In Honour of the Egyptian Parliament

They finally passed legislation banning FGM. Certainly took them long enough. Coincidentally, this month's flash fiction piece in Campus Magazine is about FGM. Aren't I psychic?

It's Called "Nesma".

Mama and Baba are fighting again today. They are fighting about me, like yesterday and the day before. Something about a lady and a word I don’t know. Hon-or? I should ask Naeem what that means. Naeem is in fifth grade, he’ll know. He’s the smartest boy in his class. Baba says he’ll be an engine. Mama says he’ll be a doctor. I don’t want Naeem to turn into an engine. They’re hot and dirty. I want Naeem to be a plane driver so he can take me up high in his big plane. Naeem says he would if he could. I start first grade next week. I don’t want to but Naeem says I will like it. He says all we do is colour and nap. I still don’t want to.

Mama says it won’t hurt. She calls me into her room and talks about being a woman with res-pect. I don’t know what that means either, but I won’t ask. Baba is angry. He tries not to show me and smiles in a thin line. Like he does when Teta comes to visit. He is hiding behind his newspaper and it is shaking. How can he read something that’s moving so much?

A big fat lady with three yellow teeth and black dots on her chin came to see me. She smells funny. Like the incense Mama burns on Fridays but also like sweat and meat. She has lots of thick gold bracelets on her arms. They cover her almost to her elbows. She’s like the cows at Giddo Hamza’s. You can hear them a million kilometres away because of their bells. Giddo says that’s how they find cows in Swizzerlan. He says there are many cows there because it is all grass. And chocolate. I want Naeem to take me when he gets his plane. That’ll be our first stop because we both love chocolate. And Giddo can come to buy a new cow.

I don’t like the big fat lady. She smiles too hard. Baba doesn’t say hello to her like he usually does when people visit. Usually he even says hello to Teta and he doesn’t like her. If I tried not to say hello Mama would spank me hard. That isn’t fair. Baba just left and slammed the door. I wonder if Mama will spank him when he gets home.

Mama just made me lie down on the table. She says the lady is going to make me pretty. I tell her Baba says I’m already the most beautiful girl in the world. She tells me to do as I’m told and looks at me scary. I lie down and stare at the crack shaped like a bunny in the ceiling. I call it Rosto and make it my pet. I will make everyone say hi to Rosto and will feed it when we have lunch.

The fat lady takes a shiny blade out of her sleeve, like the ones Baba uses to shave. Is she going to shave my face? I lift my head to see but Mama pushes it down and holds my hand. She smiles but doesn’t really. I’m scared now and the big fat lady takes off my panties. Mama always says I shouldn’t let anyone do that but she’s letting the fat lady do it to me now.

She puts something cold down there and then the whole room spins and goes very very white and I see a big bumblebee buzzing and buzzing and buzzing around my head in front of my nose and I want to scream and shoo it before it stings my nose but I can’t move and I can’t breathe and I can’t feel anything and it lands on my nose near my eyes and stings me and my nose becomes a big balloon that pops and falls off in the big fat lady’s rough red hands.

Mama cleans me up and put me to bed. I fall asleep. When I wake up Baba is sitting next to me holding my hand. I put my hand to my nose to check if it grew back. It did. I lie back, whew. I tell Baba about the bumblebee and my nose growing back. He smiles and says he has a present for me. I take it and open it and it is a pretty new pink and yellow dress. I give him a kiss and tell him not to leave me because I don't want to close my eyes in case the bumblebee comes back. He says he will make sure it doesn't come back. Baba will protect me and I sigh and fall asleep.