Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri Read Free Book Online Page A

it’s just that he wasn’t her choice and she’s not in love with him. She loves her little girl, though; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more devoted mother. She has a nursing degree,
     
    but her husband won’t let her work. Now she feels as if it was all a waste of time. My sister Miriam is only twenty-three, and my father made her marry a forty-six year old/“5 (fart) instead of continuing at university. She cried for days when my father forced her to stop going. She wanted to become an English professor.”
    As he rattled on, nonstop, about his family, I could still hear nervousness in his voice. I hadn’t expected this kind of open, detailed description of his family but he made it easy to keep the conversation going while we waited for Dalia to find enough courage to come to the phone. I was nervous, too, and thankful that he was doing most of the talking. It was rare and refreshing to hear a man being sensitive to his sisters’ lives, and daring to be critical of other men.
    “I’d love to meet Miriam. I went to English schools but rarely have the chance to speak English any more,” I said.
    “No such luck. The hakeer she’s married to hardly lets her visit us, much less go anywhere else.”
    “Well, I guess that’s life, here at least. Since Dalia and I are the only girls in our families, our mothers need us to help out at home and so we haven’t been forced into marriage yet.”
    “That’s the only thing saving Jehan. That and my mother’s failing health. She isn’t physically ill, or at least no one had diagnosed her illness. I think my father’s tyranny has worn her down over the years. He’s a very stern and controlling man. He spent most of his life in the armed forces and treats my mother like one of his recruits, always yelling at her and cutting her down. The whole thing makes me so angry. I wish I could get her away from him. Oh, let’s talk about something else; this is too depressing. Obviously, I don’t come from a model family, but then who does?”
    “Well, every family has its secrets.” By now, I felt brave
    enough to lighten the tone of our conversation. “Hey, I have an idea. Since you’re Catholic and I’m Catholic, maybe you could set me up with one of your brothers. Dalia said you have two. Then we’d be related. If that happened, you could see Dalia all the time.”
    Michael took me seriously. “Oh, you don’t want to get involved with them. Jerius is younger than me but has been married for four years. He has two young sons, and sometimes I really think that’s he’s trying to raise them to be the next Arab Hitlers. But instead of targeting Jews, he’s teaching them to target women. It’s a pity, really, because his wife Samia is so gentle, quiet, and kind. She never smiles, though. I guess I wouldn’t smile if I had to deal with Jerius. She reminds me of my mum. I think that’s how my mother must have been at her age.”
    “What about your other brother?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
    “George? He’s twenty-five, and the picture of male beauty -but that’s where his perfection ends. I hate to say it, but he’s very shallow, vain, and arrogant everything you wouldn’t want to spend the rest of your life with. He’s a typical young Arab man, financially successful and expects everyone to treat him as if he’s a god. I think he might actually try to force his wife to give up her religion and worship him. You wouldn’t want to be the lucky woman, would you?”
    “No! I don’t want that! Michael, can you hang on a minute? I should go check on Dalia. You two should talk before we have to hang up. Hold on.” I put the receiver on the front counter. Mohammed would be here
    soon. I walked over to Dalia, who’d been listening to my end of the conversation, and physically dragged her to the phone. \020”What’s wrong with you, Dalia? First you can’t wait to talk
    to him and now he’s on the phone you won’t even pick it up!