20:33 British time ; 23:30 Jordanian time : over the phone with the mother
‘I really feel
for him’ I truly did
‘And what about
me ?!! ‘ She was getting even more furious
Oops!That
needed to be reiterated right away ‘Listen
doc , you gave him a management role , he felt responsible and he probably didn’t want to worry you …Now everybody is blaming
my brother ...That’s being said. He could 've possibly handled it better than he did‘
‘Possiblly?!! Your
father and I still needed to be kept in the loop ….’
‘if he was to let the staff bribe that corrupted officer once, what would
guarantee that the officer won’t keep coming back for more?’
‘Nothing …but this
is Baghdad for you that’s how it works …your brother didn’t only keep us in the dark ,he informed Baghdad intelligence
agency and a freaking undercover operation took place in my pharmacy with guns
and what have you. All five pharmacists resigned same day...I got no staff to
run the pharmacy now!!’
‘Ok…any gun
shots in ‘‘this undercover operation ‘’?’
‘Triggers were
pulled but no shots and no one got hurt …..Are you laughing Seriously?’
‘Sorry mom ...it’s not funny I know … at least no damage was done’ I thought
it was hilarious to be honest…Probably because I’ve lived many of Baghdad’s wars
and unrests…I was there when the civil war started …Still it was abit hard for me to imagine that this bond
easque style events could happen in a hospital in the city centre ‘But… We can
definitely send this to 24 don’t you think? my sister did say
they’re running out of ideas for their next series ‘
‘It’s a crap
show ‘
‘I totally agree ...hey at least we agreed on one thing here’
‘And your uncle
was like why your businesses were being targeted by ISIS
and now this, there must be a reason … his remarks are making me more nervous…’
‘Just ignore him ...Why are you still in his place anyway?’
‘Oh dear, that’s
a whole different story ...me and your brother decided to paint our apartment
‘
‘But …it’s newly painted!!
‘ I blurted … why this tendency of creating
extra work for herself …I thought but didn’t say it out loud though my tone
gave it away
‘It’s a fancy
paint… Anyways this Jordanian painter was being irrational. And …‘
She went on and
on about the contractors ...I lost the
trail of events right after the paint story….
See what message
my brother was getting after being reprimanded for wanting to put a dishonest
police officer behind bars ..He’s a young man who still thinks that things can
be fixed…granted, he almost got himself killed on few occasions because he couldn’t
put up with crap ....the truth is I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong
anymore …One thing I was sure about though , a huge part of me is feeling sorry
for him as I know too well how the parents can be sometimes , however the
selfish part of me is certainly relieved ..I’ve been off the hook from their ’help’
for awhile …
‘… so I fired him’ she said finally and with
those words I woke up again
‘Aha...good
call’ was all I managed to say
‘And your dad is
losing it …’
‘Grief , I don’t
blame him ...you and my brother are chilling/painting the apartment and he is left on his own in Baghdad ,the mad house…’
‘He installed
more CCTVs, now you can’t miss a fly ‘
‘Home or work?’
‘Everywhere’
I found that irritating ‘I can’t understand
the point behind them tbh ..so say we catch the bad guys on camera then what
..Without law enforcement, these bloody cameras are just making you paranoids ‘ as I was saying this I quickly realized that
probably wasn’t a great idea …I didn’t think she’d called me to hear my opinion
anyway ,She just wanted to talk. I thought I had to buffer the crap I’d just said
...’but I guess they can help ! Mom! Why don’t you forget about Baghdad for a sec and enjoy Amman
‘Ok ..Maybe..I m
sorry how are you?
‘see that was
easy ! I’m ok ‘
…a pause
‘I feel better
now thank you’ I didnt think she was saying the truth
‘Glad you do’
And then ...as
she always does, she just hang up …
The few minutes
I spent on the phone were emotionally loaded…I would have thought that in their
forties , my parents would be able to at least not let things get to their head… I was definitely
wrong about that ! maybe I needed to put what happened in perspective ..Lives at stake and a lot of
uncomfortable decisions to be made … It isn’t easy …
You know what I
can go on and on about it but I’ll call
it a day here
Keep smiling
best friends
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