TABLE OF CONTENTS Layla lay in her bed, crying again. She was desperate; her mind was split down the center into two completely different and conflicting mind-sets, and she was definitely losing it. One side of her had been created years earlier by her father and tormented her day and night. She had a purpose based in hate, excused by religion, and a requirement for her to be cold and uncaring. The other side of her longed to be gentle and tolerant; this side of her wanted to forget the failure of what had been her childhood and develop a new purpose in life. Her youth had been stolen from her, as had her future. Regardless of the pain she now felt pulsing within, she finally was able to attain a clarity of mind that had eluded her before. Jeremy was right; she did have an opportunity for a real future that she would decide, a future she wanted to reach out and take into both hands and protect.
She had been so confused for so long. She could always hear her father s screaming voice in her ears, motivating her with fear of physical punishment. Then there was the supposed anger of Allah that paled in comparison to her father s wrath should she eventually fail. There had never been any playgrounds for this young girl. There were no friends waiting outside to kick around a soccer ball or poke fun at the neighborhood boys. There was only the fear...
