CHAPTER 15
Dunya's POV
"Mama! Teta! Come on guys! We're going to be late for our own wedding!" I hollered hoping they'd get down as soon as possible. They've been getting dressed for what seemed like hours and my patience was quickly deteriorating. Today was the day of Adam's wedding and you could say I was at the most excited level in my life. My brother's finally getting married, and we are going to have the time of our life InshaAllah (God willing) today. I want it to be unforgettable for the both of them.
"Dunya, come here!" Teta called. "The washroom's out of toilet paper!"
I ran into our storage closet, grabbed a few extra rolls and headed upstairs. We had to be the first people at the hall for goodness sakes, we were the family of the groom! The lateness of my family was killing me. How embarrassing would it be if guests started arriving before we did?
I handed her the toilet paper and went to hurry my mom in her bedroom. She was standing in front of her mirror putting what seemed like a truckload of fancy pins into her hijab, as she had styled it for the oh-so-special occasion. Mama's fuscia dress and jacket looked beautiful on her; even more beautiful than the day she first tried it on. But it wasn't time now to start getting hyped up on little things, we had to be out the door.
I ran downstairs, put my heels on to add a little extra height, and grabbed my clutch as I started to open the door. I might as well get the car started, I thought. That'll get them moving.
"Dunya," my grandma addressed. I turned around to look at her expectantly. "Are you going outside like that?"
"Um, yeah," I said before returning to open the door.
"Are you missing anything?" she asked a smile slowly reaching her eyes. I doubt it, what's she talking about? I patted myself down and began shaking my head. I was all set. But it was once I reached my head did I panic. I felt hair, not fabric.
"Ya Allah (oh my God)! I forgot my hijab!" I yelled before running upstairs like a maniac tripping on my dress. I left Teta there laughing at me. Once we were all set, all covered- hint, hint, wink, wink- we got into the car and began heading to the hall.
Adam was over at the guys' houses getting ready. Him, Ibby, and a bunch of their friends were suiting up and gelling down. They'd go the hall once they were all ready. I was getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about the wedding. I could not wait.
We drove into the hall parking lot, and got down. The Taha family came over yesterday to help us get the hall all decorated and ready. So when we were getting down, we weren't surprised to see them there, waiting for us.
"So sorry we're late," my mom apologized. "We were running a little behind and the main road was getting a little backed up," she looked at us guiltily and I sighed at her weak excuse of a fib. My mom wouldn't be able to lie if her life depended on it. We all greeted and kissed and began heading inside.
The hall looked perfect. I walked into the entry and in front of me I saw the backdrop on the stage, which looked amazing. It was full of white drapes and flowers, and looked beautiful. There were also white drapes hanging from the ceiling coming together in the middle with a crystal chandelier. The dance floor was in the middle of the hall and on either side were tables and chairs, one side for the groom's guests, and the other side for the bride's guests.
Soon enough, the first guests began coming in and the females stood on one side of the entrance to greet the female guests where the males stood on the other side to greet the males. I was smiling with such giddy because after being to so many weddings growing up, I've always envisioned being the main crew of one, and here we are. So much time, energy and money spent, and it's finally here. It was a dream come true.
Layla and Tasneem came and they both hugged me and we were practically jumping from joy. When Casey came, she actually stood beside us and helped us greet people. Yup, that's Casey for you.
"Ibby looks so good," she whispered to me looking across at him. I just shrugged. "You Dunya, are one crazy girl for not falling head over heals for him," she shook her head laughing. "Hey, if you want him...," I started and her sly smile grew.
"Just let me get rid of Chase first," she joked, but I knew she held some truth to what she said.
I looked around the hall to see it slowly filling up. Everyone was mingling and all my extended family seemed to be having a blast. The screens on both walls at the side had slideshows that Ibby and I helped make on the lives of Adam and Sumaya. We had pictures of them both during all stages of life and had a song playing on in the background. It took Ibby and I hours working on it, and retrieving the right pictures from all sorts of sources, but watching it play, it turned out great Alhamdulillah. I saw pictured of Adam as a toddler, shoving cake into his mouth, with Baba was looking down at him smiling. I was about to start crying. Not because of the picture, but at how my dad couldn't be here to celebrate this time with us. It saddened me to know that he'd never see Adam and I getting married, he'd never see his grandkids, and he'd never see our graduations. But yet again, we're doing this in his honor, and although he's not here with us physically, he's here with us spiritually.
Just then, Isabella, Cameron, and Maxy came through and we greeted them.
"This is absolutely wonderful," Isabella gushed shaking our hands with such enthusiasm. "This is my first Arabic wedding," she said and we smiled knowingly.
"Well, trust me when I say you're going to have a blast," I winked.
When everyone had come and were seated, Teta told me to go check on Adam and Sumaya. They had already filled all the nikah (marriage) papers, and were waiting inside the limousine for us to give them the go. I rushed to open the door and when I did, I told them it's go time. All our families went to get them and stand behind them as they were getting out. We had hired a dabke group to come and perform. I mean, an Arab wedding isn't an Arab wedding without a dabke group and a guy coming in with one of those huge drums, am I right? All the guys were dressed in traditional Arabic clothing, wearing the baggy pants, the belt, the headgear and everything. The guy with the drum is the best. The zeffeh (traditional Lebanese folk dancers) has to be my favorite part of any wedding. The minute we heard the debke music turning up, we knew it was time. It began playing and the dabke group started in front of us. I heard that fast-paced dabke music, and it stirred something inside of me. It's hard to explain, but I get this sudden burst of patriotism, excitement, and the urge to just start jumping, to get my dabke on.
The folk/line dancing began as the drummer guy began beating to the dabke music. All the guests stood up as the dabke was entering the hall. Behind them were Adam and Sumaya who were holding hands for the first time and both families, including some extended families followed, clapping along. It's not your traditional western wedding, but it's an Arab wedding, and it's fun, it's lively and eccentric, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The dabke line danced in circles around the bride and groom. Sumaya's smile was radiating, and I could tell she was having the time of her life. Adam looked just as happy, but he was slightly sweating. The music was booming, and it immediately reminded me of back home. It brought me such pride and I was just so excited to get partying. Of course I wouldn't be dancing in front of all the men. I'd be clapping as the bride and groom danced, and I would definitely do dabke. Nothing heavy so that all my body parts stay in place, but just enough to get the energy building up inside, out of me.
As Ali Deek (Syrian singer)'s voice penetrated though the hall in his dabke songs, everyone rushed to the dance floor to take videos of the bride, groom and zeffeh. The dancing seemed to go on forever, and I was definitely not complaining. Soon enough, the show was over from the dabke group, and they left. But luckily, the guy with the zeffeh stayed, and so it was turn for everyone else to form our own debke. Adam and Sumaya remained in the middle and everyone surrounded them dabke style. I grabbed the hand of Layla, and on my left was Casey. She has grown to get used to us Arabs and our crazy parties. She can do dabke just as well as I can. We started off with the basic left foot step, step, kick, step. But once the song Hasna by Ali Deek came on, it changed to the one where you left foot hop front, right foot hop back, repeat and step, step. Heck, I don't know the names of different dabke types, but I really don't care, because as long as I'm doing them and having fun, that's all that matters. All my crazy cousins were on the ends, going super crazy with their very advanced dabke skills. They're always the life of a party. I wish I could dabke as well as them, but alas I can't. My cousin Karim was going wild at the end doing all sorts of bounces and spins that he could pull off making it look so easy. They had prayer beads in their hands, which they swung, and it was all just pure bliss.
When we kept going around the dance floor, I grabbed Isabella's hand as she was previously watching us with glistening eyes and clapping. She seemed stunned but quickly grabbed hold of the Casey's hand on her other side. Through her confusion, I showed her the basic steps which after a while she grasped. Then she seemed as though she was having the time of her life. There's something so special and thrilling about line dancing, where everyone's practically doing the same steps as you, and although hard to describe, it's a sort of great feeling of unity.
Just then, my cousin Karim took hold of Adam and brought him up to sit on his shoulders. Despite their similarity in size, it still amazed me at how these guys can have another full-grown dude sitting on their shoulders like parents do to their little kids. A chair was brought for Sumaya and two guys held the legs of the chair up so that both her and Adam were hovering above us all, clapping and moving their arms, as they could do so little sitting. It was beautiful, and I was practically in tears. It's true when they say family is the most important thing you can hold onto and cherish. Seeing all my family there, celebrating unity, and being there for one another enjoying a good time, it really made my chest swell in happiness. I stopped dabke-ing so I could go cheer Adam and Sumaya on, who were chilling like six feet in the air. But once all the carriers got tired, they brought them down and the dancing continued on floor.
The songs finally died down, and Ibby took the mic as I followed him. We decided to co-MC the wedding. Adam and Sumaya followed up to the stage as well to sit in their seats. "Assalamu Alaykum (May peace be upon you)!" we shouted into the mic, and a wave of Wa Alaykum Assalam (and may peace be upon you too) returned to us. "I'd first like to congratulate the beautiful new couple, Adam and Sumaya. May Allah grant you both eternal happiness in success. Barak Allahu lakuma wa Baraka alaykuma wa jamaah bayna kuma fi kheir (May Allah bless everything for you two, and shower His blessings upon the two of you, and may he bring you together in everything that is good)," Ibby started off.
"We'd also like to thank everyone for coming out and celebrating this joyous time with us," I piped in. "In memory of my father, Abdallah Jibreel, who would have loved to see the beautiful couple on front of us today, I'd like to make du'aa for him." I raised my hands in prayer as did nearly the whole hall who recited Surat Al-Fatiha for him and finished it with an Ameen. "He would have been so proud of you Adam and Sumaya."
"We'd like to have Mohammed Hammoud come up on stage and do a Quran recitation," Ibby announced and a distant cousin of the Taha's came up on stage and recited a great passage from the Holy Quran in a beautiful voice. Afterwards, we had a few important friends and families say some mini speeches on both the bride and groom, share some funny or inspiring stories, and talk about how good they are for one another. Once all the speeches were finished, we announced that people could now get up and grab some appetizers that were laid out buffet-style. Dinner itself would be served to the tables later on. Most of the appetizers were homemade; after Teta's repetitive insisting that she had to make them. And in all honesty, it wouldn't have been a true Kareem family wedding without Teta's personal touch. It's like anyone else would have been able to pull off what she could pull off. From the sfeeha (meat pie) to sabani3' (spinach pie), waraa inab (grape leaf rolls), raas kibbi (torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef), mini kousa ma7shi (stuffed zucchini) etc, it all turned out wonderful. Believe me when I do say that I put my own hard sweat into it. By the end of it, I could stuff a zucchini with rice, meat vegetables and spices faster than you could say it. Teta' abilities were rubbing off on me.
Everyone got up happily and went to fill their plates with all the delicious finger foods. I had absolutely no appetite to eat right now, even though I knew the food was mouth-watering. I was too excited to eat, or sit down or anything, if that makes any sense. I was just so pumped. I went around to a bunch of tables and chit-chatted, asking them how the food was, and they gave me all their compliments.
When I got to Layla and Tasneem's table, I actually sat down. "Easy there Road Runner," Tasneem teased and I just laughed. I was in too good of a mood to be bitter or sarcastic about anything.
"Oh guys, I just can't wait until they split the hall and we get to dance without the guys," I felt my heart accelerate at just the thought. The little belly dancer in me couldn't hold out so long. Once the servers came around serving the actual dinner, I went to sit at my family table. On the table were Teta, Mama, my two uncles and aunt, and my great-uncle. I ate just enough fill my hunger, then I started getting jittery again. After the dinner, we had dessert, and Adam and Sumaya went over to their 4-tier cake and cut a slice out of it together as everyone surrounded with cameras and phones in hand taking pictures and videos of the moment as they clapped in unison. They each took a piece and fed each other to which everyone thought was cute, but I was internally gagging. When they were done, servers finished cutting the rest of the cake and served them to the tables. I had to admit, it was absolutely delicious.
After dessert, the athan (call to prayer) went off signaling it was time to pray Mighrab (evening prayer). So Ibby and I made the announcement that the room next door would be available as the prayer room, so everyone hobbled over there to go pray. We had Mohammed Hammoud be the leader of course since he had the best voice. When the prayers were over, we all went back to the hall to find it already divided into the womens and mens sections, so everyone dispersed accordingly.
When the door was closed, it was hilarious seeing women suddenly strip free of their scares, taking shawls and jackets off etc. It's not like I could talk though, since I was doing the same myself. I practically raced to the DJ area where I went through my laptop to find my dancing playlist. I put on Nancy Ajram's Sana Wara Sana and that got everyone equally excited as they all pitched in their dancing. Isabella looked so star-struck as she was watching everyone dancing that she herself joined in without any push.
We even energized in our own ladies' dabke, which of course all the young and lively cousins took over. Just like the men, they were skilled in their dabke and as the music pumped through speakers, I kicked off my heels permanently for the night, and stuck to dancing barefoot. The beat was coursing through my veins and my heartbeat was beating that of the dabke's. It's in my blood, in my soul, and I let my body take over as we all began dabke-ing to Dag Almani's Ti Rash Rash. That song brought many memories to me. So many years of family gatherings and weddings. So many scenes of cousins and uncles going crazy at the end of the dabke with their crazy moves. How could you not smile at that? It's times like these that I treasure and remember always. My cousin Sousan was amazing at dabke and she took the lead. Although being married and having a kid of her own, she was still young, bold, and a skilled dabke-er at the age of 25.
Eventually, people slowly began to leave, as it was getting darker outside. Time was slipping quickly, but we were enjoying every second of it. Slowly, most of the guests had left, as it was nearing midnight, and that left just family; family being both close and extended. So we removed the separation after clothing ourselves up again and became one hall again.
The dancing never ceased to finish, as everyone still had rounds of dabke and dancing in them. It's not like we could get enough, our partying is hardcore and stays late. That's just who we are. I couldn't tell you how long we stayed there, dancing as a huge united family from both the Taha side and ours. Even Adam and Sumaya were part of the dabke this time. I love weddings so much because they remind me so much of being back in Lebanon although nothing close can compare.
We did, however convince Isabella and her kids to remain even though all the guests were gone by this point. It was so wonderful seeing them at their first Arab wedding, and you could tell they didn't want to leave either. They were glad we didn't comply with their polite gesture of leaving. Isabella was so cute doing dabke with us, and Maxy was on the other side of her kicking her feet aimlessly and jumping randomly. Hey, at least the kid was trying. Cameron sat there watching us, but kept refusing to join us. He was so afraid of screwing up, I'm sure. It was funny seeing him sit there with such a want to be part of the group. I looked over at Ibby across the dance floor and moved my head motioning to where Cameron was sitting. I was giving him a begging look, and he finally rolled his eyes smiling, left the dabke temporarily and headed over to Cameron. I could see Cameron's look of horror on his face but Ibby kept insisting and wouldn't leave until Cameron was with him. Finally, he gave in, and trudged over to the dance floor where he felt awkward holding the hands of two guys. Man, the kid is so culturally blind. Ibby was showing him the steps, and at first Cameron just watched him confused, but then started imitating him, and after noting the easy repetition of steps, began doing it on his own getting the hang of it. See, it wasn't that hard! After a while, he looked as if he was enjoying himself, and even got into the whole beat, not even looking at the feet of others as he stepped. I remember when I was young; I'd rely on looking at others across of me to see what they were doing, because I always got mixed up with the beat. But Cameron was soaking it all in and looked as confident as ever.
The party lasted for another hour or two, and then we started clearing up the hall. The limousine came and whisked Adam and Sumaya away. There were tears, and hugs and kisses. It was such an emotional moment. The realization of them actually getting married hit me like a bullet. This is it. Adam's gone, my beloved older brother, he's getting married. As emotional as I am, I was crying and hugging him, and telling him to be good to his wife and help her around the house etc. It was going to be his first night away, the first night I'd sleep at home and he wouldn't be there. I hugged Sumaya and told her that if he does anything bad, to let me know, cause I'd take care of him. She laughed and then they were off. I could see Teta's eyes glistening with tears and I went up to her and hugged her hard.
She smiled. "Allah yhaneehun (May God keep them happy)."
Ameen.
Adam's wedding! Finally! I know you all must hate me for posting so late, but school's pretty tough and I've got tests and projects just about coming out of my ears now. So I apologize from the bottom of my heart for such a late update. Nonetheless, here is the new chapter, so I want to see what you all think of it! Please VOTE + COMMENT and spread the love!
FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH DABKE, I'VE POSTED A VIDEO TO THE SIDE AS AN EXAMPLE. DO CHECK IT OUT, IT'S AMAZING!!! :) And like I promised, also to the side is a picture of Sumaya's wedding dress! What do you think?
I'd finally like to give a shoutout and a dedication to some pretty amazing Lebanese Wattpadders who inspired the patriotism in this chapter:
@BadiaaMias_63 and @sara_is_hungry
Anyway, thanks again everyone for all your support. By the way, I checked out all the places you guys are from! And woah was I blown away. Maldives, Kurdistan, Sweden, South Africa, Germany, Austrlia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Turkey, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Pakistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Austria, England, France, India, Indonesia, UAE..... and much more!
Much love,
~S