Coach Nour of the Gym

It’s past midnight on one of Cairo’s unbearably hot summer days. There is no hope of any breeze to shake the light chiffon curtains. Lights are off, door has been left ajar to allow the corridor light to sneak in, and the fan on the ceiling has decided to stop working so they turn their clothes into fans. The poor bed always lovingly accommodates at least four and at times seven girls. After a lot of pushing, pinching, and bullying, they usually manage to fit their different sizes and shapes of feminine bodies into a talkative, laughing jigsaw puzzle.

‘Which one of you pigs has forgotten to wash her feet?’ their eldest and the only Egyptian cousin among them said.
‘SARAAAH!!’ two others shout.
‘I swear to God I’ve already washed them,... twice,’ she says with an unseen smile. She decides to go wash them again after her big sister shoves her off the bed. ‘Okay, buffalo, I’m going,’ she mutters.

‘Hmm .. busy night for you Egyptians, no?’
‘Yeah, it’s Thursday night.’
‘What do you mean? Stop it.’
‘No , this is a fact that we all know.’
‘And who are ‘we’?’
‘We Arabs!’
‘Begad? And I’m not Arab? I’m Egyptian, silly! Am I speaking Chinese now?’
‘I mean people who are not Egyptians know this about Egyptians. We know that your men make love to their women only on Thursday nights.’

One Palestinian, two Jordanians and one Egyptian. All five young ladies crack laughing out loud and express their total agreement with the rumor/information.

‘But these things don’t go by schedule, you know,’ the Egyptian tries to defend.
‘That’s what we think, not you. We Palestinians…, hmm, you can ask about us the whole Arab population and you’ll learn about the reputation of our men.’
'No, it's us, Jordaninas.'
'Jordanians are Palestinians originally, so it's the same.'
‘Oh, how about Uncle Ali’s son, I think he’s not that ... ...’
‘Well, he’s good at other things, you know!’
‘No.. but I still have to admit that Captain Nour of the gym is an exceptional case. God, that guy is a lamppost not a man!’
A long ohhhooo and laughter shake the bed and a loud whistle goes off.
‘You’ll never know. He looks something, but still he’s an Egyptian.’

Sarah heard the noise and came running back from the bathroom. ‘What are you laughing at? What have I missed?’
‘It’s Captain Nour.’
She pretended to have faint and threw her tall body across the other four. ‘Oh, Nour, my love,’ she sighs.
‘But you know what? Although I don’t believe it’s true, I still think they have the right to do it only once a week.’
‘Are you crazy? What about their women?’
‘Do you know how long most of them work everyday? They leave home around 6.30 in the morning, they may or may not come back for lunch and a quick nap then leave for their second job and stay out until around 12 am. What do you think they will do when they get home? ’
‘Probably drop dead.’
‘Yeah, and you blame them for a Thursday only.’
‘Oh poor guys, it’s good then there’s a Thursday even.’
‘Nooo, but not all of them.’
‘Why do you care anyway?’
‘Of course I do… I’m planning to get Nour for myself.’
‘No, he’s mine.’ ‘No, mine!’ ‘No, he's mine. He likes me.’

And they start pillow fighting without even realizing that Captain Nour of the gym works a double shift on Thursdays.