Safiyyah's War: Chapters 30–37

Safiyyah’s auntie, Baba’s sister, had been under the weather for a week or so, and Safiyyah, Setti and Yemma went round to visit.

When they gave the bad news about Tarek to Baba, he was distraught and went to his office for the rest of the night.

People had begun haggling, shouting offers over one another and, as the only child there, Safiyyah began to feel overwhelmed.

Baba kissed her hand again and again, Yemma stroked Setti’s hair and reminisced about times gone by.

That evening, once friends and neighbours who had visited to pay condolences had left, Safiyyah sat with Yemma, Baba and Hana.

Suspicion from the Nazis had increased with each passing day, but through Ammo’s ingenuity, everything had run smoothly so far.

Safiyyah ignored Hana’s barrage and raced ahead of her down to the basement, knowing she would follow.

She pointed at the hijab: "We’ve always known that this is a sacred act of obedience to God that allows us to choose who sees which parts of us, right? We’ve all been taught that it empowers us and honors us, but now, Safiyyah, in occupied Paris, I’ve realized it has a whole new meaning."

Ammo and Baba were still taking a steady stream of Jews to the river via the underground tunnels each week, but when Ammo Kader received intelligence that a new chapter of horror was about to unfold, he knew he needed to step up his own plans, too.

It had been over a year since the Germans set their boots in Paris, and Safiyyah hated every aspect of war and what it brought with it, except Hana.

She threw the package behind his bins in the alleyway beside his house and said a prayer for his safe deliverance.

Baba put his hands up in the air immediately, feigning confusion and surprise.

He invoked God’s sacred names, begging for mercy and help from the heavens, his voice rising and falling, rippling and flowing around the room and into the courtyard like shimmering water. It was beguiling.

Safiyyah felt elation, grief, and relief all at once.

Leaning it carefully against the ship’s metal railings, she uncapped her new ornate fountain pen.