"Umm,delicious!" Megan, the girl with the greenest eyes Zubaida had ever seen, commented.
"By the way, what are these for?" Patricia asked, wiping a drop of sugary syrup from her lips with a flick of her tongue.

They were in Economics class, waiting for their professor and enjoying the gulab jamun°, Zubaida brought with her in a plastic container.

"I am getting married." Zubaida replied quietly, staring at her desk.
"What?" Kristen asked, amazed. "But you are only nineteen."
"In Islam, girls usually get married at this age, it is no big deal." Zubaida said.
"Okay, but I assume you are not exactly excited about this." Kristen uttered her doubt.
"I am not. I want to study and have a career, " Zubaida said cheerlessly, "but my family does not seem to realize that."
"Then you should dump them." Lucy declared.
"I can not do that!" Zubaida exclaimed, shocked at Lucy's recommendation.
"Well, your people definitely does not care about you as much as you care for them." Lucy elaborated her point.
"You can move in with Patricia and me, if you like.
We share an apartment with another girl. I am pretty sure we would be able to free up some space for you." Kristen suggested.
"My aunt offered me a job at the local library, but it did not interest me, so I refused. You can have it." Megan proposed.
"It's settled then." Kristen said, clapping her hands.

Madam Seo-yeon entered the classroom before Zubaida could respond and the discussion was temporarily dismissed.

....................
Zubaida had the whole room for herself. Hajrah was doing dishes after dinner, Khadijah was in the living room working on some school assignment and Amna and Farwah were in their grandparent's room giving company to their deaf and dumb grandmother.

She packed her belongings in a duffel bag and hid it the closet. Patricia was to pick her up after midnight.

Zubaida had finally made up her mind.

...................

"Baba,
I am leaving this house tonight, once and for all, just because of you.

I hate you for not understanding me, for putting your preferences before my desires, for forcing me into living a refrained life.

Thank you for providing for my needs but now I am old enough to take care of myself.

I don't want you to know where I am going. I don't want you to look for me. All you have to know is that I am not coming back, EVER.

I am sorry for disappointing you.
Zubaida."

Zubair Ahmed read the letter left behind by his youngest child with a stern expression on his face.

When at first Hajrah found out that Zubaida was not in her bed, at Fajr, she thought her to be in the washroom but later discovered her note on the dresser and that is when all hell broke loose.

"None of you are to keep any connections with this girl. She is dead for us." Zubair Ahmed declared in a grim voice and left the room before anyone could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

...................
°Gulab jamun: Is a dessert popular in countries of South Asia. It is made mainly of milk solids, kneaded into a dough and shaped into small balls.
These are then soaked into a lightly flavored sugar syrup.