The Iron Man [Serial]

Are Fezzes Cool?

"And then," Fahim said, breaking into laughter, "he washed his hair in camel urine!"

I coughed a laugh. "Does that even work?"

"He said the lice were gone," Ilham said, having finished his chores to sit beside me.

Fahim sucked in a breath to suppress his laughter. "Me'rah did not believe him. She cried over his hair."

Ilham tried to mimic her voice. "Oh, Tyron, your baby-black hair!" His attempt to both whisper and seem distraught sounded rather creepy.

I inched away from Ilham. "It dyed his hair?"

"Orange!" Fahim said.

"Not really," Ilham disagreed.

"It was practically orange," Fahim corrected, "orange-brown, with black underneath."

"Minerva."

"Me'rah shaved his head," Ilham said.

I put a hand over my heart. "Poor boy."

A shadow fell over me, though I'd barely caught movement  from the corner of my eye.

"He's been fussy about his hair, since," Ilham said.

I caught movement as Murphy approached, almost at Ilham's back. He was close enough to have heard the last bit of conversation.

"I'm sorry," I said.

Murphy didn't speak, but pressed his lips more tightly together. He had changed togs, again. I had seen Murphy dressedlike this once before, when he had returned with the Malik after his hospital stay. Seeing him in a dark thawb now reinforced his resemblance to his father.

"The earth closets are clean," Murphy said. He nudged Ilham's folded leg with the tip of his boot.

"I'm sorry," I said, again.

"What are you sorry for?" Murphy asked. He sat down in the space beside me, which Ilham vacated. "Or were you telling stories, too?"

"No." But, I suspected his mother had tasked him with cleaning toilets so that their family might make a better impression on his guest. "But did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Camel urine."

"On my hair? Yes. But, I didn't drink it."

"Who would?"

Murphy didn't answer, but after a moment Ilham spoke from Fahim's other side, "How do you say? A traditional remedy? There are some who think it a cure for everything."

"Like scorpion powder," Fahim said.

"I will not say that one does not work," Murphy said. "I've not had a bad sting, yet."

"Mashallah," Fahim whispered.

"My mother gave us pickle juice for nausea," I said. "Apple cider vinegar was for hair problems, but most things she thought would be helped by cranberry juice or honey." I reached then for the stack of books, thinking there might be some remedies in The Farmer's Wife.

Murphy reached to the ashes of the firepit to tap a finger against the baking bread. Fahim must have given him a curious look, as Murphy explained aloud, "I just came from washing and dressing."

"I said nothing," Fahim said.

"This is done," Murphy said of the bread. "Where is Fir'awn?"

"He took Jericho for a walk," Ilham said. "He should be back before it's time for school."

"There's another book here that may be good for students," I said.  I took up a book from the stack beside me. "It's called Scouts in Bondage: a Story of Boy Scouts in Strange Adventure."

Murphy laughed aloud.

"I'm sure it is a fine book," Fahim said, "but I cannot say a story about children being tied-up is appropriate for school."

"Na, na," I said. I showed Fahim the illustrated dust jacket depicting lads in Scouting uniforms or modest bathing costumes retriving artifacts. "I have only skimmed the text, but it is not that sense of 'bondage'. These lads are put to work by their Master."

"That seems much more appropriate," Ilham said. I was momentarily impressed he had mastered sarcastic tone in a second language, but then, to my shame, realized that about  Murphy's age, he must have grown up with presence of foreign agents and soldiers attempting to secure resources or railways across Sinai.

I sighed. "I've not been a scout, but some boys from my school in London joined. A Troop of boys is lead by a Scout Master. It's all very proper." I flipped through the pages of the book. "This character here, the Professor, in the dinner jacket and tasseled hat has recruited them to collect pieces of inscribed masonry from a ruined chapel which he believes hold clues to a treasure."

"A fez? A tarboosh?" Fahim asked, even as at the same time Ilham asked:

"Isn't that desecrating holy ground?"

I was becoming less sure of the story. "I don't know, but from stories, it seems like English who live in the country have an abundance of old chapels or Roman villas on their land." 

Ilham then shrugged, "It's no different than casing stones from the Pyramids being quarried to build mosques in Cairo."

"May I see that?" Murphy asked.

I handed him the book.

"Is the professor a Cypriot or Turk?" Fahim asked.

"Turk's don't wear the tarboosh anymore," Murphy said as he skimmed pages, "It's been against their regional Code since the Pax was signed."

"I suppose it's just orientalist fashion," I said.

"No," said Murphy, "I've seen men dressed like this in France. I suspect this professor character is a Mason."

"He is interested in carved stones from the chapel."

"Not a stonemason, Jules, he's one of The Masons."

"Oh!" I said, understanding. "Like George Washington."

"Who?" Murphy asked.

"General Washington, a Virginian hero of our Revolutionary War. Some of our revolutionary patriots were Masons."

"Your states were founded by Masons?"

"Na, na. The colonies were founded by various immigrants from Europe: religious minorities, criminals, indentured servants, sailors, prospectors, later also slaves....but our Declaration of Independance was signed by some who also happened to be Masons." 

"It sounds as if they influenced your nation," Ilham said.

"We memorized the Declaration. It doesn't mention joining orders, just self-determination. The 'separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle' us and how 'all men are created equal...endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights' and if Government denys our 'Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness'  its the 'Right of the People to alter or to abolish it'."

"Jules, that's exactly naturalistic deism. It means no one needs books or prophets to guide them."

"Oh." So, not popular in Egypt.

-----

Chapter 94.

The media is "I Am the Doctor" from the soundtrack of Doctor Who TV series.

Scouts in Bondage is a real book by Geoffrey Prout, however it is used here in a somewhat fictionalized manner. In real life, we can assume the Professor character is merely wearing a smoking cap and jacket, but since tobacco trade and usage is downplayed in the alternate universe, the characters (of The Iron Man) assume a different interpretation for the fictional Professor's attire.

Because why not load the plot with even more potential religious and/or political conflict?