Princess Sultana's Circle

errand.
    “ Sweetheart,” he said, as
he bent to kiss me.
    My calm smile concealed my
despair. Every woman has a hidden source of knowledge about her
husband. I smelled the scent of another woman on my husband, and
told him so.
    In an attempt to placate
me, Kareem spun one lie after another, but in a jealous fury, I
dragged three suitcases into our bedroom.
    I packed my
clothes.
    Kareem unpacked my
clothes.
    I packed, and he
unpacked.
    Our conversation went the
same way as our packing, with everything repeated in different
words.
    I stared into my empty bag,
and threatened divorce.
    Kareem held the phone and
told me to dial a certain number, that he had been at the home of a
friend, and that the friend would swear to the truth that they had
been without female companionship.
    Knowing that such a friend
would protect him, I understood that I would never know the truth.
“Why should I cook water?” I asked scornfully. “It will only remain
water.”
    Temporarily defeated by the
freedom only men can claim as their own, I felt a desperate urge to
inflict pain on my husband. Remembering the vow I had made to
defeat my drinking habit, and knowing that Kareem would be greatly
wounded were I to break it, I walked to the cabinet that held our
store of liquor. Uncapping a bottle of whiskey, I drank straight
from the bottle. My eyes met Kareem’s shocked stare. I told him
what was on my mind: “Husbands rule, wives endure.” I paused as I
took another swallow, then threatened. “If you go to bed with other
women, Kareem, then I will certainly become an
alcoholic.”
    Kareem blinked in surprise,
then said, “Ah! A drink,” as he glanced at his watch. “At ten
o’clock in the morning! What a wonderful idea, Sultana.” He walked
toward me, took the bottle from my hand, and then he, too, took a
long drink from the bottle.
    With the back of his hand
he wiped his lips and mustache. “If the woman I love becomes an
alcoholic, then I will become one too!”
    I stared at Kareem. I had
no desire for either of us to become an alcoholic!
    The faintest of smiles
began to flicker across Kareem’s face. My husband was a man of two
distinct parts, one lovable, and one detestable. I began to weaken
after looking into his large black eyes filled with so much
affection.
    When Kareem’s massive chest
began to rise and fall with silent laughter, my anger evaporated
all at once. I laughed aloud as I put the bottle of alcohol back
into the cabinet.
    Suddenly, we were locked in
a lover’s embrace. Our latest disagreement was quickly buried in
the same bottomless container as every other unresolved issue of
our marriage.
    The following morning a
serious Kareem said that he had to speak with me about an important
matter.
    After ordering a strong
coffee from the kitchen, I sat quietly, sipping from my cup,
listening as Kareem shared his thoughts.
    “ The incident with Amani
has caused me to rethink my ideas on Saudi Arabia’s future. I have
decided to invest more of our money into foreign
ventures.”
    I stared blankly before
responding. “Why would you do that?”
    “ For the sake of our
children, Sultana.” He paused. “Do you agree?”
    Trying to think, I rubbed
my forehead with my fingers.
    “ Well, I don’t know. It’s
too early to think about business.” I paused before adding, “Don’t
you think we already own enough businesses abroad?”
    Kareem and I owned hotels
and businesses in Europe, America, and Asia. Even now, to keep
watch over all that we owned was nearly impossible. Following a
recent accounting, we were told that our total assets in real
estate, cash, and businesses worldwide, was nearly $900 million
dollars.
    Kareem leaned in toward me.
“Listen to me, Sultana. It’s time to face reality. Even our own
daughter, the niece of the King, is critical of the regime. Can you
imagine what other Saudis think of our family? Sultana, one day, we
are going to lose Saudi Arabia. Perhaps not in our lifetime, but
certainly during the lifetimes of our children.”
    My husband’s words
depressed me, although this was a topic our family had discussed on
many occasions before.
    “ Nothing lasts forever,”
Kareem mused. “Our family will eventually lose its control. I
greatly fear that Saudi Arabia will tread the same path taken by
Iran and Afghanistan. The Islamic fundamentalist ripple is growing
into a tidal wave that will engulf every Muslim country.” Kareem
paused while gathering his thoughts.
    The idea of Saudi