A Father's Betrayal

by Gabriella Gillespie

  I tried to pull my head in as quickly as possible to run over to the other window to see him again because that window overlooked the other side street from the front door, but in my haste I forgot to slightly twist my head to avoid scraping my chin and ended up with a big red scrape right on the tip of my chin!

  “Crrrrap,” I cursed under my breath, rushing over to the other window so that I could catch another look, but Yas had her head stuck in it. I was tugging at her dress to try and pull her out but she just kicked me. When she finally got her head out she just nodded slightly and said, “Not bad!” Then she walked over to the oven to carry on what she was doing before!

  I followed her, confused. “What do you mean not bad? Did you see what I saw?”

  Farouse had stuck her head out both windows in a last attempt to get a look at the teachers with no luck, and she was not happy. She starting going off on us. “What did you see? Why didn’t you let me see? You both saw them and I didn’t, that’s not fair! What did they look like?”

  “He’s soooo gorgeous,” I started telling her, but Gran came running up the stairs.

  “They are all here, hurry up, let’s get dinner dished up!” she said, but then she noticed the scrape on my chin.

  “You’ve had your head out that window, haven’t you?” she demanded to know.

  My hand immediately went up to my chin to try and cover the mark while I thought of a good excuse to give her, but I couldn’t think of any. “Uh, no, no, I…” Gran stopped me talking with a slap across the head, she couldn’t be bothered to hear my lies, then she shoved me towards the oven. “You are the devil in disguise! Get over there and do some work,” she ordered.

  We quickly dished up dinner, but all I could think about was how cute the teacher was. Farouse was upset that she didn’t get to see them and kept asking me to describe them. Yas just kept saying they were OK looking but not great!

  I really wanted to get a closer look at him but knew that we were not allowed anywhere near the first floor where they were eating dinner. I knew if I got caught again Granddad would flog the living daylights out of me!

  Dinner was over and the dishes had all been brought back up to the kitchen. The kitchen was on the middle floor and on the top floor was Granddad’s guest room, so this was the room where he would take his guests when they came over to eat ghat.

  When everyone had finished dinner they were ready to go upstairs; we were told to go inside the kitchen and close the door. Gran left us girls in the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean up but we decided to go on to the roof, this way we could get a better look at the teachers as they walked into the top room because the roof door had little holes in it. It was a risk, if Dad or Granddad caught us we were in big trouble, so we decided to take some washed clothes up with us to pretend we were bringing them in off the roof after they had been out there to dry.

  We grabbed the basket and ran up on the roof just in time as the men came up the stairs. The teachers were the first to go into the room. We only caught a glimpse of them but it was worth it! “See, I told you he’s good looking,” I told Yas.

  “Nah, the other one is better!” she argued.

  “I think they are both nice!” said Farouse.

  As we debated which one was better looking we heard Granddad calling Farouse from downstairs and she started to panic. “What should I do?” she asked, looking over the edge of the roof top.

  “No good looking over there, unless you intend to climb down, think of something else!” Yas joked.

  “He’s going to kill me,” Farouse screeched, crawling around the roof in a state of panic!

  “Just take the basket and go in,” I said. We could hear Granddad’s voice calling out but we couldn’t leave the roof because not all the men had gone inside the room, there were still men hanging around in the hallway! Now we all started to panic because she couldn’t go in, even with the washing!

  To make matters worse the rooftop wall was connected to the kitchen and by now we could hear both our grandparents talking in the kitchen. We couldn’t make out the conversation in full, but it didn’t sound good! Then all of a sudden it went quiet in the kitchen. We looked out of the door holes and saw Granddad go into the top room and close the door behind him; the hallway was clear.

  “Quick let’s go,” Yas whispered as she quietly opened the door and we all tiptoed into the hallway to head downstairs!

  Gran was stood at the entrance to the kitchen, looking up the stairs straight at us as we came down the stairs! We had nowhere to go. The look in her eyes was of pure disgust and disbelief!

  “Oh God! Oh God! You devil girls! Get down those stairs right this minute!” Her voice was like thunder!

  Farouse was first down the stairs and Gran grabbed her by the back of her scarf dragging her into the kitchen. “What were you doing up there?” she demanded to know, slapping Farouse across the head time after time.

  At this time Farouse started sobbing, “I didn’t want to but…”

  Yas butted in. “Oh shut up Farouse! We went up to get the clothes from the roof and got stuck up there because the men started to come upstairs, that’s all!”

  Gran shot a sharp look Yas’s way but Yas wasn’t scared of her and Gran knew it. She looked at me; I was shaking with fear just like Farouse. “So, where’s the clothes?” she asked. In our hurry to leave the roof we left the basket up there!

  “We forgot it up there,” Yas replied in a stubborn tone.

  “And it took all three of you to go up and get one basket?” Gran continued. We all just looked at each other but no one answered. “Your grandfather will hear of this,” she threatened walking out the kitchen door, “now get on and finish your chores!”

  After she left the kitchen, Yas turned to Farouse. “You were going to tell her why we were up there weren’t you?”

  “It wasn’t you she was hitting,” Farouse sulked.

  “Yeah, well if you and Moo didn’t show her how scared you are of her she wouldn’t pick on you all the time, you need to stop crying every time she touches you, I’m never going to let you in on a secret again!” Yas told her as she carried on with the cleaning.

  “That’s not fair, I tell you all my secrets, I promise I wasn’t going to tell her,” Farouse pleaded.

  “We will have to think about it, won’t we Moo?” Yas turned to me but I was daydreaming. “Hello, earth to Mooooo?” she laughed.

  “Huh, what?” I turned around to see Yas and Farouse staring at me.

  “Sorry Yas, I was thinking about the teacher, wasn’t he just gorgeous? I wonder what his name is or how old he is, do you think I will ever get the chance to speak to him?” I wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular at this point, I was just thinking out loud.

  “Well if you do, keep it a secret from Farouse because she will only go telling her precious grandmother,” Yas said with a little grin.

  “No I wouldn’t, you know I wouldn’t, don’t you Moo?” Farouse sulked. The conversation quickly stopped as Gran came back upstairs, but the teacher wasn’t far from my mind!

  Gran didn’t tell Granddad on us that night, but when everyone left she made sure we didn’t get to see the teachers again because we were all locked inside the downstairs room with her.

  The next morning, as we were getting ready to go to the fields to collect water, I was outside the front door collecting the buckets when I glanced up to the house where the teachers were staying. I noticed that one of the big windows facing our direction was open.

  My heart started beating really fast as I rushed upstairs to tell Yas. She just told me that maybe they had been cleaning the house and left it open for air, because school had started and they would be teaching at that time.

  We carried on with our chores and by lunchtime time I knew that the teachers would be back because I could hear the kids in the street, but didn’t know what their routine would be with it only being their first day.

  Every time I heard a noise I stuck my head out th
e window knowing that for them to go back and forth from the school to their house they would need to pass our window. We were usually OK at lunchtimes because Gran would be busy at the fields or doing other things, so my head was more or less stuck out that window all through lunch break. Yas and Farouse were not impressed because they were left doing all the work!

  I was almost going to give up when he walked by; he was alone. He looked up and smiled and in return I smiled back, my heart was beating with excitement and I had butterflies in my tummy! He had his hand by his side but I could see he was trying to tell me something without being noticed.

  It took less than a few seconds for him to walk by so I pulled my head in and tried to make sense of what he was trying to tell me. I showed Yas what he had done with his hand; he had made a round motion with his hand, then put up his five fingers. Yas seemed to think it meant he would be back in five minutes.

  That was all I needed to know; once again I had my head out the window. He came back within minutes but this time he had something in his hand.

  It was a matchbox. He glanced up at me from the corner of his eyes and nodded discreetly, then raised his hand very slightly to show me the matchbox. He was doing all this whilst walking very slowly past the window. I couldn’t nod or move to let him know that I could see what he was saying because the window was so small I could barely fit my head in it in the first place, but he saw that; with this he threw the matchbox on the floor to the side as if it were trash and carried on walking.

  I pulled my head out the window. “He dropped something for me!” I squealed as I darted downstairs as fast as my feet could take me! My heart was pounding and I felt as though I was going to be sick, as I got to our front door I did my best to try and stay calm.

  “How am I going to do this?” I thought to myself. The streets were clear but if anyone had seen him throw it away then see me just walk by and pick it up I’m in trouble!

  I ran back upstairs and got a piece of cloth, then ran onto the roof. I then crawled across the roof on my knees so not to be seen; I crept up to the side, then threw the cloth off the roof so it looked like it blew off! It wasn’t unusual for cloths to blow off the roof, it happened all the time!

  I ran back down onto the street pretending to look for the cloth that just happened to be close to the matchbox… brilliant! I picked up the matchbox and wrapped it in the cloth then ran back inside and up the stairs.

  My heart was beating so fast when I got back to the kitchen, Yas and Farouse were waiting anxiously to see what all the fuss was about, they thought I was just being silly.

  “He threw me a matchbox,” I huffed, out of breath. We all huddled around the matchbox and as I opened it there was a little piece of rolled up paper inside. “Oh my God, it’s a letter!” I squealed in delight.

  Hello my name is Mana and I like you,

  What is your name? Please write to me.

  It was written in English so he knew we were English. “He likes me, he likes me, I knew he liked me, and I’ve got his name! How did he know we are English?” I was dancing around the kitchen like a little school kid.

  “Everyone in the bloody country knows about us new English girls Moo, anyway what are you gonna do?” Yas asked me.

  “I’m going to write back, tell him my name and let him know I like him too! What do you think I should ask him?”

  “Ask him how old he is and if he’s married?” Yas replied sarcastically! I looked at her and frowned.

  “Don’t be horrible, of course he’s not married, he’s too young to be married, anyway he wouldn’t be doing this if he was married, would he?”

  “No one’s ever too young to be married in this place Moo, you should know that by now! But I don’t think he is, otherwise he wouldn’t be looking at you,” Yas replied, reassuring me after hearing the concern in my voice. “Anyway how are you going to get a letter to him?” she asked.

  “The same way he got one to me, I will throw one out the window when he goes past!” I said cheerfully.

  I hid the letter down the inside of my top, that way I knew nobody would ever find it; then I carried on with the chores. We all carried on chatting about the teachers, it was a nice change to have something happy to talk and smile about and we were still joking around when Gran came home. She knew we were up to something but she could never have guessed what! She always knew we were up to mischief but there wasn’t much she could do unless she caught us red handed and that didn’t happen very often.

  It was late afternoon when I went outside again and noticed the window of the teacher’s house still open, only this time they were both sat either side of the window looking out. The window was low down so when they sat at it they didn’t need to lean or sit up to look out, they could just sit there and have a perfect view of the street. Once again my heart started beating fast as I ran upstairs to tell the girls. Gran was out and Farouse was busy elsewhere, so it was just Yas and I who ran downstairs and went outside to pretend we were working in the stables, which were directly in view of the teachers’ windows.

  They saw us in the stables and although we couldn’t see their faces very well because they were too far away from us, we could tell they were happy to see us! Mana started holding up something to the other teacher and shaking it then pretending to throw it out the window. We started giggling, but he kept doing it over and over again until it clicked: he was trying to ask me for a letter. I nodded my head as if to say yes, then we ran inside so I could write him a letter. I found a piece of paper and started writing.

  Dear Mana my name is Muna. I like you too. I am 13, how old are you? My sister’s name is Yasmin. What is your friend’s name? X.

  That was enough for the first letter, Yas and I debated for a while whether or not I should have put a kiss on the end of the letter, but we both decided it was OK to put just one, so I did.

  I wrapped the letter up really tight and looked everywhere for the matchbox Mana had threw his letter to me in. I couldn’t find it! We had a matchbox in the kitchen that we used to light our fire with but it was still full of matches; I didn’t care, I had to get this note out to Mana, so I emptied the matches on to the side and tucked the letter neatly inside the box.

  We went back down to the stables and looked up to the window; they were still there. I raised my hand slightly to show him that I had a matchbox while still being aware that someone else could be watching. The teachers stood up and closed the window.

  We stayed in the stables because we could still see the front door of their house from the stables and decided once they left I could run up to kitchen and throw the letter out the window. We carried on pretending to do stuff in the stables for a few minutes until we saw them leave the house and then we quickly ran upstairs where I stuck my head out the window.

  The other teacher appeared first, then Mana, walking really slowly behind him. It was really awkward because once I saw him I didn’t want to pull my head back in from the window, but I had to so I could stick my hand out to throw the matchbox out. Once I’d thrown the matchbox out I had no clue where it landed, so I quickly shoved my head back in the hole just in time to see him turn around and walk back to pick up the matchbox.

  He looked up at me and gave me a lovely smile as he quickly caught up with his friend and walked off in the direction of the fields. The secret matchbox routine became a regular thing for us for a few weeks.

  His friend’s name was Mohammed. They were both 18 and first time teachers but they didn’t come from the same village, even though they were friends and knew each other before coming to our village. Mana wrote good English and we would exchange letters every day; he was eager to try and meet up with me, however we were worried about getting caught so hadn’t made any plans.

  Yas and Farouse were happy that I was happy, Yas and Mohammed had a little flirt going on between them with glances and smiles but nothing like Mana and I. It was difficult sometimes to retrieve the matchboxes that he would drop for me, especially if G
ran was around, and sometimes it would take ages before I could go and get them.

  I’d become really concerned about being caught out because there was another young girl who had come to stay with her auntie for a while in the house opposite us that we didn’t get on with and was always watching us! Their house was right in front of me every time I stuck my head out the kitchen window! Her name was Laila and she was also looking at Mana; I knew she liked him because every time he walked by she was watching him. She had started to make things really difficult for us!

  One time when he dropped a matchbox she was on the roof of her house putting out washing and she saw him do it. Gran was in the kitchen and I couldn’t get out of there to go and get it. I knew she had seen him do it and my gut told me she was going to pick it up because I saw her look over her roof and immediately leave the roof top!

  Gran was busy at the oven making bread so I went over to Farouse and quietly told her about my concerns. Farouse quickly took off her shoe and threw it out the window.

  “Gran look what Muna just did, she threw my shoe out the window!” she screamed! Gran turned around and gave me the most evil look!

  “Why did you do that? Farouse, go and get your shoe quick before a dog gets it! Muna, get over here and make some bread! What did I ever do wrong in life for God to bring me you girls?” she yelled, pulling me over to the oven by the scruff of my neck. But I didn’t mind at all because Farouse had gone to get my note!

  Gran went downstairs to get some wood, leaving me in the kitchen to cook the bread. As soon as she left the room I stuck my head out the window just in time to see Farouse and Laila both run for the matchbox! Laila picked it up but Farouse snatched it out of her hand.

  “That’s mine!” Laila snarled at Farouse. Farouse pushed her back.

  “I don’t think so, I dropped it out my kitchen window, and it’s a bit far from your house to be yours, isn’t it?”

  “I will tell,” Laila threatened, but Farouse wasn’t to be messed with.