That bomb was the man who took my mother as his second wife— “Uncle” Mounir. His entrance into our life was truly explosive. No tremble, no warning, no change of wind—just suddenly there, a violent sociopath tearing through our life. He walked into our home like he owned it, with his disheveled beard and his calloused hands. He rarely interacted with me, unless it was to bind my feet to the foot of my bed. I had no idea my mother was a second wife. We called him uncle, and he had his own wife and children. It wasn’t until I was in college that my mother finally revealed this truth. Polygamy is
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