Backstage
Sara Jr sprints into the Gorilla position and nearly out the curtain, only to be stopped by Producer Palesa Jeyi: Haibo! Give us a minute, girl.
Sara Jr: B-But I only got five!
Jeyi (rolling her eyes): When the bell rings, kid. Jeff asked for an intermission while security does one last sweep of the arena.
Sara Jr: ... Oh.
Jeyi (soft smile): Get your mind right, do some warm-ups. When it's time, I'll let you know.
Sara Jr (deep breaths): Yeah, I'll... I'll do dat. (looking around) Uh, where's... Tawhti ... Gal? Where's she at?
Jeyi (looking away at the monitors after putting on headphones): She'll be here. Jeff told me it always takes her a while to get in gear, but she's never late.
Sara Jr: Okay, then.
She begins doing arm circles, but then stops, her nose and ears twitching and her brows furrowing. She turns around to see Mudir, the bespectacled, long-haired Yemeni man from last week whom she bumped into, sitting cross-legged in a corner. Just like last week, he has a book in his hand, only instead of th Art of War by Sun Tzu, it is The Mameluke; or, Slave dynasty of Egypt, 1260–1517 by Sir William Muir.
Sara Jr squints at him, but then shrugs and goes back to her warm-up. She switches to leg swings, and the twitch in her nose and ears returns. She spins around, and he's still reading.
Sara Jr: Hey! Are yuh pervin' on me, or what?
Mudir lifts his head, slowly: Hmm? Are you talking to-
Sara Jr (pointing): Yeah, I'm tawhkin' tuh yuh. Your eyes were totally glued tuh me just now.
Mudir: I did no such thing.
Sara Jr: Doan lie! (points at herself with her thumb) I got a sense fawh dese tings.
Mudir (drooped eyelids): Right, but can you prove it?
Sara Jr (hands on hip, leaning forward): Dat doan sound like a denial tuh me.
Mudir: I did deny it.
Sara Jr: And I doan believe yuh.
Mudir: Why not?
Sara Jr: 'Cawze what else could yuh be doin' heah?
Mudir (holds up book): Reading.
Sara Jr (straightens): Yeah, right. Who reads in de dark?
Mudir (shrugs): I do. It's a bad habit, I know.
Sara Jr: You're lyin'!
Mudir: I am not.
Sara Jr: Just admit it!
Jeyi (pulling off headphones): Keep it down!
Sara Jr blushes.
Mudir (sighs and closes book): Fine, I'll admit that I have taken something of an interest in you.
Sara Jr (clenches fists): I knew it.
Mudir (quickly holds up hands): But not in the way you're thinking.
Sara Jr (raised eyebrow): What othuh way den?
Mudir (looks away): It's... hard to explain.
Sara Jr (hands on hips again): I ain't goin' nowheah.
Mudir: Very well. Do you ever look back on World History and find modern parallels?
Sara Jr: Like what?
Mudir: Well, as an example, the Mamluk Sultanate.
Sara Jr (shaking her head while squinting): The Ma'am... Luke... Snake?
Mudir:... Mamluk Sultanate. It was an ancient Islamic empire that ruled Egypt, Syria and the Hejaz for a few decades short of 300 years before the Ottomans came and... you know.
Sara Jr: And?
Mudir: And what made this Empire so unique was that its ruling class, including the Sultan --that's the equivalent of a King, only if you didn't know-- consisted almost entirely of former, foreign-born slaves who bought, converted, educated, trained and elevated to positions of military and political power.
Sara Jr: And what does any of dat have tuh do wit' me?
Mudir (fingers on chin, looking away in thought): ... Well... See... Another unique aspect of the Mamluk was its lack of hereditary succession.
Sara Jr: I doan know if you're bawhin' me or pissin' me off. Get tuh de point.
Mudir (looks up at her): When these... "officers" could no longer fulfil their duties, they were simply replaced by the newest top-performing crop of slaves, who themselves would "elect" a new Sultan when that time.
Sara Jr's ears and nose twitch again.
Mudir: It's a really fascinating system. A monarchy and a nobility built on surviving violence and exploitation, only for your story to just end... and for your children... to inherit... nothing.
Sara Jr's long shadow envelopes him. In the dark room, her features appear sharper as do her teeth. The light from the monitors and LEDs refracts off her golden brown eyes.
Sara Jr: What... are you... tryin'... tuh say?
First time he smiles and stands up, matching her weight, but not her height.
Mudir (with a little more bass in his voice): Nothing. (shrugs) Just... rambling.
Jeyi: Okay, Sara! Time to go.
Mudir: Good luck.
Sara Jr keeps glaring, a low inhuman growl coming from the back of her throat.
Jeyi: Sara, come on! Get into position.
The statuesque Staten Islander backs away from the Yemeni and approaches the curtain. An electronic howl is heard plays followed by an energetic techno beat. track. The crowd is a mix of polite cheers and boos, which doesn't escape her notice.
Sara Jr: W-Where's Tawhti Gal?
Jeyi (frantically waving her arm forward): She'll meet you out there, go!
The rookie swallows and takes a deep breath before rushing out.
Mudir is gone.
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