Umm Mimi

Author: Bilal Fadl

I don't know exactly when that brilliant idea occurred to Shaarawy, but most likely it happened when he saw my lustful gaze fixed on the curves and contours of Rehab's body as she danced with dedication and conscience at her sister Samia's wedding. Although I wasn't the only one enchanted by Rehab, who saw the wedding as an opportunity to showcase her abilities, which expertly qualified her to surpass her sister, that announcement wasn't made to everyone present at the wedding—who were few, anyway. Rather, it was directed towards three of the groom's relatives who had come, most likely, to assist him in case of complications on the wedding night. But Rehab didn't capture their attention, not only because they weren't happy with the marriage, believing in an advertising principle popular in those days that said, "Why pay more when you can pay less?" but also because they felt that staring at the bride's sister's body, even though it was as fiery as a Vesuvius volcano, would anger or embarrass him. In reality, they waited patiently and were rewarded, because "Abu Samia" had decided to honor his son-in-law's guests with a special "performance" that I sometimes read about in news of debauchery and red nights where the wealthy spend thousands of pounds and dollars, and I never imagined I would witness it firsthand without paying a single red cent.