Mazhar al-Huseini believed his wife had strange and hidden attributes that were confusing and beyond explanation, comprehensible only to someone who had lived with her. Every time he embraced her, he received a piece of good news that changed his life. He was embracing her with delicacy and care the moment he learned he had been appointed general manager of a state-owned company with a huge annual budget and indolent accountants. He was giving her a well-behaved and modest embrace when news reached him that he had been chosen as Finance Minister. And he was giving her a mean and violent embrace when it was announced in the newscast on television that he had been chosen as Prime Minister. And he was hugging her as a child hugs a cat when it was reported to him that the whole country had elected him President of the Republic.
Mazhar al-Huseini never spoke of his wife’s attributes, making sure they remained a secret. But one night, when he had drunk enough alcohol to feel everything spinning around him, he admitted to some of his close friends the secret role his wife had played in his success, and they kept their silence. They did not tell him they had embraced their wives and embraced his wife, but with no improvement in their condition. He noticed that they did not agree with what he had said and he tried to convince them but did not succeed. He returned to his palace in distress and rushed to embrace his wife, eager for her tender flesh. At that moment, his secretary called to tell him that what she had to say couldn’t wait till morning. In a trembling and submissive voice she informed him that he had been granted American citizenship.