Read Online Welcome to Dubai (The Traveler) by Omar Tyree - Free Book Online

Instead, she growled and balled up her fists.
    “Argh! You sound like a Muslim
husband,
and I am not your
wife,”
she shouted.
    “Yes, but you are a guest in my house, and so you are my responsibility,” Basim argued. “Do you realize how much trouble I would be in with our parents and your brothers if something were to happen to you here? So stop acting inconsiderate. You have not been here long enough to know this place like I do.”
    Again, Ramia felt squeamish. She closed the door behind them and said, “But I feel like such a
slave
in this little room. Look at this!”
    The apartment was so small that Basim used curtains to separate the rooms with no walls. Only the small bathroom had walls.
    “Why do you even bother to give me a
key?”
Ramia pouted.
    “Because you will go back to work next week, and you will need to use it,” Basim responded supportively. “This place is only temporary for
both
of us.”
    Understanding how supportive Basim had been, Ramia calmed down and took a seat at his tiny kitchen table.
    “What makes you so sure they will call next week?” she asked doubtfully.
    “Because I have faith in Allah.”
    Ramia listened and refrained from engaging in a social religious argument with him. She no longer followed the Muslim faith. Outside of women’s rights, she didn’t know what to believe in anymore.
    “We will see,” she told him.
    “Yes, we will,” Basim concluded. “In the meantime, I only want to protect you.”
    Basim was not an imposing man at all. Unless he had secretly trained in the martial arts, or owned a loaded gun—neither of which was the case—Ramia could not imagine him being able to protect her anyway. He was nowhere near as threatening as the Pakistani man she had bumped into at the corner.
    “What if the man who tried to harm me was much bigger and stronger than you?” she asked him hypothetically, imagining the man at the corner.
    “Then I will pray to the all Powerful Allah to give me the strength and skills to beat him.”
    Ramia shook her head and could no longer take it. “Allah will not help you with everything. There are thousands of people in this neighborhood, and even in this building who pray to Allah, and nothing happens.”
    “You take that back,” Basim warned her.
    “I will not.”
    “Then I will pray to Allah for your forgiveness.”
    Basim was unwavering. Ramia could see now how he had been able to survive for so long on his own. In her mind, it was not Allah at all—it was Basim. He had faith in his own belief that he would succeed in anything no matter how long it took. So she finally gave into him.
    “Okay, forgive me. Now let’s fix you something to eat.” She immediately went to his pantry with ideas of cooking her cousin a good meal. Basim Yaqoob Zahir was indeed a good man, and he deserved it. She really appreciated him. So she rubbed his back and smiled at him.
    “I’m sorry, Basim. I can still act like a brat sometimes.”
    Her cousin chuckled and remained silent. He loved her anyway. She was family.
    “You are your own woman,” he told her. “And I respect that. Maybe you should even go to Britain or America
after
you become educated.”
    Ramia smiled and chuckled. Britain and America seemed a long way from home. Nevertheless, she refused to back down from anything.
    “Maybe I will,” she teased. Then she opened the refrigerator for eggs and meat to fix the meal. “I will also help you to move into a new place.”
    He took a seat at his kitchen table and waved her idea off. “Just worry about your money for college. I will take care of my own. I’ll just make sure to send enough money back home to my mother and family.”
    Ramia nodded. She remembered that her aunt in Jordan had been fighting different physical ailments off and on for years.
    “I still have a little bit of money to help.”
    Again, Basim waved her off. “Everything costs money here. You save it to buy some things for yourself.” Then he looked her