The 10 to 1 thing

 

I met a fortune teller yesterday, a cool, handsome and tall man in Downtown Cairo. My city which is burdened by more than a fare share of charm, magic and madness, sent me this strange guy. He waved enthusiastically as I was walking towards his table, in one of the area’s many coffeeshops that sprawl into the streets with their cheap plastic chairs and tables as soon as the sun sets. I moved closer in case he was an old friend or someone I knew, he pulled my hand firmly and said “we were supposed to meet a few months ago, where have you been?”. I stuttered while staring at his face, “mm… do you know…”. He interrupted me, ignored my question, and said “sit down, you are a Scorpio, right?”. He wasn’t really waiting for any confirmation, he removed his eye glasses and smiled. I could not help but to gaze at his narrow deep eyes and the black thick eyebrows covering them. “I am a Scorpio too, and I have a few things to tell you”. He paused to light a cigarette, and may be to tease me. “ Will you keep staring at my face? May be you like it, it’s the result of a peculiar mix, my great grandfather was from Aleppo…” He was the most talkative person I have ever met, may be he needed to talk and I defiantly did not mind listening. Did you say his ancestors where from Aleppo or the mountainous area north of it, but they were Kurds, I allowed myself to be lost in the melancholic rhythms of Kurdish music, and the rich colors of their kilims, as he kept talking. He mentioned that his great grandfather left Syria to Libya, but there was a war at that time, this guy shuffled regions, histories and nations while he was puffing his cigarettes in my face, and switching between smiley and grim faces. “Libya was not safe, so he came to Egypt and settled in Fayoum”. Oh, that mysterious oasis, the near far land that no body really understood its people, who apparently were escaping other faraway lands. In a cheerful tone, he said “But my mother’s family is from Suhaj, she was very tall”, he laughed and added “they used to call her “ semafro el qa’a,a”. After another breath, a couple of intriguing stares and quick smiles, he said, “Im 10 years older than you,” he touched a tuft of his black wavy hair, smiled childishly, and said “this is dyed”, and shared with my his secret for eternal youth. Ok, this handsome man is a pure lunatic, one of Cairo’s victims, he is funny, good looking and elegant, but crazy. He kept talking about his brothers and the fights they have, their inheritance, his sister in low, and a lot of very personal details. It was getting awkward, so I stood up and was stretching my hand to shake his, but he ordered me to sit down, and said, “Ok, be silent, and don’t distract me so I can tell you what I have to”. Ok, its getting a bit creepy, but I can stay for a few more minutes. “This year is ours, we Scorpios”. I sighed in a bored way, and before saying anything, he added, “This year you will make big money” He stared at my eyes and repeated “biggggg money”. I said, “Thanks for the good omen, lets hope and….” “and you have to finish this love story, you were never weak, even if you did not know, stop these messages, stop the 10 to 1 thing, stop it” Surprised by what he said, I asked “what is the 10 to1 thing?” He laughed loudly in a devilish manner and said “ you send her 10 messages and she replies by only one message, right? Stop this, stop it right now”. Feeling uncomfortable and wanting to end this creepy encounter, I said while moving away, “What is your third advice, usually they are three”. The half Alepine half Saidi ignored my sarcasm and said in a serious tone, “the third advice, is to buy yourself a home, a home not a house, a home where you can be comfortable happy and at ease”. I nodded, thanked him with a faint smile and left.