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‘Henry.’ Her smile was tight.
‘Mumma, can I build the Lego, please!’
‘Yes, of course. You build it, and Mummy and Daddy will chat. There’s lots to catch up on.’
Ish had only just slid the glass door shut when he started.
‘How could you do this, Ava? To us, to our family? We could have made it work.’ His words were perfectly pronounced but his jaw was set hard, his chin locked into position, his face determined.
Clenching and unclenching her fists, buying time, she willed herself to stay calm, talk without conviction and remain focused. She was not going to cower in fear. The moment had come to tell him how she felt. She owed him that. Hadn’t done it before she fled and she should have. A life without fear.
And she would be honest, but she would not reveal the very worst of it, the real and very live threat to her safety at the hands of his own brother.
‘Only for you and your family. I married you and our life was in Britain, not Egypt. How could you do this to us? Change the plan, the future without thinking of how it would affect me and our son?’
‘It wasn’t what I had planned either. But family is everything and my family needs me at home. My father remains unwell so I continue to run the family business in Cairo. I must obey. So should you as my wife. You should do as I say and not disrespect history and convention and tradition.’ As he spoke, his words rushed and his ire grew.
‘Do you want to stay and live in Cairo, be with your family and run the business?’
‘Yes.’
His tone softened then; the scorching heat left his words. It unnerved her. Was this a trick? ‘Surely you must have known it was a possibility when we married? You should have told me, warned me. It would have made a difference.’
‘We were in love. I loved you. I thought we could make anything work as long as we were together.’ His words sounded sincere.
‘It’s not fair to me. I will not live like that. I worked hard to become an archaeologist, I’m not prepared to throw it away, to be a servant to you and my own son?—’
‘Damnit, Ava! You could still work, I told you?—’
She didn’t let him finish, held up her flat palm. That was a gesture she was confident he did not receive at home, where he was in charge, where his word was gospel. ‘That’s a token and not even an enticing one. Would you permit me to work in the Cairo Museum?’
‘That’s not possible.’
‘Urgh, I shouldn’t need your permission. And of course, that’s the answer then, I rest my case. I will not live subservient to you and to my own son. I will not raise him to be superior, to treat women the way your family treats them. Your mother, the other wives, they might choose that life. I will not be controlled. I do not choose to live like that.’
He hung his head. In sorrow? Sadness? Time passed and the silence continued. Clenching her jaw tight, she refused to be the one to fill the gap.
‘I understand.’ Long pause. ‘I was shocked and saddened when you left.’
What?
‘At first, I wanted to chase you, hunt you down, make you pay. I really did. This woman I loved had taken my only son, my heir, and rejected the opulent life I’d offered her. I was embarrassed, furious. My family was angry, and of course, you did it in cohorts with Jamila and that only made the situation worse. Without my intervention, my father would have had no hesitation in finding you, taking you prisoner against your will and returning you to the homeland.’
She knew it, but hearing the words out loud, the reality of what she’d been running from, caused a shiver to race up her spine.
Henry turned and faced outwards then, towards her land and the sky deepening to a royal blue and now scattered with marshmallow clouds. A gentle breeze blew away the flies. It was idyllic.
‘It is beautiful here, very Australian. This is where you grew up, yes?’
She nodded; words were difficult to form. He had just been telling her that his father would have held her captive against her will and now he addressed the scenery? Her nerves rattled and her body tensed even more.
‘Do you love it here?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Is this where you wish to remain with Ismail?’
‘Yes.’
