Easily Entreated

“Your sketches are absolutely captivating. I mean I can feel the joy of this older shop owner in the souks watching this child.”

“I like that one too. It was his grandson, and I would pass by this shop each morning walking up to the university. He was babysitting while his daughter did her shopping each morning. He was always so happy. He told me it’s what made it worth it to get up early each morning, knowing he would see the smile on his grandchild’s face.”

“How sweet? Who’s this?”

“That is one of the most interesting young men I have ever met: Hammed. I think he was the youngest shop owners in all the souks. He was definitely one of the most ambitious and intelligent. He told me he started as a sheep skin curer. He would go down to the slaughter house each day and purchase the skins, then take them down to a secluded part of the beach and soak them in the sea water, dry them on the rocks and then soak them again until they were cured ,then sell them to the leather bag makers. He had saved his money with the wild idea of being one of the people who sold the bags to townspeople and tourists. His father died, and his older brother became too ill to work. When he proposed to his brother that he could take over the shop, he had laughed. When he showed him the money he had saved, he was shocked. Instead of selling the shop to a friend he agreed to take the money as partial payment and let him pay the rest off over time. Because he knew leather and all the leather dealers, he was able to make a good business. I was very impressed by his salesmanship. He would play this guessing game with me.”

“What is the guessing game?”

“Let her tell the story, Natalie. She’s an artist, remember? She’s not going to leave out any details.”

“You can’t tell when Peter is complementing or insulting you, sometimes.”

“You just have to assume he’s insulting you.”

“Then, for your sake I will explain the guessing game. From a distance he would guess the nationality of a person. As they neared his shop, he would greet them in their native language and beckon then to come inside. Mind you, he knew how to sell bags in six languages. They would be so happy to hear their own language, they would answer his beckon and usually come in and buy something. I asked him why he didn’t call every one. He explained to me that he watched them as they walked down the path to see which type of things caught their attention. If they were interested in bags, he knew he had a customer. If not, the chances of making a sale were much lower. He was so good, he would tell me the nationality and how much he would make on the sale. You know what? He was usually right.”

“How did you get to be such friends?”

“One day as I was passing by, he asked me what country I was from. He was surprised when I told him and a little disbelieving. I asked him why. He said that if I were a real American, my walking pace would be quicker and that I would not just walk by everything never looking at anything in particular. He had watched me carefully for a few weeks, and I had perplexed him -- one of the rare times he was not able to guess. So he decided to ask, in case someone like me ever came by again.”

“That is a fantastic story.”

“Even more, he was already training his younger brother Abdul to be able to do the same things...