They were swinging. Back and forth. Slightly hitting the wall behind. The wind swirled around their clothes and hair, speeding up the swing. The crescent was up against the blue sky empty of stars. Or maybe hidden stars under the swift clouds. The long buildings of Munich wavered in the night as Minha and Zoha swung on the strong belt swing under Kay's roof. The green parrot was biting on some chilies and fruits. His beautiful green body coated with red outlines. Sam was gone and Karina was talking to her mom on phone about her younger sister's appointment. They could hear her from this apart.
Zoha was quiet. But she looked better. Her hair were now tied up in a ponytail and Minha's boxer plates were loosened letting loose some hair strands. They brought their legs back and forth to remain the swing swinging.
Minha had a lot to digest. She currently found out that Johnson Peters, her school's head's only daughter who was black, admitted her Islamic identity. And she wasn't ashamed of it. The trees stood silently watching her formulating things in her mind.
She rotated her head towards the little girl.
"Zoe, I-"she started saying. "You can always call me Zoha. I love that name. It means light. Even though I am not white as light, I was light to my mother. Please, call me Zoha." Minha smiled, "Okay, Zoha. I wanted to thank you for the wonderful speech you gave while I was in the kitchen. And I am adoring the fact that you are my sister by religion, and that, that you want to accept it and move on, but I want you to think about it again." Her swing was slowing down, but Zoha's kept accelerating positively.
"I am not a good Muslim. I am not punctual with prayers. I am not a regular reader of the Holy book. I do not cover myself the way Muslim women are supposed to. I have male friends and I do eat and talk with them. I do not obey a lot of Islamic rules." The parrot was now drinking water. "But I do believe in existence of one God. I do believe in the last Holy Prophet. I do believe in the ancient stories of Prophets and their people. I keep on learning. I try to stay honest and trustworthy. I try to stay calm. I try not to get angry quickly. I try to be polite and not hurt others. I am not a very wise and generous person. Sometimes I only think about others, but I can't ignore what's happening around me. I am not a very forgiving person, but I do try to become a better version of myself." She was saying it. Lost somewhere else.
"I try to obey all the rules and principles. And there are a lot of people around me who doesn't believe in God, who doesn't believe in the end of this world, who doesn't believe in the existence of hell and heaven. And even if I am not a good person, I am grateful that I at least do believe in all of it.
"There are people who are born in Muslim family and they are forced to carry out the religious behaviors, and there are some like you who are not born in Muslim families but they wish to walk on that path. And there are some like me, who first wonder if the belief their parents are carrying are ethical and logical. I used to think a lot. About any hint if there is someone above the skies. If there is a way sky was a vision. If there is some way water is being made from somewhere, if there is some way roots and embryo emerges out of a seed. If there is a way a child is developed inside a mother. Any chemical, any physics, any mathematical formula.
"But, trust me, Zoha. I was lost of words. I was certainly out of words. There is no limit to this world, to this universe, and yet there is a limit. A limit that was sat by Him. Set by my God. There is definitely someone up there. Atheist say, that there is no way a God is looking at all of us, there is no way he is making us do things. Everything we do, is done by us only. But I say, is there a physics theory behind setting up of sun? Is there a scientific concept of our brain development? The way our body works. The way the blood runs. Can a human invent that? No."
Her words were echoing. Everyone was listening to her. Even Karina behind the gallery door.
"Zoha, everyone takes credit. But, they never think the thoughts that are emerging form their brain, the actions they are taking are not because of some machine. It's because of the soul He blew in us. I am not a better Muslim. But I am thankful for what I am. I have seen people who are very strong with their religion ship. But they smoke, they drink alcohol, they go to clubs, they have secret relationships, they are involved in illegal workings and they are hypocrites.
I lost control and drank once. But I never did that again. I am grateful for at least being better than hypocrites. And this was not easy. Choosing my life. When I first came here, people judged me and then I started losing faith. But, I thought about it. And I decided to be better.
"Islam is strict. With multiple things. Specially regarding women as seen. But it also says she is a pearls and a pearl is always in special hardcore shells, not found by everybody. I learnt to be simple and obeying.
"Life is strict until you let it lead you. When you lead life, it is much easier." Her swing was slowed to its extreme. The parrot was staring at her with his open goggle eyes. Zoha's grip around her swing's belt was strong whitening the skin around it. And Karina was listening to her provide words. Words that were not found in any dictionary. Words that were spoken from heart. Words that were special. That came out on special occasions. The floor beneath them was cold and silent. The sky was proud to have someone honest under it and the moon was glistening, brighter than ever.
And then there were those two people. Looking at each other in awe and sympathy.
"I want you to choose what you think is right for you, Zoha. It is your life. You are going to lead it. You are going to decide, Zo. I want you to treat it the best. Treat it like a mother, treat it like a coach. Treat it like a guest. So it may reserve the best for you. Many of Quranic statement have been proved right, and it says that it lights up the way for those who see and understand. I love you, Zo. I don't want you to strangle alone in this horrific world. Whatever you decide, I am with you." She said, shedding a tear from her eyes. Her face made up in the beautiful make up ever. The little kid, got up and wrapped her arms around her waist.
She holded her there and kissed her on the head. "I love you." She whispered and for the first time she saw Maaz smiling in her head. His crying face went away and his smiling face came by. She smiled from the core of her heart and embraced this new opportunity to finally make this better.