Chapter 8
The following day, able to walk a little better, Adrienne was allowed to return to the main harem room. As usual, her bed-couch, like all the others, was freshly prepared, and if she chose to rest on it, she would be able to do so. But despite the pain in the soles of her feet, Adrienne was becoming restless. She didn't like harem life, not at all.
She wandered to the window and looked out at the avenue below, seeing the teeming quantities of people hurrying back and forth, aching to be with them again.
Looking around the main room, she noticed Peggy was absent, and she wondered if the woman was in her time of the month. If so, she wouldn't be permitted to be with the other women. When the sheik walked into the main harem room and saw his concubines there, he wanted to be able to knock off a piece with any one of them. So anyone in the main room was also available.
She went to Peggy's bedroom, but the door was open and Peggy wasn't there. She saw Judith in the main room, and walking over to her, asked, "Where's Peggy?"
"Shopping," Judith shrugged. "When our lord and master has determined for himself that we have no wish to leave him, we're often allowed to dress as we did before we came here. Then we shop and go to the theater and eat out. I'm allowed out two days a week. Ruth, the begum, that is, the wife of wives, goes out whenever she pleases. Peggy, because she has given the light of the East a son, is permitted out three days a week."
"What about the others?" Adrienne asked, gesturing toward the concubines who were in the pool.
"Concubines are never allowed out," Judith shrugged haughtily. "In order for you to gain such a privilege, you must take you place as his fourth wife-provided you're able to earn such a place."
Adrienne shrugged. The last thing she wanted was to be the fourth wife to any man. She was still a firm believer in equal rights, or better yet, polyandry rather than polygamy. If she had a number of husbands it would be so much more convenient than having to be one of a number of wives.
Later that day, Peggy appeared in the harem, wearing her harem pants and vest. She and Adrienne shared lunch together and Adrienne asked, "Did you go out today?"
"Of course," Peggy nodded. "Ibn Musa isn't a total slave driver. He demands obedience of us, but when we show it to him, he does all in his power to please us."
"Oh!" Adrienne muttered as she speared a piece of lamb with her fork and ate it.
"Why don't you get smart," Peggy told her. "Stop fighting him. As long as you resist, he's going to keep you guarded that much more carefully. Let him think he's won."
"You've done more than let him think it," Adrienne pointed out. "You've actually knuckled under to him."
"What choice do I have?" Peggy asked. "Out there, I was alone, living with a family that really didn't care about me. Now at least I belong. I have a husband, even though I share him with two other wives and countless other concubines. He still makes love to me three times a week. That's more than most women with only one husband get. He's given me a son, a son I see at least twice a day. I'm very happy living here. Believe me, resisting him will get you nowhere. He's already informed the ones who run your building that you won't be moving back to your apartment. The people where you work think you've fallen madly in love with him and therefore refuse to argue cases against him. If you're ever to enter a court of law again, it will be working for him."
"I'll see him destroyed, first," Adrienne insisted.
"Use your head," Peggy told her. "The man owns thousands of miles of oil wells. He's related to the present king of Saudi Arabia, and he has diplomatic immunity, so the worst thing that can happen to him is that he's told to leave this country, which will probably never happen. He's one of the reasons why Saudi Arabia's oil price hikes are always lower than those of other countries. He gets away with whatever he chooses to get away with. Stop fighting him because you can't win."
"I don't want to be one of the gang," Adrienne replied. "I want to have my own man, my own job, and live my own life and not live for a bastard who thinks he can beat my feet whenever it makes him happy."
"It's a lot better than having your face punched the way my father used to do to my mother," Peggy told her.
"But it's worse than not being beaten at all," Adrienne insisted. "He treats us all like slaves."
"Not me, not Judith, and not Ruth," Peggy shrugged. "Granted we don't have quite the emancipation you're used to, but we live better than we would, otherwise. We're content to live this way. We stay in the U.S. We shop, see plays, go to movies, and we're protected. If anyone dares put hands on us, the sheik removes those hands, from the arms of whoever touches us."
"Really?" Adrienne asked, wondering if she ought to bring up the next subject. But then she daringly plunged right ahead. "What about Abdul?"
"Oh I see you've been approached by our harem guard," Peggy smiled.
"It was more than an approach," Adrienne snorted. "If your loving husband ever found out ... "
"Oh he knows," Peggy shrugged. "He knows everything that goes on here. But you see, Abdoul never touched any of the wives when they were wives, only when they were concubines. To begin with, the sheik doesn't consider Abdul a man. He thinks of the eunuch as a woman. Since it's permissible for the harem women to play with one another, it's also permissible for Abdul to have his enjoyment with any of the concubines. After all, when the sheik has visitors, he often loans a concubine to one of the men for the night. An old Arabian custom."
"Did he loan you out?" Adrienne asked.
"Once," Peggy nodded. "How do you think I became pregnant? Ibn Musa is as sterile as Abdul. It was the same with Ruth and Judith. They were also concubines who went on loan-out one night, fortunately all to men who were dark like Ibn Musa, and as a result all of them gave birth to children who looked as if they might have been sired by him. Stop fighting, Adrienne. Give in, at least until you see an opportunity you won't get if you put up resistance. Believe me, you can't get out of here by yourself. The only way out is if he lets you out."
"Maybe," Adrienne shrugged. "I'll give it a shot and see."
"Fine," Peggy smiled. "Just be loving. You'll see."
"Sure," Adrienne nodded, and she finished eating her lunch.
Then she and Peggy stretched out on their bed-couches and relaxed. She decided she would follow Peggy's advice-for a little while, anyway.