Women's Revenge

Chapter Two, Episode One

A full year after her departure, Samar was no longer the same girl. In a gym outside Egypt, she stood amid the sounds of falling iron and the echo of labored breathing. Her fists gripped the heaviest weights, her arms bulging as if she were sculpting herself anew—not as a woman, but as the body of a warrior challenging its old weakness. Her face had changed. It was no longer innocent, but stern and harsh, and her eyes shone with a defiance no one dared to confront. Between each lift, the ever-present scene crept into her mind: a dark car, her body thrown to the ground, her face broken in a scream no one heard. Then another, more painful image appeared: her mother, sitting next to her on the bed, crying and telling her that her father had died of a heart attack because he could not bear to see her broken. Samar suddenly stopped exercising, let the weights fall to the ground with a resounding thud, and then walked over to the mirror. She looked sharply at her reflection, contemplating her new body, her eyes glowing with a volcano of anger and determination. That moment was the beginning of another birth... the birth of a woman with no room for weakness in her heart, a woman bent on revenge.

The plane landed at Cairo Airport, and among the crowd of returnees appeared Samar. She wasn't the same girl who had left a year ago, but a different body, more solid features, and broad shoulders that almost announced that she had returned not as the weak Samar, but as a new version, closer to men. A black bag on her back, and her steps were confident, waving her hands in a firm manner similar to that of a military man. At the arrivals gate, Suhair was waiting. Her features were exhausted from grief and years, looking around, searching among the faces for the daughter she had left pale and broken. Suddenly, Samar walked in front of her... but Suhair didn't recognize her! She stepped back a little, making way for her as if she were a stranger. Samar smiled a warm smile that concealed mountains of cruelty behind it and said in a different tone, solid but tender, "How are you, Mom? I miss you." She quickly approached her, put her arms around her, and pulled her to her chest in a long hug. Suhair trembled, astonishment running down her face, she whispered stutteringly, “Who are you?” Samar smiled confidently and raised her head towards her mother’s eyes, saying, “Come on, my love, I’m Samar… your daughter. I haven’t changed that much… it’s only been a year.” The two of them walked out of the airport. Samar walked with confident steps, her hand on her mother’s shoulder as if she was protecting her, or as if she were the absent man who had suddenly left. Suhair was silent, looking at her from the corner of her eye, still not believing that this strong woman with prominent muscles was the same broken daughter who had once cried on her chest. Samar was back… but her return was not ordinary.

Samar walked out of the airport gate with confident steps, carrying her bag on her shoulder, her eyes shining with a coldness like the hardness of iron. Suhair was walking beside her, confused, still not believing that this girl with the harsh features and prominent muscles was her daughter. Their car stopped in front of them, Mohamed, the driver, standing beside it. He raised his eyes to Samar, and froze in place, as if seeing someone he had never seen before. Samar smiled lightly and said in a commanding tone, “Get out, Uncle Mohamed… I’ll drive.” Mohamed was confused, stuttering as he opened his mouth, trying to reply, “Yes… Yes, Ms… Miss Samar.” He stopped at the word “Miss,” feeling that it no longer suited her, and it stuck in his throat. Samar laughed tepidly and said, “It doesn’t matter, Uncle Mohamed… Miss, Madam… They’re all the same. Tell me, Samar, and that’s it.” Mohamed didn't get an answer, he quickly opened the door, got out of the driver's seat and walked around the car as if escaping an embarrassing situation. He sat quietly in the back seat, watching her with suppressed fear. Samar sat in his place, adjusting the seat back as if she'd gotten used to being in control, and gripped the steering wheel with both hands, a mysterious smile on her lips. Next to her, Suhair sat silently, her features worried, her heart pounding every time she looked at her daughter, whom she no longer recognized. Samar turned the engine hard, and the car took off at a sudden speed, as if she was challenging the road and the world. She swerved through the traffic lights without a care, neither looking right nor left, her eyes fixed straight ahead, as if she was seeing a distant target that no one else could see. In the back, Mohamed sat trembling, placing his hand on his chest as he muttered to himself, "Is it possible... that the accident that happened to her... made her turn into a man?!" While Suhair remained silent, staring at her daughter's face in astonishment, unable to distinguish: Is this really the Samar she once knew, or was something else born from the heart of pain?