Tell Her About The Rosebush

"Hey, I'm your neighbor, John Matters." I say, trying to sound as harmless as possible. I used to tutor her brother a little bit in high school, but I was never allowed to talk to any of the girls.

"I know." She says simply.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you if you were aware of what happened to your rosebush?" I say, pointing to the rose bushes. She scrunches her eyes. "Yeah, it looks like it got burned or something. You should come and take a look."

"Oh." She says simply, like it's new she doesn't even know how to process. We spend a second in silence, just standing there. What was this one's name again? We've never actually spoken before, but I must have heard her name a half dozen times?

"Are you going to look?" I ask.

"Oh yes. Of course." She says slowly. She turns backwards into the house, probably looking if anyone is around. Then she closes the door, undoes the chain, and opens it back up. She's wearing a simple black...full body veil. I don't know the term. I stand aside and let her look at the rose bush. I expected her to react with more surprise or anger, but she just stares at it with sad eyes.

Frankly, I don't know how to feel about the whole veil thing. Most muslims in America don't wear anything like that. It's normally just head scarves or something. But, the Zahareed family is still pretty new here. They moved from Oman only about ten years ago. Maybe it was a bit more. But, the entire setup always struck me as repressive, maybe even backwards. Though I suppose if I asked her, she'd say it was a cultural tradition or something. Though, I guess I don't really know her well enough to know what she'd say.

"Yeah, I saw it while driving back in." I point to my car. "If you want I can report it to the police or something? I don't what kind of sick fuck would do something like this."

"No no. I'll tell father. He'll decide what to do." She sighs. She rushes past me to get back into the house. "I should go back inside."

"Aaliyah, right?" I say, right as she's about to close the door. It had taken me a moment to remember. The girl, Aaliyah, nods. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know actually." She said softly, looking suddenly thoughtful. "It's funny."

"Yeah, I guess it is." I laugh. The conversation, is truthfully, a bit awkward. But, trying to talk to people I don't know well is just not something I'm good at in general. It's about as fun as being bludgeoned, and I'm not a masochist. "Though, I guess I don't know what John means either. Your name isn't really something you think about when you've had it your entire life. You're just used to it."

"I think so." She seals the door to just a crack. "Thank you for, you know, telling me about the bush. Father will be sure to see it when he arrives, but I will tell him anyway." Then the door closes.

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