Chapter 11

• ALIYAH
• I remained motionless, my body too stunned to move from the shock of what had just happened. I felt my skin tingle and burn from the heat of the water, and I could still hear her laugh ringing in my ears as if it were mocking me.
• But I finally got enough strength to pull myself out of the tub. I stumbled to the sink and turned on the cold water to cool my burns. When I looked up at myself in the mirror and saw the bright red marks on my skin, I couldn’t help but feel angry. How dare she be so rude to me? I was a person, not something that could be used and abused.