, despair clawing at her insides and the fear of the future poisoning her eyes. 

Tahmid and Rabiya exchanged glances. 

"Ammu (mother) h-hates us," cried Zaina. "N-No one l-loves us anymore."

Instantly, Tahmid's eyes darkened, fury radiating off him in waves. Rabiya recoiled backwards, feeling the intensity surrounding them, suffocating her with its potent force. She cautiously gazed between the two of them, but Rabiya knew better. Tahmid became the children's protector the day her uncle died and he would tear down every person who threatened their well-being. 

"What type of mother are you?" he seethed, putting Zaina down and straightening to tower over his aunt. 

"Watch your-"

"This is not a topic of respect!" he shouted. "This is about your unstable mind. Your husband has died and this is how you treat his children? By hating their existence due to your despair? His death is not their fault."

Aunt Tania stayed silent. 

"When will you realize that these children are your husband's legacy? They are your joy, your hope, your loves," he said, fists clenching. "They are not your punching bags!"

She flinched at his clipped tone. 

Rabiya quietly directed Karim and Zaina into a separate room, closing the door behind her as her brother scolded his aunt for her mistreatment. Once they were safely away from the argument and Rabiya was sure her other aunts had intervened, she turned to the children, wiping the tears off their reddened cheeks. 

Zaina's left cheek had become imprinted with her mother's hand, swelling from the impact. Rabiya's heart fell as she tenderly touched the injured cheek with the back of her hand. The small girl winced from her touch as tears welled in her eyes, lining them with her pain.

"Did she do this to you?" whispered Rabiya.

Zaina nodded. 

Without thinking, Rabiya pulled her into a tight embrace, murmuring sweet nothings to ease the tension that rolled against their backs. Hearing small hiccups and sniffles, she opened her arms wider to allow Karim to join her comforting touch. He eagerly accepted and cuddled closer to her. 

Rabiya sat on the cold, dirtied floor, eyes drooping in fatigue from the day's events, yet she refused to let her cousins step away from her. A mixture of voices screamed and yelled at one another, loud sobs heard from behind the door, glasses breaking. The children trembled in fear. 

Using her body, she tried her best to shield Zaina and Karim, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her cousins had been stripped of their father, of their innocence, of their perfect lives. Their childhood, especially Zaina's, had been altered towards a path of pain and loneliness, of confusion from a mother's anguish. 

It was a step towards abuse. 

Rabiya furiously shook her head to erase all alarming thoughts. She held her own rain of tears away, biting her lip to stay silent in the face of scorning voices. 

Her uncle's smiling lips flashed before her eyes, his skin a slippery sheen of sweat as he worked the fields, tending to his beloved animals. He held Rabiya in one arm, showing her the beauty in nature, and on the other arm he kept a rose tucked away from her. 

She smiled fondly at the memory. 

Once he had told her that she was as delicate as a rose, that one day a man would sweep her away, that she would fall in love with a man of courageous character. He had cried in front of Rabiya, dreading the day when she would leave his care, his protection, his life. Unknown to him, her uncle was the first to go.

He had left his children in Rabiya's care, her protection, and in her life. They had become the greatest blessing Allah had ever given her. They had wrapped themselves around her heart, reminding her of his legacy. She saw him in both of their eyes. 

"No one will ever hurt you again," she whispered. "I promise."

Zaina's lips trembled. "Why did she h-hit me?" she hiccuped. 

Rabiya was reminded of that night where an unknown man walked into Aunt Tania's room. Did the children know who he was? Was he the reason why she mistreated them?

"She was angry," said Rabiya, forcing the words out. "She didn't mean any of it."

"I-It hurts. Will she hurt Karim?"

"No."

"H-How do you know?"

"Because Tahmid and I will take care of both of you."

No more words were exchanged. Rabiya tried to distract the kids from their mother, leading them to fairy tales. She disguised their misfortune in childhood fables, Quranic stories, and the Prophets of Islam. With every story, Karim and Zaina slowly drifted to a peaceful slumber, the day's events nothing but a forgotten memory. 

* * * * 

It was past sunset prayers when Rabiya decided to tend to the cows. The house had quieted to a dulling purr as her mother tried to ease the lingering tension, comforting Aunt Tania. The children, safe in bed, continued to snore softly through the day, heading to a land of dreams where their father was still alive and the world had not swallowed them. 

Rabiya wrapped her scarf around her head, loosely draping it across her shoulder and picking up a bucket of crisp forages. Slipping on her sandals, she stepped down the porch. 

A gentle breeze whisked between her hijab, airy wind blowing thin strands of her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment, cherishing the life that surrounded her in waves of beauty. Although sorrow had etched its portrait across the farmlands, there was no denying the warmth that seeped through the overlapping branches above her. 

Opening her eyes, she walked towards her uncle's barn, where all the cows were lined together, awaiting her arrival. The white-fur cow mooed in acknowledgement as Rabiya entered her line of sight, alerting the others of her presence.

Without hesitating, she quickly filled their empty bowls with sets of parched hay. The cows dipped their heads down, munching and swallowing the endless amount of food she provided. 

Rabiya decided to refill their watering bowls. Sighing, she realized she would have to use the wells. 

The rusty, old well had not been renovated, thus requiring immense amounts of strength to pull the heavy buckets up with water. As a child, Rabiya had always avoided wells, thinking of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) and how his brothers left him in one out of jealousy. She did not want the same fate. 

The flashback tugged her under her own despair. Her uncle used to promise her his iron-gated protection whenever she expressed her fears. Oh Allah, will this pain ever go away? Will this ache ever cease?

Rabiya pulled at the knobbly rope. As she lowered the bucket, she heard a sneeze from somewhere nearby. She tensed. 

Across the stoned well, Adar sat against a tree, fervently writing in his notebook again. Leaves danced around him in a soothing melody, his scribbling a rhythm to nature. The scene before her was breathtakingly beautiful.

There sat a boy of mysteries and riddles, a man of charisma and smiles. His hair mirrored the midnight sky, inky waves tousled on his head while his focus lay elsewhere. Adar's jaw was set, brown eyes staring deeply in concentration, unwavering from his writing. 

Rabiya watched unblinkingly, losing herself in the gentle aura that surrounded him. Every time she gazed at him, her heart would flip a little, her body ignited, and her eyes could not tear away from Adar. 

Under the dappled light, Adar's skin illuminated in golden rays, proudly boasting his tanned skin as if he were royalty. For a moment, Rabiya forgot the sorrow that lurked behind her and focused on the man who promised her a peaceful bliss.

Life blossomed behind him, joy filling her insides and opening her darkened mind. Even when she did not realize, Adar had always pushed her towards an optimistic future, towards her aspirations, towards her happiness. 

As if noticing her gaze, Adar's eyes flickered towards her.

Rabiya felt the rope slip out of her hand, breaking their locked gazes as she desperately tried to catch a falling bucket. It tumbled downward until the thump echoed off the stoned walls. She huffed a frustrated breath, lips pursued. 

A deep chuckle drifted into her ears.

She lifted her eyes, shyly at first, peeking through the sheer ends of her hijab. Adar had smiled at her, cocking his head to one side as he observed her from a distance. His writing was long forgotten. 

Rabiya blushed.

A quiet shuffle followed after, footsteps soft against a bed of moss. Each step he took, her breath quickened. Rabiya felt her legs wobble and she gripped the wooden stand beside her for balance as he neared. Seeming oblivious to his effect, Adar simply smiled at her warmly.

"Could I offer some of my assistance?" he asked, hands stuffed into his jean pockets.

She nodded, averting her gaze.

"Just a bucket of water?"

She nodded once more. Why is he here?

Without a word, Adar pulled at the coarse rope, tugging it higher and higher. His muscled arms moved with every movement. He inhaled deeply, pulling the bucket back up from the well and detaching it from its knot. Water spilled from its edges, falling in drops between them and soaking into muck-covered lands. 

"Here," he whispered, placing the bucket on the ground. Adar straightened, dark eyes holding her still. "Do you need anything else?"

She shook her head, not trusting her voice. 

He narrowed his eyes. "You seem distressed."

"I'm not," she mumbled before cringing at the small crack in her voice. 

Adar grinned widely. "Ah, my princess finally bestows upon me her lilting voice."

"W-What?" she asked nervously.

He only smiled.

"Stop that," she said, feeling some of the tension leave her body.

"What?" he chuckled. "I just smiled at you, nothing more."

Rabiya could not help but feel the fire inside her ignite at his presence, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. His smiles were contagious. Her own lips tugged upwards in a grin.

Under the palm of nature stood two souls intertwined with one another. The cold winter vanished from barren lands, leaving in its wake a warm spring of multiple colors. Adar managed to pull Rabiya from her darkness, making her heart sing with delight. There never was a moment where he reminded her of despair.

He introduced joy back into her eyes with only a couple of words and foolish laughter. Rabiya did not think about her deceased uncle or grandfather. She did not think about Aunt Tania and Tahmid's argument. She did not think about life and death. 

As the two laughed near the cistern, Rabiya only thought about Adar.

----

It's finally summer! It's been a hectic few weeks. I have to start thinking about college now and my future, so it's a bit overwhelming at times. But hey, that's why I have my books :D

This took a while to write because I wanted to capture the emotions perfectly. What do you guys think about the moment between Adar and Rabiya? Anyone feel as shy as Rabiya while reading?

Eid Mubarak for my Muslim fans! Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!