by Shamim Sarif
“You will not drive,” he said evenly. “And you will not work.”
“I’ll take the bus,” she repeated.
He laughed, a rough-edged sound in the night. “That bus will take two hours to get there.”
“I don’t care.” She paused. “I’m your wife. Why don’t you want me to be happy?”
He heard the tears in her voice, but he was looking away, out of the black, rain-streaked window now, and did not say anything in reply. They both stayed still for a few moments, in absolute quiet, and then she went to get the dust pan and brush from below the sink, carrying it over to where the broken glass lay.
He spun around. “Leave it,” he ordered. “Leave it.” He could not bear to watch her cleaning up the glass that was meant to hit her, and making him feel bad.
She kneeled down carefully, and began brushing. “LEAVE IT!” he shouted. “Robert will do it.”
She dropped the pan and brush and left them where they lay. She could see that the anger was seeping out of him slowly, and that now he would hate himself as well as her. He was looking at her strangely, his attitude almost defeated, and she thought for a moment that he might actually say something, or reach out a hand to her. But he turned away, and without another word, walked steadily up the stairs. She heard him reach the landing, heard a pause, and then the closing of the bathroom door.
She looked down at the brush, and at the splinters of glass which lay like a miniature field of sparkling crystal at her feet. She stepped across them carefully and went into the dark shop. In the slight moonlight that filtered through the rain clouds, she went behind the counter and felt below it for the pen and the pad of paper that he always kept there. When she had found them, she carried them into the kitchen and sat down at the table, stopping to right the chair that he had toppled over. Her letter to Amina was brief and business-like; just as the acceptance of a job should be, she thought. She toyed with adding a further paragraph of explanation at the end, but decided against it. The night was late already, and she wanted to be up early the next morning to catch the first mail to Pretoria.
Shamim Sarif
British writer and director Shamim Sarif is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and feature film director.
Her book, The World Unseen, won the Pendleton May First Novel Award, and the prestigious Betty Trask Award. It was selected for inclusion at all the major UK book festivals, including Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham and Edinburgh.
Her first feature film I Can’t Think Straight won 11 awards. Her follow up movie The World Unseen had its debut at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival before going on to garner 23 awards internationally, including 11 SAFTAs (South African Film Awards). Her third film, a documentary called The House of Tomorrow, was shot on location in Israel and Palestine.
An accomplished speaker, Shamim has spoken at TED events worldwide, at the INK Conference in India and DLD in Munich. Her corporate speaking events have included Deloitte, Goldman Sachs and Citibank in London and Viacom in New York.
ALSO BY SHAMIM SARIF
BOOKS
I Can’t Think Straight
The World Unseen
Despite the Falling Snow
And Now The Blog
FEATURE LENGTH FILMS
I Can’t Think Straight
Starring Lisa Ray & Sheetal Sheth
The World Unseen
Starring Lisa Ray & Sheetal Sheth
The House of Tomorrow
(documentary)
Despite the Falling Snow
Starring Rebecca Ferguson, Sam Reid, and Charles Dance
FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.enlightenment-productions.com
http://www.shamimsarif.com
Twitter, Facebook & Instagram: @shamimsarif
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