Behind The Mirror
A short story
I was sitting alone at a table at a friend’s wedding. Everyone there was laughing and dancing. I did not know anyone, and I did not care to know. A gentleman’s smile caught my eyes; he was sitting at a table right next to mine. His smile, oh man, it could not have been more fake. “Well I guess, I am not the one with the worst evening,” I told myself. I gazed back at the man, and I saw a drunk woman next to him. She had long red hair and very big eyes; she looked beautiful. She was laughing loudly and he responded with the fake smile I saw earlier. The man then went under the table and seemed to be pulling something out. “What is that? oh no,” I said out loud so that the lady next to me started gazing at them as well.
“It is his child, dear” the lady continued “Rita, she is one month old. Are you married, sweetie?”
“No, I am not.” I responded with a smile, then, I asked: “And the man, who is he?”
“Who Daniel? Oh, he is the groom’s cousin. A very good man indeed. He is a pharmacist. The lady next to him, Linda, she is his wife.”
“What does she do?”
“She does not work, she stays at home.”
“Hmm,” I murmured. I glanced back at Daniel and saw him playing with his kid. “What a beautiful man,” I thought. Of course, by beautiful, I meant his personality because he was not handsome at all. A couple of minutes later, I found myself walking toward the door, I needed a breath of air and of course, there he was standing alone smoking in the darkness. I stood there and the words started flowing from my mouth instantaneously.
“What a dark night,” I said.
“Never heard that one before,” he responded. “Aren’t nights supposed to be dark?” he added.
I smiled at him knowing that he did not understand what I meant and then said with an attempt to confuse him even more: “But, this night specifically is darker than the others.”
“Oh, I see,” he said smiling. “Bad day?” he asked.
I smiled at him; he understood me. “yes,” I nodded.
“Well, it can not be worse than mine.”
“Do you want to compare?” I asked, smiling.
And that’s how our conversation started. Soon, we were talking about our daily lives and comparing who has the worst problems. I told him about my ex-husband and he complained to me about his drunk wife. It caught my attention that he was very respectful while talking about his wife and never blamed her for her behavior that night. In the middle of our talk, I gazed at his eyes. He had a deep and sad look. “What a tortured man,” I thought. When I looked at him it seemed to me like I’m looking at myself in the mirror. He seemed to be a good person stuck with a bad partner. I loved that he was holding up like a real man for the sake of his child. That was the night I met Daniel.
“And, how did you meet Linda?” you might ask. Well, that was a couple of years later. I went to a barbershop to do my hair. I have recently moved to the city and this was my first time at the shop. “How are you today, miss?” Linda said. When I saw her I did not recognize her, but she looked very familiar.
“Have we met before?” I ask as she started spraying my hair.
“I do not think so. I am new in the country. I have been here for almost a year now.”
“Where are you from?” I asked.
She pulled out the scissors and started cutting my hair. “I will not cut it too short don’t worry,” she added.
I nodded smiling.
“I am from Syria,” she continued.
“Really? What a small world? me too. I moved here a couple of years ago.”
“You do not look Arabic at all. I would not have guessed,” Linda said.
“Did you move here because of the war?” I asked since most Syrian have been fleeing the country since the war started there.
“Yes, my husband has been working here for a couple of years now, and he sent for us as soon as the war started.” …. “Why did you move here?” she asked, “because of the war too?”
“Worse,… because of a man,” I answered smiling.
I really liked Linda. She was the first Arabic friend I met in Florida. We started meeting for coffee weekly, and soon we became friends. She was really easy to talk to. She knew everything about everyone, and I enjoyed listening to her gossip stories.
We were sitting in the coffee shop one morning, and Linda started telling me about her neighbor, Julie. The story seemed very odd that I could not stop thinking about it all day afterward.
“Ah, my neighbor Julie, she is the worst wife ever,” Linda complained to me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Oh, you do not want to know. Every time I visit her, I see how she talks with her children. She is always angry and careless. I cannot stand this woman.”
“Hmm, that’s weird! Is she a bad person then? does she drink or something?”
“No, not really; she loves her children a lot. She just cannot help it. Her life is out of her control.” Linda explained.
Julie became a usual topic of most of our conversations. Every time we meet, we start talking about various topics, but somehow end up with Julie.
I have learned that Julie has five children. She is a very weak woman with no personality as Linda describes her, and she is not good at anything at all except for cooking. She makes the best food in the world according to Linda. It surprised me how much Linda cared about this Julie. She talked about Julie’s issues more than she talked about hers. In fact, I barely knew anything about Linda, I knew she was married, but that was all.
“Are you ok, Linda? You do not look well,” I asked one morning.
“No, I am fine.” She said with a forced smile, then she thought a little and said: “I could not sleep yesterday because of Julie.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, her husband…” Linda was about to continue, but the sound of my phone ringing stopped her.
“Hello honey, I am busy now, but I will see you tonight right?” I said to the caller smiling.
“This smile says that you are in love my friend,” Linda said as soon as I ended my call.
“Well, maybe I am.”
“Is he your husband? Your fiance?”
“Mmm, no it is a little complicated. But I have to say, I was married before, and I do not think I want to do it again.”
“Well, is he your lover then?”
“More like a boyfriend.”…. “Now, tell me about this Julie, what happened last night?” I said trying to change the topic.
“Oh the poor thing, I heard her screaming last night. I think her husband was hitting her,” she said in a lower voice as if she is trying to hide it.
“What? Oh no.” I said upset at the image printed in my mind. “Did you guys do something about it?”
“No, what can be done? you cannot interfere between them. Plus, he is her husband and the father of her children; she has to tolerate him.”
“I do not agree with that at all. No woman should tolerate abuse not even for her children’s sake. Besides, who said that she is doing the best for her children that way. Their mental health could be damaged with all that is happening.” I said angrily.
“Well, in our Arabic society it is expected of the woman to stay because her children deserve to have a father.”
“Well, maybe we should reconsider this tradition; besides Julie is not Arabic is she?”
Linda thought for a little bit and then said nervously, “No, she..she is not.”
“What about your husband?” I asked.
Linda looked worried when I mentioned her husband and said nervously: “What about him? He is a good man.” she added in a reassuring tone.
“What does he think about this issue?”
“Oh, that’s what you meant. Oh, I do not know.” Linda said relieved.
That was the last time we mentioned Julie and her situation. The next time I met Linda was on my birthday. We met in the Park, and she brought her children with her.
“Sorry, today is Saturday. They do not have school. I did not want to miss your birthday, so I had to bring them with me,” She said.
“Oh, not a problem. They are super cute. You did not tell me you have five children, and you are working too. How do you do it?”
“Ah, do not ask. I might have to leave the shop though. We barely get any customers besides you of course.”
“Oh, that must be difficult.”
“For the other workers, yes, but not for me. My husband’s work is really good. Now, enough talking about me. Tell me what do you have planned for tonight? Dinner with the boyfriend ha?” She said smiling.
“Yeah, we are going to celebrate together. He prepares a romantic dinner each year, and we usually go dancing or just walking afterward.”
“Oh how nice, I wish my husband would do that too. He usually brings me a cake, and we celebrate with the children.”
While we were talking, Linda’s youngest son, Luke, came closer to her and started pointing at the gift bag placed next to his mom.
“He wants me to give you your gift. It is nothing big just to remember me. Happy birthday.” Linda said while handing me the gift.
“Oh, thank you. You did not have to.” I said smiling, then I continued: “Your son? he does not speak?”
“Not, yet..nothing is wrong with him. That’s what the doctor said. He is just taking his time I guess.”
“Oh, oh ok. I know nothing about children, I was just wondering. How old is he?”
“Two years old. Do not worry. When the time comes, I will help you with your children. It is hard if you do not have someone more experienced than you..”
That night, D, my boyfriend, was late. I called him a couple of times, but there was no answer. I got worried, he is never late. I was walking back and forth worried in my room when Linda’s gift caught my attention. “I could use a little distraction,” I told myself.
The gift was placed in a small, very cute box. When I opened it, I found a small silver necklace. I opened the necklace, and there was a mirror on one side and a place to put a small photo on the other side.
“Ah so beautiful,” I said out loud. A couple of minutes after my phone started ringing. I jumped toward my phone not realizing that Linda’s gift fell from my lap onto the floor.
“Hello?” I answered quickly. I heard some breathing and maybe crying. I could not tell, then, the caller closed quickly. I looked at my screen, it was D calling but he did not respond after I called him back. At that point I got super worried, D is never late. My heart is telling me something went wrong. I started walking back and forth again, but I stopped when my foot kicked something.
“What is that?” I said out loud. It was Linda’s necklace, but it looked broken. When I held it in my hand, I could see that the mirror inside can be moved, and behind it, I found a small slip of paper. When I opened it, I found written in italics:
“Julie is me.
If something happened to me, look after my children.
Linda.”
I felt like something hit me when I read the paper. A sudden feeling of worry jumped into my soul. I found myself calling Linda without giving it a thought.
“Come on Linda, answer, answer. What does it mean you are Julie? I should have known…..Hello? Linda?”
“Sally? oh thank God you called; I have been trying to call you. I …..I….” Linda cried.
The next thing I know I am in a big apartment, babysitting five children while Linda went to the Police station to check on her husband. They had such a big fight that night. Linda called the police on her husband to save herself from his hands.
“Is mommy taking long?” said one of Linda’s children. I think her name was Elda. She stood in front of me with her puffy hair and big black eyes. When I saw the tears in her eyes, I could not help but hold her and hug her really hard.
“Don’t be such a baby,” one of Elda’s older brothers said. He was trying to show that he was strong, but I could tell he was scared too. After all, he is just a five-year-old little boy.
“Come here,” I told him. “You look like a brave boy to me, tell me what happened?” I know that I probably should not rely on the words of a five-year-old boy, but I was dying out of curiosity.
“The police came and took my dad,” He said with his big eyes staring right at me.
“Why?”
“He was hitting my mom with the belt, and she called the police to stop him,” Said Rita, the oldest sibling. She spoke with an angry tone as if I am her enemy or something, but I understood her after all I am a stranger to the kids.
“Does he usually do that?” I asked Rita.
“He hits her but this is the first time with a belt,” Rita answered.
“How do you feel when that happens?”
“I do not know. Why do you ask so many questions.”
“I am sorry, I just wanted to see if I can help.”
As soon as I ended my sentence, I heard the voice of some type of scream. I ran to the other room to find the boys fighting over a toy. They were very violent with each other. Well, what can I expect after all they saw that night. What stuck in my memory the most is the image of Luke, the youngest child. He was sitting on the bed with his hands covering his ears, watching his sibling, and shaking with fear. “No wonder he did not speak until now. How can a child grow up in such a home?” I thought.
I slept on the sofa that night waiting for Linda to return. In the morning, I woke up to the sound of the keys opening the front door. As I barely opened my eyes, the shades of a man appeared to be getting closer to me.
“Sally?” the voice said, the voice was very familiar to me, it was very deep just like…
“Daniel?” I screamed, “What are you doing here?”
“Dad, dad..” the children came jumping and hugging their father. With all that happened, they still love him. He is still their father.
I was very surprised by what I saw. I looked at the walls around me and saw pictures of him with his children. How did I not see those earlier? I was so worried last night, I could barely see in front of me. “You are Linda’s husband?” I asked in a sad tone.
“Yes,” he nodded ashamed.
I left that day without saying a word to Linda, without checking if she is alright. I could not bear the shock of seeing Daniel, my boyfriend for the past five years, in her house. Daniel, the tortured husband whom I saw at the wedding that night; the one who convinced me that he is staying with his wife for the sake of his children. When I talked to Daniel the first time, I thought he was deep and honest, opposite to my previous husband. He turned out to be a cheater just like him.
I sometimes wonder if all men are the same. I hope not. As we women, we are not created to live alone. We can, but we would feel as if something is missing. All those years, I was tricked. I thought Daniel was like a mirror, reflecting everything I wanted in a guy. It turned out that he reflected what I wanted to see. Maybe it was my fault, I should have looked behind his mirror to its other side, the side that’s covered with blackness. Maybe, I would have known who he really was.
We all have two sides, even Linda. She has the careless side I saw at the wedding that night when she was drunk, and the tortured side hidden within. Who would have known, who could have imagined?
I often wonder how many stories are hidden behind the mirrors of people we meet every day. How many are hidden within us? I thought I was this good friend to Linda, but the truth is that I was stabbing her in the back for years without even knowing. People say there is no clear line between right and wrong but the truth is there is and if I would have stuck to it, I wouldn’t be in this place today.
Anyway, when I went to see Linda and apologize, I asked her why she is still with Daniel? I mean she is in the U.S. The society here supports her; there is help offered. What is she waiting for?
She told me that she is a mother of five, with no education, how can she survive without her husband’s support. Besides, for how long she could stay in the shelters provided? She also told me that Daniel threatened that he would find a way to take the children from her, and with his money and a strong lawyer, everything is possible. Listening to her, I realized that even the society we live in is a two-sided mirror, with one side reflecting what we want to believe about its ideals and the other…..well, to know what the other side is, we might need another story.
