She eyed me suspiciously, and then recalled every paranoid slight, comment, assumption and worst fear that had been churning through my brain over the...last few months.“Yes, yes, I know all about the evil, hateful people that have been put on this planet just to make us miserable, all the terrible luck we’ve had, all the failures we will likely incur, and the countless worries and concerns we need to prepare ourselves for, particularly in these crazy times. But you’ve not been making it easier. If she received a cleaning assignment, she was set for a week. Although this did not satisfy her, she concluded this was Allah’s way of speaking. Sometimes she became bitter with Allah. She believed Allah should take pride in his successes but also accept his failures. Allah, she thought, had his hands full and replied with either terrible dreams or bags of rice.The houses on the hill took pleasure in watching the slum expand, filling every corner of the city. The slum dwellers below looked up. She was pushed into the passenger seat of a car. Gray leather soft and cool against her bare legs. He reached over her and buckled her in. With the tip of his finger he grazed passed her cheek. ‘That’s a good girl.’ He said. ‘Now just a few more whiffs to finish the job.’ He shook a little bottle up and down and sprinkled some clear liquid drops onto the dirty rag, then he continued to push it into her face. The smell was way stronger now. Chemically and somewhat sweet. Her ears wear. She remembered when at sixth form college she was told by Miss Johnson twice in the same week that she got a detention and knew that would mean the cane. However, when the head prefect came into the classroom and read out the names of those in detention hers wasn’t on the list. She knew she had to ask just in case her name had been missed by the head prefect, but when she did she confirmed her name wasn’t on the list. Angela glanced at Miss Johnson who looked away and smiled as though she knew.