A few months after the night her mom told her to deliver the wallet outside, she received permission to go out once more. This time, her brother had convinced their parents to let the two of them go to one of the events that his university was having that night. Shaheen was really excited because she hadn't ever been to a fair and her brother told her about all the cool games and food that his university would be offering.
"Now Ismail, you better keep an eye on your sister and make sure she stays safe. A university is likely to have delinquents around and I don't want your sister to even see them, understand?" their father said.
"I understand father! We'll just play a few games, eat some good food, and after I show her around the campus, I'll bring her back!"
"Good. I trust you, son. Now you both have a good time! Bye!"
While her brother and dad were talking, Shaheen put on a long full sleeve loose dress and covered her hair and chest with a black scarf. Right when she was about to leave her room, her mom came in with a black niqab*.
"Shaheen, my doll, please wear this niqab and cover your face. I think that if you go to a university where there are guys your age, they may try to harass you." her mother said.
Shaheen had no objections to this and just smiled and put it on.
When Shaheen and her brother finally left and got to the university, she saw so many lights, she was afraid she would go blind. There was loud blaring music everywhere and people going around with cotton candy in their hands. Her big eyes went wide with amazement.
Her older brother smiled at his cute little sister's amazed face and told her to follow him as he led her to the game booths. There, he won her a necklace and some stuffed toys that they agreed to bring back for their youngest sister. They played many games and had a great time until her brother's friends came over and started talking to him.
"Hey bro! I didn't know you were coming to the fair tonight! Come hang out with us! Wait, is that girl with you? Bro, you have a wife?" said one of his friends.
Usually married women wore clothes so modest and covered their faces so it made sense that Ismail's friend assumed he had gotten himself a wife.
"Nah dude! This is my younger sister. I was taking her around and showing her our campus since she doesn't really go outside and see these things." cleared up her older brother.
"Wow. Your sister is so conservative. You did say your family is very traditional but your sister is something else. Well, we're going to head off now for some drinks now. If you want to come over with your sister, we'll be at the pub near campus. We would love to become more familiar with this little sister of yours." said Ismail's friend but Shaheen noticed that he was eyeing her weirdly. He seemed like he would have eaten her up if her brother wasn't there and that disgusted her so much she just stood behind her brother and looked down.
Her brother seemed not to have noticed so he just said "It's cool. I don't drink and I'm supposed to make sure to keep my sister away from any pubs and delinquents so I probably won't see you later tonight. But, if you see Zain, can you tell him to meet me at the basketball courts? He left his bag with me earlier today so I told him to meet me at the fair tonight so I can pass it over."
"Yeah sure thing bro. See ya!" the friend said as he eyed Shaheen one more time before leaving.
Slowly, Shaheen and her brother got to the basketball courts and sat down to talk and rest until the friend named Zain would drop by for his bag.
"Shaheen, I am sure you're aware, but mom and dad are looking into getting you married soon. They've been telling me that a few of their friends have asked for you to marry their sons. Though mom and dad have rejected in the past, you are now 19 years old and mom and dad think you can manage a family now. Would it be ok for me to meet with some of the suitors now and actually consider someone for you? Or if you don't feel ready yet, that's fine too. I will never force you and I won't let mom and dad force you either."
"Thank you brother" I said with a smile. "But I accept whatever mom and dad have laid out for me. If they believe I am ready for marriage, then I believe so as well. You can look at the suitors and let me know who seems the most humble and kind amongst them. That is the one I will marry."
"You don't have any other criteria for marriage? What if he is ugly or too soft spoken? Or a liar?"
"If he is kind and humble, then his looks won't bother me. If he is too soft spoken and people look down on him, then it is fine because I still won't. And if he is a liar, then he must be one with good reason. I will accept him regardless."
"Ok. But, don't worry, even if you don't have much to ask for, I will still find you a man who is handsome, humble, strong, honest, intelligent, and kind. I won't just let any man marry my perfect little sister. You are so smart that you can even do my homework after taking a glance at my notes. You're so beautiful that every time our parent's friends come over, they remember you and bring over proposals for their sons. You're so honest and kind that the children in our neighborhood come over so they can play with you and learn from you. Honestly, no man deserves you." my brother said with admiration in his eyes.
"Do not say such things, brother. I am far from perfect and you speaking this way makes me embarrassed" I quickly said with my face turning red.
Right when my brother was about to respond, a man came over and said hi to my brother. I looked down so that his friend wouldn't pay much attention to me but I could feel that he was really trying hard to see my eyes (since the rest of my face was covered). Eventually,my brother introduced us.
"Hey Zain. This is my younger sister, Shaheen and Shaheen, this is my best friend from university, Zain. I looked up to acknowledge his presence and right when our eyes met, I noticed how intensely he had been staring at me. It was different from the stare that my brother's other friend had done because his seemed like he just wanted to see whatever I was hiding. But this man seemed very satisfied with just seeing my eyes and wouldn't look away for some reason. He just seemed lost...I couldn't really understand why.