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My heart races as the rage in my body hasn't yet simmered down. My mother has said many unthinkable words to me and Angelo but this time, what she said is too serious to forget this easily.
I enter the house as I take off my shoes and walk into the living room. There lays my mother watching television but my father is nowhere in sight. I sit on the opposite sofa from her, staring directly at her until she acknowledges my presence.
"What, Inaya?"
I take a deep breath before I begin speaking. "Amma, what you said at Angelo's house has to be the worst statement a mother can say about her daughter's fiancé. You implied that you wish our marriage is unhappy and that he domestically abuses me!"
"I didn't say that! Why would I ever wish harm upon my youngest child?" She acts as if I hit a nerve.
"You told Baba that I would come crying back home once Angelo starts hitting me," I reply and it seems that she is processing the events that happened earlier.
"Inaya for once in your life, open your eyes. That man that you are so besotted with is covered neck down in tattoos. He does not look like a good man. Everyone will judge him and because of your relationship, they will judge us as well. If he is a good Muslim, he would get those filthy tattoos removed." Amma yells at me and I stare at her with a straight face. Angelo's tattoos...? Is that what this is all about? His appearance? Although I see his tattoos on an everyday basis, my love for him does not revolve solely based on his appearance, therefore I rarely notice his tattoos.
"Angelo got these tattoos before reverting to Islam and knowing my fiancé I am positive that he has repented for his past sins, therefore as long as he does not continue getting tattoos, there is nothing haram about him," I say upset that my mother continuously judges Angelo based on his appearance even after meeting him.
"He did black magic. That is it. He did black magic to make you believe that he is the most perfect man ever to exist. There is no other way to explain this infatuation you have with him." Amma replies and my eyes pop out of its socket.
"What?" I ask, stifling my laugh at my mother's statement.
"I have pointed out so many flaws in this man and none of my words get to you. Not even a little. That is not possible. No woman cares for a man this much. Baba and I used to hate each other and I would dream about leaving him. Why have you not questioned that man's love for you even one bit?" A small part of me hurts knowing that my mother has most likely never felt or seen love before. Their generation frowns upon intimacy between a husband and wife for some illogical reason. Aliyah and Kareem love each other to death but they did not have to fight for their relationship, therefore Amma does not truly know how deep their love goes.
"Amma, what you are pointing out is called love. When you love someone even their flaws seem perfect to you. And honestly, the only flaws you have pointed out are his appearance and past. There is nothing abusive or inhumane about Angelo. That's why even the smallest things like that light scar on his right cheek are beautiful to me." Usually, embarrassment runs through my body when I speak to my mother about my love life but I had to let her know that nothing she says about Angelo will ever affect me.
