In the end, she had to leave him sleeping to avoid missing it altogether. When he wandered down later, bleary-eyed, asking, “Did I miss sehri?” she was furious. “Of course you missed it, Faraz! What time did you get in last night anyway? And where did you go?” Faraz’s head hurt and he waved away his sister’s questions. “I was just out, OK?” “With Skrooz?” Faraz looked away then. “Yeah… we had some stuff to take care of.” “Stuff, Faraz? What stuff? And why have you gone back to hanging with those lads anyway? I thought you were past all that… I thought things were going to be different…” Faraz turned on Farhana, his face red with anger. “Well, maybe it’s not that easy to be ‘past that’! Listen, sis, spare me the lecture, OK? I can handle myself and I know what I’m doing. Just do yourself a favour and stay out of my business!” “Stay out of your business…?” Farhana’s voice faltered, her eyes clouding with confusion. It had been so long since they had had an argument, so long since they had raised their voices to each other, she wasn’t used to it any more.
