Chapter 15 "Revenge of the Red, Brown, and Green Stripes"

It was a typical Thursday afternoon for the sisters. They had finished three hours of language study and were on their way out for two more hours with Jamela. McCaine wrapped her pink tobe around her and secured the bottom end tightly under her armpit. Red wore May’s, not-so-white-anymore, skirt and a black blouse with a black wrap. May proudly displayed her sewn skirt and matching red blouse. Jamila wore a jean skirt and black top that had suffered an attack from the “Bedazzler”, her head covered by a light green covering. The sisters and Jamela walked, in style, to the end of their road and waved for an amjad (mini van).

The afternoon escaped them quickly as they practiced vocabulary at the local market and exchanged money with venders and cashiers. Jamela haggled with an amjad driver for a price the sisters found reasonable for the short journey back to Jamela’s house. Once Jamela had won the haggle war, the group entered the amjad and opened all the windows. The wind breathed hot air on them from all sides and May held down the rambunctious skirt.

The driver claimed he had no change for the sister’s bill. May, forgetting she had change, asked Jamela to make a deal with him to bring them to their house for a round trip total of 9 dinar. The driver agreed. They hugged Jamela goodbye and thanked her for her help that afternoon.

Red took the front seat, May and McCaine shared the back. The driver continued his deceitful ways by taking them the long route, covering as much dirt road as possible on the trip. Each sister knew exactly what he was doing and sat quietly asking The Father for patience. A quarter mile from their house stood two women waving to the driver for a ride. He pulled over and told the sisters to get out of the amjad. Red had enough of his tactics, boldly scolded him and informed him, he would finish his job.

May could see the driver’s expression in the mirror. She could not tell if he found Red humorous or offensive. She did know that the driver would attempt to rip them off again and she was not going to have that. She looked at McCaine and announced none of them would exit the amjad until the driver gave them the right change. May’s prediction proved right. The amjad wobbled its’ way down the pot hole infested road and stopped at their gate. He refused to give the sisters their change. Red continued repeating, “ma kways” and grabbed their bill back from his hands. Neither May nor McCaine knew quite what to think for they had never seen Red so forceful but were happy for her boldness. May fumbled around her purse trying to find more change. The driver became irate and ordered the sisters out of his vehicle. Red and McCaine exited successfully. May did not.

She gave the money to the driver, he reached over just as she placed her left foot on the ground to accompany her right foot on the hot sand, and slammed the door shut. He pushed the gas, murmuring things May could not understand, and began to drive away. May suddenly felt paralyzed. The feeling, familiar to the skirt’s last rebellion, she knew she was stuck yet again. As fate would have it the striped skirt decided to lag behind her legs and was stuck in the door of the moving amjad.

At the precise moment, when the force of the vehicle moving in the opposite direction of her body would either drag her along or rip the skirt off her body, she was freed. McCaine stammered for words and thought to herself, why do these moments seem to always entangle May? She waited for May’s reaction before she reacted. Thankful the amjad released its’ grip on the stripes, she let out a full belly laugh. May and McCaine began hysterics as May bent down to pick up the limb that was torn from the skirt.

Red, still annoyed, stopped fiddling with the gate door and turned around to see the missing appendage of May’s skirt waving to her from the door of the amjad. She looked at May, who had picked up the torn strip and wrapped it around her head as a cute, or so she thought, bandana. Red, McCaine, and May sat down on the broken concrete sidewalk and laughed until tears flowed from each of their eyes. The amjad driver vanished in the dust and the tattered skirt rest peacefully on May’s legs and the ground.