Her face twisted. “You’ve already given up on him?” Accusation rang in each word. “You were married to the man. You know what a decent person my brother was. I can’t believe you’re so ready to believe the worst about him.”
“How am I the bad guy?” It didn’t feel like Julia and I were on the same team anymore, but then I remembered we never were. Suddenly, I was back in my in-laws’ dining room staring at the wedding invitation with Lizzie’s name on it. Ali’s family would always close ranks around him, no matter what he did.
“I really thought you loved my brother,” she said. “That you’d defend him and protect his memory until your dying day.”
“He did invite his ex-girlfriend to our wedding without telling me,” I retorted. “Oh, but I forgot, you condoned that.”
“What?” Her face flushed. “I did not.”
“You refused to even admit that it was wrong of him to invite her.” I threw Julia’s words from all those years ago back at her. “I’ll never speak against my brother, Amira.That’s what you said when I needed your support.”
“You’re still angry about that?” She looked flabbergasted. “After all these years?”
“What if he never gave any of his American girlfriends up?”
“That’s impossible.” Her cheeks flushed. “Are you saying he gave this Carol lady the house?”
“I don’t know. The lawyer handling the LLC that owns the place won’t tell me who got the house. He just confirmed it wasn’t me.”
“There must be a way to find out more.”
“I’m working on it.”
We both were calmer now, speaking in more measured tones, being careful with our words and each other.
“In the meantime, let’s not mention this at Baba’s birthday dinner,” she said. “My parents don’t need any more trauma around Ali’s death.”
“I won’t say anything.” The entire family planned to gather at my in-laws’ later that month to mark my father-in-law’s seventieth birthday. I was relieved that Ayla and Adam were coming down for the gathering. It would give me the opportunity to check in on them, especially Ayla.
“Baba didn’t want to celebrate because of Ali, but he finally agreed to at least have dinner with the kids and grandkids.”
“I’m not telling anyone outside of you, Lulu, and Nasser. The last thing I want is for Ayla and Adam to find out about this.”
“You’ve told Nasser?” she asked. “Why?”
“He’s helping me. We’re threatening legal action if the LLC doesn’t tell us who got the house.”
Julia sipped her tea. “Hmm.”
“Hmm what?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you have something to say?”
She paused, considering her words. “Just be careful.”
“Could you be more cryptic?”
“I know Ali loved Nasser like a brother,” she said haltingly. “But I always got the sense that Nasser was jealous of Ali.”
“Really?” This was news to me. “In what way?”
She shrugged. “Just be careful.”
“That was quick,” Nasser said over the phone a few days later. “They want to settle.”
“Who does?” It took me a minute to focus. I was immersed in finalizing the draft for an exhibit that needed to go to the museum’s curators by the end of the day.
