A prisoner of love

‘It wasn’t raining when I left. If you hadn’t fallen asleep on your prayer carpet, you’d have seen that.’ He replied, rushing to put his Golf clubs down. ‘But couldn’t you have stopped the game when it began to rain, now you’ll end up having a cold if you are not lucky.’ I complained, picking […]

‘It wasn’t raining when I left. If you hadn’t fallen asleep on your prayer carpet, you’d have seen that.’ He replied, rushing to put his Golf clubs down.

‘But couldn’t you have stopped the game when it began to rain, now you’ll end up having a cold if you are not lucky.’ I complained, picking up the golf bag.

‘For your information Mama Bint, we did stop the game but before we could run into the club, the rain had beaten us. Getting to the car got me some more of it. But it’s nothing a nice warm bath cannot take care of.’ He said, walking up the stairs to his room. I went in soon after he had gone to the bathroom and laid a simple breakfast of fruits, green Salad and tea on the table-cloth I spread on the floor. About 30 minutes later he came out of the bathroom.

‘What a transformation!’ He exclaimed looking at me. ‘A while ago you were in your flowing, about to- do- walaha hijab. And now here you are, all dolled up, looking like a brand new bride.’

‘Perhaps I am really a bride. Just look at your calendar.’ I urged.

‘Why? Oh my God, don’t tell me I have forgotten our wedding anniversary again. I’m very sorry Bint, I just don’t know what I’ll do to help me remember.’ He lamented.

‘Don’t worry hubby dearest. As long as I remember, I will remind you about it. Just get dressed so we can have our special, just-the-two-of-us breakfast in peace.’ I advised.

‘But it is Sunday morning what about the children?’ Tahir asked.

‘The children went back to sleep after praying Fajr as they usually do every Sunday up to 10am. You know the Qur’an teacher only comes at11am. I always wake them up an hour earlier to have them prepare.   In any case they have no reason to be with us here. They have nothing to celebrate. This is our day.’ I assured him, walking over to feed him a grape from the bowl of fruits I brought.

‘Yes, but I’m not too comfortable embarking on a private celebration when the kids can bump in at any moment.’ He said putting on a T-shirt.

‘Again don’t worry, if any of them should wake up and missus, they will come and find a locked room. See…’ I said, showing him the key to the room in my hand.

‘Seeing that key in your hand makes me feel like a prisoner, I have a phobia for locked rooms.’ he joked.

‘If ever you are a prisoner in this room Tahir, you can only be a prisoner of love.’ I said, handing him the cup of tea I poured for him.

‘Prisoner of love, how nice. One more thing though, your house helps might soon be here, asking what to cook and what to clean.’ He observed sitting down and reaching for another grape.

‘Again all sorted out. I have given them clear instructions on what to do in the next two hours. That should keep them not only far from me but completely downstairs till we need them.’ I answered.

‘Well since you’ve got it all planned, I suppose we can eat and make merry’ he said feeding me a grape the same way I fed him earlier.

‘Yes, additionally we can cast our minds back to when we first got married, on the actual date we are now commemorating. What is the first thing you remember when you recall our wedding day?’ I asked.

‘Wow, what an exercise. There is so much to remember I wonder which is the most striking’ he said thoughtfully. ‘May be the part where my representative missed the venue of the wedding Fatiha and he had the dowry with him, so no one could take his place, and there was no mobile phone then so, we couldn’t reach him.  We all had to spend one anxious hour trying to locate where he was. He was my father’s dearest friend, but he was coming from out of town and his driver wasn’t familiar with your city. I think that’s the most striking memory to me. That tense long hour I spent wondering what went wrong.’ He added, smiling.

‘Yes, I remember my younger brother joking that the people in my area won’t forget my wedding in a hurry because the Asr prayer was not performed until well after 4pm that day. You see the Imam and the Muezzin were both at the wedding Fatiha, which as you know was scheduled to take place after the Juma’a prayer at 3pm. It only took place over an hour later. However that was not my most anxious moment. Mine happened the day after when I was all set to wear my beautifully embroidered brocade gown in order to attend that family dinner prepared for us. Someone passed by and poured the whole contents of a water jug on the dress, by accident.

We were due to leave for the venue any moment then. I remember letting out a scream and simply rushing to my mother’s room. I thought the night was ruined because that was the one Boubou gown I planned to wear and no other. I was surprised when minutes later, while still wondering what to use as substitute, my sister walked in with the ruined Boubou all dried up. I asked her how she did it. And she smiled and said ‘It was no magic really. I just picked the pressing iron and kept ironing all the wet parts. This is the result.’ I simply collected the dress and hugged my sister. I had no words to express my gratitude. She saved the day, or more appropriately the night.’ I concluded smiling back at him.

‘Oh yes I remember that lovely, lemon green Boubou, but my best memory of that dinner night was seeing your hair for the first time. I had always wondered what it looked like. At the dinner you used a see-through veil and sitting next to you I could see your hair clearly. It was just like I’d hoped it will be.’ He reminisced.

‘And mine was realising just how soft your hands were. You know you dropped me at home after the dinner. And when we reached my family home, you shook my hands for the first time and said ‘Till tomorrow when we’ll finally be together for good, insha Allah.’ I was so touched by the gesture I couldn’t speak, but only nodded my head. Yet I was really struck by the softness of your hand. I had to ask you, during our honeymoon, whether you ever wash anything with your hands. You told me you were too busy with work to wash anything, so even your handkerchief goes to the launderette.’ I recalled.

‘It’s hard to believe all this was almost two decades ago, however we can always add to this great store of memories with each day The Almighty blesses us with. For now, let’s begin by conquering our green and healthy breakfast.’ He urged, lifting up the Salad bowl to serve my plate. I could only nod in anticipation.