I was 13 years old the first I got it.
I got cramps,
So I went to the bathroom.
I was scared by the blood and called my mother.
She opened the door and saw me.
“Do you know what that is?” she asked me.
“Yes,” I replied.
She closed the door and sent someone to buy me pads.
Then she came back and taught me how to use them.
“You know you’re not going to pray or touch the Quran, right?”
That was it.

I knew about it from a friend of mine who got it before me.
She used to tell us about the huge amounts of blood and the pain.
It was terrifying.

I was always too embarrassed to ask for pads when I ran out.
One time, I was going out,
And there weren’t any,
And she wasn’t home.
I had to fold up some clothes,
And use them as a napkin.
I was always too embarrassed to go out of the bathroom,
While holding the used towel,
To throw it in the trash.

It would’ve been different if my mother had enough awareness,
And talked to me about my body,
The changes it would go through,
What I was going to face,
And the pain I was going to experience.