Page 43 of Queen of Barrakesch
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. Well, maybe I won’t be here when you get back.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said, I might not be here when you get back. I have what I wanted now.”
Wasim didn’t say a word. He didn’t make a sound. She couldn’t even hear him breathe. All she heard were the voices of men speaking in the background.
Finally, he said, in a steely voice, “Hold for one moment, please.”
Seconds later, he covered the mouthpiece and had a muffled conversation.
Imani waited with one arm crossed over her waist and a foot tapping the carpet.
When he returned to the line, there were no more voices in the background. He had clearly gone to a room alone to speak to her.
“Do not threaten me, Imani.”
“Threaten you? I wouldn’t dream of it. You’re the king, after all.”
“That is correct.”
“But as queen, I must havesomepower. Some free will of my own.” She filled her voice with caustic ice.
“Not the will to walk away from our marriage. If you believe that, you’ve sorely miscalculated.”
“Maybe you’re the one who miscalculated.” Imani allowed a healthy dose of humor to infuse her voice.
“Imani—”
“I hope you have a productive trip.”
“Imani!”
She hung up the phone. It rang immediately but she ignored it and checked the time. She should meet Yasmin downstairs now.
She gathered up her notes and other items and drop them into a large handbag. She then turned off the phone, which hadn’t stopped its incessant ringing since she hung up. She dropped it into the bag and then pulled a second phone out of one of the desk drawers. It wasn’t fully charged, but she dropped it into the bag, as well.
Then she marched out of the office with a smile on her face.
20
Today had been long, but ended on a positive note. Imani now had a good idea of how the literacy program worked and how it aided the outlying communities. When they walked through the makeshift teaching centers set up outdoors or at someone’s home, she met and spoke to dozens of women and girls who dropped in during the day to take classes. But like Yasmin, she wondered how to quantify the program’s success to justify the doubling of the budget Yasmin wanted.
Both women climbed into the back of the SUV, and the driver headed out of the last of the communities they visited for the day. They both removed the shaylas they’d worn with their pantsuits out of respect for the conservative nature of the people in the countryside, and settled down for the ride back to Kabatra.
“You probably won’t believe this, but the reason I also want to expand the program is because there are conservative members of the Parliament who think we’re funneling too much of the government’s money into free programs that provide little benefit to the country as a whole. I need to get Wasim on my side, or the program could be shut down completely.”
Imani couldn’t believe her ears. “What? That’s ridiculous. It’s clearly beneficial.”
“Clear to you and me, but I couldn’t get one single member of Parliament to send a representative to come see how the program works. They simply don’t care.” Yasmin sighed. “I don’t understand why they would have a problem with expanding programs that help people.”
“We have similar problems with certain members of The Most High Council in Zamibia. They can always find money for their pet projects like expanding training facilities for the soldiers in their communities or paying for grander buildings and furniture for their administrative offices. But there’s always a budgetary crisis whenever we need to fund programs for the less fortunate. Dahlia said the same problems exist in the United States. Extremists weaponize Christianity and use it against the poor, the less fortunate, and to limit women’s rights and protections in favor of men. Like many people who want to keep power, they blame the less fortunate for their own plight and prefer to have an uneducated population because they’re easier to control.”
Yasmin shook her head in disgust. “I wish we could get rid of the whole lot of them.”
They both laughed.
