I'd seen her around the city a few times before finally approaching her. It was early in the evening still and she was wearing a formfitting black-and-white animal print jumpsuit and bright red lipstick. She was absolutely stunning.
I greeted her and told her she looked beautiful. She thanked me and introduced herself. Naya, she said, a gem of a woman. I would've much preferred to spend the evening with her.
To my delight, she invited me to come out with her. To my dismay, it was with her American boyfriend as well. I, too, had someone tagging along with me: Ahmed, whom I had met at my last hostel.
He'd heard that I was trying to get to Egypt so he woke me very early the morning before to catch the next boat out with him. I immediately packed up all my belongings, turned down my bed, and wrote a grateful note of farewell to my last traveling mate, Bola.
I fled the family home (بيت عايلة) and I went to the coast. The boat ride to Ta'ba wasn't too long so we arrived midmorning. From there, we hitchhiked to Nuweiba', then to Dahab, then to Sharm Al-Sheikh, where we met Naya and her boyfriend, Cris.
I didn't like Ahmed. He would always try to touch me, even when I asked him not to. He also had very strange misogynistic beliefs that I'd never heard before, here or anywhere else. I had no choice but to just ignore them for the time being, as it was harder to travel alone. Still, he didn't make it more enjoyable, and his comments made me wonder if I really was safer with him.
For these reasons, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to talk to someone else. And someone so lovely too!
We went to an open-air Shisha bar for a while, then walked to a club a few blocks away. Her boyfriend asked how much it was to get in and the answer was much higher than we'd expected, or wanted to spend. Cris began to argue with bouncer, saying that that his club wasn't good enough for that and we shouldn't have to pay such a high price. He then tried to stunt on everyone by telling Naya and I to "go inside while I sort this out", but the bouncer put his hand out in front of us.
"No cover, no entry."
We didn't protest. Neither of us even really wanted to go in by that point, as we could easily find somewhere else close by that was cheaper.
That wasn't good enough for Cris though. He continued to berate the bouncer, cursing him out, and causing a scene, all of which made me furious. Naya was trying her best to drag him away while I stood a few steps back behind them. She was pulling on the back of his shirt like a leash, trying to restrain the absolute pit-bull of a person we were now responsible for.
Then, for some godforsaken reason, Ahmed decided to put his arm around my shoulders. I shoved him off instantly and stared at him. In that moment, I was not afraid to show how angry I was. His logic was lost on me entirely and I made sure he could see in my expression.
Naya was still holding Cris back while he barked obscenities at the bouncer, who had denied us entry completely. We went off to find somewhere else to host us, provided the men could behave, and settled on another hookah bar with low ceilings and dim lighting.
Thick vapor hung around the room, making everything look soft and fuzzy. The men ordered a few drinks, but neither Naya nor I had much interest in that. Instead, we both sat quietly for a while, adjusting to the air, before we were picked up by the dancer.
She was in deep burgundy with her midriff exposed. She wore a huge smile and urged us to join her, the coins and beads of her shawls jingling as she lead us to the center of the room. It was hazy and the music was quiet but we moved together effortlessly.
There was so much joy in our dancing, everything else seemed to fade away. The men in here were watching, I was sure, but they felt very far from us.
I was untouchable like this. The art of our movement was mesmerizing, I got lost in the perfume of our grace. The air around us had become sweet and condensed. We waded through it, let it flow between our arms, passed it through our hips, then set it on the ground. It collected like dust at our feet. We swept it away and started again.
We were risen here. Lifted, high above them.
عالية.
