Here you go, the second segment.Ya rab ye3gib :-)Anna opened the door with tears all over her face, only to find Safa wrapped in her Abaya, and holding a plate of Saffron cupcakes; her “
specialty”, or what she believed was her specialty.
Safa looked down at her own feet and shook her head saying almost like talking to herself:
- “I know. I heard!”
Anna was so vulnerable she reached out for Safa for a hug, and surprisingly enough, Safa replied the gesture with her free arm. Anna wasn’t surprised with the smell of onions and cloves on Safa’s abaya.
As Anna sat down as Safa unwrapped the foil off the cupcakes, Anna said between her sobs:
- “I thought he stopped! He promised!! I thought things were back to normal! I don’t understand how this happened to me! To us!!!”
Safa folded her Abaya and tucked it between the cushions, in complete silence for a change. Her face carried an odd expression as if she knew the answer, so Anna perused:
- “Did he ever tell you why?”
Safa pulled her Hijab further back as she always does when she was uncomfortable, and started folding her sleeves up her forearms with more concentration than necessary. The silence might not have lasted long, but its awkwardness made it feel like forever. Finally she said:
- “Anna my dear. I know that you’re different from us and that you think you’re better sometimes. But we know things you can’t possibly understand. Things that we have experienced for real and might sound completely ridiculous to you
“This woman, well..
she has bewitched my brother to fall helplessly in love with her. I’m talking real witchcraft! Haven’t you noticed how he lost weight lately, constantly up and edgy? It’s as if he went mad!”
Anna thought to herself : “
That’s all the drinking and drugs you stupid woman!!”, but she held her tongue back.
- “Come on Safa! We’re educated women! You can’t expect me to believe this!”
Safa raised an eyebrow and curled her lower lip:
- “Just as I expected. Walla honey it’s up to you! I’m just telling you what we
all think”.
- “What you
ALL think??!”, Anna suddenly burst out,
- “What Safa! You can’t believe your perfect brother can be a selfish *uckin A**hole?! That SOB? You would rather twist your brain around and believe in witchcraft than in him chasing a whore?”
Safa jumped up and waved her pointer finger in Anna’s face:
- “Look Ann! I never said my brother was perfect! The Lord alone deserves that! Even the Prophet made mistakes. But in this case, I do believe that this isn’t his own fault. This woman he’s with has an obscene reputation, and no one in his right mind would bring down the family name for a whore! Him especially!! He’s a man who has always put family first and would never do anything to upset us”
- “Are you delusional Safa? Wasn’t this the speech you gave him when we got married? Face it woman! You have always hated the fact that he married a foreigner, and you hated me for ruining your perfect brother. Aren’t you happy he married a whore of your own now!?”
- “You know what? Now I know I was wrong coming down here! If this is the kind of hell you’ve been giving my brother, then I don’t blame him!”
Little beads of sweat were forming on Safa’s hairy upper lip. Anna stared at her sweaty face and with a new surge of disgust and rage, she stood up pointing to the door. She felt dizzy as the surge suddenly hit her and said:
- “Get the hell out of my house!”
- “Your house? This is my brother’s house! It will never be yours! I have more right being here than you do!”
She struggled with her extremely well tugged-in Abaya and stormed out the door. Anna picked up the cupcakes and screamed:
- “ And take your shitty cake with you! I don’t want anything to do with it anywhere near me or my children”
Safa completely ignored her and walked straight through the outer gate, howling at her driver to drive her off. Anna picked up a cupcake and threw it on the car but missed. Frustrated and angry she sat down at the door step and wept out loud.