Authors: Eboni Snoe
“Not right off hand, but we’ll have plenty of time to discuss it on our way. Is Ilyas going with us?”
‘ ‘At first he said that he would. But then he decided he had some things to do that were more important than going to a circus. It is that kind of thinking that hurts us. It could have been time that we could spend together. He is so strict with himself and with others.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll have a good time, anyway. So are we ready?”
Nodding her head with eyes smiling, Fatimah’s look reminded Felicia of the little dolls she’d seen as a child while riding along in the back of her mom and dad’s car. ‘ ‘Did you know that Waheedah has left?’ ’
“No. When did she leave?”
“Yesterday.”
‘ ‘There’s no chance that she’s gone for good, is there?’ ’ ‘ ‘I am afraid not. She will be back in about three and a half weeks. She says her family is planning something. She was really rather secretive about it.”
‘ ‘There’s no telling with the great Waheedah.’ ’
“She will be returning around the same time that Na’im’s parents are expected back.”
"My-y. A double whammy, huh?’ ’
“Sometimes, Felicia, you speak so strange I do not understand.”
‘ ‘Oh, it’s a sort of slang. You know, like when a certain group of people have words they use to express certain feelings.”
“Like the Moslems’inshallah?”
“Yes. Something
like that.”
Laughter filled the hallways as the two women searched for Na’im and Kareem. Both were extremely happy. This was the first time Na’im had ever asked Felicia to accom
pany him anywhere. It did nag at her a bit to think that he may have asked her because Waheedah was no longer there. But she wasn’t going to let that spoil her fun. A date was a date.
Fatimah was ecstatic because Na’im had accepted the idea of a school for the workers’ children. Now she felt like she had a special purpose, and going into A1 Kharijah to shop for supplies made it all the more real for her.
They found Na’im and Kareem standing outside waiting beside the truck. Kareem’s face beamed as he stood straight and tall in his new outfit. Felicia could tell he was beside himself with pride. She brushed his shiny black hair back from his face with her hand.
‘ ‘Good morning, ladies, ” a voice called from the other side of the truck. George Mercer erected himself from where he had been stooping beside the vehicle. Smiling, as he dusted off his hands, he asked if everyone was ready.
"I guess you two ladies can sit up front between Na’im and myself, if it’s all right with you. Kareem can ride in the back.”
Kareem’s small nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought of having his new attire covered by dust from the sandy roads.
Felicia looked at George with amusement. “Mr. Mercer, when did you decide to grace us with your presence on this trip?”
“Actually, Felicia, I thought about how awful it was that with three men on the team, the one female team member had to ride all the way to A1 Karaj ah to search for and load supplies onto the truck, Felicia, you know that I’m a gentleman, so I knew you wouldn’t mind my tagging along. I talked to Na’im here, and I made a deal with him. I told him that if he wanted to. I’d take the truck, making it easier on all of us. So here I am.”
“And you’re telling me that the Egyptian circus had nothing to do with your wanting to go?”
“Well now that you mention it, I thought it would be an interesting experience. Yes, I did.”
Felicia looked at George’s sparkling blue eyes. ‘ ‘Well, George, since you put it that way...sure I’m glad to have you come with us.”
Felicia and Fatimah talked incessantly throughout the trip, trading ideas for the school. George also contributed some things he thought would be helpful, and Felicia noticed how his eyes became more tender each time he addressed Fatimah.
But it was Na’im who astounded her. He was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. Cracking jokes about how Fatimah would look as a teacher, he created an even more jovial atmosphere.
They passed many people with carts and camels on their way. Na’im said it was because of the circus. It was a time when everyone could forget about the heavy woes of daily life and get lost in its magic.
It didn’t take Felicia and George long to complete their shopping, once they arrived in A1 Kharijah. Fatimah’s search for school supplies was more tedious and consumed more time. It was only an hour before the circus began when they finally finished.
Felicia could hear the exotic music before they came upon the big top, made of tawny canvas. They shuffled along among the crowds of people, all seeming to be headed for the circus.
Activity picked up as they neared the center of excitement. Vendors peddled their wares in boisterous voices. Women wearing bras and gauzed rags tied low on their hips beckoned to them with serpent-like arms and fluid hands. Painted eyes in soft dark faces surrounded them, giving a preview of things to come.
Na’im bought a bag of toffee for Kareem, who sucked on it noisily, taking it in and out of his mouth until his hands were sticky.
As they walked, they gazed upward at large drawings of performers displaying their talents, which were mounted on tall wooden stakes. Sabir Hamid Rammah (Sab-ear Hom-eed Ram-muh), ‘ ‘The Rubber Man,’ able to bend his body so effortlessly, it appeared to be boneless; ‘ ‘The Brave Amin” (Ah-meen),Master of the Trapeze; Sutannah (Soo- tan-nuh), “Mistress of the Serpents,” all looked down upon them as they entered the circus grounds.
Na’im handed the attendant a
fifty pound note to pay their way in. She was a toothless crone, who wasn’t the least bit embarrassed to show her decrepit dental condition. Grinning all the while, she greeted the steady flow of patrons.
Strategically placed torches could be seen through the large tent. Because it was still daylight, they had not been lit, but sat ready for the time when they would become necessary. Pennants of gold, green and red were visible at the end of the rows of wooden chairs, dividing them into sections.
Na’im had secured four seats only three rows from the
front
. They squeezed by countless knees before they were comfortably seated in the best section of the house.
Kareem’s small dark eyes could not contain their excitement as he turned this way and that, watching the scores of people. There were children and adults. Some carried babies, others gooey treats dripping almonds and cream. All the while, Kareem’s bow-like mouth continued its suction on the toffee.
Felicia too was amazed as she watched the sea of people. “Does the circus come here often?” she asked Na’im, who was seated beside her, noting the huge crowd that had turned out for the event.
“From time to time. But this is only a small group of performers from the Egyptian National Circus, which has a permanent site at Giza. Historically, circuses were held to honor anniversaries such as the birth of the Prophet or other religious holy men.”
Lively music began, and clowns dressed like dancing girls with enormous swiveling hips entered the center ring. Explosions of laughter filled the air as they danced to a tone played by dwarfs on toy flutes. The tune reminded Felicia of the cat in the old Mighty Mouse cartoon being enticed along in midair by some hypnotic fragrance, his body as limp as a rag as he floated along to an exotic beat.
Robust figures collided together as they imitated the classic belly dancers of old. All of them prostrated themselves in the end, with huge, touching rumps forming a circle. Felicia laughed until tears ran down her cheeks at the ‘ ‘dancers’ ’ whose faces could barely touch the floor in reverence because of gigantic breasts.
A young camel proved itself to definitely be a beast with a burden as it brought in the clowns’ object of worship. She rode on what Felicia concluded to be a large sled.
Elephantine legs and thighs were crossed in her best semblance possible of queen of the Nile. Rolls and rolls of flesh jiggled with the motion of the sled, as she was drawn to the center of the ring.
Ooos and aahs emanated from the crowd as this gargantuan Cleopatra rose onto her elbow. She threw her head backwards and opened her blood red lips for the grapes being fed to her by one of the clowns. Fanning the clowns away, amazingly tiny hands flipped a massive black cloud of hair away from her face, which had been made up in the most extravagant fashion.
Once again the dwarf musicians resumed their tune, and to a dumbfounded audience, this “beauty of Egypt” commenced a dance where each limb performed solo. Like instruments in an orchestra, each mound of flesh contributed its part to the awesome performance. George’s mouth remained in a perpetual “O” until the lusty beauty had been removed from the ring.
Now the entertainment took on a more serious tone. The Master of Ceremonies welcomed everyone with expressive gestures, bowing over and over again, the semiprecious stones surrounding his headpiece glittering in the light. Felicia and Na’im’s heads touched as he generally interpreted the ringmaster’s words.
There was a constant flow of animals in and out of the ring, with beautiful women and ravishing men. The excitement mounted after the introduction of the contor
tionist, Sabir Hamid Rammah. The crowd watched in hushed silence as he bent and twisted his body into positions that one would not have believed possible for a human being. At the climax of his eye-popping act, Rammah, a frill grown man of normal proportions, folded his body up to fit in a box no bigger than a large suitcase.
When he emerged from his small cage, thundering ap
plause rained down upon him.
Felicia, in her excitement, rose to her feet in a standing ovation. Then Na’im joined her, and Fatimah, George and Kareem. Soon the entire audience was on its feet shouting their praises to the great ‘ ‘rubber man’ ’.
‘ ‘I can’t believe it,’ ’ Felicia exclaimed. ‘ ‘How was he able to do that?”
‘ ‘It is the power of the mind, aros al bher. But it is also the ability of the mind to tap into the power of the universe, making them one. The physical is no longer the dominat
ing factor. It is a slave to the mind’s commands. Rammah is the perfect example of this.”
Sutannah, Mistress of the Serpents, was next. She was a beautiful woman with copper-colored skin. A golden band, highlighted in the front by an intricately colored cobra, adorned her forehead. Jewelry decorated her lower and upper arms, neck and the waistline of her sheer skirt that hung low on her hips.
As she entered the ring, petite cymbals that were attached to her fingers created an enticing tempo. Similar cymbals with small tassels were perched on the tips of her full breasts.
Throughout her undulating exhibition, a tall reed basket remained balanced on the top of her head and
four others were brought in by a slender man dressed in the traditional galabia.
George, who sat on the opposite side of Fatimah, called down to Na’im. “Ooh, I know I’m not in Canada now. The closest thing I’ve seen to anything shaped like her, was a poster picture of a girl in Hawaii. I don’t think I could take it if one of those center cymbals should happen to fall off.”
‘ ‘If you think this is something. I’ll have to take you to a place called Ya Noor El Ein, meaning Light of my Eyes. There you will see the cream of the crop, all trained in the vanishing art of belly dance.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“My word is my bo—”
Felicia’s sharp elbow made contact with Na’im’s rib before he could finish.
‘ ‘If these women are so irresistible, why don’t you have one of them staying in the west wing at Karib,” she complained in a voice that only Na’im’s ears could hear.
“With these, should I say ‘ladies’, there is no need to bring them home. One can sample their assets without all that, and might I say, for a reasonable sum.” One naturally- arched eyebrow lifted with a hint of mischief, and Na’im chuckled under his breath at Felicia’s disconcerted expres
sion.
By now, Sutannah had placed her woven container on the floor in front of her and removed its top. A cobra with its colorful hood expanded wavered back and forth inside.
Sutannah had removed the cymbals from her delicately curved fingers, which seemed to enthrall the reptile. Moments afterwards, her entire body appeared to be a hypnotic instrument, as she bent over and curled herself around the “king”, who continued his movements, seemingly to the rhythm of the accompanying music.
Next the enchantress was up on her
feet, enticingly making her way to each of the reed baskets that had been placed around the ring by the flutist. She flipped back each lid with a flick of her foot or the flounce of a feather-like hand.
Once all of the containers had been uncovered, Sutannah began a personal dance, a serenade for each of
the king cobras that had emerged, hoods expanded, from their lairs. Each performance culminated with the reptile allowing her to coil its hooded body about one of her limbs, lastly her waist.
Once again, George felt provoked to speak his feelings about the remarkable performance.
“I’ve got to say what I heard a bunch of the boys say back in the States-she’s too much woman for me. And they weren’t even looking at anything like this. This lets me know I just need a simple girl to meet my needs.’ ’ He glanced at Fatimah, who blushed, but kept her eyes focused on the center ring.