Absent by Betool Khedairi

Author:Betool Khedairi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9781588366368
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2007-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

I find her at Uncle Sami’s flat. She opens the door to let me in. “Did you apologize?”

“And I drank the glass of water on your behalf.”

Uncle Sami joins us. She says, “I’ll go over and apologize in person tomorrow.”

“I don’t think you need to. He seems to be a sensitive and understanding person.”

“Then I’ll get my hair done at his place.” She then adds, “Before I lose it.”

Uncle Sami intervenes. “You won’t lose him just because of that. We all have the right to express ourselves in front of others.”

“I meant, losing my hair, Uncle.”

I love the way he embraces us. Today, he’s wearing an old pair of jeans, and a white shirt that has a few spots of dried blood on it from his last hospital visit. He must have had the misfortune of encountering a male nurse who wasn’t very skilled at taking blood. He smiles at me.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“What?”

“Santa Claus is on holiday.”

I turn around to face Ilham. “You cruel tale-teller!”

He says, “And why not, I like to be called Santa Claus. After all, he does bring happiness to children.”

Ilham gives him a hug. “May God never deprive us of you.”

I say, “Actually, I was thinking of Umm Mazin. If you went to see her dressed like that, she’d throw you out of her flat.”

He picks up a ceramic crucifix that lies on the table beside the photograph of his wife. He lifts it up in front of his face and says, “She’d never receive me in the first place.”

“Besides that, she’d throw you out because you’re wearing jeans.”

“Why? Is it because they’re made in America?”

“No, it’s because she calls them ‘tanned dog’s skin’ and considers them unclean. She says they spoil her spells.”

Ilham makes her comments as she leafs through Umm Raid’s diary. “I see you’re biased against Umm Mazin.”

“I can’t understand how she manages to mislead those foolish women with her hocus-pocus!”

“Have mercy on her. She does know a lot about herbal remedies. At least her mixes are effective.”

“But it’s the illiterate Badriya who makes up the concoctions. I’ve seen her place the herbs in at least fifty different containers that vary in shape, size, and seal, so that she can tell them apart. Some are marked with a color or a symbol so that she can recognize them.”

“So what. At the end of the day, Umm Mazin dispenses some fabulous remedies.”

“I have to disagree with you. She uses verses from the Qur’an to deceive people, and makes use of honey and herbs to convince them of the effectiveness of her spells. She also encourages women to wear the hijab, and insists that a woman’s religious duty is to stay at home. She says that a woman’s task is to serve her husband and devote herself to prayer.”

“Are you implying that wearing the hijab is a sign of being backward?”

“No, but if we stayed at home, how would we be able to earn a living?”

I take Saad’s cup out of the plastic

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