Ordinary People

A man riding on a donkey was hawking molokhia and okra through the streets and local residential areas. He was old and thin. You could hardly see his small face for the big turban wrapped around his head. He kept calling out what products he had so people on the upper floors of buildings could hear him.

A woman on the third floor asked him for five pounds of molokhia. Her way of delivery was to lower down a bucket attached to a long rope so the seller could get the money and then put molokhia inside. Molokhia goes well with rice and meat and that was exactly what the woman was preparing for lunch.

She would start cooking before her children and husband came home. However, First things first. She had to finish house chores including cleaning that soap dish which her husband always complained was very dirty. She couldn’t understand how he could notice the small soap residue on the dish while he hadn't realized that he was wearing a pair of socks with different colors the day before. A few years later, they would find out that he had obsessive-compulsive disorder only when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his early sixties.

While tidying up her husband’s desktop, she came across a photo of her wedding party. The first time she saw him was through a photo that a matchmaker brought to her mother. The second time was at her engagement party when everything was official and announced. In two months, they were married.

Their first night was a nightmare for her. It left a bad memory of what should have been a romantic intimate occasion.

To be continued!