“ Ishq vishk, ” he declared one evening. “That’s our language. Half Urdu drama, half Somali audacity.”

And for the first time in Mogadishu, the dizzy, loud, stupid kind of love had a Somali name.

Ishkayga Qarsoon (My Hidden Love)

Leyla grabbed his silver ring finger. “Just say waan ku jeclahay , you idiot.”

He grinned. “ Ishq vishk, habar tirac. ”