"I love you, Rasha," Nagad 'Nana' Hussein said, and the young Somali Muslim woman gently wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. Rasha Singh beamed at Nana, moved to tears by her words. The two young women stood in the middle of the quad at Canada's Capital University, hugging tenderly and enjoying each other's company on an unseasonably warm night in late November.
"Life would suck without you, Nana, I love you too," Rasha replied, and she took Nana's lovely face in her hands, and kissed her on the lips. A long time ago, Rasha, who'd been born and raised in the Punjab region of India, would have felt too ashamed to show affection to the gal she loved in such a public setting. Not anymore. She'd come a long way since she met Nana, that's for damn sure.
When Rasha first met Nana, she was mesmerized by the young woman's confidence and uniqueness. Rasha, who grew up in a very conservative part of India, didn't think that women like Nana existed. A Hijab-wearing Muslim woman who was openly lesbian, attended Friday prayers at the local mosque every week, and had the support of her family. Like a unicorn, that's how Nana seemed to Rasha, at first.
"Let's go home," Nana said, and she proudly clasped Rasha's hand in hers, and the two of them walked from the quad to the tunnel system linking the entire university campus. As they made their way through the tunnels, heading for the university center building, Nana and Rasha saw quite a few fellow students, some of whom they knew. Happily they greeted their fellow students, unashamed to show their love.
As they reached the Atrium, Nana smiled, remembering that this was the place where they met. It was almost five years ago. Rasha was dancing in the atrium with a group of fellow South Asian students, and Nana couldn't take her eyes off the short, curvy, brown-skinned and raven-haired young woman in the brightly colored Sari who moved with a grace that Beyonce couldn't match. Only five-foot-six, Rasha carried herself with the confidence of an Amazon.
"Hmm, I remember how you looked in that Sari, girl, that booty was popping," Nana said, and Rasha giggled. Nodding, she flashed Nana a bright smile. She remembered that fateful day when she and a group of fellow Indian students, Muslims, Sikhs, Tamils and others, teamed up to form their own dance troupe. They practiced in the Atrium at school because they couldn't afford to do it anywhere else. On that day, sensing someone's gaze on her, Rasha turned, facing Nana. Their eyes met, and the rest, as they say, was history.
Nana Hussein, the deeply conservative, Hijab-wearing Muslim daughter of a Somali immigrant family, felt stirrings deep inside when she looked at Rasha. Are you like me? Nana wondered silently. Rasha, the turban-wearing, proud Sikh daughter of Indian immigrants originally from the State of Punjab, felt her heart skip a beat when she looked at Nana. The six-foot-tall, curvy, dark-skinned, Hijab-wearing Somali Muslim gal's smoldering gaze set her on edge for reasons that she did not quite comprehend in those early days...
"Yeah, you came over to holler, supposedly under the pretext of joining our troupe, but I knew what you wanted," Rasha replied, and Nana grinned, then gave her girlfriend's plump ass a firm squeeze. Rasha, who was wearing a bright red tank top and yoga pants under her burgundy fall jacket, jerked up awkwardly. Rasha shot Nana an almost reproachful look, and the Somali gal grinned and shrugged. Shaking her head, Rasha burst out laughing. She couldn't get enough of her naughty, freaky Nana...
"Hey, Rasha, I'm a sucker for a gal with a nice ass, I think it runs in my family, all my brothers got big-booty wives, I'm just following tradition," Nana said, smiling innocently, and Rasha snickered, then pursed her lips. As they got ready to exit the Atrium, a trio of young black men came toward them, talking loudly. Rasha smiled at them, and kept right on holding Nana's hand.
"Salaam, my brothers, how are you?" Rasha asked, smiling pleasantly, and the three young black men, all of whom were wearing traditional Islamic clothing, nodded gently and returned her greeting. They nodded respectfully at Nana, and then continued on their merry way. Nana looked at Rasha and smiled. In that moment, she couldn't be prouder of her beloved Rasha. This woman is amazing, Nana thought.