AAHIL
“He’s dead,” She cries. “Baba is . . . dead.”
My chest tightens. I pull her firmly against me, wrapping my arms tighter around her. It’s in situations like these that I have no idea what to say. I could say ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ but I know that wouldn’t help ease her pain in the least. There is nothing else I can think of saying that would possibly make any of this easier.
“Who told you?” I ask instead, getting past the initial shock. And the sadness. The man might’ve played a big role in destroying my youth but he was still my uncle. My blood. And I wasn’t completely heartless.
It takes her a minute to reply. I can tell that she’s trying to control her emotions, trying to bury the pain because we’re in the middle of nowhere and Sophia and Abdallah have stopped right next to
