2034 (AN EXCERPT)

... My father was imprisoned for a year or so when I was six for telling me “habibi” while my mom was on the phone. Due to a debate over whether he did use standard Arabic or not, he was merely imprisoned not executed. However, this taught everyone in my family that, no matter how much love they felt, they could not say it. In a second-to-second language, only objectivity was possible, and so I grew up with no words of love.