Mona Stories · Read & Watch
They had also struggled to have a child. According to Zizi’s account, a doctor had told them Ahmed needed treatment, but he did not follow it consistently. Each new promise that things would improve was followed by another long absence.
Her sister Azza lived nearby and often spoke about her own husband’s attention and support. Zizi smiled through those conversations, then called Ahmed to ask when he would return.
A responsibility she betrayed
One day, Azza arrived with her son Karim and asked Zizi to look after him while she went to the market. Karim was twenty, an adult who needed support and supervision. Zizi accepted responsibility for his care.
The account describes Zizi exploiting that vulnerability and crossing sexual and family boundaries. It offers no basis for treating his limited understanding as meaningful consent. Zizi’s own reasoning—that he might not understand or that others might not believe him—reveals how she used his vulnerability rather than protected him.
Azza began bringing Karim over more often, grateful for her sister’s help and unaware of what Zizi was hiding. Zizi repeatedly told herself that she would stop, but continued concealing the situation.
News that brought fear instead of relief
Ahmed eventually returned for a week, then traveled again. Zizi tried to act normally while carrying a secret that could devastate her husband and sister.
Months later, she felt unwell and visited a doctor. The news she had once wanted most—that she was pregnant—now frightened her. Ahmed had been absent for much of the time, and she could not separate the pregnancy from what she had concealed.
The written story ends before she tells Ahmed or Azza, and it does not establish the child’s paternity. Its unresolved crisis concerns both the pregnancy and the harm done to a vulnerable family member placed in her care.
Watch this story
Original Mona Stories narration. Playback controls are set to English; available audio and captions depend on the video.