{"id":1146,"date":"2019-02-13T12:47:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T17:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1146"},"modified":"2020-06-01T09:07:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:07:09","slug":"dare-from-deep-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/dare-from-deep-within\/","title":{"rendered":"Dare from Deep Within"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dare from Deep Within<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by D. L. Sleiman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three young women from varying backgrounds risk everything to help a friend escape her abusive family.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still at odds with her own Muslim parents, Layla faces unexpected challenges when her childhood companion shows up on her doorstep. As Fatima risks everything for freedom, her desperate circumstances draw a new circle of friends who will be forever changed by her plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla<\/em><\/strong>, the Muslim-background believer, turns to a forbidden boyfriend for the guidance both to protect Fatima and to find her identity apart from her parents and her former culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain<\/em><\/strong>, the bi-racial hippie chick, secrets Fatima away from her violent family<\/a>, but as the experience draws her closer to Christ, Rain\u2019s own relationship with her significant other, James, will suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah<\/em><\/strong>, an ultra-conservative Christian on the surface, is torn between a desire to help Fatima and a need to conceal her shameful double life and dangerous habits from her older sister Allie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they struggle to safely guide this courageous young woman through a maze of intrigue and terrorism, all will be forced to ask what they are willing to risk for love, for each other\u2014and for God.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

This is killing me!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curling deep into a corner of\nthe worn couch, Layla Al-Rai blinked away tears and reread the text message\nfrom the man she had hoped to marry: This\nis killing me!<\/em> Then she hit delete. She needed to put Mo far from her mind,\nforget about what she couldn\u2019t have and focus on what she could. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow forget that this was\nkilling her too. Valentine\u2019s Day without him had provided a special kind of\ntorture. Things could only improve from here. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swiping her newly cut black\nlayers from her eyes, Layla surveyed the cozy living room of her little\nbungalow. She searched out her friends gathered in the well-lit kitchen and\nhoned in on their smiling faces. Allie and Rain had been her strength and\ncomfort throughout the tumultuous first semester of college. These returning\nstudents, both independent women in their mid-twenties, showed her what life\ncould be like beyond the veil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely miracles did exist.\nDespite the fact that Layla was an adult of twenty-two, if anyone had told her\nsix months earlier that her Muslim parents would allow her to share a house\nwith a group of Christian college girls, she would have cracked up laughing. Yet\nhere she was, not only sharing a home but a new Christian believer herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoffee, Layla?\u201d her roommate Allie called from the\nkitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure. Plenty of cream and sugar.\u201d Coffee, another\nthing to be thankful for. Nice light American coffee wafting through the air,\nnot her auntie\u2019s syrupy Lebanese version. Layla took a deep breath and\nattempted to ignore the stab of longing in her chest, as if a caffeinated\nbeverage could replace the love of her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla\u2019s good friend Rain plunked\ndown on the arm of the rust-colored couch, pregnant belly and all. Rain didn\u2019t\nlive with Layla, but she folded her legs Indian style and wiggled an indentation\nfor her burgeoning rear as if she did. Hugging an oversized coffee mug to her\nchest, she took a hard look at Layla\u2019s face in the dim lamplight. \u201cHey, we\u2019re\nhappy tonight, remember. No more tears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not crying.\u201d Layla grimaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen what\u2019s that wet thing on your eyelash? You\nshould know better than to try and fool me. The wise, all-knowing Rain sees\neverything.\u201d She took a sip of coffee before hollering into the next room.\n\u201cAllie, we might have to break out the big guns. Any ice cream in that fridge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As if Rain needed ice cream.\nLayla\u2019s lips quivered into a grin. The all-knowing, New-Age hippie guru\nevidently didn\u2019t see<\/em> that she was\nabout to break the couch. Although Rain looked prettier than ever with her\ncaf\u00e9-au-lait skin, corkscrew light brown curls, and peasant blouse that matched\nher golden-green eyes, she needed to slow down on the weight gain if she wanted\nto continue perching herself in such precarious positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNever mind, Allie. I\u2019m fine, really. Rain has no\nidea what she\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie and her little sister\nSarah came to join them. Sarah, wearing a long beige skirt and turtleneck\nsweater against the winter chill, settled herself primly on the edge of an\noverstuffed chair. Meanwhile, Allie handed Layla a steaming mug of amaretto-scented\ncoffee and plopped onto the couch, stretching her bare ballerina legs onto the\nglass-topped table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could the sisters possibly be\nmore different? Despite their matching blond coloring, Sarah represented\neverything Allie had left behind from her ultra-conservative past. At least\nthey were getting along these days. Hopefully Allie could help Sarah unwind a\nbit before she snapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m all for ice cream.\u201d Sarah brushed her twill\nskirt down flat. \u201cI don\u2019t need an occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie took a long sip and\nsighed. \u201cYou\u2019ll all have to be content with amaretto creamer tonight. The\nteenyboppers wiped out the fridge. I swear those girls swarm like locusts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla nodded. \u201cA real-life biblical\nplague.\u201d Allie\u2019s nickname for their roommates certainly fit. Those four\nfreshman girls bopped in and out all hours of the day and night. \u201cAt least we\nhave some peace and quiet for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how you guys do it.\u201d Rain shook her\nhead. \u201cThey give me a migraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t so bad once you get used to them.\u201d Allie\nlaughed. \u201cBesides, I only have to put up with them until summer. Save your pity\nfor Layla.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla didn\u2019t need pity. Truly,\nshe was still overwhelmed by the wonder of it all. \u201cThe girls are kind of fun.\nYou can\u2019t imagine how amazing it is for me just to be on my own, with no auntie\nwatching over my every move.\u201d Not to mention having the pleasure of attending a\nreal, live church or the joy of praying when and where she pleased and feeling\nlike someone actually listened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After twenty-two years in a\nrestrictive culture, Layla was finally free\u2014the constant, nagging fear of Allah\u2019s\njudgement gone from her life\u2014and of course she had her amazing new relationship\nwith Christ, which she was still discovering. Surely giving up Mo was a small\nprice to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I guess surviving a murder attempt puts\neverything in perspective.\u201d Rain placed a warm hand on Layla\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh my goodness.\u201d Sarah\u2019s blue eyes grew big and\nround, all the more obvious beneath her tight chignon. \u201cI forgot about that.\nYou must have been terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last thing Layla wanted to\ntalk about tonight was her uncle\u2019s botched honor killing. \u201cIt\u2019s over and I\u2019m\nsafe now. That\u2019s what matters. I doubt he would have gone through with it, but\nI\u2019m sure you can understand the teenyboppers look pretty good to me after all\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd things are okay with your parents? They didn\u2019t\ndisown you?\u201d Sarah sat up a bit taller and leaned in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla couldn\u2019t help but feel\nsorry for the girl. Unlike Allie and Layla\u2019s friends at her new church, Sarah\nlooked quite bound by religion herself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, thank goodness,\u201d answered\nLayla. \u201cThey didn\u2019t disown me. I still can hardly believe it. My mom wouldn\u2019t speak\nto me for a while, but my dad\u2019s moderate in his beliefs. He\u2019s all for religious\nreform. I mean, they aren\u2019t happy with me, but for now they\u2019re paying the\nbills. So my dream of an engineering degree is still alive. And they\u2019ve dropped\nthe subject of an arranged marriage, which is way more than I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but she\u2019s not supposed to tell anyone. And\nthey made her give up her boyfriend in exchange for tuition, which totally\nsucks.\u201d Rain slammed her cup down on the end table, causing the lamp to shake.\n\u201cI swear, Layla, you\u2019re a grown woman. You should find a job and be done with\nthem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain wouldn\u2019t understand. She\u2019d\nbeen living with her significant other, James, since she was eighteen. Her\nparents were off on perpetual safari somewhere in Africa, but Layla needed her\nfamily. She loved them, and she longed to honor them in whatever way she still\ncould. Not to mention that boyfriends really didn\u2019t even exist in her culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah tilted her head and\ntightened her lips. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to honor our parents, Rain. The Bible says\nso. Layla\u2019s doing the best she can in a hard situation. Besides, this is not\nthe right time in her life for a boyfriend. She should focus on God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow hearing her thoughts\nfiltered through Sarah\u2019s judgmental mind made Layla question her own reasoning.\n\u201cMo was a huge part of why I came to Christ. So it\u2019s not that simple. Without\nAllie and Mo, I might never have found him. That has to count for something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah gazed at her sister\nskeptically. Layla knew the women well enough to decipher the look. How could a heavy-metal loving, short-shorts\nwearing, so-called Christian lead anyone to Christ?<\/em> Layla stifled a giggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so successful at restraining\nherself, Rain snorted. \u201cHow about you, Sarah? Any hot guys in your life?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red crept up from the edge of\nSarah\u2019s turtleneck to tinge her face. \u201cNo guys at all, hot or otherwise.\u201d She\npatted her fastidious hairdo. \u201cI have no need for men right now. \u2018Awake not love before it pleases\u2019<\/em> and\nall that. Really, Layla, your parents are doing you a favor. I have no\nintention of dating. After college I\u2019ll consider courtship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Layla\u2019s new appreciation\nfor the Bible, Sarah\u2019s habit of spouting scripture left a bad taste in her\nmouth. She took another sip of amaretto coffee to wash it away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~*~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCourtship!\u201d Rain laughed out loud this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat emanated from Sarah\u2019s face,\nbut she had no way to stop it. They probably figured she was embarrassed by all\nthis talk about guys. Better they imagine her a pious fool than suspect the\ntruth. Jesse\u2019s sexy smile flashed through her mind along with his searing eyes\nthat turned her to melted butter. Sarah gulped and attempted to steady her\nbreathing as guilt washed over her in torrents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie cleared her throat and\nlooked to be choking back a giggle. \u201cSo have you decided on a school yet,\nSarah?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank God, a change of subject.\nAlthough, on second thought, Sarah doubted God deserved any credit for her\nrelief at the moment. Surely he was standing on alert to zap her with a\nlightning bolt. She smiled her appreciation to Allie. \u201cI\u2019ve been accepted here\nat Old Dominion University and also at a Christian college near Roanoke. But I\u2019m\nleaning toward ODU. I plan to study languages, and they have Arabic classes, which\nare hard to find.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie twisted to recline her\nlong legs over the back of the couch behind Layla\u2019s head. How did Allie do it?\nLooking relaxed and happy as she lounged in her little hot-pink dancer\u2019s\nshorts, somehow at peace with God and suddenly engaged to the assistant pastor\nof Sarah\u2019s own conservative church in Virginia Beach. Surely Allie was\ndelusional\u2014kind-hearted but nuts. Things just didn\u2019t work that way with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a minute.\u201d Layla seemed to shake off the funk\nshe\u2019d been in all evening. \u201cDid you say Arabic? Hal tatakalame Alarabiya<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaam ya habibti. Ftakartic betaerfi<\/em>,\u201dSarah\nanswered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain threw up her hands.\n\u201cTranslation please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla sat forward. \u201cI asked if\nshe spoke Arabic. She said yes. She thought I knew, but I had no idea. How\u2019d\nthis happen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI go to a high school for international studies. I\nhope to be a missionary someday.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain sucked in a sharp breath.\nLayla glanced from Allie to Rain and back again. Allie just shrugged her\nshoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heat returned to Sarah\u2019s\nface. Did they suspect she was nothing but a sham? A failure of a Christian?\nShe had planned to be a missionary for years. She wasn\u2019t ready to give up her\ndreams over one little stumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, Sarah\u2026\u201d Layla smiled encouragingly. \u201cYou\ncould learn a lot from Allie in that department. The way she was just herself\nand open about both her faith and her struggles meant a lot to me when I was\nsearching for the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Rain contentedly rubbed her protruding belly\nwith her ringless left hand. The woman had no shame. Sarah should be glad Rain\nchose life, but still. She twisted her purity ring around her own left finger.\nThank God she would never have to deal with the shame of an unplanned\npregnancy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not as into all the\nChristian stuff as Layla,\u201d Rain continued, \u201cbut Allie definitely gave me a\nbetter perspective on it. She really changed my ideas about God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, so they didn\u2019t think she\u2019d\nbe a good witness, not as good as Allie. No matter how hard she tried, she\u2019d never\nbe as good as Allie. A heavy lump filled Sarah\u2019s stomach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After eight years gallivanting\nthe globe, living life on her own terms, Allie had returned home to the\nproverbial fatted calf. Okay, so she was on a dancing \u201cmission\u201d trip and not\nquite the prodigal child. But after Sarah killed herself to be the perfect\ndaughter and meet every last one of her parents\u2019 high standards, it stung to\nsee her free-spirited sister accepted so easily back into the fold. They even\nbought Allie that flashy red Mini Cooper, while Sarah had no car of her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cHey, Sarah,\u201d\nRain said with an evil grin, \u201cif you end up going to school here, you could\ntake Allie\u2019s bed after the wedding. I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll be occupied in a much\nwarmer mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would be fun.\u201d Layla nudged Rain, otherwise ignoring\nthe inappropriate innuendo, and perked up even more. \u201cI\u2019d love to share a room\nwith you. I could help you with your Arabic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, my gosh.\u201d Sarah blinked vapidly a few times and\nsquealed in imitation of Allie\u2019s eighteen-year-old roommates, wiggling her\nfingers beside her head. \u201cLike, I so totally get more of Britney and company\nthan I can stand at church every week. Like, I might just die or something.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is so her.\u201d Rain clapped in delight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although only eighteen herself,\nSarah had no need for a bunch of immature, boy crazy roommates. This recent\nincident was just a blip on the radar. She\u2019d get things under control soon\nenough and had no desire to surround herself by such worldly influences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, there she is now!\u201d Allie teased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah turned to the dark window.\nA shadowed figure stood on the sagging front porch, barely discernible against\nthe soft glow of the streetlights. Her heart sped, but surely it wasn\u2019t\nBritney. The person was alone, and Britney always had a posse in tow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soft knock rapped against the\ndoor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie stood and shot a\nquestioning glance to Layla. \u201cToo quiet for the teenybopper crew. You expecting\nanyone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layla just shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie called, \u201cWho is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHelp me, please.\u201d A pleading, accented voice\nfiltered through the crack. Its broken timber tugged at something deep in Sarah\u2019s\nbeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie shot a questioning glance\naround the room. Rain hurried to stand behind her, cupping her shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet her in,\u201d Sarah whispered.\n\nAllie opened the door.\nThrough it stumbled a slight figure shrouded in black.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n