Things Change [rape]
“Guys I have to go. I have to finish the project.” Zoya called to her friends. They had all been out to dinner after class,laughing and having a good time. She did have to leave, but not to work on the project, which she finished days ago. No Zoya had to go make money.
As she walked down the lit up streets of the city, she thought about how lucky she really was. Zoya had grown up in a conservative Arab family. It had taken years for her to convince her parents to let her do anything that might be fun. She remembered how she had argued to be allowed to take dance. Her father saying it was improper, her mother being silent and not helping. But finally she was allowed to take ballet. Then she had wanted to go to college to study art and her father screamed at her for days. “Why should you do that. Art is of no use. You should find a man and get married. And no usless artist. Someone who will provide for you, that you can start a family with. I will not pay for tou to waist your life.” After months she convinced him that graphic design will help her get a good job and possibly find someone nice in the business world. But it was her coming out to her parents that had finally freed her. Whore, filth, shame upon shame, and all sorts of other names. Her father had disowned her and she hadn’t talked to anyone in her family for the last 6 months. And they were the best six months of her life. And it was all thanks to Nadia.