habibi
page 1 of 6"Hello, Sameira. Habibi," Mariam calls to me. I walk to her front steps and stand before her. She looks up at me and her features are more gentle than I remember; I pull her up into a kiss, wondering what habibi means.
Her room is very small and sparsely furnished with a single window, a narrow futon on a wooden frame, a single dresser and a shelf with books in Arabic, French, and English. She turns away from me to change her shirt for the dinner party. I watch the muscles in her lean back move as she bends forward to ease her shirt over her nipple piercings, pulls the clean one on over her braids. I want to kiss the place where her body narrows before widening again , but I look at her bookshelf instead. She has a copy of Stone Butch Blues; that’s one good sign. There’s one of us who she’s willing to read about, at any rate.
She holds my hand while we walk to her cousin’s house.
Her cousin greets us at the front door. "I am Fatima."
"Sameira."
She says something to me in Arabic, and Mariam answers her. They speak back and forth for a moment, and Fatima keeps glancing at me and frowning. "Come in," she says at last, and leads us inside.
The house is full of many women, and children, and a few quiet men. There is much lively conversation, shifting between English and Arabic. I stop trying to understand after awhile, lean back and listen to the rhythm of the language instead, the rise and fall of women's voices, especially Mariam's. Her long face is expressive as she laughs with her friends; she catches me watching and smiles.
Fatima tells me that I am not eating enough. I take an olive to please her, savoring its salt, and then nervously wonder what to do about the pit.
"So you are one of Mariam's punk rock friends?" she asks me. Mariam glances at us sharply.
"Um, not really," I tell her. "Although I did go and see her band. She has a wonderful voice."
"Yes, she does. But the music she sings is very silly."
“Don’t listen to her,” says Mariam, “You should hear the shit she likes.“
“Mariam!” Fatima sounds shocked.