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Why was I feeling so confused and block-headed? I stepped out of our house to Maryam's house our neighbor and my sort of uwar-daki (Godmother). I had to tell her about this psycho man I met three days ago.
"Assalamu alaikum," I said rounding up the corner into her courtyard where I found her bathing Khalil her first son.
"Wa alaikumussalam, Hadi. This is your face? It has been, what two-three days that you last came in. I hope all is good with you?"
"Yes it's just this hadda (memorization of the Qur'an) stuff, it's very hectic thank God for holidays, the school has closed. It just the Islamiyya, but still. Plus I am in a very big trouble."
I finished rambling taking her small wooden squat chair to sit on. Maryam immediately stopped what she was doing. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I mean the problem is not me. I met a psycho who claimed to be interested in me, he is very dark, I can tell but I'm also intrigued."
"Kai Hadi, you're something else. So all these years Amir had been following you around you now want to make a U-turn and bring someone into the equation? That's not fair."
"Ah, Maman Khalil please don't bring up Amir, for Allah's sake I played langa and doll baby with his younger siblings, I wet his mother's bed while I took an afternoon nap when I played over at their house. How embarrassing would that be for me to now start dating him?"
"He has a nice job as a banker and he's good looking. Most importantly he's religious and very smitten by you. And Hajja his mother adores you, what more do you need from a man?"
"I don't know. Love? Pff I doubt even if that exists."
"Why would you say that? Look at Inna and Baba their love story is an example."
"You mean torture story? I don't know, I don't think I like anyone in particular. I should just be left alone. How old am I? For Allah's sake, I'm just sixteen."
"You know your father will marry you off the moment he sees you with someone."
"Yes, but I also know that he did not believe in a forced or arranged marriage, he always tells us that we should choose someone we're ready to spend the rest of eternity with. For now, I don't have that someone."
"Now you were telling me about Mr. Psycho." Maryam pushed, as she handed me a vaseline container to rub on Khalil, while she went into the kitchen to check her pot.
"Argh! can we leave him out of this for a moment?"
"No, tell me about him."
"Okay, he's Malam Saddam's friend from our Islamiyya, his name is AR. He's grumpy,he is egotistical and he knows his caps."
"Wow, and you know all that in just one meeting?" Maryam seemed impressed, here I was dying inside that I couldn't figure the man out and she thought I knew the color of his first diaper.
