Salah walked down the steps, having left bhabi with Aleena and Ilma. She crossed her arms. "You aren't going anywhere."

"I have to." I smiled softly. "I'm not letting your family get involved and the girls need their things."

"Wait till they aren't home." She was beginning to lose her resolve, realizing that I didn't really have a choice. "Please. Anything."

Bhai hugged her. "It's okay. We'll take care of him." He assured her.

"I'll be okay, Sal. I promise." I told her, an urge to hold her and comfort her rampaging through my body.

"Pinky promise?" She asked, quietly.

"Pinky promise." I responded. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded and dug her head into her brother's chest.

I bade them all goodbye and got into my car, taking a deep breath before driving down to the house. I wasn't ready to deal with this. I didn't know how I was supposed to come out of this unscathed. I had never been able to stand up to my father, but I tried to build up the confidence. I had to. For Salah.

I got out of the car and walked to the door, the fear bubbling up inside me. I knocked on the door, waiting... waiting... waiting.

I knocked again.

The door finally opened.

"What are you doing here?" My father grabbed my collar, "You're not welcome here." He dragged me inside, hitting my feet against the step up.

I struggled to keep up with him, finally able to stand up straight when he let go. "This is my home as well as yours." I tried to respond confidently, but my voice wavered.

"Your home?" He shouted. "You don't live here!" He lifted his hand to slap me, but—with my own shaking hand—I caught his wrist. "You fucking piece of shit!" He ripped his hand away from me and pushed me to the ground. "Don't want me to hit your face, huh?" He shouted, "Fine! I won't!"

He lifted his foot and stomped on my chest. In that moment, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I tried to inhale, but it was as if my lungs wouldn't work. I tried to move his foot off my chest, but he wouldn't budge.

"You ignorant..." He mumbled something. "Go! Leave me the hell alone!" He lifted his foot and I scrambled off the ground. I ran up the steps, holding my stomach as I crouched. I breathed deep breaths, tears in my eyes.

After I recovered a little, I grabbed the girls bags and filled them with their things. I filled them up as much as I could. I took as many clothes as possible and their sentimental belongings.

I snuck out of the house, thankful that my mom wasn't home. I threw the bags in the car and sat down. I tried to wipe my shirt and get the dirt off but it seemed to stick.

I pulled out my phone, calling Salah. "Hey, salam." I said, still breathing heavily.

"Are you okay? Why are you breathing so hard?" She asked, concern seeping into her voice.

"It- It's fine. I'm good. Don't- Don't worry." I struggled to say.

"What did he do?" She asked, fear whisking around in her words.

I couldn't answer, still struggling to catch my breath. "Talk later." I ended the call and drove back to their home.

Salah was waiting outside the house, pacing around. "Badr! Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm okay, now." I had finally caught my breath. "He just... you know what, it's minor. Don't worry about it."

"Don't lie to me."

I sighed. "He dragged me into the house and stomped on my chest when I stopped him from slapping me."

"Come inside." She took two of the bags from me and walked inside, "Papa! Come here. I need help!"

Baba came down the steps, taking the bags from her and placing them on the steps. I put down the bags and looked up at them. Baba looked very concerned, lines etched into his forehead. "Come on, we'll take care of you." He took me up to his and mama's room.

He closed the door and turned to me. "Uhm..." I just shrugged. "I don't know how you'd want to help... My feet might bruise, I hit them really hard when he dragged me inside..." I muttered.

"What else did he do?"

"He stomped on my chest..." I whispered, looking down.

"Wait, I'll give you a creme." He walked to bathroom and a tube, walking back to me. "I placed some bandages on the counter, you can use those."

"Okay." I nodded. "Thank you, Jazakallah Khair."

"Wa iyaki, beta." He left the room, locking it so I could bandage myself.

It took a couple minutes and a lot of gasps of pain, but once I finished, I joined everyone downstairs.

"So, Bob," Salah started, "Mama says we should move in right after the wedding. With the girls."

"Oh?" I rose an eyebrow. "I'm okay with that, of course. But how come?"

"They can't go back to that house since your parents will realize they knew about the wedding." Mama explained as we waited for the pizza. "And we don't have enough room for them to live comfortably. Plus, you'll want to enroll them in new schools and deal with a whole bunch of new information for them."

"And we can file the case." Salah added.

I just nodded, a little overwhelmed. "Okay... Yeah, I understand."

"I'm here every step of the way, okay, Badr?" Salah reminded me.

"I know, Sal. Thank you." I smiled a little. "I can't wait for Saturday."