The previous post over this book ended with Laila's house getting hit with a rocket...her parents died instantly. When Laila was at the hospital, she saw Rasheed and Mariam there with her. They both fed her, cleaned her, and took care of her when she needed it the most. Later on, Rasheed began telling her the story about how she ended up in the hospital. He was the one that found her, he dug her out from underneath the dirt and ash. A month after the accident that left her devastated and confused, a man named Abdul Sharif came by and asked to talk to Laila. She did not know of him, but still sat and listened to what he had to say. Laila asked him if he was friends of her parents or someone they knew. He replied saying no. He began telling her what he needed to tell her, the reason why he came to talk to her. When he got sick in the hospital, the doctors put him in a unit reserved for really ill people. That is where he met Tariq. Laila's heart began to speed up, not being able to believe what she just had heard. She was wondering what Tariq was doing in a unit for sick people. Abdul began telling her the story behind Tariq's injury. When Tariq was going to Peshawar, he and the refugees were caught in a cross fire near the border. Tariq was still alive, but terribly injured. He had lost his right leg. Now he was left with a torso and two stumps. He was completly legless. While Tariq was talking to Abdul, Abdul told him he was going back to Kabul. He was the one that asked Abdul to tell Laila what had happened to him. He promised Tariq that he would. But then one night, after they talked, Abdul woke up all dizzy from the medication. He saw syringes all over the ground, heard sirens beeping, and people yelling. Then the morning after, he saw that the bed that Tariq was staying in was empty. He asked the nurse what had happened, she said to him that "he fought valiantly." Tariq was dead. Her best friend and love was gone...forever.
Things for Laila had changed right away. She was staying at Mariam and Rasheed's house. But Rasheed said it was not right for her to stay when she was not married to him. Laila had to marry Rasheed to stay in the house, and she did. Rasheed was fond of Laila, which made Mariam angry, because she was the one that was with him for over nineteen years. Rasheed was now over sixty years old. During the time that Laila was there, Mariam was rude to Laila, always giving her disgusted looks. When the months past, Laila's pregnant stomach began to show. Rasheed believed it was his child. But no, it was Tariq's. She was pregnant before she even moved into Rasheed and Mariam's house. Months and Months past. Aziza, Laila's baby girl was born. Aziza means the Cherished One. Laila always thought about how Aziza would never get to meet her father. When the baby was born, Rasheed began to ignore Laila, always getting aggravated from the baby's cries. He did not care for them. Laila would always sneak into Rasheed's wallet and collect money. She knew that she was going to leave and take Aziza with her when she had enough money collected. She was not comfortable at the house, feeling like she did not belong. Until one day, Laila invited Mariam to come and drink chai with her. Right then and there, she knew they were no longer enemies.
This book becomes more and more interesting as I continue to read. But I wish the book was the way I hoped it would be. Not Rasheed and Laila together, but Tariq and Laila together with their baby girl.
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