The Three Day Pass Ch. 28

Sometime during the day Rich called and announced that he was unable to break away from the rehearsal. He asked to speak to Fazzi and when he was handed the phone the two of them spoke for about five minutes. When he closed the cell phone, Fazzi told Joseph that Rich had expressed his disappointment at not being able to get to the party, but to make it up he was going to reserve some seats for Fazzi front row center opening night.

"I told him it was not necessary, but he insisted. He sounds like such a nice boy." Fazzi said to Joseph and the Worthingtons. "I really would like to meet him soon. However, since putting on this little party, I know how much it takes and how hard it is to put on a production. We all have to make sacrifices for 'Art's Sake'. Even Joseph had to give his all for our little enterprise here. Isn't that true. Yussef?"

"Anything for you Fazzi. You people don't know the hours of practice I put in learning that Dabbke. My feet still hurt me, to say nothing about my back and legs." Joseph said putting his arm around Fazzi's shoulder ready to squeeze it if he thought Fazzi was going to relate his 'Dina adventures'. "Rich is lucky he does not have Fazzi as his director. He is a slave driver, but I am going to miss him when he returns to Syria for a few weeks. It will be lonely without him in Jersey. I guess I'll stay on base."

"No there is no need for that, you can always come out to the Island and visit us. You know that you are welcome anytime." Richard said and then Sarah added; "Besides when you come you always bring Rich with you and it's a double treat for us."

"You can always stay at the estate. It is your home now. I want you to think of it as yours. Someday it will all belong to you. Why not invite the Worthingtons over for a weekend while I'm away? Maybe throw a wild party? Isn't that what American boys do when their family is away on vacation?" Fazzi joked and then turned to Richard senior and said. "At least with you around I know that they will show some restraints and not wreck the place entirely."

The day came to an end and everyone was sorry to see it end. The commanding Office came say goodbye and to thank Fazzi for a wonderful day. All of Joseph's students lined up behind their C.O. and joined him in saying good-bye. Hugging and kissing Fazzi and Joseph in the Arab style, each one expressed his thanks for the opportunity to learn about a side of Arab culture that was not taught in school.

Ibrahim and his mother also came to say goodbye. He again thanked Joseph and announced he was going to take his exhausted mother back to the hotel, but that he was going out on a late night date. When he had finished his goodbyes to Fazzi, Joseph took him aside for a private conversation. He volunteered to take him into Manhattan and drop him and his mother at their hotel, since he was going into the city anyway.

"After we get your mom settled for the evening," he told him, "I can drop you off at Dina's place; if that is where you are going?"

"And how did you know that?"

"I saw her give you her calling card." Joseph laughed.

"Have you...?"

"We are just good friends." Joseph said. "She is all yours, I have enough on my plate right now. Although with Kassie in Michigan, it does get lonely."

"When are you two going to get married?" Ibrahim asked.

"Who knows if we will? Since she went to Michigan she has become Americanized; even changed her name to Cassandra and she has learned to love her freedom. I don't think she really cares to marry me any longer." Joseph lied. "She is not the subservient Muslim daughter that she was. She is out there going to school learning to be a doctor."

"And what about you, what will happen if you two don't get married. It looks as if Fazzi will kill her if you don't become his son-in-law. From what I can see he already treats you as his son."

"He has no son. He always wanted one, but it was not in the cards. Now what I am going to tell you is just between us and you are to keep it that way. Cassandra and Mary have gone back to their church. She will not marry a Muslim. Fazzi has almost disowned her. He still has hopes that I will convert, but that would not make any difference because he has already drawn up and signed papers making me his son. I argued with him on this but he insisted. He told me I was his son and heir and that's the way he wants it. With or without his daughter. He still has hopes that I will convert, but he no longer insists on it. When I told him that I would just turn over everything to his wife and daughter, he said they were already taken care of for the rest of their lives. Anyway that it did not matter. What I did with the money after his death was my business. He trusted me to make the right choices."

"I don't know what to say, except that this is all unbelievable." Ibrahim said, "When I think that this could have been my lot. If I had bartered for her hand, it would have been me..."

Hey you ass hole.... Do you know how many men would kill for a chance to bed Dina?" Joseph smiled and slapped Ibrahim on the back. "You know you still have to buy me that big bacon sandwich."

"That stuff will kill you- all that fat is not the best thing for you."

"I'm still young. I'm in good shape and I can afford the luxury of having the best gym equipment in the world installed on the estate... So don't you try to get out of the deal, you owe me and I intend to collect."

"It's your life but since you saved mine; I was just trying to return the favor."

They all started to pile into the van to return to the estate when Fazzi had a fit and started cursing in Arabic. His watchband had broken and the watch fell to the concrete sidewalk. It was one of those old and very expensive Rolex types. The ones that had so many hands and buttons that made it difficult to tell the time. Picking it up and seeing the crystal smashed he was almost beside himself.

Joseph looked at the watch and said, "It can be repaired. It looks like you can use a new watchband. A metal one this time so it won't break."

"Yes I know that, but do you know how hard it is to find a real jeweler these days?" Fazzi moaned. "The only one I know of is a friend of Summaya. He's an old Yemenite and he is always busy with repair work. Whenever I enter his shop, it is like going back in time. You can always hear the tick tock of all the old clocks he has on display. It reminds me of the past. Maybe I should get one of those new digital watches. Like everything else these days timekeeping has falling victim to a new technology, but I'm old-fashioned and I like to lift it to my ear and hear it ticking. The sound soothes me. I'll see if he can fit a heavy gold band, one with a safety chain to prevent it from falling off if it should open."

"I'm sure it can be done."

When they returned to the estate Fazzi called over his cook and housekeeper and told her what he wanted done. "Do you think he can do it? Ask him to have it done before I leave for Syria next week. I will pay him extra for such short notice."

"I'm sure he can do it." She said and took the watch.

To be continued....