Chapter 5 - An Introduction To My Father
I awoke to Tamam lightly rubbing the skin between my eyes. I nuzzled deep into the fabric of his shirt deeply inhaling his scent. "Jono, you must wake now. We must dress you for dinner with the family."
I grumbled and whined, "Food is overrated, but family time is not." I discovered my sweet Arabian ninja already had an outfit selected and prepared for me, a jade color shirt that closely matched what he was wearing, and black trousers. "Tam, you have ruined me." The comment elicited a confused look from him. "I will never again be able to buy off the rack again." His smile lit up my world, as he tousled my hair and kissed my forehead. We finished our preparations, and walked down the hallway to the central core of the house.
When we entered the great room I was surprised to find two new people to greet. But first Tamam addressed his father who greeted his son as if he had not seen him in months, instead of just this afternoon. Then Omar greeted me the same way. I was so happy he was slowing his speech so I could keep up.
Tam, then took me to one of the new faces. They hugged and kissed on each other. I could see the family resemblance on the older man wearing a crisply pressed thobe. I was grinning like an idiot as Tamam introduced me to his older brother Najibullah. I knew first impressions were critical. So I decided to greet him in Arabic. "Good evening Najibullah peace be with you."
He replied, "And upon you be peace Jono. Your accent is really very charming. I see why Naser spoke so well of you, so very, very, very often. Thank you for assisting us during our staff difficulties today. Our guests were very impressed with your bearing and behavior. You were not the American cowboy from the wild west they were expecting."
I wasn't sure how to accept that so I decided to accept it gracefully. "It is how I choose to honor those who raised me; by following their instruction. I will never shame my father, or his people."
With that I apparently had impressed him enough and he reached out and kissed both of my cheeks. "My friends call me Najib."
I replied, "You are most definitely 'distinguished' Najib. Thank you for your warm welcome." I couldn't help but make a play on his name.
Tamam then walked over to a smaller man who greeted him great enthusiasm, when I was introduced to his baby brother Reza he immediately fell upon my neck like a dear friend. Reza was not like his brothers. He was at least a foot smaller and nowhere near as built. It was as if his body was built more for endurance than for strength. When we broke our hug I asked if he was a runner. He nodded in the affirmative. Note to self, a running partner, if my Tamam will allow it. He whispered a question in my ear "Did you like the toy chest I picked out for you?"
I blushed bright red remembering the vibrating orbs, and whispered back, "The string of balls was fun, thank you." Tamam glared at his little brother. I guess he didn't like me whispering to him. "Ana asef Tamam." He smiled and tousled my hair with his fingers.
Papa Omar said in honor of my last night at the ranch, we would have an American style dinner of steak, potatoes, and fresh steamed asparagus. "Your foster parents said asparagus was your favorite vegetable." Reza's nose crinkled as if he smelled something truly foul. Later he would pull me aside for a lesson on how cum gets its flavor. Apparently meat, heavy proteins, and animal fats give cum a bitter taste, whereas starch gives it a mild sweet flavor. Fruit gives it a very sweet flavor. He told me asparagus on the other hand makes it taste really rank.
Reza intrigued me. Not only did he not look like his brothers, he did not behave like them either. I learned that Tamam and Naser had the same mother but Najib and Reza were from two of Omar's other wives. The whole arrangement was confusing to me. But, as brothers they all loved each other so who was I to judge.
At dinner Najib asked, "Jono, Naser told me that you play cello for falcons, is this so?"
"Yes it is. When I was troubled, or working on a solution to a problem, it was an escape. While Naser was with us, I was having difficulty continuing college. The state had cancelled a promise of tuition assistance. The medical bills of the foster siblings made it impossible for the Ghorbani's to help. Add to that interns with the Symphony, like me, did not get paid. I was more than a little blue; I needed a brief break from reality. I rode my horse down to the dock with my cello on my back and played for a couple hours as the eagles, hawks, and falcons fished in the Gulf. I did not know that Naser had followed me and heard my entire set." I smiled at Naser.
Reza asked, "What does an intern do with the symphony?"
"He gets lunches for the performers and crew, runs errands for the conductor, and hopes that someone gets sick so that he can play in a performance." I joked. "Actually, I got a lot of stage time. The conductor and the other performers liked me. Although they could not see past my years, thinking I was lacking the maturity to truly understand the music. Thus the reason I was an intern and not a full member of the symphony." Reza replied how much it must have sucked. I could only agree and add how I was still (in the eyes of the state) an under aged worker at the time.
After dinner we retired to the family room Papa Omar and I played a few games of backgammon. While his sons chatted away, Omar beat me two out of three games. I discovered Reza was a student home on vacation. I was surprised that he was studying abroad. He was studying to be a physician at the University of Bremen. He spoke of his house in Osterholz.
I was amazed that he knew about our unit's compound in Basdahl. He said he had three rooms that were empty, and how the commute would only be 25 minutes from his home, as opposed to the one hour from our support base in Bremerhaven. It was hard to tell if Tamam loved the idea or not. I told Reza E-3s were not often given permission to live off base, and having a car was mandatory to even apply for the option. I think Tamam smiled at my evasion.
While playing chess with Najib I found out that he was a lawyer, with a practice in Dhahran. His practice was centered on contract law, I feigned interest. To tell the truth I disliked lawyers in general. He boasted about a successful case he just argued in Bahrain. It centered on a French company's breach of contract. He laughed about how he could have used someone with my linguistic intrepidity during the research phase.
