The Woman With The Headscarf

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Lamees's first thought was to run out of the room to get away from this woman. And her second one was that Gunner had told his mother, even when he had said that he wouldn't tell anyone.

She glanced towards him to find an equally surprised expression on his face. "Mom, what're you saying?" He said to her and Lamees frowned.

"I'm not an idiot, Gunner," came the answer but even though she was talking to her son, her gaze never once moved away from Lamees. "It was quite obvious actually. Why you stayed out after school and why you were almost always texting on your phone. Typical phases for someone who's either got a crush or is pursuing the so called crush. It wasn't hard to figure out that you were in a relationship."

Her cold eyes gave Lamees a once over from top to bottom and Lamees resisted the urge to shudder. It was almost like she was stripped bare and Gunner's mother was analysing each and everything of hers.

Gunner seemed to notice that she was intimidated so he called out to his mother. "Hey, will you quit looking at her like that?"

The green eyes finally budged and his mother slowly turned to face him. "Why? I can look at her however I want, think whatever I want."

There was a pause. "After all, she is the reason you're in this position to begin with."

As soon as she'd heard those words, it felt like Lamees had been dowsed with a bucket full of ice cold water and she inwardly winced. All this time she had been silently blaming herself for this mess but no one had actually said it to her out loud. And Gunner's mother's words were so full of venom that it physically hurt. She was responsible.

"No," Gunner was defiantly shaking his head. "No. You're wrong. How could you even assume that when you don't even know the full story?"

"I don't need to know those things to understand how they really are."

"You're wrong," he said again and his mother went still for a minute. Then she turned on Lamees, her eyes like daggers.

"What do you see in her?"

Then without waiting for his response, she addressed Lamees. "Your people are responsible for so many bad things happening to our people. No wonder that once my naive son got involved with you, he got sent to jail for it.

"Was it something you did? He's in there because you did something, didn't you? He's trying to protect you or cover up your dirty acts even. You're no-"

"Stop blaming her," Gunner spoke through clenched teeth. "What is your problem, huh? Were you always such a racist on the inside, Mom? You've never ever said anything like that before, ever and now..."

Her son's questions and accusations seemed to hit some sort of a nerve because for a few moments, she seemed at a loss for words.

Lamees stayed silent, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. The accusations had hurt. A lot more than she'd expected. Whenever the topic had come up between them in the past, Gunner had always assured Lamees that his parents would love her once they'd get to know her. And that she didn't ever have to worry about them accepting her with open arms. "They would hesitate, of course," he had said once, "but not because they're racists or believe in those twisted rumours about Muslims. They'd just be a bit surprised because they probably wouldn't have expected you, is all."

And now this woman that he had spoken so highly of before, was accusing her of everything she'd never done, clearly implying that she was involved in some dirty work. It hurt to know that Gunner's own mother thought so lowly of her.

"Tell me what really happened," she demanded from her son. "What did happen that night? And don't even bother lying to me about her," she pointed twisted Lamees who shrunk back even more, "because I know that she was involved in this mess one way or another."

Gunner sighed. "I'm not lying to you. It's not her fault at all. I was drunk that night and I messed up some public property. I don't even remember that part much."

"Why were you drinking then?"

He hesitated before answering and Lamees already knew that the real reason Gunner had been drinking so much that night was because Lamees wouldn't agree to the abortion or even tell the police about the incident because she was too ashamed. She couldn't find the courage to voice the details out loud and to multiple people even. Everyone would know about it, the officers who would interview her would ask her and probe her for more details. Her parents would know about it, their relatives and friends would know about it, the neighbours would know about it and everywhere she would go, she would be looked down at with either pity or disgust.

After all, there was no guarantee that everyone would believe her side of the story. There would definitely be people who would blame her in a way, make it seem like it was her fault in the first place that she was out that night, that she had it coming because she hadn't been careful enough. Or they'd say that it was punishment for having a secret relationship with Gunner for so long.

Because once people started questioning, it wouldn't be long before they uncovered the whole truth. The truth that Lamees had hidden for too long. Gunner. They would find out about Gunner.

"Why were you drinking?" His mother asked again, snapping Lamees from her thoughts.

Gunner opened his mouth to speak and Lamees knew that he was going to lie so she spoke up first, surprising not only him and his mother but herself as well. "He was drinking because of me."