I tried to shake the dizziness away and stepped out of the car. As I followed him up the stairs he handed me a scarf. “You should wrap your head in this,” he said wearily. “It should help keep the staring at bay. I assume you know how bad the staring is here.”
I wrapped my head as best I could while saying, “Yeah, it’s one of the worst parts of being in Bangladesh.”
He nodded while calling out to the nearest rickshaw. They exchanged a few words in Bangla while we climbed on. Even in all the times, I had been to Bangladesh I had never shopped in very many of the local stores. Ron had always insisted on taking me to the big malls stating that they were safer, but now we weren’t left much choice. The rickshaw pullers would never take us that far and even if they did it would take much too long. We arrived at the nearby market in less than 20 minutes. I had only been here once before but even if I had been here a million times it was probably different every day. The sound of bargaining was so loud it was defining and the colors were all so bright. I could spend hours just standing and watching the people shop.
This would not be the case though. Ron began to rush ahead of me and I instinctively grabbed him by the hand so as not to get lost. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at me with a look I recognized to be a mix of embarrassment and shock. I realized that at this point in time this was not yet my husband. This person barely even knew me even if I knew everything about him. I felt my face turning bright red and let go murmuring that I was sorry. I let go of his hand and looked at my feet. He didn’t say anything but gave a small smile and turned to start walking again.
It was a lot harder to keep myself from becoming separated without being able to hold his hand but I managed. Soon we had bought 6 different outfits I would be able to wear. And were heading back towards the exit.
I checked my phone and realized it was about 11 o’clock in the afternoon by the time we got to the exit. We had only been in the market for a few hours but it had felt like days and by now I was tired and hungry. I looked at Ron and asked, “So, what’s next?”
“Well,” he said looking down the street for an empty rickshaw, “I figured we would get some food before going to our next destination.”
I smiled back before saying, “I always did feel like you could read my mind.” A rickshaw pulled up and we clambered in. He took me to a cafe very near to his home. It was close enough that even I could recognize where I was. We walked up the dark narrow stair to the roof. I had been here once before but it had been a different cafe then. I knew that from the living room window in Ron’s home you would be able to see the cafe and that made me a bit nervous even though I was sure no one would be looking. I told Ron what I wanted and he ordered for both of us.
We sat quietly in contemplation while we waited for our food to arrive. Once the food got there I pointed out the window and said, “You know you can see this cafe from your living room window?”
“Yeah, I wondered if you would say anything about that.” He said carefully chewing his food.
“Just more proof that I really do know you I guess,” I said looking down at the table.
“Oh, I don’t need more proof, I believe you. I believed you yesterday. You can’t fake that kind of emotion. What I heard in your voice, that was true fear.”
As he said that I felt the tears of relief spring to my eyes once more. “Thank you,” I managed to croak out through my seized throat.
We finished our food in comfortable silence each thinking about how bizarre our situation was. Once we had finished he paid our bill and then led me down the stairs.
“You’re going to need somewhere to shower and clean up. I wanted to get you a hotel but couldn’t think of a way to get that much money so I told my ma I wanted a gym membership. It won’t give you a place to sleep and the hours for women are limited but it’s the best I could do.” He started walking down the street away from his house. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but at least it’s within walking distance of our building so you won’t have to take a rickshaw to get here. We’ll go make your membership now and I’ll show you how to get there before we go home.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” I said nearly jumping with joy. I wanted nothing more than to be able to take a hot shower before changing into fresh clothes.
The gym was in the basement of one of the large apartment complexes. I stood nearby while Ron filled out all my information and paid for my membership. He asked if there was anyone who spoke English who could give me a short tour. The man shook his head and said, this time in English, that none of the female employees would be here until later when women were permitted but that he would leave a note on the desk that I would be coming later on. Ron told him I would be here by 7 o’clock for my tour.
After that, we started the short walk home. Ron explained that I would be on my own for the afternoon because his madam was coming. I knew this to mean that his tutor was coming. He handed me some money telling me to use it for emergencies and he would bring down dinner later. Once we got back to the car he said, “Don’t forget to be at the gym by 7 o’clock for your tour. Bring a change of clothes with you, they should have everything else you need. It’s a nice gym.”
I nodded and took note that it took us about 25 minutes to walk home. “I think I will take the time to work out while I’m there as well if you don’t mind.”
He bobbed his head back in forth that it was fine and then turned to go while calling back, “Leave a door unlocked so I can leave your dinner on the seat.”
“Ok, thank you,” I called as he disappeared around the corner. I looked at my phone to see it was 1 o’clock. This meant I was going to need to find something to do for the next 5 and a half hours. I thought about going for a walk but the streets were much too busy at this time of day even if it is a Saturday. I looked around the cramped space of the back seat of my car, filled with trash, papers, and now new clothes and decided if I was going to be staying here for the foreseeable future it would need to be more livable.