Zeynep fell silent, never to speak again. She really had no other choice. She lowered her head. The son of the agha was the future agha. Even as a child, the elders showed him respect, but being the daughter of an agha had no such privilege. In this village, women had no status or recognition. Zeynep could have slapped him back, shouted, gathered the whole village around her, even complained to her agha father. The result would have been the same. What mistake did she make, I wonder? Did he see her looking at someone else? Did he find out she was flirting with someone? Or did the girl say she wasn't a virgin?
In no scenario would the man be blamed. He was a man, after all, he could both beat and love. If a woman knew her place, it wouldn't be like this. A woman should endure suffering an
