Give me a break, I thought angrily as I walked out of the Carleton University library with Samira Zeidan, holding her hand while a group of young Middle-Eastern guys stared at us angrily. Want to hear something funny? These guys are glaring at me, the tall brother happily married to the young Qatari woman, while one of them is with a blonde-haired white chick. Hypocrites much? At least I'm married to the lady by my side. That's more than I can say for these dudes.
My name is Gabriel Salomon, also known as Jibril Suleiman since I converted to Islam, and I was born in the City of Cap-Haitien, Haiti, but raised in the City of Montreal, Quebec. There aren't a lot of Muslims in the Haitian community. I am one, though, and damn proud to be. How I came to embrace Islam is a story in and of itself. Let's just say that life had a lot of surprises for me, in more ways than one.
Today, I'm the assistant manager of a CIBC branch in the environs of Ottawa, and I'm a recent graduate of the Sprott School of Business. Finally got my MBA, and not a minute too soon because my wife Samira Zeidan is pregnant with our first brat. Yup, I'm a successful business, a recent university graduate and a proud daddy-in-the-making.
The fact that Samira and I even met is a quirk of fate, to say the least. My lady and I come from different worlds. I guess we walked into each other's lives at the right time. We both came to Ottawa, a town far outside our comfort zones, because we were looking for something. And we found each other. I came to Ottawa for work and school, and Samira moved here because she was fleeing her situation back home. I know all about running away from bad situations, ladies and gentlemen. There's a time to run and a time to make a stand.
My parents, Stephanie and Jacques Salomon moved to Canada in 1990, when I was in the second summer of my life. They came to Canada as refugees, fleeing political instability and persecution back on the island of Haiti. For me, Canada is basically all I've ever known. After graduating from the University of Montreal with a bachelor's degree in Sociology in 2011, I spent ages looking for work.
Eventually, my search for a job took me to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, of all places. I work as a bank teller at CIBC, also known as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. There are zero jobs connected with what I studied in university anywhere in Quebec or Ontario, man. Trust me, I've looked.
That's why I decided to go back to school, and I'm now studying for a Master's degree in business administration at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business. I've seen plenty of guys and gals with sociology, psychology and political science degrees working at Starbucks and Tim Horton's. That is not the fate I want for myself.
Now, you're probably wondering what all this got to do with my shorty Samira, right? I'll get to that in a sec. I'm from Montreal, which is considered the Paris of Canada and a stronghold of the Francophone communities of North America. I am technically bilingual but I definitely speak more French than English. My first day at Carleton I was lost, and all of them students and teachers walking around didn't have any time for little old me.
Finally, resigned to my fate, I walked into this little cafeteria located inside the Loeb building to grab a coffee. I'd been walking around campus for half an hour and nobody seemed to know where in hell Dunton Tower was. Either that or they were too busy to show me. My thick French accent probably wasn't helping matters much. People in Ottawa are two-faced, man. I can't stand these fools. They politely tell you that they don't know but their slick smile tells you they're having fun at your expense.
"Salut monsieur, ca vas?" said a pretty, round little lady in a long black dress and hijab. I looked at the young Arab woman and gawked, for she was the first person I heard speaking French and I'd been walking around campus all day. Since the young lady just inquired as to how I was doing, I smiled and answered her query.
"Bonjour mademoiselle je suis perdu," I said, shrugging while putting down my coffee cup. For those of you who don't speak a lick of French, I just told her that I am lost. Quite frankly, I was about to start looking for directions to Dunton Tower on Google maps via the app on my iPhone, man.
The young Arab woman smiled at me, and her eyes lit up when I told her the name of the place I was looking for. "I'm a student at Sprott too, I'll show you where it is," she said excitedly, and I got up and happily followed her. Shoot, looks like my luck was turning, you know?
Little did I know that my luck was about to turn in more ways than I could have imagined, ladies and gentlemen. The pretty-faced little Arab lady walked me out of the Loeb building and up some stairs, and we walked in front of the University Library and then through a type of garden that she called a quad and then, we stopped in front of a tall brownstone building.
"This is Dunton Tower?" I said, scratching my head and honestly feeling kind of foolish. I mean, it's the tallest structure at Carleton. Got to be one of the tallest buildings in all of Ottawa. You could probably see it from an airplane. I mean, it completely dominates the landscape for miles. How in hell did I miss it?
"This is the main building of our school of business," the young Arab lady said, and smiled at me before she turned to leave. I kind of did a double take, for I hadn't thanked her for taking time out of her busy day to help me. Believe me, lots of people on campus aren't eager to help a big and tall black man with a French accent who doesn't know his way around.
"Thank you lady I'm Raphael by the way," I said loudly, and people kind of stared at me. My helper was already halfway down the ramp leading to the University Center building, but for some reason she stopped. Turning around, the young Arab lady flashed me a bright smile and kind of inclined her head.
"As Salam Alaikum brother Raphael I'm Samira," the young Arab woman said, and then, like quicksilver, she pulled open the door leading to the University Center and vanished. I stood there, shaking my head. This was my first day on campus, not counting Orientation Day, and I would never forget it because it led to the most fateful encounter of my life. The day I met the woman meant for me.
The next time I saw Samira, I was sitting in the Food Court, eating a Shawarma sandwich and potatoes, and the Arab Pixie, as I called her in my head, happened to be walking by while checking out something on her cell phone. I loudly greeted her, and I think I kind of startled her, for Samira looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"As Salam Alaikum Sister Samira," I said enthusiastically, and quietly congratulated myself on doing a very convincing uttering of the traditional Islamic greeting. Samira smiled at me, and kind of hesitated, but like the gung-ho dude I am, I got up and chivalrously pulled my chair for her.
You've got to be aggressive with the ladies sometimes, man. Samira nodded, and then joined me. "Wa Alaikum As Salam," she said, and plopped down on the seat next to me. I offered to get her a drink or something, my way to thank her for helping me out the other day. I must say, Samira was looking real good day. In a long-sleeved black T-shirt, blue jeans and black boots, with a modest ebony Hijab on, Samira somehow managed to look both modest and sinfully sexy.
Samira smiled, said "Masha' Allah, and then said it was the Will of the Most High that we encounter each other. I looked at this pretty-faced and ( from what I could tell ), curvaceous young Arabian beauty and smiled. This gal is beautiful, and I definitely wanted to know her better. The question is, how do I get through her, ahem, religious/cultural reluctance to deal with a male from a different background?
"I have a question for you my friend and I was hoping to run into you sooner or later," I said confidently, and Samira's golden brown eyes sparkled and she looked at me with rapt attention. What did I say to her, you may ask? I simply asked her about every Muslim's favorite subject, Islam, and Samira's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"I ran into a man in Montreal who saved my life after I insulted him and he said he helped me for the sake of the Most High," I said, and as Samira's captivated eyes fixated on me, I summoned depths of acting and guile most people would never have guessed I possess and made up a convincing tale about a brawl I had with some Somali guy, I ran away, and nearly got run over by a truck but the Somali guy I fought with pushed me out of the way.
I willed my face to show pain and conflict, and looked at Samira. "I've been feeling conflicted over this ever since," I said, shaking my head for good effect. Samira looked at me, her pretty face filled with emotion, and she laid her hand on mine.
"You were meant to learn about Islam my brother and I will help you on this journey," Samira said, eyes burning with intensity. I looked at her, hesitation written all over my face. Samira nodded firmly, and that's when I knew I had her. Game, set and match, ladies and gentlemen.
You see, I might be new to Ottawa but we have our fair share of Muslim immigrants and French Canadian converts in Montreal. Observant Muslim women do NOT touch males they're not related to. Samira crossed the line by touching me, and if she's willing to cross that line, it means I have quite an effect on her.
"We should keep in touch," Samira said, and I feigned surprise but nodded as she took out her cell phone. I calmly dictated my digits to her, and softly encouraged her to text me immediately. Women take a long time to make decisions, man. Give a gal your digits and she might wait days before calling you, or she might never call you. Samira dialed me, and I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and smiled contentedly. I'm a winner, what can I say?