In My Life

esshar el ashgar

illi bihibbu bi busah

--Traditional Arabic Lullaby



"It started after I-um-borrowed some jewels from a local sheik. You'd think that with his cash he wouldn't miss a couple of lousy jewels. He sent some guards after me. One managed to get me across the chest with his scimitar. Another got me in the back of my calf with a cross bolt. I managed to get away by hiding in a tool shed. That's where Aisha found me.



"She was a bit shy at first. Women in her area weren't supposed to touch or even talk to a man unless she was married to him, and then only with his permission. But, she could see I was hurt and was willing to help me. She knew a little healing, but so far only worked on other women in the village and the goats she tended to.



"She hid me in the tool shed for weeks and we got to know each other. Aisha was afraid her family wouldn't be able to find her a husband. Like I said, they didn't find her attractive. Their standard of feminine beauty was short with big hips and dark skin. She wasn't a great cook like her sister and her weaving was always in knots. Plus, she was kind of clumsy. When everything is made of earthenware, that's a bad trait to have. One time she accidently spilled some water on me and she started crying because she thought I'd be angry at her. I gave her her first kiss just to show her I wasn't. Other than a little healing, all she was good at was singing. And women weren't allowed to sing where she was.



"I was falling in love with her. Aisha was falling in love with me too, and trying not to. One day, she came to me and undid the scarf she always wore over her hair. I later learned that in her culture, she may as well have been doing a strip tease for me. She said she loved me and wanted to give herself to me. I told her that after all she had done for me, I should be the one giving myself to her. If I knew what she was risking, I would have shown more restraint. When her father and brothers found out about me, they weren't going to kill me like I thought. They were going to kill her! Aisha, their own flesh and blood."



"Honor killings." Hercules said with a knowing nod. "Wish I could say they were part of a barbaric past."



"They dragged her out to the middle of the town square. They were going to tie her up and stone her to death as an example to the other women in the village. Poor girl was crying and begging her family not to do this. I wasn't about to let them do that to my Aisha.



"You should've seen me in action, Hercules! It was a rescue you would've been proud of. I straddled a loose horse and rode in grapnel swinging. I knocked down her father while he was trying to tie her up, scooped her up on the back of the horse and we rode out of there. Aisha directed me to a nearby oasis where we could get enough water and figs to hold us over until we got to the next village.



"For a while, we just travelled from town to town. I'd do a little burglary and Aisha would wait for me back at wherever we were hiding out. She'd take care of the horse- named him Miraj, by the way. She tried teaching herself how to cook for me, but, like I said, clumsy. We wound up eating a lot of pita sandwiches. On the occasion that I got hurt on the job, Aisha was there to kiss it and make it better. On nearly every job, I'd pick up some pretty bauble for her. At one point, she had about a dozen bracelets on each wrist. Would've looked gaudy on some girls but Aisha managed to pull it off. At one town that wasn't so picky about women being covered up, she got her ears pierced and wore some golden earrings I got for her. I think she lost a lot of her shyness after spending some time with me. She eventually developed the confidence to sell some of my stolen goods in various market places. And then there's the other thing she got better at with practice. Don't think I need to go into detail there."



"Oh, you mean knitting." Hercules said with false innocence.



"Yeah. Knitting." Autolycus said with an eye roll. "We'd 'knit' together just about every night. Sometimes we'd like to 'knit' first thing in the morning. Aisha had never 'knitted' before, but once I showed her how, she never wanted to stop. Well, eventually, all that 'knitting' made something. And I don't mean a pair of mittens."



"Ah." Hercules gave an understanding nod. "And so Little Autolycus was born."



"Actually, it was a girl. Her name was Habiba. It means 'beloved'." He sipped his coffee and stared out the window at nothing.



"Nice name." said Hercules. "I'm sure it was fitting."



"Yeah. It was."



"I remember when Deienara was pregnant with Clonus. I was happy, but I was also so very scared. Zeus hadn't been much of a role model. I was so afraid I wouldn't know how to be a good father."



"Hermes was no prize either." Autolycus added. "But, whenever I get to a tough spot in my life, something that can't be solved with a picked lock or a clever disguise, I ask myself what Malakos would do. He might've only been ten years older than me, but he was more of a dad than Hermes ever thought of being. Still, the idea of being a father was pretty unnerving for me.



"As you can imagine, our Bonnie and Clyde of the desert days were drawing to a close. I had thought of just going to the next town, selling Miraj, settling down. I was even considering honest work for a minute.



"We were almost to our destination when we were cornered by a gang of thieves. They wanted to steal Miraj and everything we loaded him up with. A few started putting their grimy hands on Aisha's bracelets. Well, I went right into defensive mode. Swung that grapnel, put in a few well placed kicks and punches, pulled out the dagger when it started to get really ugly. See, I'd gotten a lot better at fighting over the years, and now I had something worth fighting for. I had twenty of those boys down in less than two minutes when the gang leader called a halt.



"Their leader was riding this great Arabian stallion. He rode closer to me and looked down at me, trying to size me up, I guess. His first observation was I was not from his country. I said 'No shit.' He asked me where I was from. I said 'Greece, what's it to ya?' He got down from his horse, and started walking around me, still trying to size me up. I had that dagger ready just in case he decided to start something. He told me I was a good fighter, that he never saw someone fight so fiercely. I told him thanks. He looked over at Aisha and asked if I was fighting for her. I told him 'She is my wife and she's carrying my child. I would fight to the death for her.' He told me he admired my bravery. He asked if I'd like a job with him. He said his name was Fuad. I put my dagger away and told him my name. Well, actually, I gave him the name Aisha used for me. She had been calling me 'Ali'. It means 'great one'. Guess it was easier for her to pronounce."



"The job that Fuad offered you," said Hercules. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say it wasn't raking leaves."



Autolycus laughed. "No leaves in the desert anyway. He just told me I had a place in his band of thieves if I wanted it. Well, let's face it, thievery is my specialty. Usually I work alone, but I had to think about Aisha and our baby. It turned out that Fuad and a lot of his men had wives and children. They stayed behind at the hideout doing little domestic chores while the men went out and earned the bacon."



"Stole the bacon." Hercules corrected him.



"Whatever. The hideout looked like a literal hole in the ground from outside, but inside, it was practically palatial. It was underground so it was nice and cool during the day. The ladies kept the place looking nice, even decorated with a few tapestries and some macramé. The first two of the thieves' wives I met were on guard duty. There were a few women who were tough enough to wield a sword or a spear so they were made guards. They asked us the password."



"Was it 'Open Sesame' by any chance?"



"Oddly enough, it was. Hey, Scheherazade had to get her ideas from somewhere! Actually, Fuad changed the password once a week. It was always something grain related. Aisha loved it there. She quickly made friends with the other wives. That was probably in part that Aisha bandaged up the men I took down and told them no hard feelings. She was a very forgiving person, Aisha. She even forgave what her father and brothers tried to do. She said they thought they were doing the right thing. I thought it was barbaric at the time, and now that I've had children myself, I find it even more reprehensible. You just don't kill your own kids. Yeah, the temptation pops up, but you never act on it.



"Anyway, the other women took to Aisha pretty well. One taught her how to cook. She got a little better at it. Another taught her how to play the sitar. Let's just say she was better at that than cooking. In the evenings, the women would sing and dance for us and after dinner, we'd go off to our rooms with them for some alone time. Hey, no TV, you do what you can for entertainment. At that time and place, it was against the law for women to sing and dance or even eat with male company. But, you know how debauched we thieves are. Aisha never got really good at making anything with yarn other than knots. Her friends just had a party for her and gave her clothes and toys and stuff for the baby. One of Aisha's friends was going to teach her the dance of the seven veils after the baby was born."



"It doesn't sound like it happened." Autolycus was uncharacteristically quiet. "I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."



"There was so much blood. More than I though there'd be. Aisha screamed until she was hoarse. I held her while she cried from so much pain. The midwife was alternating between trying to staunch the bleeding and delivering our daughter. We both told Aisha to bear down and give one more push. She wailed as she gave it all she got. Then, I heard the midwife slap something followed by a tiny cough then a cry. She put the still wet baby on Aisha's stomach and told us we had a daughter. Aisha hugged the baby, both of them crying, she named her 'Habiba' right there. The midwife tied off the cord and invited me to cut it. Aisha was still bleeding. The midwife tried to clean her up and staunch the bleeding after the afterbirth was expelled while Aisha nursed Habiba for the first and only time. She was so pale. So weak. I didn't know if that was normal or not. She said she was tired. I told her to go to sleep, that I'd take care of little Habiba until she woke up. I pulled a blanket over her and kissed her and told her I loved her. She never got up from her nap."



"I'm so sorry." said Hercules. "I know how much that hurts. I've seen Iolaus go through that. I went through it once. In 1847, my wife Emily died delivering our son. It was those damned corsets her parents made her wear. Twisted up her insides. I'm just very glad that with modern medicine, women don't die in childbirth as often as they used to."



"Yeah. If Aisha had been in a modern hospital, they might've given her a transfusion and saved her life. The funeral was spectacular. Every one of the women wailed and rended their garments while pouring sand over themselves. I felt like doing the same, but I had a baby to take care of. I don't think I ever really allowed myself to mourn for Aisha. After I laid her to rest I threw myself into taking care of Habiba and working my way through the ranks of the band of thieves."



"Not so unusual." said Hercules. "Many people try to keep busy to prevent being consumed with grief. I know that all too well."



"I rose through the ranks pretty quickly. Let's face it, I had more experience in thievery than anyone, even Fuad, ever dreamed of having. When Fuad died from a cross bolt to the throat from someone who wasn't willing to part with his gold, I was made the new leader.



"I developed a bit of a nickname not long after Habiba was born. See, just after we buried Aisha, a few of the women came up to me, volunteering to take Habiba off my hands for me. Well, I felt Habiba was my responsibility. Plus, I just loved her too much to just give her away. Yeah, I'd let the women babysit while I was off on a job and there was one woman who recently had a baby who was willing to wet-nurse, but when I was at the cave, I always had Habiba with me. Either in my arms or on my lap. When she was big enough to walk a little, she was always by my side, holding my hand. Well, as I've said, I'd been going by the name Ali because it was easier for them to pronounce. And 'Baba' was their word for 'Daddy', so...."



"You were Ali Baba?"



"Like I said, Scheherazade got her ideas from somewhere. Got a few details mixed up. One being that I was the leader of the Forty Thieves, not working against them at all."



"Well, you have to tell me all about Habiba. Any kid brought up by you is going to be interesting."



"You're putting it kindly." Autolycus smirked and took another drag off his cigarette. "Habiba grew to be a very beautiful young lady. Of course, every daddy thinks his little girl is the most beautiful thing in the world."



"Of course." Hercules whole heartedly agreed. "Especially if she takes after her mother."



"Habiba looked a lot like Aisha. Her skin was a shade lighter and her hair was a bit finer and a glossier shade of black. Growing up with the thieves, she never felt an urge to cover it up. Had those same big, dark doe eyes you could get lost in. She was tall, slender, but strong. I taught her how to hold her own in a fight. Eventually, she adopted a weapon known as tiger's claws; blades that would extend from her fingers like claws. She was a tough but sweet little scrapper. Brave, clever. Real sweetheart.



"When she was fifteen, me and some other thieves were caught, imprisoned and awaiting execution when Habiba and the other women hatched a plan to save us. Some of the girls would distract the guards by singing and dancing. Others would blackjack the distracted guards and take their keys. Some would bring up empty oil jugs to slip us out in. A few unsuspecting guards even leant a hand, thinking they were just helping a pretty lady. Habiba was driving one of the getaway wagons. We were halfway home when we got ambushed by a rival gang of thieves. They weren't expecting a bunch of men to come out of those jars fighting. They weren't expecting my girl to be able to hold her own either, but she did. I was really proud of the way she handled things. It was poor Miraj's last stand, though. He managed to clonk a couple guys on the head with his hooves, but got his carteroid artery sliced for his trouble. Poor Habiba was in tears, having known this horse all her life. I put him down so he wouldn't suffer more. Well, he lived a good, long life for a horse."



"Sounds like Habiba was everything you could want in a daughter." said Hercules. "You did a good job."



"No, Hercules, I didn't." Autolycus sighed. "For twenty years, Habiba and me were, well, thick as thieves as the saying goes. Then, one day she went off on a solo mission. She was set to break into the Sultan's palace and steal some treasure. Well, she managed to steal the most prized treasure in the whole kingdom. The prince's heart."



"I'm going to guess that 'The Prince's Heart' is not a nickname for some jewel."



"Nope. She started a back door romance with Prince Jahmeel. You can imagine my reaction to that."



"Yeah. It's heartbreaking when your little girl discovers boys." Hercules sipped his coffee. "But, you know, it happens."



"Yeah, well, this was something I didn't want happening. If it had been one of the thieves' sons, I would've understood. A few of the boys even came crawling to me, begging for her hand. She could've had any of those boys with a wink. But, no...she has to go make goo-goo eyes with a prince of the blood royal! I told her I didn't approve. I told her she'd only have her heart broken. I told her there was just no way that a prince could ever seriously be in love with a thief. I guess she took it the wrong way. We got in a huge screaming argument. I said some things I could never take back. She was gone the next day."



"Some things never change." Hercules commented.



"Yeah. Habiba may have looked like her mother, but she was more like me. Independent. Stubborn. Hated being told what to do. The thieves disbanded not long after. I left them to go look for my daughter, but she learned her lessons in track hiding too well. It was forty years before I saw her again.



"One night, I slipped through an upstairs window of a castle, looking for some loot. I found myself in this well-appointed bedroom. An old woman was sleeping soundly behind the netting of a canopied bed. I tiptoed over to the jewelry box on the vanity. I opened it- and saw one of Aisha's bracelets. It was a finely wrought gold and ruby piece I'd easily recognize. I gave it to Habiba for her thirteenth birthday. As soon as I recognized it, I was just so shocked that I dropped the box, the whole thing just clattered over the marble floor. The old woman snapped awake and demanded who I was. I stood there like an idiot with my mouth open. Got a kick to the jaw for that. Jumped out of bed quick as lightning. Spry for an old lady. I called her by name. She said 'I don't know how you know my name, but I'll tear you to shreds if you don't get out of my home now!' She kept the tiger's claws on her night stand and was ready to use them on me. So, I sang to her."



"You sang to someone who was about to kill you?"



"It was a lullaby Aisha taught me. One I sang to Habiba when she was little. Stopped her dead in her tracks. I heard her call me 'Baba' for the first time in decades.



"Well, I broke the news to her, about me being half-god and immortal and all. Apparently, quarter-gods age slowly and have very good health, but that's about it. I asked what had happened and it turned out I had been so wrong about Prince Jahleel. He really did love Habiba and had taken her away to live in his father's summer palace with him. Turned out Jahleel died after a long illness the previous year. But, they had three children together. And grandchildren. Kind of a shock to find out you're a grandfather and great-grandfather the same night you find your long lost daughter. But, I was happy to know that after all these years, she was safe and happy and raising the next generation of leaders. I told her I was sorry for being such a fool. She told me she was sorry for hurting me by leaving. We sat on her bed and hugged the night away. I never saw her again after I left her palace, but at least I had some closure."

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A/N: I deliberately kept the exact area where Aisha was vague. Suffice that it was the Middle East roughly 2 centuries AD. The song that inspired the title of this chapter is an Arabic lullaby that can be heard in this Johnson&Johnson ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTw_2qd-zuc

Special thanks to strega86 for the translation.