It's Thursday morning, and I lie on my bed, sighing profoundly. Tonight, at midnight, I'm finally getting paid. As of right now, though, a quick logon into my CIBC account reveals my combined assets totaling one dollar and seventeen cents. Why is that a problem, you may wonder? Yeah, why can't a brother wait until Friday? Um, it's my lady Fayruza "Fay" Bin Sultan's birthday. Today my darling Fayruza is celebrating her twenty first birthday. A momentous occasion, wouldn't you say?
As the dutiful boyfriend that I try to be, I should have one hell of a celebration ready for her. Fayruza told me she didn't want anything special, that she wanted to keep things low-key. Every time a chick says she doesn't want anything special for her birthday, she's lying. I wanted to do something cool for my lady. We've been together for a year. I wanted to take her to dinner, someplace nice. Maybe Restaurant Goyave, the new Haitian restaurant in Orleans, or a Japanese sushi place or maybe the Baton Rouge downtown. Their ribs are legendary!
But, um, that's not what happened. Dude, when it rains it frigging pours. I'm broke like a joke, and my father is out of town on business. My older brother is a thousand kilometers away. What am I going to do? Oh, snap. I almost forgot to introduce myself. Sorry about that. See what happens when a man has too much on his mind? My name is Mansur "Manny" Osman and I'm a young man of Somali and French Canadian descent living in the City of Ottawa, Ontario. I'm nineteen years old and currently studying accounting at Carleton University. Always been a numbers man, since high school.
Stuff like geometry and algebra made sense to me while sociology and western literature baffled me. I think I get it from my father, Kader Osman. He's a civil engineer working for Hydro Ottawa. I have an older brother, Abu, who's studying computer science at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul, thanks to a special scholarship he won. My mom Alma Beaumont, was White, originally from Montreal, Quebec. As the fates would have it, she died giving birth to me, so I never knew her. My pops raised my brother Abu and I on his own, though my paternal aunt Yasmin helped out when she could. I guess that's why I am so awkward around women sometimes. I grew up in a very male environment.
I'm six-foot-one, brown-skinned and curly-haired, with a wiry build. I also wear thick nerdy glasses, though not by choice. When I take them off everything five meters from me becomes a blur. Yup, I'm the stereotype of a Black nerd, if such a creature exists. I work for Boston Pizza, making deliveries all over the east end of Ottawa as well as downtown. Standard salary is ten dollars and seventy five cents per hour plus tips. People in Ottawa are cheap, and downright racist at times. I don't make much as a pizza deliveryman.
Still, as much as I complain about my job, without it I wouldn't have met the woman who changed my life. Even though we're both Muslims, Fayruza Bin Sultan and I come from two different worlds, to say the least. I was born and raised in Ontario, Canada, and Fayruza is originally from the town of Duba, Saudi Arabia. How we met is certainly one for the ages. Like I said before, I'm a pizza deliveryman and typically my route covers the east end of Ottawa, mainly Vanier, and sometimes I go as far as downtown. When we got a call for an order from Bronson Avenue, near Carleton University, I couldn't believe the Boss actually told me to go.
I hopped on my beat-up old 1980 Can-Amm Bombardier 250 ex-military motorcycle and raced from the pizza shop on Saint Laurent and headed downtown. I made it to Rideau in five minutes by cutting through Montreal Road from Donald. I finally made my way to Bronson, seventeen minutes after the order came in. We have a thirty-minute delivery policy, otherwise the order is free. I dialed the number once I got to the door. A female voice with an odd accent told me to wait, and I patiently hung around the building lobby. Five minutes after I'd arrived, someone finally came down the elevator. I was ready to leave, man, but then the elevators opened, and a vision of beauty emerged from within.
Now, I see exotic pretty girls all the time, for Ottawa is home to lots of immigrants from all over the world. Somalis. Lebanese. Turks. Mexicans. Chinese. Lovely ladies from faraway lands, really. All shades and all body types. Believe me, man. I look. Still, I was unprepared for what came out of the elevator. A short, curvaceous young woman with dark bronze skin, clad in a dark blue sweatshirt, long Black skirt and ebony hijab. Definitely Arab, I thought, as she came near. Her light brown eyes positively glowed when she saw me. At last, the young woman said, smiling and rubbing her hands together.
I smiled and nodded, then said the company line like a good little schmuck. Boston Pizza at your service, I said, looking at her. The young woman came closer, and produced thirty dollars from her wallet. The order comes to seventeen dollars and thirty cents, I said evenly, trying not to stare at her. Thank you brother I'm Fayruza, she said softly. Those mesmerizing golden brown eyes of hers were something else. I am Mansur, I said, and shook my head as I looked at the money.
Sister you've given me too much, I said, placing the ten back in her slender hand. Fayruza smiled at me and shook her head, then walked back to the elevator. My heart skipped a bit and a wry grin split my face as I noticed her spectacular derriere. Damn, Arab girls got booty! Right before she got in, the young woman turned and looked at me. Always a pleasure to meet an honest man, Fayruza said, smiling, as she got in and the elevators closed. I was smiling from ear to ear as I walked back to my motorcycle. I got on, and headed back to the store. Just another day in Ottawa, I said to myself.
I figured I would never see Fayruza again, but guess who I saw in the quad at Carleton University the very next day? Her loveliness herself, nearing the old library steps. Hello Fayruza, I said, quickening my step and walking toward her. The young woman turned around, and looked at me. Those unforgettable golden brown eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. As Salam Alaikum brother Mansur, she said evenly, a look of surprise creeping into her pretty face.