NYU Black Renaissance Noire Summer/Fall 2010 | Page 13
12
m
Victor Hernandez Cruz
in front of a wall
with arabic letters.
At the house, the table is all set up: four plates of salad and
a large clay tangine casserole in the center where the food
cooks and gets served. Marie lifts the cone cover and reveals the
lamb dotted with large prunes and vegetables, a composition
of colors worthy of a great painter, what ?avor and style in
presentation. A large wicker basket holds French style round
loafs of bread. Marie goes to the kitchen and comes back
with a bottle of Spanish wine. After dinner, Mohammed points
to the sofa and tells me it is where I would sleep. It is obvious
that the night and the stars are becoming heavy upon our
shoulders, the lamb and the wine criss-crossing with the beers
we had all day. I would continue my voyage the next day,
towards Rabat, the city Amina was from, for she had given me
her phone number and told me to come down to see her
where she would be my guide in the capital. We nevertheless
stay up talking way past midnight. In Morocco, people enjoy
the nights by arranging chairs on the street for a nocturnal
spell of bochinche gossip. I tell the story of the horse that stuck
its face through an open door and beheld its own image in
a bedroom mirror, thinking that it was a mare and chasing
after it. This is a legend from the town of Aguas Buenas, Puerto
Rico, told to me by my mother. It happened circa 1948. The
horse found itself trapped in a world of mirrors and illusions,
it kept chasing the illusive mare, knocking down walls in
the old wooden houses of the working class barrio of the time.
Everybody screamed that it had the devil inside. Finally it
made its way out of the labyrinth, found the main street and
charged toward the plaza fuming saliva and nostril snot.
The people all ran for cover, the owner ran after it and when a
police o?cer got there, the owner asked him for his colt 45.
Recognizing the sheer madness of the beast, he knew instantly
he would never mount that animal again and shot the horse
point blank between the eyes. The horse’s front-legs buckled
and the man shot it again through the side of its head,
seemingly into his ears.
BRN-ISSUE-2-3-2010.indd 12
Mohammed recounts the story about a Berber boy who was
born with his penis hidden into his crotch. The family had
brought him up thinking he was a little girl until they wondered
when she would start menstruation. Once the child was 14
and a half, they took her to a nearby town where a new hospital
had just opened. The doctors examined the little girl and
found the male organ hidden in what they thought was the
labia. This is a boy, they commented, and the whole family
freaked out. The little girl was known as Semira. Her mother
fainted, the father threw himself onto the ?oor to do salat,
the Muslim prayer. A day later, when the family gathered itself
into reality, the doctors had done H ??\? ?\??\?H ?^ ??B?H??x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