A Deal
556 Words
The heat was cruel that afternoon.
Hayat sat on the cracked stone bench near the back gate of the college—the one no one used except the ones with nowhere else to go. Her bag lay open beside her, half a sandwich wrapped in paper untouched. Her fingers trembled around the paper slip with her family’s utility bills. Numbers blurred in her vision.
She had skipped lunch all week. Skipped bus rides too. Walked miles. Still not enough.
Her chest ached—not from hunger, but from the weight she could never drop.
Then—
A shadow fell across her lap.
She looked up, startled.
A girl stood before her. She wasn’t part of any usual crowd. Not popular, not invisible. The kind you never noticed—by design.
Her lips curved into a knowing smile, but her eyes stayed serious. Cold. Calculated.
“You’re Hayat, right?”
Hayat nodded slowly.
The girl sat beside her, careful not to draw attention.
Her voice dropped to a near whisper.
“I know what it’s like. When no one hears you. When even your silence costs too much.”
Hayat’s eyes flickered.
“I have a job,” the girl continued, sliding a folded note into Hayat’s bag without looking, “But it’s not on paper. Not on ads. No interviews.”
She leaned in closer. Hayat could smell mint on her breath.
“If you say yes… your family will never struggle again. Millions. Cash. But only if you agree. No questions, no noise.”
A pause.
“Say yes or no—nothing else. And tell no one. Ever.”
Hayat stared at her. Words bubbled in her throat but couldn’t rise.
The girl stood, dusted off her uniform, and walked away like they’d never spoken.
Hayat sat frozen.
The air felt thicker now.
The note in her bag burned like a secret waiting to explode.
And in her silence…
A storm began to stir.
That night, Hayat didn’t sleep.
She lay on the thin mattress, eyes open, staring at the ceiling as if it might answer for her.
The note sat on her table, still folded. Still silent.
Just like her.
Her little brother coughed in his sleep. The walls were too thin, the fan too slow. Her mother had stopped checking the electricity meter—what was the point?
Hayat turned over, pressed her face into the pillow. Her tears came soundless, just like always.
“Millions.”
The word echoed.
And it terrified her.
She knew nothing came for free. Especially not for girls like her. Especially not in silence.
What kind of job offers that much money with no questions asked?
She imagined herself saying yes.
Would her family smile again? Would her mother stop whispering to the landlord? Would her brother go to school in shoes that actually fit?
But then…
She imagined herself walking into something dark. Something cold. Something she couldn’t escape from once she stepped in.
“No one can protect you once you say yes.”
That wasn’t in the note.
But it was the truth.
Still… she picked it up.
Her hands shook. Her fingers hovered over the fold. Her pulse thundered in her ears.
And in her mind, one question kept repeating, louder than anything:
What price would you pay to be heard, Hayat?
- Writer
