A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea(33)
“Give me some time and I’ll call you back,” Doaa promised as tears rolled down her face. When they hung up, Doaa wasn’t sure if he had heard her crying.
Doaa agonized over her decision. Would Bassem really go back? Could he die because of her? Part of her admired him for having the courage to return to Syria to rejoin the struggle. Hadn’t she fantasized about doing the same thing?
Word spread quickly of Bassem’s imminent departure, and people whispered to each other about how he was leaving because he couldn’t bear the pain of his broken heart.
Over the next few days Doaa couldn’t stop thinking about him. She didn’t want him to die because of her. Two days after their phone call, Doaa paced nervously around her apartment. She thought about Bassem’s kind brown eyes and how much he had cared for her and her family. All of a sudden, she realized that maybe she didn’t have to do everything alone. Her mother and father supported each other and they were stronger because of it. She admitted to herself that she couldn’t stand the idea of not having Bassem around. Her Gamasa neighborhood would be dull and colorless again without him.
Doaa picked up her mobile and called Bassem.
“Nice to hear your voice, Doaa,” he greeted her, before asking anxiously, “Did you think about it more?”
Without preparation, the words sputtered out of her mouth, “How come you say that you love me and yet you want to leave me and go to Syria?” she challenged.
Bassem replied just as quickly, “Because I’m burning with love for you, and I can’t stand seeing you and not having you in my life. I’d rather become a martyr in Syria. The pain of not having you is too much to bear.”
As if her voice belonged to someone else, she heard herself say, “Well, I’ve thought about it a lot, and if you are still interested, you can go and ask my father for my hand.” As soon as she spoke the words, she knew she was speaking from her heart. Her fear of trusting someone was nothing compared to her fear of losing the man who might be the love of her life.
Bassem was dumbfounded by Doaa’s response. “Are you sure you really mean it?”
“I mean it.”
“Okay. Hang up the phone right now!” he screamed with jubilance. “I am going to your father’s salon right now to ask for your hand! After that, I’ll come right over!”
“No, silly.” Doaa laughed. “You can’t go right now. It’s too late. Go tomorrow!”
Long after she hung up, she kept the phone in her hand thinking about the possibility of a new life ahead of her.
SIX
The Engagement
The next day, Shokri looked up from sweeping up after a client to see Bassem walking into the barbershop trailed by a group of friends. Bassem was wearing a good suit that was freshly pressed, his hair was carefully combed, and his beard was neatly trimmed.
Shokri smiled in welcome and offered the young men seats, but they all stayed standing while Bassem shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
“I came here to let you know that I have proposed to Doaa,” he said at last. “I am here to ask for your support.”
Shokri was incredulous. “Bassem, I like you very much. But Doaa doesn’t want to get married.” Shaking his head, Shokri went back to sweeping.
Bassem was baffled and didn’t know how to respond to Shokri’s dismissal. After a few awkward moments, one of his friends spoke up for him. “Bassem is serious, sir! He has been in love with Doaa for three months now!”
Shokri thought he knew his daughter well enough to know what her answer would be. He looked up from his work and answered with conviction, “Look, this is nothing personal, but I am quite sure that Doaa has no interest in getting engaged.”
“B-b-but,” Bassem stuttered, “she has agreed! It’s true she didn’t want to for a time, but she’s changed her mind now.”
Hearing this, Shokri brightened. He couldn’t believe it, and he couldn’t imagine a better match for Doaa than this hardworking, caring young man. Feeling suddenly optimistic and looking forward to something to celebrate, he smiled at Bassem. “Well, if Doaa wants this, I will of course agree to it.”
Thrilled, Bassem immediately called Doaa to share the news. They set a date for their engagement ceremony for a few days later, August 28, 2013, and planned to throw a party to celebrate on September 1.
Bassem visited the family every day after work, bringing small gifts and lingering after dinner to sit beside Doaa and whisper to her. During his breaks from work, he called Doaa and sent her text messages with heart emojis and poems by his favorite Syrian poets.
Doaa and Bassem’s engagement lifted a cloud from over the Al Zamel house. Hanaa’s health improved and the new couple became the talk of the neighborhood. Everyone knew that Romeo Bassem had finally won his Juliet. The engagement was a bright spot in the midst of the everyday struggles of life as a refugee.
The first step in the engagement was the signing ceremony, a formal event witnessed by a small group of family and friends in the Al Zamels’ home. Doaa, dressed in a black dress with a black-and-red veil, stood with the women on one side of a window, while Bassem and the men stood on the other side on a balcony. A sheikh, a local religious leader, laid out the contract—called the Katb el-Kitab—an Islamic prenuptial agreement that would sanction their relationship, and asked Doaa through the window three times if she took Bassem for her betrothed. Each time she replied resolutely, “I do.” These responses made them man and wife in the eyes of God, then they signed the Katb el-Kitab. Afterward, Doaa joined Bassem on the balcony, while the family cheered them on, and Hanaa and the girls served tea and cake to all the guests. Later, they would need to visit a courthouse to make their engagement official. But for now they were blessed as a couple with the intention to marry, giving them the freedom to walk in public hand in hand.