The thought of him denying me, the grief for my lost mother, the loneliness of it all, let loose in me, and I cried as I never had before, nor ever would again. My wails startled him from his prayers, and in a few long strides, he swept me up into his bearlike arms. “Binti, binti.” He held me for a long time until my crying stopped and the sobs and hiccups passed. He carried me to my dark room.
