Diary of Francesca – 4
Me and Murim
Me, Murim and her fear in a waiting room
I pick her up in the hotel she has been living in for a few days, after having slept for many long nights on the streets, without shelter, with her son, without a place to stay
Today is suffocatingly hot, I keep sweating
She has a fur instead
In my broken Arabic, walking by cars and construction sites, I try to laugh with her at this difference, to break the ice
We had never met before
No one has anyone they can trust here
She trusts a stranger
She trusts me
We get to the clinic
She doesn’t have an appointment
They tell me they can’t see her, that we have to come back the day after
I insist, she struggles to walk, she’s scared
I insist, we stay until closing
I insist, I look for a doctor
The doctor sees Murim and recognizes her from the past few days, smiles, visits her, medicates her, and reassures her
Yet Murim comes out of the clinic with puffy eyes
I don’t understand
Technically everything went well
I’d like to talk to her more,
To better understand what she’s feeling
I’d like to, but I can’t
I, who can’t speak more than 6 words of Arabic
I decide to ask for help from the doctors’ translator
She is just walking out, she is done with her endless shift for today
It wouldn’t be her job to translate for me, but she has a big heart and wants to help, too
So I, the interpreter and Murim go into a room and close the door behind us
We are left alone
The three of us She cries
She vents
Shy, she covers her face with her veil, cries a lot
She feels suffocated by the weight of responsibility
Of being here alone with her child, without any certainties to offer him
“I am scared for my son”
“You are a good mother”
“It’s all on my shoulders”
“You are not alone anymore”
“I am not alone anymore”
She dries her eyes,
A glimpse of calm in a storm
I brush her cheek
I hug her
She squeezes her arms around me
“Shukran wallah bihubek wallah” “Thank you, I swear I love you”
I love you too, Murim This,
Is why I’m here
OPERAZIONE COLOMBA
