From “Majed,” which appears in Elsewhere, Home, a collection that will be published next month by Black Cat. Aboulela is a novelist and playwright and was the first recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000.

“What are you doing?” Hamid couldn’t see her properly because he didn’t have his glasses on. She was blurred over the kitchen sink, holding the bottle in her hand. She was not supposed to be holding that bottle. How did she get hold of it? He had hidden it behind the DVDs late last night. He had washed his glass…