Excerpt: Under the Full and Crescent Moon by Aamir Hussain

Excerpted with Permission from Dundurn Press

Two days later, Khadija felt nervous as she helped Fazlur close early. She was so used to going along with other people’s decisions that it was uncomfortable for her to make her own. Having someone accommodate her, instead of the other way around, was especially discomfiting.

“Are you sure this is all right, Father?” she asked.

Fazlur sighed and turned around to grip Khadija’s shoulder.

“Yes, Khadija. It is all right. Now if you ask me that question again, I will …” Fazlur faltered as he tried to think of an appropriate punishment for someone being too compromising and failed. “I will be very displeased,” he concluded. “Now let us go home. Sawda will be meeting us there and that is not a woman you want to keep waiting for too long, God knows.”

Sawda had, in fact, just finished cooking for the day when Fazlur and Khadija arrived home. “Ah, you are here at the perfect time. I will just clean up and then we can go, Khadija.” She looked the young woman up and down. “And not a moment too soon. I do not know how much you get paid, but we will be spending all of it today updating your wardrobe.”

“But I don’t want to be wasteful,” Khadija protested. “Maybe just a few items so I will not stand out at the next monthly meeting.”

“Nonsense,” Fazlur said. “Your money is yours to spend on nice things for yourself, Khadija. Sawda, I am trusting you to keep her from not spending enough. God tells us very clearly in the Quran

that it is a sin to be miserly!”

“This is the first time that I agree with your father on anything. God be praised for this miracle!” Sawda exclaimed. “Now go wash that ink off your hands and face, and I will meet you outside.”

After Khadija left, Sawda turned to Fazlur with a raised eyebrow. “I am impressed with you, Fazlur. Old men don’t readily change their ways, but you have, and your daughter is blossoming

day by day because of it.”

“It may be that I am not a complete donkey,” Fazlur replied with a smile. “Now get her everything that you think she will need, and if her first pay is not enough, then let me know and I will cover the rest.” He took a deep breath, and his smile turned into a conspiratorial grin. “It may be that I have something else planned that will impress you even further.”

Sawda’s eyebrow arched even higher. “You have awakened my interest, you old goat. Now leave me be. Like I said, I need to wash up after all the cooking and cleaning I am forced to do for you. May

God grant me heaven for all my charity.”

Fazlur laughed and retreated to his study. He went out onto the small balcony that overlooked the courtyard and watched as Sawda and Khadija walked away. They seemed to be in high spirits and the wind brought him a brief snatch of their conversation. He could not make out what they were saying, but he could hear, as clear as a bell, the laughter in their voices. He murmured a prayer of thanks to God, beseeching him for nothing more than happiness and joy for his daughter.

He turned toward his study with a smile on his lips and in his heart. As he did so he heard a loud crashing sound from the house next door. Then it happened again. It was the sound of a sledgehammer pounding into a wall over and over. The construction workers next door had returned from a break. Each smash was a reminder of why he did not like being at home during the day.

His eye twitched.