Binyameen Read online

  Husam was caught off guard as he got paint all over her microphone when he grabbed it from her to say:

  “Ahh… I would like to say… Thank you… Thank you very much”

  His answer was so succinct, and so frustrating to the curiosity of the reporters that they preferred to turn all their questions to Eyad who turned to Husam and whispered to him furiously:

  “Ahh… Merci… Merci beaucoup…! This is all you can come up with?! I will show you Husam!”

  Husam returned to his painting, and Eyad to his reporters, and neither of them knew what was going on at that same moment at some other place… and some other universe.

  *****

  Al-Hindabah is a civilized city north of the Arabian Peninsula, half of it is over the Aqaba gulf in front of Sharm El-Shaikh, and the other half is at sea and the surrounding islands mainly Tiran and Sanafir Islands. It was founded after a battle that took place three hundred and fifty years ago between the Madain of Jinn clans “Madain Saleh[1]” and the clans migrating from the south; more than a million Jinn were slaughtered and ended with the people revolting against the families that ruled them and spilled their blood just to maintain their influence and authority over them; and a rights agreement was signed insuring a peaceful fruitful life for all Jinn regardless of race, culture or beliefs. The human expanding cities forced more Jinn to migrate from the south and east (Saudi Arabia), north (Palestine) and west (Egypt) to settle in Hindabah since it is still beyond human reach. The only thing that would cut through the silence of that area was the vibration of a cell phone hidden in a small compartment under the mosque’s rostrum where the amplifier is usually located. The phone vibrated without a sound then sat still for several hours, until the compartment’s door was opened, and the phone flew in the air and disconnected from its charger and vanished.

  On the outskirts of Tiran island in Hindabah’s suburbs far from its hustle center there was a humble house that directly over looks the beach, a quite atmosphere usually surrounded it, unless Elyaseen’s rowdy behavior ignited his mother’s temper, forcing Jumara to shout like a crazy person:

  “Elyaseen! How many times did I tell you not to go to Jeddah alone?! I swear to God I will tell your father!”

  At that moment the house’s door opens and Hawjan appears exhausted from work, Elyaseen stormed towards into his father’s arms, as Jumara continued scolding him:

  “Hawjan! you have to deal with Elyaseen! This is the second time he goes to Jeddah alone!”

  Hawjan sat on his knees as he looked into Elyaseen’s eyes as he addressed him like an adult:

  “Elyaseen… Did I not tell you not to go to Jeddah without me? The road is not safe, the Hawam Jinn can hurt you!”

  “I am Elyaseen Al-Fayhee! If the Hawam Jinn came near me I would burn them!”

  “You are Elyaseen Al-Arrogant! And your arrogance is a weakness not a strength… Tell me how would protect your mother while I am at work? I feel safe that you are here to protect her!”

  He was getting through to his son, so he added:

  “You know what, tomorrow is Friday, let us go to Jeddah together”

  “I went today and did not find anyone home, Jumana had told me that they were traveling to her grandparents”

  “Fine then, if you behave, I would take you to them!”

  Elyaseen jumped in joy, and Jumara came closer when she noticed the mobile phone in Hawjan’s hand, her face tensed:

  “Hawjan, why did you bring the mobile? Eyad called you?”

  “I did get a call… but not from Eyad…”

  He handed her the phone as he said that to show her the message that he received on his phone, a message that flamed her worry, and her jealousy exploded… a message from Sawsan!

  *****

  Jumana is a joyful kid, she lives her life with the same principles most kids of her age follow: life is but a big game! Her jumps almost never stop, so do her questions and the havoc she causes around her, but she knows how to utilize her seemingly innocence to practice her rowdiness without anyone daring to object. She was moving about the edges of the planting pots at that quite corner of the Georges Pompidou center where Sawsan and Maram had escaped the bustle and sat to enjoy a cup of coffee.

  Jumana jumped from one pot edge to another and slammed into a tall young man in a black shirt, his sleeves were rolled up and he did not bother to close the top buttons revealing the strange neckless he was wearing, a red leather rope carrying a scratched emblazoned chess knight upside down… he had dark reflecting glasses that totally hid his eyes. He kneeled in front of her and stretched out his arm that was knotted behind his back to hand Jumana a small box and ask her:

  “Jumana… right?!”

  The gift dazzled Jumana’s eyes that reflected on the young man’s glasses, she unwrapped it without replying and her eyes pooped out when she saw the golden bracelet set with miniature colored horses from her favorite cartoon: My little Pony.

  Sawsan came rushing and squeezed her fingers over Jumara’s arm as her scolding words came out between her shut teeth:

  “Jumana, what do we say when someone gives us a gift?!”

  Jumana toke a quick glance at the tall young man and gave a Disney princess’ kneeling gesture as she said:

  “Merci beaucoup monsieur”

  Then ran away jumping in joy with her new bracelet, leaving Sawsan at this awkward situation with this young man who started talking in a perfect traditional Arabic language:

  “You must be Mrs. Sawsan, are you not?!”

  She gestured positively with her head as she replied:

  “Jumana is a rowdy child… please forgive us Mr…”

  “Binyameen… My name in Binyameen[2]”

  “Pleasure to meet you Mr. Binyameen”

  “I was looking for Mr. Eyad, I have an appointment with him”

  She escorted him to Eyad who was still busy with Husam and the reporters before Sawsan interrupted him:

  “Eyad, this gentleman was asking about you…”

  The young man stepped forward to enthusiastically shake Eyad’s hand as he said:

  “Mr. Eyad, it is an honor to finally meet you in person after all of our emails”

  “Mr. Binyameen, Happy to meet you!”

  Eyad was taken back by Binyameen speaking in perfect traditional Arabic although all the email correspondents between them was in English, he was unable to hide his surprise as he said:

  “I did not know you spoke Arabic as well!”

  He smiled as he replied:

  “Why the surprise? My name? my name is an Arabic name: Bin… Yameen… Son of the Righteous!”

  Husam approached them to great Binyameen:

  “Binyameen, the brother of Prophet Josef!”

  Binyameen ignored the colors staining Husam’s hands and extended he palms to shake his hand with enthusiasm as he replied stressing on his words:

  “Binyameen son of the Prophet Israel!”

  The three of them moved to the small meeting room and Eyad jumped right into the subject:

  “Choosing Georges Pompidou center was the right choice! The success the exhibit had prepared us for the next step”

  Binyameen followed up:

  “The Hollywood step”

  Eyad continued with excitement:

  “It must be a huge production; we must work with the best directors!”

  Binyameen did not give him a chance to finish his sentence to announce his surprise:

  “The director is awaiting our call!”

  He setup his phone over the small table in front of them; and started a video call, seconds later the image of a blond man in his late forties with clear excitement all over his face expression:

  “Mr Christopher, allow me to introduce Mr. Husam and Mr. Eyad whom I spoke to you off”

  This was a shocking surprise for both Husam and Eyad, to see Christopher Nolan in the flesh, Eyad sat up straight as he spoke:

  “We never imagined that we would get the honor
of having a direct call with you Mr. Christopher!”

  Christopher cut him of with his American slang spiced with a bit of British:

  “The pleasure is all mine, I received pictures of some of the paintings done by Mr. Husam, honestly to this moment I can comprehend the technique used. I can imagine someone who can breathe life into his paintings, but what confuses me is the infinite details, the more I zoom in the more amazing details I see!”

  Eyad was used to answering this kind of questions from reporters:

  “He completed some of those paintings in less than three hours!”

  Binyameen jumped in:

  “Mr. Christopher, you have spent 15 years working on your movies that had revolutionized the movie industry, Inception, the Batman trilogy, Superman, Interstellar… here we have a story that combines all of your movies”

  Curiosity gave thickness to the pause, before Binyameen continued:

  “Husam was in another world, another dimension, designed for him by a nymph”

  “Like the engineered realistic dreams in Inception…” Said Christopher.

  “This was no virtual world Mr. Christopher, it was real, much more real than the world we live in now, so real that my life here is foggy in comparison to my time I lived Somewhere”

  Binyameen continued his speech:

  “When Husam was in that world, he lived through a battle with the Joker after mastering all of the skills he needed to face him”

  “Yes… I saw the set of paintings that captured the details of that battle… Truly stunning!”

  “Husam met with Leonardo Davinci, Beethoven, Bruce Lee, and mastered the skills of each of them, in addition to becoming a living puzzling medical phenomenon after waking from his coma, a general mutation that changed all of his vital functions and doubled the rate of regeneration of his body cells, in short he awoken as a real superman!”

  Christopher’s interest was growing with every word, in front of his was a chance to make a film that would crown his movie legend, a movie ready with all its details and events and most importantly its super hero. An opportunity of this magnitude could never come again:

  “When can we meet?”

  Binyameen replied:

  “When can you setup a meeting with Warner?”

  “Any time! We can meet with them today if you want”

  “Great, then setup the meeting in ten hours” Said Binyameen as he ended the video call.

  “WE must start preparing for Warner’s call, we don’t have enough time!” Said Eyad.

  “Did you think you would close a multimillion-dollar deal over a video call?!”

  “What do you mean?”

  Husam understood what Binyameen was hinting to and said calmly:

  “I do not have a US VISA”

  “Don’t worry my men will take care of everything, we must head out now!”

  Said Binyameen and Eyad exploded nervously:

  “You mean to fly to California? Are you serious?”

  “I do not know how to joke my friend; we will meet them in New York”

  “I thought I was the boldest craziest man on earth… I guess it is competition then”

  Binyameen smiled for the first time since he met them:

  “This will not be a fair fight at all! In any case my private plain is ready, we will head out immediately. You must inform Sawsan, Maram and the Exhibit’s management that you will be gone for 24 hours!”

  *****

  Sawsan did not sleep since the moment Maram sent that SMS to Dr. Emad Zaki, her phone never left her palm, she jumps with every call or message as she awaited his reply. She was leaning oh her hand as she watched the cars and road as she headed by to the hotel with Maram… and her heart jumped. It jumped when her phone rang, and she calmed down when she realized that it was Eyad calling her:

  “Sawsan! Remember what I told you when we were watching Batman, Inception and Interstellar?”

  “Eyad? Did you finish your meeting?”

  “You did not answer me… what do I always tell you in the movies?” he said with excitement.

  “You tell me you wish you can attend a shooting with that director”

  “His name is Christopher Nolan… not that director! Anyway, we must fly to him now, prepare my suit and passport the moment you arrive at the hotel, I will pass to pick them up and head to the airport!”

  “Are you serious? You are going to the airport?”

  “Our meeting with Warner Brothers is in New York in ten hours! We are flying on Binyameen’s private jet, don’t worry we will finish the meeting and come back in the same day”

  “You speak as if you are going to pick a cup of coffee and back! I will not let you go alone; we are coming with you!”

  “Sawsan! How can I take you with me in such a hectic trip? Stay at the hotel with Maram and Jumana, go out and have fun, and tomorrow you I will be back”

  “May God protect you and help you achieve all your dreams”

  “My life long dream was achieved when you agreed to marry me Sawsan, since then I have been living my dreams one by one! Got to call the exhibit”

  Her cheeks that never get bored of his flattery turned pinkish as she said:

  “Ok by you charmer”

  Her cheeks turned red and her body shivered with her heart beats when the phone rang again, but this time the call was from Dr. Emad Zaki… Or more accurately Hawjan!

  (3)

  An Eye for an Eye

  H umane… What is humane?

  Humane is a set of emotions, reactions and values that you humans attribute to yourselves, simply because you don’t directly interact with other beings that share those same reactions. You attribute them only to humans out of vanity and shortcomings of understanding the universes around you.

  Yes, I am not from your universe, but I certain that I carry those emotions that you believe no one else shares them with your race, those emotions are the result of the natural instinctive tendencies that flow out of the spirit, regardless of universe or body where that spirit was resurrected… it is a whiff of light… some ascend… and others who fall far away to the pits of his materialistic obsessions.

  Let us agree then to replace the word “humane” with the word “spiritual” as its generality engulfs all universes including yours and the Jinn’s… as well as mine.

  That spiritual tendency is what made Sawsan’s heart shiver so violently calling back the blood from her body to trap into its compartments despite its violent beat, when she looked at the call coming in from Dr.EZ she almost ignored it for moment had it not been her only hope of knowing wither or not a Jinni had really sacrificed his life to save hers, or was all of that merely a scenario that her subconscious used for her to escape her reality. She answered the call but failed in uttering any words, her hear beats infected his, and her silence knocked his tongue, moments passed like ages, only her sobbing interrupted that silence… until he ended it with her shivering question:

  “Sawsan… How are you?”

  “Hawjan… How dare you…!”

  He was shocked by her immediate confrontation, he did not expect that her hears would make him out so easily, words of denying could not flow as she exploded, the fact that he was a being from another world made no difference to her, hear heart wash shouting directly into his:

  “Why Hawjan? Why? Seven years not knowing wither you were dead or alive… seven years not knowing wither you were real or an illusion… Why Hawjan?”

  She gave him no room to elude her od deny, he gave in to her breakdown as she continued in a quivering chocked voice:

  “Don’t you dare try to convince me that it was for my own good! You burned my heart to save my mind? Imagin if it was I who suddenly disappeared and for seven year you knew nothing about me?!”

  He breakdown continued with her sobbing, and Hawjan did not dare to utter anything but one sentence:

  “Sawsan… what hotel are you staying in?”

  His question pulled her out
of her sobbing as she replied in shock:

  “Marriott Champs Elysees. Why?”

  “I am on my way”

  The call ended, but the violent shock that swiped over Sawsan;s hear did not.

  *****

  A self-driving Bentley Mulsanne pitch-black both from the outside and in approached the Marriott’s entrance, Eyad and Husam jumped out of the car before it even stopped, and one can hear Binyameen’s voice from inside:

  “You have three minuets”

  Sawsan was waiting for Eyad with his bag and passport, he came into the room and grabbed them as he was taking his breath:

  “Sawsan I must be in the plain in half an hour, take care of your self and Jumana my love”

  He kissed his two girls and headed out without noticing the stressed look that had filled Sawsan’s soul.

  “Two minutes and fourteen seconds”

  Said Binyameen as the self-driving Bentley toke off, Eyad responded in confidence:

  “I guess you owe us forty-six seconds then!”

  “Had I given you two minutes you would have been done in one and a half, people program them selves according to the ceiling of their ambitions! In any case collect every second as you will need them badly later!”

  The Bentley’s wheels ripped Paris’s streets as it raced through them in speeds that were unfamiliar to them and not one cop dared to intercept it because of its special plates that give its occupants an immunity that only the Frensh president and a hand full of diplomats can ever attain. It automatically stopped next to the check point, the officer was taken back for a moment when the rear window opened, and he noticed that no one was driving the car since self-driving cars were still not so common… But Binyameen’s diplomatic passport cut his shock short and changed it into a formal greeting as he allowed them to pass. The Bentley turned into the road leading to the private planes’ runway and stopped in front of one where Elyana a girl that blended beauty from both her African and European lineage while her businesswoman outfit gave her back some of her femininity that is usually hidden behind military uniforms.