Chapter 10 - In the farm: the new job :

The brothers wake up early that morning , they prayed their first salah, Wehbe prepared their coffee with some delicious cakes , they relaxed taking their breakfast then they changed their clothes to job costumes, today is the first day in the farm , lazy days has ended. At seven O clock Marco and Michelle were ready too for work , some workers were there in their company , Francesca and Sandra too insisted to be present there to make a tour in the farm and to enjoy the fresh air there, to ride horses and to watch the wonder of the bush . The caravan walked to the farm that was about a forty miles from La plata , the journey took more than two hours , when they reached there , already Omar and Amedeo were there too , workers had been already busy in achieving what was planned and ordered , some in the stables , others in the barns , others moved to the plantations , Omar face was delighted to see his brothers and the girls, he told them that the table was laid to take their first Colazione in the fresh air, the table was full with fresh milk, different types of cheeses, Italian and Argentino , fresh yougurt, home made and fresh butter , honey , all home made, they enjoyed fully their first breakfast, laughing , joking and chatting about various matters , Omar to Salim : we have here stables of horses , mules, donkeys , cows and sheep , may later on , we will start with chickens too , besides we have a large space of lands for plantations , you may choose the most suitable job for you because we need people in all these , salim: I m not used to deal with cows or sheep , plantations were never been my favorites, my main interest was to deal with horses , mules and donkeys , Michelle: will your brothers share too in the same job? Mohammad: me and Wehbe will share in the same job too , horses and donkeys with mules , your farm is very large and for sure , you need more than one or two to deal with these large number of beasts , Omar : we have a large number of workers and people who deal with these animals , but we don't have experts who know how to deal with their decease or medical problems, I know that you are not doctors , but your experience is enough to deal with daily problems as Marco explained to me , right now, we need two to work with us here and another to join Marco in his new farm , Marco farm is just fifteen minutes walk from here , Francesca laughed and said: Wehbe for sure will work with my daddy, Salim : Wehbe doesn't have enough experience yet to deal alone with a beast , I prefer that Mohammad or me to move to Marco place and the other two remain here , Francesca protested that Wehbe can manage for himself and the conversation turn

ed to arguing through laughs and jokes then Salim talked to his brothers and declared that Mohammad agreed to be with Marco and Salim and Wehbe will remain in the big farm , they all agreed smiling among Francesca low voice protesting, they moved from the breakfast table to make their first inspection in the stables to be introduced to the workers and the for-men , the lodging specified for the brothers was in Omar s farm while Mohammad was supposed to stay in Marco s place , but Mohammad protested softly preferring to stay with his brothers at least in the first few month then later they could manage to see wether he moves or no to Marco s place , in Marco s farm the lodging for Marco and his family was already there , they made another place for workers , but Mohammad didn't like to share strangers their lodging and he was absolutely against staying with Marco s family in the same place too . The stables were very large, voices of bourses ; neighing was music in their ears, the smell of the horses rest was perfume in their nostrils too , this is their favorite place in the world, with horses , the horses there were a mix of local , Argentines , Spanish, English and some with mixed Arabic blood that appeared in their walks and postures, the job was to check the perfection of the workers in cleaning and feeding or watering the horses , to check the bourses bodies regularly to be sure of their fitness and sanity , taking care of their feet that were the most important part in a horse to care about , a horse with bad feet is a horse to be dying or delivered to be slayed for meat , Wehbe to Michelle: are all these horses raised for chariots and transportation? I see some of them weak and small for these tasks !, Michelle smiling: horses are here three categories , one for personal usage like the ones we ride , others too for transportation as you said , another type are specially raised to carry heavy goods and things , the third are specially raised for their meat , Wehbe surprised : are you eating horses too ? Michelle smiling : sure we do , remember that in Islam , according to a lot of scholars, the horses meat is halal and not prohibited, Wehbe : I heard that , but I never heard of someone slaying a horse in our community for the purpose of eating their flesh , we look at horses as our friends and so close friends , the Arab sometimes prefer his horse to his woman or family , Michelle: it is true , we know about the Arabic horses stories and here we have a special section for raising original Arabic bourses , they are not a lot in their numbers, but they are our best and loveliest bourses , Michelle added: horse meat consumption is a well spread tradition among Europeans, in Italy we have a lot of farms specially made for meat of hourses , they are usually huge in their volume and bodies to make big quantity of meat and I personally like too much their meats , I'll invite you today to taste a piece of their dry meat , Wehbe horrified : I prefer not , Michelle laughing: you try just a small piece and then judge yourself , Wehbe : I imagine myself like consuming my brother flesh , Michelle laughing more: with time you'll get used to that , it is like raising a sheep with your hands , playing with him , running after you like his mum , when the day comes to slay him , I think you won't be able to see that or to do it by yourself, but you won't mind consuming other sheep meat off course , Michelle led Wehbe with him to a small barn where there were tens of very lovely Arab bourses . Salim was appointed as head inspector with three other persons from Argentina and Spain , the four men were supposed to check every detail in the farm , checking food , drink, sanity ,the insects fighting and checking specially the grasses and their cleaning of poisoning herbs , besides the daily inspection of horses training . When first starting their job, the bourses were all mixed up except the Arabic section for Arabic bourses , but Salim suggested to divide the barns to three sections, each specific for one type of horses , one for horses of transportation, anther for those raised for personal use , the third for those specially raised for meat , each category was fed with specific food more suitable for the purpose of their raising , in the barns , there was a fourth section for mares that were nursing their new born ponies , what was lovely there , was that some ponies were refused strangely by their mothers, other mares were usually found to take care of the poor creatures, the bourses categories were not selected of a specific horses nationalities , when the pony is born it was raised to a specific age then the inspector choose in which category should be joining , food was prepared too according to the horse category , what is good for meat could not be excellent for bones, what is perfect for bourses and mares could not be good enough for ponies , the inspectors taught their workers how to prepare every suitable mix of food for each category . Wehbe was given the task of checking the small ponies and mares feeding and sanity , he was moving among barns made for small ponies, small donkeys and small mules , the work was really hard , but it was funny in the same time , dealing with these nice small beasts was a fun by itself ,when time comes to daily training for bourses and ponies , was the most preferred part of that job, the young men were racing on horses, mules and donkeys among laughters and jokes , the race was a part of the training program not just for fun and that part was really a fun . Marco and his family moved to their farm, they preferred to stay in the farm lodging to staying in town , Marco was caring everyday to visit his mother with his small family , to sit with her and with his brothers where the whole family was taking their supper together every evening. Sandra with her mother Paula and her father , moved to their far farm in Santa fee town , it was not too much far from Buenos Aires , but more far from La Plata , for Sandra , moving far from Mohammad was a hurting nasty blow in her face, she could not take her chance to tel him openly in a full privacy of her admiring and liking to him , he was running always away, she thought that she would find a suitable chance to tel him about her feelings and thoughts , but she failed to resume her plan , their new house and farm were too much far to move everyday to his place , meanwhile her father was busy with managing his new job , his farm , he shared with his in laws and brothers was more socializing in raising calves and sheep , their interest was to make large cattle's to prepare them later to exporting. business with the old world , Europe, the old Europe was busy with the new exploding war and needs for food supplies were growing every day there . Mohammad had started his new job in Marco s , a new bind and friendship started to grow between him and Francesca, they were the only close friends to each other's , Francesca was always running among the stables playing with small calves and ponies , their farm was not big as like the farm of her uncles , they had hundreds of mares and horses , some few hundreds too of cows , she was enjoying playing with the small creatures watching with big interest the operations of birthing a pony or a calf , running in the fields alone with her mare that she loved tenderly calling her Aurora , she used to stop with Mohammad while he was achieving his job , chatting and talking with him about her life in Italy and his life in Syria , they became too much open to each other's , laughing , joking , sitting together to eat or taking caffe or other drinks , Mohammad started to feel a new feeling towards this innocent pure girl , it was a feeling of a man to his tamale not at all of feeling of a friend or a brother and he was afraid to confess his new born feelings , knowing that's Wehbe and Francesca had a special bond , he was not willing at all to hurt his younger brother or this innocent butterfly, Francesca was always visiting Webber too in her uncles farm on her little mare , but most of the times she finds him busy with his job with other workers that prevented her to take her ease to talk with him . The work in the the two farms was run smoothly and with the same daily routine ,but some occasional accidents were heating the zest in the work , some very sick poor beast needing a special treatments, some broken bones or injuries during pastoring or trainings , some accidents during carrying loads, a problematic birth of a mare or a cow , some rebelling horse or an ox, these were examples of accidents that occurs daily or weekly there , the timing of work schedule was divided to two sessions , one in the morning that starts with cleaning, watering feeding, medical treatments if needed , this session ends at two o'clock everyday , the workers seek their relaxing time in their rooms to take their dinners , take a nap , play cards , while the three brothers take their dinner then gather with the rest of Muslim workers to pray the noon prayer together then after the second after noon prayer , the next session of work starts at five o clock again with another turn of cleaning and feeding with watering , the job ends at eight o clock everyday , some workers milk the cows and the milk production usually was sent with carts to customers while some nearby customers come with their own carts to take milk to make cheese, butter and yogurt, in Fridays the owners gather the Muslim workers to go together to make salah of Friday s noon in the small mosque in la plata, the family of mother Fatima was the main contributor to build the small mosque for the Muslim small community , the Friday was given as a half free day when work ends at noon to let the Muslim take their showers and change their clothing to prepare for the Friday salah s gathering , after salah they all take their off time to visit families or friends, the farm managers were not able to give their men a fully free day because the beasts need a daily feeding and care , they found that war more adapting to their job , the Sunday comes the turn for the Christians to attend their church too , their session ends at noon and after that they take their freedom to go to church, to go for visits or to spend their free time the way they like , the owners of the farm were very selective in choosing their men , no heavy drunkards were allowed to join them , no thieves or bad reputation people were allowed in too . The three brothers were living in the farm , they got their independent small cottage with three rooms , one for Salim , another for Wehbe and Mohammad and the third was a reserve for emergencies, like guest or friend staying for a night , no women lived in the farm except few maids and some cooks to cook for the owners and their families , one woman was serving the three brothers , cleaning and ironing their clothes, preparing their food and a small sister of her s was helping her in cleaning the small cottage most of those cleaners and cooks were of African origin or half cast people who were trained since their tiny age to do these services , Angela , was the girl taking care of the cottage of the three brothers, she was in her early twenties, , a half cast of an African origin mother and an Indian Argentinos father , she was really a beautiful girl with that mix of blood , she was looking somehow like an Arabic woman from the desert , an elegant body and very active moves , Salim was caring not to meet with the girl or her sister in the house , the morning they leave for work , the girl come with her sister , she exchanges few words with Salim , greetings and some short instructions about her daily job, the girl was always watching Salim in his job and daily work , she was attracted too much to his young body full of muscles , trying any possible chance to attract his attention , Salim was not blind , he was fully aware of her signs and moves, but he was very elusive from her way , she started to care more daily about her perfumes , dressing her best dresses she was given by the owners wives or bought from the second hand market in town, her job usually was to be finished at eight or eight thirty in the evening caring to prepare them hot food for supper , that hot evening, wehbe and Mohammad decided to go to town to spend some free time together, that day they finished all their job earlier at about seven o clock , they cleaned and changed and left fast with horses to La Plata , Salim was very tired and he preferred to take a shower and take a nap in his room , the girl knew that the two brothers were going to La Plata because wehbe was joking with her saying: I'm going tomorrow with Mohammad to La Plata , do you anything from there , her lodging was not far from the farm , living with her sister in a hand made cottage in the nearby bush , that day she tried her best to look beautiful and attractive expecting to find Salim alone in the house . Salim was taking his shower the moment she came into the cottage, he was not surprised to see her later in the kitchen cooking because that was her daily timing knowing that this day he came earlier home , he changed his clothes remaining with one piece on his body, a short trouser only and laid On his bed , very soon he went into a deep sleep due to his tiredness and the hot shower he took, he usually comes with his brothers to find Angela ready to leave after serving their hot food on the table at almost eight or eight past fifteen, she leaves usually upon their arrival greeting them evening greetings, the kitchen was not inside the cottage, it was an adjoining part close to the cottage to avoid the smell and the smoke of cooking inside the house , the girl finished her cooking ,she came into the cottage to find Salim nowhere's, she sneaked silent to his room to find him laid on his bed with his single trouser on his body, she stood there watching this lovely body full of muscles, laying in front of her sneering in his deep nap , she remained there for almost half an hour motionless til Salim awakened suddenly to see her standing in front of him , he was still half asleep , not aware of his almost naked body , he looked at her with half closed eyes asking: Angela , why you are standing here on the door steps looking like a full , the girl smiled , but before she answers , Salim became aware of his body nakedness , he fast took a nearby bed cover from his sides and he covered his body , the girl smiled saying: the food served sir , I found that you didn't come , I was afraid that you are sick or the food would remain cold not good for you nor tasty, so I came to check and to call you , Salim was a little bit angry, not knowing to be angry with himself , with his brothers who left him alone or with this stupid woman who stood like a fool watching his nakedness ,he told the girl to move out til he change fully then he moved out to the dining table , the girl was still there smiling and standing for a new order , he looked at her saying: if you finish , you may leave Angela, thanks for your caring , the girl didn't move then she said: may I take my supper in the kitchen today , my sister is out with her friends and I feel lonely and afraid to go by myself to the bush in these darkness , Salim felt pity to the poor girl, he asked her to join him on the table and not to go to the kitchen saying: you don't need to cook again, we have enough food here for us both since my brothers are out , she took her seat in front of him shyly , it was her first time she dines with a master ,Salim asked her about her family, she told him that lives in the bush with her smaller sister who helps her in her job and she has other brothers who work in some nearby farms , he asked her wether she is happy and satisfied in her life and job, she smiled a brightening smile saying that she much better off since she came to work in this farm , saying that the masters were very human and polite with their people compared to her ex masters who were treating them like beasts. They both finished their plates , she took the empty plates outside the cottage to clean them then she came back cleaning well the table and brought some fruits to put them in front of her master , Salim asked her to share the fruits with him , then she went out to prepare the caffe , Salim told her to make two, after finishing their cups , Salim told her that he is going to bed asking her to clean the plates then to close the door behind her . The girl left to her small cottage , there she sat down with her sister talking about life and their small dreams till late , her sister left her to sleep while she sat there thinking about Salim and his lovely body closing her eyes imagining those strong arms folding her body with their strength , smelling the sweet perfume of her man s body , that night was very hot , a lot of poor workers left their hot rooms and cottages to sleep outside , Angela did the same , watching the shining stars , smiling to her dreaming thoughts , she watched the far lights sprinkling in that hot night , one by one going off as a sign of their owners sleeping , she started to think hardly about her next step , will the two brothers come back early from La Piata or they are going to spend their night there as some times they did , she thought that this night could be a very lucky chance to her that could not be available in long time ahead , she was feeling hot and exited , so she decided to take her chance with a risk , she moved out towards Salim cottage that was far almost fifteen minutes walking , she sped her steps til she reached the cottage , the lights were all out , she tried her keys that Salim given to her and she opened the door , Salim didn't lock from inside for his brothers return , she sneaked silently into the cottage directly to Salim s room securing first that the two brothers were not around since their bourses were not in their open barn , Salim was there laying on his bed , the candle he left on the table beside his bed was dying , but it's last light we're enough for her to see we'll inside the room , her man was there in front of her more naked than before , he was wearing only a sleep because of the hot weather , she removed completely her clothes and sneaked into Salim big bed touching his body with her lusty fingers moving them around his muscles , face , neck , til she reached between his legs , the young man was sleeping a heavy sleep , under her soft touching she started to feel his body moving in excitement and desire , he started to make some voices of joy and desire, she took slightly his hands putting them on her breasts and massaging her soft body , he started to room with him hands on her soft body making happy noises of desire , she knew that he started to dream a sexy dream , she pushed her naked body to his, hugging him tenderly and she waited , no long time after , Salim made a voice like someone make ejaculation , she smiled to herself and Salim suddenly woke up sitting in his bed , the darkness was complete in that moment, he moved his hands to touch a strange soft body hugging him , he stood up like a maid looking for a match , when light lightened the room , he food a full naked woman sleeping in his bed, Salim thought that he was still dreaming that sexy dream , but he looked again in the body to see who is that naked woman in his bed, he lighted the candle and looked carefully to see the face of his maid Angela sleeping , he jumped like a fool from his bed, trying to scream in a low voice afraid to awake his brothers or anybody maybe around , he walked fast to the bathroom cursing and screaming in his low voice , his head was full of mixed ugly feelings,;anger, guilt, shame, he opened the cold water on his body , cursing the time he allowed himself to chat with this girl while Angela sat in his bad crying that she lost her childhood virginity on his bed saying that her brothers will kill her and that she will become a whore in the eyes of her community , Salim calmed down himself coming to his bad , he asked her : how in hell did you come inside my bedroom so naked ? The girl with faked tears said that she was afraid to move alone to her cottage in the night , she waited outside his cottage then afraid of rooming coyotes or wolves that usually make their tours in the nights around the farms, she came in to sleep finding lights inside his rooms she sneaked in his bed near him seeking protection in his body , but he started to touch her and at last she lost her womanhood and virginity , Salim didn't believe utterly her words , but he remembered that he found himself ejaculated , was he doing love with her in his sleeping imagining himself in a dream while it was a reality without his awareness , he checked his covers to find some tiny blood there , he became sure that the girl didn't lie at least regarding her point of losing virginity, he sat down silent then he rushed the girl to put on her clothes and silently they moved out to her nearby cottage , when they reached there nobody was around and Salim told her to go inside promising her to come the next day to see what to do next , then he returned to his cottage . Angela was very happy that her plan came to a successful ending while Salim went to his room praying Allah for forgiveness for what he committed in this night , he purified and prayed crying loudly for forgiveness . The next day , Omar Omar with his brothers came early , the checked as usual the works and the stable then they all parted to Bruno's Aires with the silent Salim in their company , the group went directly to the mosque to make the Friday s noon salah and lecture , after that they all moved to the mother Fatima s lodging , they took all their diner then they moved to take a trip to Buenos Aires market , during the whole trips Salim was always silent, thinking how he would finish that new catastrophe falling on his head , on their way back , Salim and Omar started chatting about work and farms then Salim said that he seriously thinking about finding a woman to get married , Omar laughed saying : marriage rituals are very easy here , he added: just you choose the woman that you like , if she accepts you , you lol find me ready for all the rest , Salim: I'll think over and very soon I'll tel you my mind . The two brothers reached their cottage finally and Wehbe asked Salim about his frown and silence since the morning , Salim : I'm thinking seriously about finding me a woman to marry , he added: I conversed with Mr Omar and informed me that this news was wonderful and that he is ready for any help , Argentina is very easy country for marriage rituals promising to give all the possible help to do it, Wehbe: it is really a wonderful new , at last we will have a true sister and a woman to help us and add more children to our family , Salim smiled a faint smile, but said nothing , when evening came Mohammad was too there in the cottage, he was informed about his senior brother plan and he was very happy too , when Angela came , her face was brightening with joy , she went to the kitchen to prepare their food as usual singing and dancing , when Salim came she heard his voice and changed immediately her manners to a sad face, he came to her saying that after her job , she has to wait for him under a tree he pointed to because a serious discussion was to take place with her , her heart was beating from joy and happiness, she finished her duty and hurried to their meeting spot , few ministers, Salim came slowly like a thief , in told her in brief words that within days they are going to get married pointing that any delay could became a nasty catastrophe to them both , if she got pregnant and her pregnancy got discovered before their marriage that will be the end to him and her, he told her to inform her father or her elder brother to their plan , if he agreed to prepare themselves to the the date he will mention , Angela was not believing her ears , she told him that her parents are dead and that her brother will never object her personal plans , she cried this time truly , she found more than she dreamed , she knelt before Salim , but hurriedly he raised her , she promised him to be his slave and maid to the rest of her life . Only one week passed and Salim declared his intention to marry Angela, he told first his brothers than he told Mr Salim and Mr Michelle, they were all happy to the surprising news, Omar added: the girl is really a very beautiful, you know that we are very strict about our workers , I checked out very carefully about the girl and her sister before appointing them , I was told that they are very honest and nobody dared before to touch them , I hope that your marriage will be a bless to you and your brothers, Salim: tomorrow, we all will go to Buenos Aires to make the ceremony of marriage in the Imam house , the woman will bring her senior brother as her guardian , Omar : may I be your guardian too ? Salim : that will be my great honor , Omar after the ceremony we will make you a nice weeding in my house that will make mum very happy , Omar: the girl is a good type , you have to take care of her teaching her everything about Islam if she accepted really to embrace the faith, Salim: she already accepted willingly all what I said to her promising to be a faithful Muslim . The promised Friday has come,Salim and his three brothers,Angela with her senior brother, omar and his brothers , all were present in the Imam s house, the lady Fatima had already prepared Angela , the girl was wearing an Islamic costume , an Arabic fashion mother Fatima inspired for some Syrian women she knows, the imam, Angela and her brother, Salim and omar, these were the people concerned, the imam was the contract executed, Angela and Salim ; the contractors, omar and Angela s brother; the guardians, the ceremony started, the imam asks the guardians their approval to commit the contract; one by one , they both agreed, the Imam declares that Salim and Angela became a husband and a wife , the two witnesses were amadeo and Mohammad, the imam starts his advices to the two new married. He addresses Salim , telling him to deal with his woman with love, patience, mercy, politeness , and sharing, , asking Salim to keep faithful to his wife and his house , he addresses Angela , telling her to obey her husband, never mix with other men without his presence and acceptance , to be faithful to her husband in his presence and his absence and to keep her house and family in first place , the gathering all congratulate the grooms , Amedeo tells Salim the the grooms house will be ready within one week , the all celebrate with joy and happiness , Salim face was calm and comforted, , his comfort was due to his feeling of safety more than feelings of happiness . The house of mother Fatima was full of friends and relatives, Omar already planned a small party to celebrate the two new married couple , women gathered in one room while men gathered in the guest s sala , the party was just a chance to congratulate and to be introduce the grooms to the friends and relatives the coming weeding was the real celebration to come, mother Fatima started her speech advising the grooms for their next life, she repeated most of what the imam already mentioned , she added that a successful marriage should be mainly based on trust and sincerity between the two partner, they have to share everything in their life, mutual respect should come before love then love will protect that respect to remain solid and permanent, they have to watch first the order of Allah in their life, their coming children and their family, pity, mercy, passion are very important ingredients to a successful marriage then she congratulated that bond between the the grooms wishing them happiness and prosperity. Angela remained with her sister s cottage , while Salim was working on his new house that the mother Fatima s sons had prepared for him and his wife, Angela with the women of mother Fatima s house we're working on completing the other details that women usually know better than men, a lot of gifts arrived to the new married couple , kitchen appliances and tools, furnitures, carpets,clothes and a lot of decoration articles , mother Fatima prepared a very large collection of women clothes and fashion for the bride, Omar brought a nice cart with two horses to be the groom gift and their tool of transportation, Wehbe and Mohammad bought a very nice men clothes collection, while Michelle, Amedeo and the rest s gifts were a lot of clothes , furnitures and kitchen appliances , Salim was very surprised and amazed to the huge amount of gifts pouring on him and his wife , Angela sister gifted her a hand made necklace with bright stones . The house was perfectly prepared and decorated , huge candelas and lanterns were brightening the whole house , in and out, the wedding party started with a large number of guests , the whole family of mother Fatima so many Arabs and Syrian friends , some of the coworkers who work in the farms were present , the party ends just little before midnight and the whole guests leave the wedding leaving the two grooms alone. When Salim and his bride remain alone , they go to their bedroom, change their clothes and sit beside each other's , both shy, Angela insist to be the first to talk, she started telling Salim about her childhood and her two parents, a poor ignorant African woman with a poor Argentino man , met in a plantation were work was very hard and master's behavior was more bestial than human , the couple became close friends and secretly they married without their master knowledge, when her mother felt her first pregnancy , she became horribly terrified, she and her husband, if their master discovers their secret marriage , that will be their brutal end , they planned to run away together and they did , they escaped their plantation that was located Mendoza region that was too far from Buenos Aires , to escape for ever , they had to go much far from their master and plantation, so they decided to run to Buenos Aires where the city was very huge and they could manage to escape and to hide very easily , after their torturing long trip , they arrived safe to Buenos Aires, the lived several days in the streets , the bush til they were told by some new friends that there is a local association that helps the homeless and escaping ex slaves like them and then they went there and the news were true , the foundation found them a perpetual lodging then they secured them work in some nearby plantations, being expert in plantations work ,Angela added: my parents got their first child that was my senior brother then I came to light , followed by two other brothers and finally my sister Rosaria came , my parents died both , first my mum then after less than one year , my father was hopeless after losing his love and life partner , he ailed a long time before saying goodbye to us , in that time my eldest was in his seventeen and I was fifteen , the rest were between fourteen and seven years old , we worked in plantations , selling in the streets , trying to get our food in any possible honest mean , we never stolen or taken a pesos that is not coming from a right way, that was our parents teaching , they were very poor , but very honest and pious , they were traditionally Christians, but knowing little bit about the religion, my mum says that her ancestors were Muslim and my daddy s were pagans , the only practice they knew to go always to the church, to kneel before the statue of Jesus and his mother asking them for shelter, food , safety and sanity, at home they were worshiping only the god father saying that since they don't own their own statues for Christ and Mary , they should direct their prayer only to the father s god because he is unseen and untouchable, when my senior brother got married , he moved to live with his wife family because our house was too small for them to have their privacy, then my second brother followed doing the same , I remained with my third young brother and my little sister , I was then seventeen years old,my brother was fifteen , we kept selling in the streets , I was protecting my small family and my brother was protecting us , always carrying his large knife with him and nobody dared to approach us , me too I was carrying my own knife too even my little sister started to carry her own, when I was twenty, my brother was eighteen and he fell in love with girl working in a restaurant, she helped him to secure a job in her place of work as a cleaning boy and a guard, he was very brave and courageous that attracted his new master to keep him in his place , not along time passed the two lovers decided to get married securing a small room supplied by their master and they married and he moved to his new lodging, after that I was the only one responsible for myself and my little sister , expenses of life including house rent , food and clothes besides other expenses were bigger than my potential, I then decided to look for another job that secures us free lodging and food and I found cooking in plantations or farms could be the last rescue and I did , first I worked in a farm belonging to a French master , the man was very furious and aggressive , he was treating us like dirty swines , , he tried to approach me sexually promising to pay me a lot of money , but I refused , he tried then to take me by force , but I showed him my knife, he tried to attack me , I defended my self and pined him just a little injury that showed him his blood , he fired me and threw me with my sister to the street , I already heard about mother Fatima s sons and their farms , I admitted to the job and I was accepted , she added telling him about her first meeting with him and said : when you came , I had already working with Master Omar , he immediately called me , knowing about my good reputation among women and girls and my excellency in cooking , he appointed me to be your personal servant and cook , the first day I saw you with your brother , I was certain that you are the man in my dream , I was very alert and protective , I was sure that this world was stronger than me and my little sister , I needed an honest man, a beautiful and brave , a tender and loving and I found in you more than my expectations, I started to plan how to got you into my life and how to get my into your world and life , that night I found my luck and chance brightening, I sneaked to your bed and I started to touch you to arouse you , because of the hot weather and my arousing touching , you became easily aroused and I was praying that you see such a sexy dream that causes your ejaculations and that did happened , I used my own fingers with my parts til some little blood appeared , I washed my self with the cover as a proof of losing virginity , I wanted you to believe that you did that, but you did not , all what you did was only touching my body unconsciously, you believed my small lie and my plan fully succeeded, I discovered the next day that the blood was due to a small injury in my inner parts not a blood of virginity , I was still intact , Angela finished her words and kept silent waiting for her husband reaction , Salim kept too silent for a long time, he left his bed and went out of their bed room pointing to Angela to remain in her place. Angela kept that night alone in their marriage bed crying and praying to Allah to forgive her and guide her husband to forgiveness and forgetting, Salim spent his night praying too , asking good forgiveness for touching a woman not his , he meant the actions of that night, inside himself , he was very happy because he found out that he didn't commit adultery, he was thankful to his wife for her sincerity that saved him from that torturing feelings of guilt , he was too much affected and touched by his wife personal story about her life and family admiring her braveness and honesty , he inside himself excused her of her little trick she played on him seeing that was due to her loneliness , desperation and fear of the wicked world surrounding her and her sister . The next night , the two grooms spend their first night with a big pleasure and enjoyment, just three weeks after their marriage, Salim declares to all that his wife was pregnant , feeling of loved had already started to invade Salim s heart towards his loving bride,she was on her turn totally devoted to her husband, loving all what he loves, taking care of his brothers like her own brothers and family , Salim writes a message to his family telling them about their last news and his recent marriage , the letter was sent with an acquaintance who was leaving towards home. Two years passed and Salim got already a very lovely daughter they called Fatima , Marco and Francesca had already declared their conversion and declared their Islam , Marco s wife remained on her old Christianity , Paula the mother of Sandra too declares her embracing of the new faith and she gets her divorce of her husband after their big disagreement and litigation , he refused to change his faith and reject completely the idea of the Islam declaring in front of all that he will never the religion of the Arabs , the tent dwellers as he said , Sandra remains as she was a Christian following her gather faith but she keeps a good relationship with her mother who moved to live with her aunty Fatima , Sandra was not aware of the new bond that had started to grow stronger everyday between her cousin Francesca and Mohammad , annoyed of her her incompetence to meet or converse with Mohammad in privacy, but she kept her promise to her grandmother not to run after him unless he makes the first step that never did, Mohammad and Francesca became too much near to each other's , she became in her seventeen years old, very lovely and pretty , looking like a mature woman , she knew that her feeling towards Wehbe were no more than feelings toward a dsubsbstitute to her dead brother , she knew too that Wehbe in his turn was exchanging her feelings with same types of feelings of a brother to his absent sister , but her feelings to Mohammad were something else , these were feelings of a woman to her man and sweetheart, they had become very close spending most of their times together , she was helping him in his job in the barns and the farm, her father had added a new stable for sheep, she was enjoying her time with Mohammad s company , playing with the young sheep they grew in person, everyone of them had his own lamb that was having a name , they were taking their lambs to run with them in the fields , racing on horses backs , dining together playing most of their free time , looks of mutual love had started to be apparent on their innocent faces , Wehbe too remarked their loving looks to each other , he was very happy that these two most loved hearts to him became lovers and near to be United , there no touching among them, Mohammad was looking at her as his personal Santa , she was looking at him as her untouchable dream that at last she would touch , everybody in the farms was living in happiness and serenity except one person who used to run away every day to the far prairies and bush, Amadeo . Amadeo story: Amadeo was the third in order among his brothers , he was the the lonly unmarried among them , he was always away a seldom he shares their meetings most of his times sharing , he was keeping silent, Salim noticed that and the two brothers too , they talked sometimes in solitary about him , one day Salim sat chatting with Omar , he intentionally diverted their sitting to talk about Amedeo, Salim:,why Amedeo , your brother avoid us and seldom he talks to us directly, does he have any aversion towards Arabs ? since we came the only words we exchanged were only concerning work, never we exchanged with him anything personal , Omar : smiling , you are wrong, Amedeo is very pious Muslim and loves too much the prophet and everything related to him including especially the sahibs and the Arabs, but since my grandmother s death and his leaving Italy , he was always like this, silent, absent minded , we all don't know much about him, I think only mum or maybe my sisters or Marco know something we don't , he is always living with birds and animals , running after flowers and butterflies, swimming in the great river and riding horses are his best hobbies, he built around himself a very high walk we can't see behind it , we tried our best with him but to unveil , Salim: was he so from his childhood? Omar: no , on the contrary, he was very funny and laughing , but he was attached very strangely to my grandmother Aisha , when she died, she was in his arms , her last breath mixed with his nostrils,he was still sixteen , he was shocked to death upon her sudden departure, six month , he was between life and death , fever never leaves him , mum curing him in her lap like a small baby, using all was was knowing if medicines then herbs, the herbs really were his best medicines. , when mum started to tel him that they are his grandmother s prescription, he stared to come back to life, just less than two years , he followed us to Argentina before mum coming , we noticed from the first day the changes in his personality and tried , but kept silent and only smiling a strange smile , I think that there is some other secrets regarding a girl in Napoli , so many girls here noticed his gentle snd elegance, they tried to approach , but for no use , Salim: then it is not something concerning us ? Omar: absolutely not, he was the one insisting on helping you much more with your brothers , he was always your laser insisting always to raise your wages even more then your mates saying you are the scent he finds left oh his grandmother, if you meet with him and chat , you will find how much he loves you all . The next Friday after the gathering prayer,Salim and omar excused their brothers that they are going to the market to by some tools necessary or the farm , omar called after Amedeo to be their partner in that trip, Amedeo didn't hesitate thinking that it was a chance for him too to stay away and buy things he needs too , upon reaching Buenos Aires, Omar led them to an Arabic caffe shop to take a drink with some light Arabic sweets , the place was almost empty , they took a table ordering some Arabic drinks , that exists only in such places , the place was not offering alcohol, that was making them feel more comfortable in their seats , the owner of the place came with big smiles on his face to welcome the sons of mother Fatima, the beloved to all Arabs and Muslims in Buenos Aires , Salim and omar started their chatting while Amedeo was silent as his usual manner , Omar to Amedeo: my brothers were talking about you , they think that you don't like them or the Arabs ! Amedeo surprised and feeling like a shame , he looked at Salim with a red face saying : Allah forbids , you are my dear brothers and more you especially, are my uncles of my grandmother and mum , your mere existence, give me a feeling of comfort and peace, his eyes tearing , but I got used to loneliness and silence for a long time , Salim: is it something related to your grandmother death and your sickness after that or there is something else hidden from all of us ? Amedeo looked silently at Salim without uttering a word , omar: we don't you talk brother ? ! , you are among the people who mostly loving you , you are bigger in age from Marco , but never married til now, look Marco our youngest has a girl about to get married, why you are torturing your mum who weeps day after day because of you, why you live with animals and beasts of the bush leaving your loving family , omar was very red and angry , Amedeo looked at his brother angry face and said: will you please leave me alone , I'm happy as I'm , omar: you are not, it time brother to open your heart to me and to all of us ! it is time to find you a good Muslim girl to marry and to make your children and family , i will not stop silent after today and I'll push all to be on your trace , I'll tel mum to start searching for a good Christie Muslim girl for you , anger started to appear on Amedeo s face: he said : please don't mention in front of me the women , they all are cheaters, liars and tricky , omar : is your mother or grandmother tricky and wicked too? , Amedeo: these two are saints , do t mix saints with witches , omar: what about your sisters? , Amedeo; silent, omar : did you try all the women on the earth to come out with this conclusion ? ,Amedeo: the one I tried is enough to inspires me that , omar: then it is a woman non only grandmother s death ! Amedeo pleading : I beg you brother , leave me alone with animals and beasts , Omar : I'm leaving you , but only for now . That evening, mother Fatima noticed her Amedeo s red face and disturbing manners , she murmured into Omar s ears asking , Omar murmured back: we will talk in your room . In the mother room, Salim, Omar, Amedeo with their mother sat silent, the mother stood on her bed, Omar and Amedeo stood in front of her while Salim stood between them , Omar: I wished that Salim join us to be a witness and a judge between us , thanks to him that he opened my eyes to what we ignored for a long time and I think it is time to settle everything regarding Amedeo, the mother was looking at Amedeo with two watering eyes and said: why Amedeo? is not it time really? the mother looks showed that she know a secret that was hidden fir a long time, she knew that she swore to him in the name of Allah to keep his secret in her chest, but now she regrets swearing that, she added: will you please allow me to speak , son, seventeen years passed and I'm silent , Amedeo with tears: I don't know mum, I almost forgetting all mum,I got used to my present situation and I think it is too hard to go back , mother Fatima: then you allow me to break my word and talk! , this talk will remain for now among us here , Amedeo: if you like mum , you may talk, mother: yes I like too much, I like to see my son married and holding his children on his arm , you know that your aunty Rosalba is coming and you know what she did with herself , I don't want you to be after her , she hurt everybody including herself. Amedeo and Josephine : The mother started , when Omar and Michelle left me to Argentina, Marco and Amedeo with my daughters remained beside me , they both were very much attached to mum and she was too much loving to them both , being my youngest s , Amedeo was becoming a small men , he was very defensive regarding his grandmother, fighting the wind if it is hurting his grandmother, he had a close friend , a girl , they were like a twin never separated from each other , people started to look at them as one , who hurts Amedeo finds her in front of him , who touches her finds Amedeo fighting him , they were never separated until they sleep each in his house , this relationship started when they were still children, Omar looked with a big surprise and said : Josefina ? ! mother: yes, Josefina , when you traveled, she was yet ten years old, do you remember that small child that was like a bird , jumping and playing in our house like being in her parent's, with that golden hair swimming behind her back , Omar : she was beautiful like a bright star, like a doll, I was loving her too much , always cuddling her with toys and gifts the was I was doing with Lucia and Anna Maria , but I didn't know she was having that.close relationship with Amedeo when I left , mother when Josefina reached her twelve of age she started to look like a growing woman , in that early age the features of womanhood started to appear on her , whoever seen her would think that she was fourteen or even fifteen, Amedeo in that time was starting to grow as a man and he had already embraced the Islam faith on the hands of his grandmother, he was always praying with her, making Imam in front of her, Marco too was following them , the relationship between him and the small Josefina started to change , to a Romeo and Julietta style and maybe more , everybody around was knowing that Josefina was Amedeo s and Amedeo is Josefina s , he fought everybody tried to approach his girl and fought too every girl tried to approach him,looks were on them but no outsider dares to approach, they were both very offensive with their rivals ,, when mum heard about that love story she was Amedeo and called Amedeo taking an under swear promise that he will never try to touch the girl not even with kiss on checks or touching a hand , mum was afraid that their love could burn them both if they started to touch each other , and Amedeo stood on his word , Josefina was too much loving to my mum and my mum too was always hugging her and kissing her with great passion calling her my petit angel , Amedeo was always leading Josefina to my mum room to listen to her , they were going and coming together, laughing , fighting like two enemies then rerun again like a twin , when Amedeo was in his sixteen, she was in her thirteen , not too long after that my mum died on Amedeo s hands and he was sick to death, I was sleeping and waking beside him, cleaning his front with cold water to fight the fever while Josefina was holding his hands with much love , he was not aware of the world around him , when he would awake seeing his hand in Josefina s he was fighting with her tel her not to touch him, six month of torturing til Allah returned him safe to us , he became more silent , fragile , easy to cry and weep , while Josefina was beside me the other chest that he was crying his late grandmother on , I started to talk with my husband Paulo about these two lover birds , planing for them a very early marriage til Paulo passed away , Amedeo was not yet eighteen, that was our second chock after mum , my father was then very sick and had already embraced Islam with telling me , but I knew that from the way the saw him pray, he removed all crosses and statues from our house and backyards, Josefina was as her self, the chest and shoulder of tears, but Amedeo was annoyed because he was not able to touch her with a freedom , I allowed her to hold his hands and embrace him during his illness because he was not aware of his surroundings, suddenly something happened between them , something very big , Amedeo never accepted to explain to me never Josefina did , she left to her house after that big fight and never came again and Amedeo in turn never visited her or mentioned her name in his lips, when he was over eighteen, he left to Argentina and I left not too long after him after my father death and the marriage of Lucia and Anna while Marco was always absent from the house , the mother finished her talk and looked at Amedeo then said : let's pray evening prayer and we'll continue with Amedeo , mother said: let's pray with the rest , the whole house made their purification except Michelle a wife who was still on her old faith with the mother of Francesca too , they prayed with Salim standing as their imam , being the best who recite Koran , after prayers , coffee was served with light cakes and sweet, the four returned to the mother s room . Mother continued: before my traveling, I called after Josefina and and insisted her to come , she agreed to come , we talked a lot , but she refused to mention the real reason behind their big fight as Amedeo did before and when I came to Argentina, I tried again , but without success. Amedeo talked for the first time, his face was red like a fire, his tears were wet like a falling cloud , he said: when my grandmother died, and after my curing from that long illness , I started to talk to Josefina for long times about my grandmother and her suffering life , tel her what the church did to her family and people in Andalusia, criticizing hard the church and the clergymen, telling her that the Muslims were always more human with the different sects allowing all to live in peace under their power, giving an example of Andalusia and the ottomans Empire, she was listening with intent without uttering a word , she was agreeing with my words so many times , but when I told her about embracing islam , she was happy for me too to choose what I'm convinced , her attitude encouraged me to ask her to join me in one faith explaining to her the basis of Islamic and It's fundamental rules and rituals , but she didn't, I started to tel her about Jesus and his life in the Bible and that he was worshiping one only god and had never asked people to worship him or his mother and that it is a human being like all the prophets and messenger , we litigated , we fought each other , I tried to be patient with her hoping that she will listen and cooperate , but she refused, more I insist more she refuse to change her faith and father and mother religion til we fought one day , she was too much infuriated with me , she started to insult me and my faith then she uttered her biggest fault , she insulted my grandmother that that brought that strange faith to our family and she added by mocking our prophet and insulted him , here I became like a mad , I had taken her from her long hair and after beating her, I dragged her on the floor , she raised up and she gave me several blows in my face then I took her again from her hair and dragged her behind me and threw her out of our house , in that time , mum and sisters were not at home , she stood out cursing and insulting then she left , after that I swore in Allah name not to see her or forgive her until she comes kneeling on her knees asking forgiveness from Allah and my grandmother too and more , promise me to think seriously about my demand to join me , some of our friends knew about our fighting and some came to make peace , I refused , but I agreed to write her a message, I told her in my message about my final decision and my swearing to Allah , giving her one long month to think over otherwise I'll travel to Argentina without letting her seeing me again , one month passed and I was already prepared for traveling, few days after that I left Napoli to Argentina. Omar: smiling: this is your big secret then , he frowned and added: for a stupid girl , you tortured yourself , your mum and your whole family too, Amedeo: please don't call her a stupid , she is a stubborn yes but not a stupid, Omar: great Allah , after she insulted our prophet, our faith, our Islam , your grandmother La Santa , you still defending her ! Today you were insulting all the women in the world for this fool s sake , are you insane , brother? Mother Fatima smiled saying: he is still loving her til today that is why he didn't accept a new woman in his life , he trying in the same time that he hates her and that why he rejects other woman , Omar : I think you are right mother , bur what is gone is gone he has to start anew life with a new good woman , not because of a woman who insulted our messenger, he should sacrifice his life, mother Fatima: and that I'm going to do from today on, I'll start checking for a good girl for him otherwise he will find me in front of him , even if he tries to gang himself , I want accept any more any excuse, Amedeo smiling: why should I hang myself , find a woman who can accept me and my mad tempers and I will agree to your choice , Omar : Paula your cousin is good for you , she knows you better and she is a true Muslim now, Amedeo smiling : you forgot that Paula is like my sister and we are not used to marry cousins, Omar : that was when we were Christians, it is time ti change all our old traditions to new things compatible with Islam , our prophet married the wife of his adopted son to demolish an old tradition with a direct order from Allah , Amedeo: that true and you are right, I can't feel towards her more than a brother feeling , besides , I think she is still loving her husband even after their divorce . They agreed that mother Fatima will start looking for a wife and Omar told Salim to be his witness to that agreement. From that day , Amedeo started to be more open and closer to Salim and his brothers , he started to visit Salim at home , taking caffe , chatting, joking and talking about their work , Salim started too to accompany him in his tours in the fields and the bush , for Mohammad and Wehbe great amusement, Marco liked to be called salman, saying salman the sahib that kept looking for the truth til he found it as I did , Marco noticed the new relationship and signs of love on Mohammad and Francesca, who was calling herself Aisha after the most beloved wife of the prophet s , he knew that Mohammad is a pious Muslim and he will never betray his only daughter , beside Muslim Italians were nowhere in Buenos Aires , his brothers sons were all too young to marry his daughter, the best choice was Mohammad for him and his daughter. Omar and mother Fatima were in a fever rush looking for a girl that could be their suitable daughter in law , when news came that the boat carrying Rosalba the prodigal sister is near to come to Argentina, they became more busy preparing for her sister more . When the boat was starting to empty its passengers, the whole family was there including the ex husband of Paula , after all Rosalba is the grandmother of his only daughter , when Rosalba head appeared, everybody was clapping hands with joy , for their surprise, an old white haired man was holding her hand and they descended together, mother Fatima looking the man intently, she suddenly gave a loud cry , the man was their brother Omar , nobody knew him except her because of his long absence far in Spain , Rosalba hearing her sister cry hurried her steps , to hug her beloved sister after almost sixteen years of separation, they hugged hard for along time among tears and weeping and cries . The three sisters and brother meeting was very passionate and joyful , they didn't stop hugging each other's all along the way to their house, the son and daughters of the Santa Mariam we're together again after sixteen years, a great party was waiting for the new comers at home , they spent the whole day and night together , chatting, praying together with their brother their Imam , crying , laughing til they were exhausted especially after the brother and sister long journey. The whole family was busy with their uncle and aunty , Omar, Michelle , Amedeo , all were there in Omar house , seldom they left to go for checking then they come back fast , Marco too brought his family to Omar house , they were all eager to stay with them to listen to sixteen years of absence . Mohamed for the first time , was left alone away from Francesca he started to miss her presence and Wehbe noticed his brother worries and sadness, they sat together an Thursday s evening and started to chat, Wehbe: do you really love Francesca? Mohammad kept silent , but Wehbe repeated his question , then Mohammad answered with red eyes: yes and more than you imagine , I feel my soul empty when she is far, Wehbe: did you confess to each other your love, Mohammad: not yet , I'm sure she loves me the way I love her if not more , I'm waiting when I'm ready financially to start a new life and establish a house , but I'm afraid that her family would not accept me due to our huge differences in financial and social status, Wehbe smiling : Mr Marco never thinks in this way , he and his family consider us part of them, remember when he came here , he was penniless like us and when Salim married how they helped and treated him like one of them , Mohammad: this is a different issue , I'm going to ask for the hand of his only daughter ! , Wehbe: you decide and talk to Francesca, if she agrees with you , all the doors will be open for you both, take it easy . me Omar the big : When Friday came , the three brothers came to mother s Fatima house , Salim carried his wife with him in the lovely cart given by Omar in their marriage s gifts , his wife was pregnant with her second, the whole family was gathering and Omar introduced all to each other's , the dining room was ready and all started to sit for lunch , after lunch and coffee. , all were called to join Mother Fatima in her room , the room was full with men , women , young and old , the mother started : today I gathered all my beloved to talk again about my mother the first Muslim in our family, but today is the turn of my brother Omar to narrate his part , mr Omar the big, as he was called to separate him from Omar the son , mr Omar took his seat between his two sisters and started his story : for more than eighty years , my mother was born to a Muslim mother and a Muslim father , her parents were living like prisoners , names were changed to Christian names , Islamic rituals and traditions were all prohibited , but the family was practicing her worshiping and customs secretly , secret meeting were held in remote places like mountains and deserted locations, when opportunity allows , a strict watch was imposed on everybody of Muslim origins was still living in Spain , they were treated like slaves, their woman taken whenever their master wants ,to be married by force to whoever he likes or even raped after their apparent embracing of Christianity and their practicing in church, they were still seen as slaves , her father and her mother met when they were slaves, they got married with their master approval , I met my mother s brother whose Christian name is Antonio while his real name is Ahmed , first , he didn't accept to cooperate with me , he was afraid, suspected that I'm from the church s part , when he secured my identity , he started to talk, he told me that his family origins goes back to Damascus in Syria as most probably, the family was large in number in Grenada and cordoba,most of them were killed, arrested or flying away in mountains and remote deserted areas,some were obliged to remain in Córdoba for the lack of any mean of transportation or money, names were changed to Christians, identities hidden , after that a brother could not know his own brother or his own sister,who escaped execution was obliged to live as a Christian , the grandfather of my grandfather was a scholar, he saved a lot Islamic books from burning , hiding them in them in secrecy, he studied them and transferred some of his knowledge to his sons and daughters, who in turn transferred to their sons and daughters and so on , when brothers and sisters were obliged to separate , my grandfather remained alone where he met my grandmother, they married as christians, but they were practicing Islam in secret , they had two sons and three daughters one of the boys died and remained only Ahmed with his three sisters , when my daddy went to cordoba , he was a guest in one of a friend houses, his fried sent him a girl to serve him , that girl was my grandmother,

; she was then in her fourteen years old , looking like a full woman , she had a strange charm that attracted my dad , in that time he didn't know that she was a Muslim, he liked her too much, praising her anytime he met her master ,he tried to approach her with words of love and praise, but she was was responding like a wild cat without responding , he was surprised, he thought first that his elegance and manhood will attract that poor girl Easley , would a girl in her status refuse the beautiful friend of her master in that way ? he insisted harassing her, making a kind of embargo around her to yield to his desire for no little success , he told his friend that he liked too much that girl and he is determined to get her in any price , the friend smiled warning him that the girls of Fatima ; their mother, are wild kittens, dangerous to approach , they never accept to mix with men, he warned him that one of them pined a man with a dagger when he tried to harass her and the the man was near to death , telling him to be careful with that girl , but father was to stubborn to yield to a small girl and he accepted to challenge her, he asked her master to sell her to him offering a huge amount of pesos , the man never hesitated and he gave her easily then father brought her with him to Napoli , in Napoli she worked in his house for three years without being able to touch her or approach her then he told her to choose between marriage and to be taken by force , he became obsessed with her love , he was afraid that she will run away from him one day , when the embargo became very tight around her , she yielded on condition that he marry her according to her traditions, he brought three Tunisians , one as the head contract maker and two as witnesses , they made the contract , father in that time didn't understand her strange behavior , the lady Fatima told her brother that some of these things she knew before , but the other details were new to her ears, she added : thanks to Allah both of them died as Muslim at last . The gatherings were listening to me Omar s story with big interest, Rosalba covered her face with her hands and started to weep , she said: this is the first time I hear that my daddy died as a Muslim , mother Fatima: we all knew that except you when you were away, he died in my hand telling me that he is going to mum and declared his Islam frankly witnessing that no god except Allah and that Mohammad is his prophet and messenger then she addressed her brother : tel us what did you do in cordoba ? big Omar smiling: I wanted to keep that as a surprise, I waisted a long time looking for our family there , three years fir nothing then unexpectedly, I found one of our aunty who was still alive , she was the youngest , the other one was dead, you won't believe what a joy and surprise was there for me and her, we both cried a lot that I fears that she may die from crying,I told her about mum and our family, her suffering, her loneliness, her tender and great love, she told me about uncle Ahmed who was living in Barcelona , but doesn't know his address, she introduced her sons and daughters to me telling them that I'm their cousin of her beloved sister Aisha , they were all Muslims, her late husband was too, she told me that her other brother was tortured and killed after discovering his secret faith that is why her brother Ahmed fled to Barcelona without giving a trace , I found one of her daughters looking like mother, so I negotiated with her owner who thought that I'm an Italian Christian and I bought her and we got married , we made four boys and two girls, they live now in cordoba waiting my news to move to Argentina , they are all practicing Muslims thanks to Allah , the presents all looked in amazing to their uncle,they had already cousins living in Spain without their knowledge, it was really a very lovely surprise , a grandmother and a grandfather who are still alive too , mother Fatima: what about our uncle and our aunty , can we bring them here too , big Omar: I already thought about that and I talked to them all , they were very happy to move, but were hopeless , being captives in slavery, they had two options; to run away and that is very dangerous, in case they were found, dear penalty was their fate, the other option was to buy them from their captors or masters, big Omar: I told them all to wait good news from me when I come back, Omar: I'm ready to sell I'll my shares to bring them here, Michelle, Amedeo and Marco gave the same opinion , the whole family was ready to same their other part for any price , mother Fatima: there is no need to sell your shares or farms, slavery is not like before, they live their like servants , all what we need just to collect money from everyone in our family, my brother Omar will travel again to negotiate for their freedom and if Allah will,they all will come together, Salim: please let's take our share too, me and my brother will pay one month of our wages as our contribution , mother Fatima: all will contribute if Allah will . mother Fatima looked at Aisha , the old Francesca saying: are you happy now, you heard the full details of our great Aisha and her family , Aisha was holding a pen and a notebook writing, mother Fatima: what are you writing there? , Aisha : our ancestors story to my daughters and sons and she looked at big Omar saying : what should I call you? big Omar : call me uncle, don't call me grandfather , I have daughters in your age and smaller, they all laughed, when everybody left the room, mother Fatima called after Mohammad saying she has something to talk with him in privacy, Mohammad came afraid that something reached the mother about him and Aisha , he kissed the mother hand and offered him to sit, Aisha too was worried why her grandmother calls for Mohammad in privacy, the mother was with her sister Rosalba , she pointed to Mohammad and said: this is us Mohammad the second brother of Salim, he is a very pious Muslim and a gentleman, Mohammad face started to relax, she added: Marco thinks that Aisha and Mohammad are hiding a secret love from everybody, , we all believe that you both are good enough to avoid falling in haram or mistakes, Mohammad red faced: we behave with each other like a brother and a sister, mother smiling : that's good , but after all you are not blood sister and brother , you are two hot young', your blood is like a fire, any unexpected approach may lead to something you and we will not like to happen , so I tel you now in front of my sister as a witness that I don't ever mind your mutual love and I don't accept less than marriage for you two, otherwise, you two should remain far from each other , Mohammad: but, but, mother Fatima stopped him: I give you clearly my permission and blessings for your marriage, Mohammad didn't believe his ears , he was about to jump to hug mother Fatima from his joy and surprise , mother Fatima: tel your brother Salim , it is time to talk with Marco about your engagement, Mohammad jumped like beaten by a serpent and he rushed to mother Fatima kissing her hands, the mother and her sister smiled and Mohammad was given a permission to leave , he left flying to Salim and Wehbe to tel them the surprising news . Josefina s message: Lady Rosalba called Amedeo and said: I have a message for you from an old friend, Amedeo was surprised, who of his friends remembered him after this long time, he took the message sitting on a chair and opened it. The message started with: my love Amedeo, my love and my childhood partner, my sweetheart that I never loved another after him or wit him,the first who started the beats in my heart, my love that I had tortured and chased out of my life ,but insisted to remain there and is still til this moment living in my heart and soul. Do you remember that day you threw me out , do you know that the day you left Napoli , I became like a mad,I went up over our house and I started to cry , willing to throw my self down , my mother was there behind me and she was the one who saved me before I fall ,after that I tried to cut my hands for a suicide , a lot of blood fell to the ground , but the death again betrayed me when they rushed me to the hospital to live again , all these things remained secretly in our house nobody knew about them except you now , even your mum who was still here didn't hear if that . Amedeo was sweating hard while he was reading, he continued,Amedeo , what could I tel you , you my other half,the source of tender in my life who was satisfying my thirst to love , your blu eyes like Napoli sea where I was navigating with my eyes , your smiling lips that were bringing happiness to my being whenever I hear your voice , your Josefina remained the same Josefina that you had known before, nobody ever tried to touch Josefina of Amedeo , I swore to death , not to love anybody else except you and I'm still as I was, I don't know what did happen to me , was my madness because of my fear of your traveling? Or it was my high ego and pride when you tightened your embargo around me to make change and join you, I was not ever a true Catholic or a fan of the church, I was a traditional Christian from a Catholic family and not more, today I'm not Catholic or Christian any more, I'm only a believer in one god that I don't know very well , but I'm sure that he is there watching me and following all my steps one by one, I pray him everyday, I ask him forgiveness and strength to resist and keep loving loving you,my mother died few years ago and my daddy married another woman who is for me like a stranger, she never tried to hug me like mum, never asked me what I do or what I feel , she is treating as like her rivals or enemies,especially after she gave birth to my little sister that I love her dearly like my daughter that I did not get from you . Amedeo , do you still remember me, me Josefina, your life partner? did you ever forgive me? just remember that small Josefina who was adoring you, that small girl who was beating you , tearing your hair when she is mad of you , Josefina who was living your mum and your grandmother as she loves her mum,I discovered very late that i was only a stubborn to prove to myself that you can't impose anything on me ,but I found out later that your religion doesn't allow a faith made by force and freedom of choice is guaranteed, and I ask myself today , why you insisted so hard on me if your religion was not like that? believe me , I m very sorry that I really insulted that beautiful religion and its most respected prophet besides that you know that I adored your grandmother and never was willing to insult her too , but madness was more powerful than brain . I read only one book translated form Arabic about your prophet, I loved what I read, but I still more to know about that secret that you lived more than Josefina, i told you I'm not Christian nor a Muslim now , I never believed in Jesus as a godly as you know , for me he was just a great human being , may your prophet is like him or more I don't know yet. After your leaving and your mum s , I used to visit regularly your house , when somebody was there , I entered the room of your grandma, her room was as before , even some of her clothing are still there in her closet and her white apron that covers her full body was always laid on the armchair, I was asking Marco to go in there and he would never mind just smiling , I had found there in that room a big comfort I never felt again and when your aunty Rosalba came to live here , I became a frequent visitor to her and your house even she left the keys with me when she left to take care of the house in your absence. I saw her in my dream, yes , I had seen your grandmother, she was crying then she smiled and she hugged me tenderly, I woke up from my dream feeling my heart beating like a drum , I was very happy to see her after that long time and I felt that a miracle is on the way . so many men tried to approach me , some offered marriage, others offered money and love, but I told all that my heart is closed , may you please write me back telling me about yourself, your wife , your children, is your wife pretty as your Josefina? , if you didn't marry , I ask you in the name of god , Allah that we both believe in his mercy to come back to your poor Josefina or allow me to come to you , since your aunty told me about her nearing journey to Argentina and I see you every night in my dreams, hugging, laughing,quarreling , if me meet again your Josefina promise you to be your obedient servant on condition that you don't leave her again, please again I peg you to forgive me and to write me back. Signature: Your ever loving Josefina. Amedeo was reading and crying in the same time when he finished his reading he fell to the ground like a dead, Mother Fatima cried to her sons for help , they all run and carried him to his bedroom , when he woke up and looked around him , he started again crying and yelling, Mother Fatima started massaging his head putting her hand around him, reciting Koran to calm him down , she started to play with his hair as she did when he was a child, he started to calm down with his mum s hands , she took his face between her hands liking long in his eyes and she kissed him tenderly , she looked at his hand to see the message and she she tried to take it , he resisted then he yielded, she started to read and to weep , all the rest were worried when they asked , she looked at them and said only a word: Josefina. When the two brothers finished their dinner , Salim told Wehbe that he is going to an urgent work in Marco s place , Wehbe knew immediately what was the urgent word and he smiled. Marco and his family were still on their table taking their dinner and Mohammad was dining with them after that Aisha insisted on him to come, when Salim arrived, Marco invited him to join , but Salim told them that he dined already with Wehbe , it Marco or the new salman insisted to join even to take a little bit and Salim did. Salman : any good news drove you to us today! Salim : if Allah will all are good news , salman : ok , I'm all ears , Salim ok let's finish your food then we talk in private, when they finished, salman and Salim moved to the garden and salman ordered the maid to bring them caffe, Salim started and said: you did noticed that these two, Mohammad and Aisha are living a big live story , salman smiled and Salim continued: today I came to ask you about your mind, salman smiled again and said: for a long time I'm watching them both, I thought about them for a long time, I shared my wife with my thought and we both agreed that we can't find a better man than Mohammad for our lovely daughter , Salim smiling broadly, he stood from his chair and came to salman who raised up too and the two of them hugged with big joy . Salman and Salim agreed to make the engagement day of Aisha and Mohammad on the next Friday , a small party was arranged in salman house to include only the family and some very close friends, the weeding was planed to be on the middle of the coming spring when the sun could be bright and no rain could spoil the party that was planed to be held in the open air in salman s farm. Amedeo spent the whole day at home thinking over and gathering his thoughts, at last he decided to write a message to Josefina and send her money to come soon to Argentina, not long time passed after his message , a short not came that Josefina is coming within two month to Argentina. When that day came the whole family was there in Buenos Aires port, the boat was already on the dock , the passengers were all on the deck all waving and crying to their families and friend who where frantically waving back the the new comers, Mother Fatima was stirring in her cart with her brother and sister while her sons, daughters, in laws, grandchildren were all standing on feet waiting to their expected bride , two large boards raised high by two sting men , on them was the name of Josefina Ribaldi , the passengers started to get down , a young looking lady , wearing a white cream elegant dress appears on the stairs , she was standing on top of the stairs looking around like searching for some one, when saw her name on a large board , she smiled and started to move Dow slowly , she was wearing a round a nice rounded hat decorated with flowers, on her face a light white scarf while her golden hair was swimming on her back, passengers who noticed that Italian beauty moving down, most of them gave her a way to pass comfortably, when she reached the ground , she moved directly to that board were her name was moving , she reached the gathering, smiled and left her scarf, the first eyes noticed her were Omar s and Amedeo s , Omar knew her immediately,but Amedeo hearing her name uttered , he didn't believe his eyes , was this angle and queen , his Josefina, she saw him and cried in all her voice Amedeo , he and jumped in the same time to each other under the unbelieving faces that were struck by her beauty , Amedeo forgot himself and he carried his woman on his arms and run to his mother cart , he descended her to the ground crying to his mother: mum this is Josefina, Josefina seeing mother Fatima immediately jumped to kiss her hands and cried with pleasure and joy repeating her name, mother , mother , the gathering were all clapping and crying with joy , Amedeo took Josefina immediately to her decorated chariot and the train of carts and chariots parted among cries of laughters . When evening , came Mother Fatima called for Salim and Omar , when they came to her room , she told them to take their seat because there is something very important she wanted to discuss with them both .

Mother Fatima: I wanted to ask an important question concerning Josefina, as I understood, the girl mentioned in her message that she is not a Christian nor a Muslim !, that stops me to ask , how Amedeo will marry a woman who has no religion ? Salim: as I understood that she left the church and Christianity , but she is still believing in god as the only creator and being to be worshiped, Omar that s true , but how can we classify her , she is not a Muslim nor a Christian, mother : I think it is better to ask an imam or a Muslim scholar , The next day, Omar and Salim left to Buenos Aires to meet sheikh Moran the most famous scholar in Argentina , when they reached his shop, the man was very happy to receive them in his place ,he guided them to his private room ,after taking their Deyafa, juice and cakes, Omar said: we came today for an important matter concerning my brother and his expected bride , Omar explains everything to the man , the white haired man smiled and said: if she believe in god or Allah , as his majesty called himself, and saying that Christ is a human not a god , respecting our prophet and loving him , but not yet witnessing his being as a prophet, she is just a step to be a Muslim , if she is a clean woman with no suspects on her name and dignity , believing in Christ as a prophet , she is a true Christian in the Islamic way not the church way , if she does t believe in any messenger, it is a problem, because we can't know Allah as really he is without messengers , I think no problem in their marriage in the first case , but the last case is ambiguous to me to give a clear fatwa . Josefina was given a room near lady fatima s, the two ladies spent most of their time with Rosalba, talking chatting about various topics, Mother Fatima was driving always their sitting to talk about Allah and believes to find out about Josefina true belief and faith, she doesn't want a bride who embraces a faith just to comfort her husband and his family, she wanted a true Muslim woman for her son , Josefina was very open, polite and direct with Mother Fatima, she told her that she believed in Christ as a man who has true connections with god , a prophet or a messenger, Mohammad was still an ambiguous figure in her head , she is eager to k ow better , Mother Fatima told Amedeo to stop arguing or discussing with Josefina, she said: your hard way to guide her was the main reason behind your separation, your task know is only to tell her your informations and reading about our prophet s life and leave the rest for me , all the women in the house took their chance with Josefina including Salim s wife, everyone of them told her about her story before declaring her belief and faith . since Josefina s room was next to mother Fatima s she got used to see her or watch her when she was praying her five prayers , one night Josefina was thinking to herself alone in her room , she could not sleep that night , in the early hours of of the day , she heard the voice of mother Fatima reciting Koran then she heard her moving to her private bathroom for purification then to start her prayer , mother Fatima started her prayer reading verses of Koran in a low voice , Josefina tip topped to mother s room and stood behind her listening to her reading and watching her calm prayer , when Mother Fatima finished her rituals , she felt the existence in someone else in her room , she turned her face to find Josefina standing , watching her and crying , she called her to come and they both hugged and cried .

Forty days passed after Josefina s arrival , she declared her self fully ready to declare her new identity as a Muslim. The date was finally determined, Mohammad and Aisha, Amedeo and Josefina, will be married in one weeding day in the the second week of April.

The day has come and the were gathering in the big mosque in Buenos Aires, slim was the guardian of his brother Mohammad. Salman"Marco", the guardian of his daughter, Omar for his brother Amedeo and big Omar declared himself to be the guardian of Josefina because she didn't have relatives in Argentina , the two brides were their in white rosy nice Islamic costumes, Mohammad and Amedeo in their nice suites , after the late afternoon prayer , the gathering sat all into the mosque with the imam , witnesses , guardians, the imam started to call each by his name then he started his work , he started with the contract of Josefina and Amedeo, congratulations and hugs then he started with Mohammad and Aisha s contract , kisses, congratulations, hugs , cries of happiness then all moved to the house of mother Fatima.