A Frightening Female!

From yesterday, I still have one more story that needs to be told. And because it's that big of a story, I decided to dedicate an entire post to a part of yesterday’s journey...

It all started when we were walking on cobbled grounds and through tight alleyways, and I had my camera clutched firmly in my hands. I stopped to take a side picture of an old mosque when a (I’d say around 40-year-old) woman came into view, blurring my focus. I put the camera down from my eye and waited until she had passed. But boy, what a sight she looked! She had heavy makeup on, deep rose blushed cheeks, dark eyeliner and mascara, and she wore a menacing look. Interesting… I thought, and let her go…

A couple of minutes later down that same road, we reached a crossroad. One road led right, and the other left, but before the option of picking a path, there lay an arched entrance to what looked like a residency and several veiled women stood inside. And for some reason I had yet to discover, they invited us in…

I remember previously walking past old buildings like theirs while in the souk many times before with Mum. I could only use my imagination about the homes or living conditions behind those walls. And now suddenly, here I was about to discover! Of course under normal conditions I’d never have gone inside. But because of the fact that we were a large group, that definitely took away from my fear of what could happen behind those walls…

We went inside what turned out to be a little courtyard that also had another entrance to another old building inside. We went in and climbed up the narrow staircase as horrendous smells began coming down on us. Several of the girls from our group stopped and turned back, unable to continue from the stench. But I walked on until I reached a room. It was a crumbling room, with stains on the walls, and deteriorating furniture stacked together. There was a large hole in the wall which they used as a window. But that window never brought in any sunlight; it only brought in the cold. Their entire house was no bigger than the size of my own bedroom. And in there, sat an old man with his old wife huddled over a little heater. It was such a heartbreaking sight…

But after several minutes of standing at the door, I could no longer stand the sight or stench and decided to descend back down. And that’s when I caught sight of her again, that "frightening female". She was sitting in the courtyard staring at a boy from our group. She still wore that same menacing look on her face as she got up and neared him. He noticed and started walking away. But she kept following him wherever he moved until he quickened his pace and went back to join the remaining part of the group inside the house. So she sat back down again. And as we waited from a distance for that remaining part of the group to rejoin us, I unthinkingly decided to capture her with my camera…

I’m sure the sound of my camera tipped her off and she got up again and started walking towards me, that’s when I felt my heart went in my throat and I nudged Ymn and stepped out of the courtyard and back onto the street. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there…

But she stepped outside after us as well! I grabbed Ymn’s arm and power walked up the road that lead left. I looked behind me to see if she had decided to follow us and to my horror, she had! I remembered “The House of the Dead” computer game I used to play with my brother when we were kids, and she was just like one of the characters, limping towards us with that unchanging grimace on her face. I kept looking over my shoulder and every time I looked, I’d always see her there behind us! Then, we reached a dead end. I know this all sounds like something out of a horror movie but I swear, here I was living it!

As she got nearer I suggested we cross the street and turn back, and just as we did, she stopped and walked in the opposite direction. It was only then that I heaved a heavy sigh of relief…

“It’s a good thing she didn’t get you!” Ymn teased, “But even if she had, I’m sure she would have saved you till after she was done with the boys.” “Um, what do you mean, Ymn?” I asked. “Nour!” she exclaimed, “She was a prostitute!” and my mouth dropped open. “How do you know?” “She’s one of the old prostitutes of Tripoli, you should have been able to tell from the extreme makeup, the look, the limping walk… you didn’t even think prostitute when you first saw her?” “No,” I replied, “I just thought… interesting”

So there you have it, my first (and hopefully last) experience with a prostitute! How bout you, how was your Sunday? :-P