Under the Olive Tree

17. Sab'a T'Ashar

"The bakery is not open today." He raised his voice just enough to know it would carry to the front then resumed counting. The silence that returned allowed him to incorrectly assume whoever had entered had left. But that was proved wrong when a soft voice called out.

"Muhsin?"

His numbers fled from his mind at the voice. He'd heard it before—in the street—but it hadn't been remarkable enough to remember who it belonged to. All he could tell was the gender of the girl who'd closed the door after herself.

He kept the clipboard in his arm when he stepped out. It was a good place to rest his eyes. "How can I help you?"

"Muhsin."

She said his name again.

He didn't like it.

"It's me. Yasmeen."

The name did not call upon a face in his mind. Muhsin was left with another question that he would not ask. He did not need to know so he simply would not.

A loud laugh came from the street. It was muffled. That was when he realized the door had been closed. Muhsin kept his gaze low as he stepped around the customer to prop it open. He remained beside it once it allowed the sounds of the street in. If the voices outside entered the bakery then the voices of the bakery were heard outside.

"I apologize." He bowed his head. "But this is not proper."

"I need to tell you something."

He stepped aside. "I'm quite busy."

"It's about Amani."

Amani.

He nearly looked up at the mention of her name. Muhsin pressed the point of his pen into the paper directly beneath the date instead. They should not be talking. But he stayed silent.

"I heard you're thinking of proposing to her—the foreigner." The girl stepped toward him and lowered her voice. The pen began tracing over the Arabic numbers he'd neatly written down. "I can't let you do that, Muhsin. You should marry someone better than her."

Oh.

This was Abu Rayan's daughter.

"It is not wise to speak ill of people you do not know."

He saw her nod in the corner of his vision. "I know. I should not have done what I did before. I was mistaken about what I saw, but Muhsin." She took another step toward him. Muhsin avoided her when he returned back to the counter. He stepped behind the register so she could not follow him there. "There are things you don't know about her. She is not someone for you to marry."

"Like I said, I'm busy."

"She's been with men before. Not in the graveyard like I thought, but in the country she came from. She confessed it to me when she first arrived here. I didn't want to tell anybody but, when I heard of your plans, I knew I needed to tell you. I couldn't let you be tricked by someone like her. It would not be fair."

He shook his head. It should be a lie. Another rumor.

But an image drew itself into his mind that made him hesitate. The way Amani had looked at him when they spoke about the reason she'd been sent here was different. The way she'd held back information. She would have told him something like that.

The girl gasped like the words hurt her. "Amani, she does not devote herself to one person. She sees relationships like these as nothing more than fun. That's the reason she began speaking to you at all, because you were a fun pasttime. I'm sorry but... I heard her say it. You can't propose to her, Muhsin."