The Hakawati Read Free Page B

me, Fatima?” She raised her hands to the vanishing moon. “Think whether twenty of you would satisfy me, Fatima, tamer of Afreet-Jehanam.” She glared at the men. “Tremble.”
    “Afreet-Jehanam?” the leader cried. “You conquered the mighty jinni?”
    “Afreet-Jehanam is my lover. He is no more than my plaything. He does my bidding.”
    “I want her. I refuse to have the boy. We have to redivide the spoils. This will not do.”
    “No,” the leader said. “We cannot have everyone get what they want. That is not the Arab way. It has already been decided.”
    “I want the woman as well,” cried another man. “You cannot keep her to yourself and give us this waif of a boy.” An argument ensued. Everyone wanted Fatima, except for one man, Khayal, who kept insisting, “I really want the boy,” to anyone who would listen. But no one listened. The nine men who were given Jawad but wanted Fatima grew livid. Rules or no rules, they had been cheated. They had no idea Fatima was so talented. They had been deceived and wanted their appropriate share. The goods, as any idiot could see, had not beendivided equally. Battle lines were drawn, swords unsheathed. Quickly, the ten killed the nine.
    “I think the boy is winsome,” said Khayal.
    Twenty lustful eyes stared at Fatima.
    “Now, now, boys,” she said coyly. “Was that really necessary?”
    “It is time, Sitt Fatima,” the leader said. “We are ready.”
    “Well, I am not. I must choose who goes first. The first lover is very important. He will help me set the stage for what is to come. Should I go with the one who has the biggest penis? I like that, but sometimes he who has the biggest is the worst lover, and that will force me to work harder. This should be amusement, not labor. Which of you has the smallest penis? A man with a small member would be more eager to please me, but then, as hard as it is, it is not as satisfying. Choosing the first lover should not be taken lightly. I have much to consider.”
    The leader huffed and puffed. “There is nothing to consider. I go first. I am the best lover, and the rest can take turns after I am sated.”
    “You are not the best lover,” another brigand said. “If you were, your wife would not be leaving her house in the middle of the night.” Those were the last words that man uttered. The leader unsheathed his sword once more and cut off that man’s head.
    “You should not have killed him,” another cried. “It is not right that you go first. We should let Sitt Fatima decide. She is the expert, not you. She should decide on the order. Since I have the biggest penis, I believe I should go first.”
    “You do not have the biggest,” argued another. “I do.” He lifted his desert robe. “Look here, Sitt Fatima. I have the biggest, and I promise you I am not a bad lover. You must pick me.”
    “Put that tiny thing away,” the leader said. “I am the leader, and I go first.”
    “It is thickness that matters, not length.”
    “I still want the boy. I just want the boy.”
    “Your member is no bigger than a thimble.”
    “You take that back. Admit that mine is bigger than yours or prepare to die.”
    And the men fought till death. The leader was left standing—the leader and the boy-lover, who had remained out of the fray. “The best of all men awaits you, your ladyship.” The leader puffed up like a pigeon. “Let us begin.”
    “Let us,” she said. “Undress and show me my prize.”
    “Come to me,” he said once he was nude. “Look. I really have the biggest one.”
    “No,” Fatima said. “Mine is bigger.” From under her dress, she took out her knife and cut his penis off and slit his throat.
    “Pack everything back into the caravan,” Fatima told Jawad. “We have some way to go before we settle for the night. Gather these dead men’s horses. I will go through their things. We will leave this arid wilderness richer than we arrived.”
    “But what shall we do with this man?”