Double Life
I had two students, Semra and Fatima, who would get to school uber early—dropped off by her father—go into the ladies’ toilets, remove their hijabs and chuck makeup on. I didn’t think much of it, although I knew that was pretty taboo. Anyway, one day I see her having a huge screaming match at recess with a student a year ahead of her.
He stormed off as I came up. She was visibly shaken, it turns out the bloke recognized her from the local mosque and was incensed she didn’t have her traditional kit on. Then, at lunchtime, I see Fatima’s dad is dragging Fatima to his car by the hair kicking and screaming. We never saw her again after he threw her in the car. Semra attended for another week, with her hijab on, before she disappeared too.
She wouldn’t tell us what happened to Fatima, and this was long before Internet was readily available. I still think about what happened to her on occasion, and where she was now.