Sadiq abd al-Wahab was Haj Bashir’s agent in Nahud and he had the job of getting Daoud and me started on the Darb. We’ve never ridden camels before, we told him. Maa Shaa’a Allah, What God has Willed, Sadiq answered. We went out to the well flats to meet the drovers and KhairAllah, with Sadiq’s Nuba driver John at the wheel of his Ford pickup. Sadiq sacrificed the sheep and we ate roast meat in a Goodbye, Good Luck Ceremony while John sat on the hood. I gave him my Sarah Vaughan Greatest Hits cassette and still I wonder if he listened to its last song, Thanks for the Memories.
©David Melody
John on the Ford ©David Melody