Dead: A Ghost Story (3 page)

“
My other job, silly!”
Maria laughs and twirls out of his reach.

Nasreen whispers a
relieved prayer. Both Matin and Maria are breathing normally,
speaking casually.

Matin scratches his face.
“You don’t have to keep working at that convenience store, you
know,” he says. “I’ll take care of you.”

“
Aw, that’s sweet,” she
says. “But I need to let my manager know proper. I don’t show up
today, he’ll be so mad that he’ll hassle me about my
paycheck.”

“
Okay, but talk to
him.”

Maria smiles and nods.
“Oh, I’ll pick up some groceries on the way back,” she says.
“You’re almost out of milk and eggs.”

Matin looks stunned. He’d
always done the shopping, the errands, the contact with outside. He
nods slowly. “Ok, that’ll be good.”

Maria grabs her keys and
purse, then stops and pouts again. “I’ll need some cash
though.”

Matin slowly pulls out his
worn wallet and counts out $20, broken down into various
denominations. Maria stuffs the bills into her purse and hurries
out.

Nasreen stares at her
disappearing back. S
tay calm, stay
focused
. She knows Matin will pull her body
out from the attic and dispose of it. She doesn’t know how and
where. She doesn’t care to know. The body is no longer her concern.
Besides, she’s gotten used to this new freedom, this lightness of
being and not being. And now, she’s getting some control. She
drifts after Maria like a light breeze.

Nasreen sits on the
passenger side of Maria’s pickup and studies the Madonna prayer
card and rosary hanging from the mirror. Maria drives fast, singing
along to pop songs in Spanish. Nasreen doesn’t understand the
words, but she enjoys the happy music.

Maria screeches to a stop
behind the convenience store. A man, with a black hat pulled low
over his face, is lounging against the wall. He straightens and
saunters toward them, but Maria is impatient. She jumps out and
runs to him. They kiss. Nasreen blushes, but doesn’t look away. The
kiss is like those in movies -- full of drama, passion and
color.

They finally move apart
and talk. Maria fills him in on everything she’s found in the
foreigner’s house. The man says there must be more in the office.
They arrange to meet at the motel later that night. Maria will
leave the back door of the living quarters unlocked.

Nasreen knows Matin is in
deep trouble, his luck has run out. Maybe they will simply steal
everything, maybe they will beat Matin up, or maybe they will kill
him. There is nothing
she
can do. Or is there?

A shiver runs through her.
When she’d cried, they’d heard something and when she’d feared for
Maria, the woman had felt something. She had better understanding
and control of her new situation. Perhaps, she
could
warn Matin.

Instinctively, Nasreen
started to head back to the motel when a single, unbidden thought
whispers in her mind: why?

She realizes she doesn’t
want to warn Matin. Like her body, she is no longer tied to
him.

Nasreen laughs and enjoys
floating in the air. She swims through the clouds like the silver
fish she’d seen playing in the Hoogly River. Freedom runs through
her veins, nourishes her soul. It’s a beautiful day. She will ride
the winds. She will find her way back to that little village tucked
in the heart of Bengal, back to the lush green land bathed by
monsoon rains, back home. She knows she can.

THE END

Dear Readers:

Domestic violence is a sad and real
part of our world. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
defines domestic violence as a pattern of behavior used to
establish power and control through fear and intimidation, often
including the threat of use of violence. The controlling partner
believes they are entitled to control the spouse.

Did you know?

One in every four women will
experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a
victim of homicide is murdered by her current or former
partner.

Among women brought to emergency rooms
due to domestic violence, most were socially isolated and had fewer
social and financial resources

Most cases of domestic violence are
never reported to the police

“Dead” was inspired by the many
immigrant wives I met in small scattered communities while I worked
as reporter in West Texas. For the most part these women are
invisible to mainstream society for various reasons – language
barriers, isolation, and unfamiliarity with their adopted country’s
laws and social mores etc. These factors also make many immigrant
women especially vulnerable to domestic abuse.

Violence against women is not a new
thing, but it is wrong and should not exist. Silence in the face of
injustice can hurt and it’s important to add your voice to what is
right. I wrote “Dead” to recognize my voiceless sisters and to
highlight a usually hush-hush part of the immigrant
story.

I hope Nasreen’s story made you think
and touched your heart. Fortunately there are many organizations
working to help women get out of violent and abusive situations.
I’m attaching a list I have pulled together for your information,
and I’m sure there are organizations serving your community. If you
can, please help support them:

New Bridge Family Shelter

http://www.icdbridges.org/

Concho Valley Rape Crisis
Center

http://cv-rcc.org/

Asian Family Support Services of
Austin

http://www.saheli-austin.org/d6/

Saheli Boston

http://www.saheliboston.org/

SafeHorizon

http://www.safehorizon.org/

Texas Association Against Sexual
Assault

http://www.taasa.org/

Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation’s
Peaceful Oasis Family Shelter

http://tmwf.org/website/index.php

Texas Advocacy Project

http://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/

National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence

http://www.ncadv.org/

Thank you for your time &
attention!

Mina

Read
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The Djinns
Dilemma
, 2011,

published by Harlequin
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A Tale of Two
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Mina Khan is busy penning
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next:

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