“Please, Hakim-sahib, I have nothing else. I have no one else. This land is my only—” A blow to the side of her head. Shekiba reeled. “Goddamn you, girl!” A second blow knocked Shekiba off her feet. She lay on her side, curled. Her hands instinctively rose to cover her head beneath the burqa. She looked at Hakim-sahib. He was shaking his head. “Azizullah-jan, what is going on with this girl?”
