Malik promised he would not question him that way again.
Yet he still did not confront Amina.
Two weeks later, her gold bracelet disappeared from the bedroom.
This time, she did not bother asking questions.
She simply told Malik that his father could no longer be trusted around their belongings.
Suleiman heard every word from the hallway.
He did not defend himself.
Instead, he began locking his own small bag whenever he left the room.
That only made Amina more suspicious.
Then came the whispers.
A neighbor claimed she had seen Suleiman speaking to a stranger outside the building late at night. Another said the old man had been asking about a nearby property.
Amina began to believe he was confused, perhaps even losing his memory.
But there was something she could not explain.
Every few days, an unfamiliar number called his old telephone.
Suleiman would answer, listen without speaking, and then say the same sentence.
