Before arriving in New York, Si Lin lived in southern China, in a quaint and charming town surrounded by rivers and mountains. The most beautiful season there was autumn. Thousands of Sweet Olive tree were blooming. The streets and alleys were full of fragrance.
Si Lin taught belly dancing in downtown where she owned her dance studio. Besides teaching, she often performed commercially. She was a hot, sexy belly dancer in the area. Although she was a minor celebrity, she had a lot of problems.
One day, she went to her cousin’s birthday party. As soon as she entered the door, the noisy room suddenly quieted. She knew people were speaking ill of her. Within two years, she eliminated four husbands. Friends and relatives mocked her behind her back, saying she had a mental disorder and needed a lobotomy.
When these rumors got back to her, she realized how mean the world was! Some people regarded her as a marriage maniac who changed her husband faster than changing her car. Others were more harsh, saying that changing her husbands was like changing her toilet paper. People laughed and said, “Why did not she learn from Elizabeth Taylor and try to surpass Taylor, and make a Guinness World Records.”
Si Lin could not help but look back at her journey, and who was to blame? She often missed her first husband. He was a generous and nice gentleman. Once, he patiently persuaded her that since they were married and had a stable income, she didn’t need to go out for belly dancing shows. Si Lin was unhappy. She thought her husband wanted to clip her wings. To her, marriage should not be a cage. Why could not she fly in the blue sky? After a couple of fights, her husband gave up and she readily signed her name on the divorce papers.
The second husband was a singer. She had a “flash wedding” with him, after they met on the way to ShangHai. One month later, she caught him in bed naked with two women and one man. What a scum!
When Si Lin married the third time, she vowed she would value her marriage. Her husband was introverted and worked for the government as an administration director. But just after their honeymoon, Si Lin’s in-laws from the countryside suddenly visited them. Si Lin knew they were poor farmers, and their life was harsh. So she gave them a very warm reception. Two weeks later, her in-laws refused to leave. Moreover, her husbands’ brothers and sisters all came to their apartment. They said they wanted to find a job in the city, and they needed to live in their house temporarily.
Si Lin told her husband, “I’m sorry, I can’t take this anymore.”
Her husband said, “You must accept it. My family worked so hard to pay for my college tuition. Now it’s my duty to help them.”
She couldn’t bear his family burden and got another divorce. Her fourth husband was the owner of an electrical appliance company. His parents were already dead. There was a local expression, “A man with a mansion and a fancy car, and both parents are dead,” referring to what was said to be the ideal marriage partner for a girl. The same as Si Lin, this man had divorced three times, so they understood each other well. After the wedding, she moved to his mansion. She quickly discovered he still had trysts with his ex-wives. Her pain got even worse when all his ex wives formed a team against her.
Since then, she decided to stay away from marriage and just enjoy single life. The people around her regarded Si Lin as a joke, or a negative text book about marriage. As time went by, she was becoming suspicious and full of doubts about life. Si Lin needed start over with a clean slate. She asked her parents, “Could you please help me go to New York?”
Si Lin’s grandparents had been living in In Manhattan’s Chinatown and owned two restaurants there. In the 1980s, China just opened the door to the world. Her grandparents wanted to help Si Lin’s father get to New York. Her father was the only child they had left on the mainland during the Cultural Revolution. But Si Lin’s father did not say yes. He worked for a local college. He was successful and respectful assistant professor. He went to visit his parents in New York, but the mess of Chinatown was lingering in his mind. He told himself, “If I move to New York, I must give up everything in China. Moreover, I will have to work in my parents’ restaurant, cutting vegetables, washing fish and serving dishes. That is not the life I want.” However, when his daughter experienced emotional distress, he knew he must help her leave the city to go to New York.
Six months later, Si Lin arrived in New York to work in her grandparents’s restaurant. Her grandparents retired, and their restaurants was taken over by Si Lin’s uncle. The uncle’s original wife passed away two years ago and he married a woman who was younger than Si Lin. This new aunt was very competent. She was a controlling person and the real master of the restaurant.
She and Si Lin disliked each other at first sight. Si Lin saw her as a gold-digger. She saw Si Lin as a rival for the potential heritage. She always looked for Si Lin’s fault, when Si Lin worked at the restaurant. One day, she complained that Si Lin didn’t clean the fish very well. The fish still had scales. Si Lin threw the fish against the wall and cried, “I quit!”
Si Lin soon moved on. She found a job at a nail shop run by some Vietnamese. “I feel so free, far away from that crazy bitch.” Si Lin told her coworker Amina. Amina came from Syria. She liked to take Si Lin to the local church for a free meal and a free English class. Since then, SinLin’s English improving rapidly.
The first time Si Lin met Amina. she had never seen such a beautiful girl who seemed as though she could conquer the world. Si Lin told Amina, “When I was little, my Mom told me, the most beautiful girls in the world are always Arabs.”
Amina told Si Lin sadly, ”How lucky you are, you still have your Mom. I miss my Mom so much. My parents were killed by a roadside bomb on the way to the wedding of their friend. ”
Amina’s hometown was a small town near the Syrian capital. After she lost her parents, her uncle adopted her. Soon after, she followed her uncle’s family move to the United States as a refugee.
When Si Lin began to complain about the boring and hopelessness of American life, Amina always said, “We are so lucky we came to America.”
Si Lin said,”I understand you. I watch the news every day. I saw Syrian refugees flooding into Europe. A tide of refugees. It’s horrible.”
Amina’s uncle was a very intelligent man. He had an epiphany that the situation in Syria would become more and more chaotic. He immediately applied for refugee status to the US government. Amina told Si Lin, ”We started to take action very early and did not encounter that tide of refugees.”
Si Lin nodded and said, “The super early bird gets everything.”
Amina replied, ”You have no idea how lucky we were to be able to come to the U.S.“
Si Lin learned from Amina that the United Nations had wanted every developed country to receive Syrian refugees. Compared with Europe, the United States received the fewest, with a quota of only 1,000. The United States was very picky. Selecting refugees was like picking the cream of the crop. The Department of Homeland Security strictly checked the candidates’ family background and educational level. Amina’s uncle was a top dentist at the Capital Hospital, otherwise the family would not be eligible to become American refugees. There were also scientists, engineers, professors, chefs, traditional arts designers, and others on the refugee list.
Amina’s grandmother could have immigrated to the United States with her family, but she preferred to risk dying on her home soil than leaving her homeland. Amina had a cousin who volunteered to stay to take care of this grandmother. However, the situation became more and more chaotic.
Every day, there was gunfire and bombings. An apartment opposite to her cousin’s house was blown to ruins. He saw several of his neighbors lying dead in the street. The cousin decided to immigrate to Germany as a refugee, but Grandma still insisted on staying at her home. She believed one day the war would end, and all of her loved ones would come back home.
The cousin and his family arrived in Germany after a lot of hardships. On the phone, he told Amina’s uncle there were so many violent mobs in the refugee camps. He never even considered squeezing into the same place with such low-lifes. When the cousin was in Syria, he was a department manager of a big bank and the people he met were educated and graceful. He had a master’s degree in finance and he hoped his uncle could help him get to the United States.
Amina told Si Lin, ”My uncle can’t help my cousin to the U.S since my uncle had not established career in New York. Back home, he was the best dentist in town and received high respect. Now, he is a refugee here and does not have the qualification to practice medicine. He said he was so lucky to be a dental assistant in New York. Not every dentist is willing to hire him as an assistant because his English is not fluent.”
Si Lin said, “This is New York, and he still can find a job if he has the ability.”
Amina sounded surprised as she asked, “Can you guess who is the doctor who hired my uncle? It was his college classmate, who was not nearly as smart as my uncle back in dental school in Syria. But now he had been in New York for more than 20 years..”
Si Lin said, “Sooner or later, your uncle can be a dentist.”
Amina said, ”My uncle is already in his forties, and it is very difficult to get an American dentist license at this age. Currently, It is imperative to feed his family. He has no weekends and he works as a porter at a transportation company.”
Si Lin sighed, “What a life! Full time dental assistant and part-time porter. I don’t think your cousin wants such a hard life.”
Amina replied, “My uncle told my cousin it’s too difficult to immigrate to the United States nowadays. It’s the worst time for immigrants from the Middle East. Some Americans’ impression of Arab immigrants is terrorists. The abuse on the Internet is even more terrible. The United States claims to accept tens of thousands of refugees from the United Nations, but their conditions for acceptance are too harsh. One of them is to wait for more than two years. If the situation changes in those two years and the host country stabilizes, then the eligibility of refugees will be canceled. Some Arab communities in the United States are willing to take on 100,000 refugees. But the federal government has its own plan and pace.”
Si Lin sighed, “As a respected professional, if the motherland is safe, who would want to come to the United States as a refugee?”
Si Lin knew that Amina’s uncle had a prestigious lifestyle in Syria with servants at home. And his wife, Amina’s aunt, did not worry about anything at all. Her aunt loved jewelry, designer clothes, and bags, and she often went shopping with her girlfriends. When life changed, she and a group of family members huddled in a small room. She was in a state of emotional breakdown, sometimes screaming in the middle of the night.
Amina’s family was also very well off. Her father ran a very successful carpet company. She was the only child of her parents and the apple of their eye.
Si Lin said, “Now, I understand why you left your uncle’s house. You want to stay away from your screaming aunt.”
“She used to be a very kind and gentle lady.”
Amina pointed to a pile of ruins in Google’s Photos and said to Si Lin, ”This was once the royal summer resort, where my 18th birthday party was held. My aunt gave me a Persian diamond bracelet as a birthday gift. But the war has taken everything away.”
Si Lin thought if she was in such a horrible and difficult situation like Amina’s, she would not know if she could survive. Amina was sitting there, beautiful and quiet. No one knew she had gone through such tragic changes in her life.
Si Lin started to think of the Tang Poem (a famous ancient Chinese Poem), “Abandoned by the world, we have the same misfortune, so we share same sympathy and understanding each other.”
Si Lin knew she was a lot luckier than Amina. She fled from China just to escape her emotional disasters. Now, looking back, she realized they were not such disasters after all compared with Amina’s. They were lighter than the feathers in the wind.
Si Lin asked Amina, “Do you have a boyfriend in Syria?
Amina replied, “In our society, parents usually arrange marriage. I was once engaged to a man. However, during the civil war, my parents died and my engagement died with them. I should be grateful to Allah I survived the war.”
Far away from that war, their peaceful time seemed really good. Amina and Si Lin were eating at a Syrian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. They had a great time enjoying a lavish meal, with crisp bread, fresh and tasty hummus, tender fried fish, and juicy kebabs. Amina knew the chef of the restaurant. Like Amina’s uncle, he arrived in New York as a refugee, but he soon found a well-paid job as a head chef. He cooked the best Syrian cuisine in New York.
Si Lin exclaimed, “This lamb kebab halabi is so good, it tastes like heaven.”
Amina said with slightly sadness, “This dish was my fiance’s favorite.”
Si Lin consoled her, “Don’t think about that pig anymore.”
“He is not a pig.”
“Anyone who breaks a promise is a pig.”
Si Lin knew about Amina’s fiance. He had been studying and working in the United States for a long time and was now a financial analyst on Wall Street. There was an association called Arabic Association of Wall Street. The head of the association knew Amina’s uncle and told him the truth. Someone saw Amina’s fiance holding hands with a woman at a gate of a synagogue. That woman had been her fiance’s boss years ago.
Si Lin continued to lift Amina, “You are such a beautiful girl. It’s easy for you to find a great man in New York. I believe one day your man can beat that pig big time. ”
While they were talking, the chef came out of the kitchen. He warmly greeted Amina. He wanted to pay for their meals. Si Lin was about to say thank you, but Amina politely declined. When he left disappointedly, Si Lin asked, “Why do you refuse him? I can see he likes you very much.”
“He’s not my type.”
“You are right, he can’t beat that pig big time.”
All of a sudden, the restaurant was filled with happy and rhythmic Arabic music. They saw two belly-dancing girls in glittering gold. With the rhythm of the music, Si Lin patted the table and said, “I can dance too. I ran a belly dance studio when I was in China. Why don’t we open a belly dance studio here. I believe it would be more fun than giving manicures.”
Amina shook her head and said, “I’m not so sure about that idea. In my country, belly dancers have poor social status. Girls from good families don’t pick such a career.”
Si Lin raised her voice, “What’s wrong with this career? I saw you did belly dancing before. How can you look down on belly dancers?”
Amina said, “Yes, I still do belly dancing. But I only do it for family gatherings or friends’ weddings. If it’s for profitable commercial performance, I would definitely refuse.”
Si Lin groaned, “This is New York, no one cares about your purity or pretentious pose.”
Si Lin had divorced four men, and she knew Amina was a virgin. On the subject of social issues they had different outlooks. However, they were still good friends.
Si Lin insisted on her own way. She started to take dance class at the Broadway Dance Center on weekends. At the same time, she actively participated in social activities and looked for performance opportunities. She believed New York was a land with “love and hopes and dreams of second chances”.
Amina never danced, but she often accompanied Si Lin to participate in the commercial belly dance performances. She helped carry her bags, put on make-up, and tied her costume wings. People thought Amina was Si Lin’s assistant.
One day, the performance was in a gorgeous mansion on Long Island. Si Lin said to Amina, “This house is as big as a palace. How is it compared with the palace where you celebrated your 18th birthday?”
Amina said quietly, “It’s beyond comparing.”
Si Lin was also active in New York’s Chinese community. She met a Chinese dancer, Her nickname was Fly. For the coming Chinese New Year, Si Lin was going to attend the carnival costume parade in Chinatown with Fly.
During the audition, many Chinese girls were competing to play the role of Avalokitesvara (Buddha Goddess). The director was not content with any applicant. All of sudden, Amina’s beauty lit up the house like a flash of lightning . Fly said to the director, “She is not an applicant, she is Si Lin’s assistant. Plus, she is an Arab Muslim, not Chinese.”
Director said, “I don’t care about her background, I can see the brightness and purity of her auro. Only she is qualified to be a goddess. Plus, Buddha is not Chinese.”
It was a surprise to Si Lin that Amina agreed to play the Buddha Goddess. Fly complained to Si Lin, “Why do you bring a competitor to our community?”
On the day of the parade, Amina as the Buddha Goddess sat on a high lotus seat, which carried by parade open car. Si Lin and Fly played Buddha Goddess’s entourage, walking beside her car. Looking up at Amina on the lotus seat, Si Lin thought Amina was incredibly beautiful and her fate would be different from mere mortals.
Si Lin said to Fly, “I believe one day she will marry an extraordinary man.”
Fly pouted, “ Sure, you mooch get a free ride.”
During the Chinese New Year’s parade, people continued to salute Buddha Goddess.
It was a tradition that Buddha Goddess took the bottle of holy water in one hand and the willow branch in other hand, and used the willow branch to sprinkle holy water to her worshippers. When Amina sprinkled the holy water over one gentleman, her heart suddenly jumped. She felt something special about him. Later, she couldn’t help turning around to look at him again. Fly shouted at her in Chinese, “Please be a solemn Goddess.”
Si Lin said to Fly, “Too bad, but she does not understand Chinese.”
One day, Si Lin asked Amina to go out for a social activity. Si Lin said, “I know you don’t do commercial belly dancing. My friend organizes a belly dance flash mob, which is a charity event for breast cancer patients.”
“I don’t refuse public activities that could help others.” Amina said.
Si Lin and Amina, wearing T-shirts from the donor company, showed up on Wall Street on time. The dancing location was a small space behind the Wall Street bull’s butt. Before the music rang out, Si Lin noticed that Amina’s face turned pale, and her eyes were dazed. She followed her stare and saw a well-dressed man in a suit. Without doubt, he must be a white-collar worker on Wall Street. He may have just left work or come out for a cup of coffee between work hours.
Si Lin suddenly realized that the man must be Amina’s fiance. She asked Amina if she still wanted to dance. Amina clenched her lips, raised her head high and said, “Let’s dance.”
Amina was the exclamation mark among the dance beauties. After the performance, a good-looking middle-aged gentleman came to Amina. He said, “ You were a gorgeous Buddha Goddess. Unforgettable! You sprinkled the holy water over me. It was a miracle!”
Si Lin remembered him at the Chinese New Year Parade. She joked to him, “You only remember the Buddha Goddess.”
In May of the following year, Amina married that gentleman, a financial giant on Wall Street. Her wedding was grand and luxurious. Private jets sent relatives and friends to a private island in the Caribbean, which belonged to the gentleman’s family.
Certain people benefited from Amina’s marriage. Si Lin was one of them. With the help of Amina, Si Lin started to run a dance studio in Flushing’s Chinatown. Amina’s uncle no longer worked as a porter in his spare time, so he could concentrate on his dental license. Amina’s cousin was on the way to the U.S from Germany.