Children of Gebelaawi (10 page)

gossip about my brothers' wives?

Umayma said sadly:

- The flowers arc more beautiful; but your brothers' wives

never stop talking about you and the management of the

Trust, always the management of the Trust, and your father's

faith in you, over and over again.

Adham frowned, forgetti ng the garden, and said bitterly:

- They don't miss anything.

- I' m really afraid they'll give you the Evil Eye.

Adham cried out angrily:

- Dam n the Trust! It's weighed me down and turned

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Children of Gebelaawi

people against me and taken away my peace of mind. To hell

with it!

She put her finger on his lips.

- Don't be ungrateful, Adham; managi ng the Trust is

important and it may bring benefits we haven't thought of.

- Up till now all it's brought is trouble. The sufferings of

ldrees are bad enough.

She smiled, bu t wi thout joy, and her eyes showed that she

was seriously worried.

- Look at our future as hard as you look at the branches and

the sky and the birds.

After that Umayma regularly shared Adham's sessions i n

the garden, and was hardly ever silent. But he got used to her,

and learned to listen with only half an ear, or not to listen at all.

When he felt like it he would take out his bamboo flute and

make music. He could really say with complete satisfaction that

everything was good. l-Ie got used even to ldrees's sufferi ngs.

But his mother's illness was getting worse, and she was racked

by new pains. His heart grieved for her. She used to call for him

often, and prayed coun tless prayers for him. One day she

entreated h im: 'Pray to God constantly to protect you from evil

and to lead you on the right path.' She would not let him leave,

but went on moaning to herself and murmuring her last

wishes, till she died in his arms. Adham and Umayma wept for

her, and Gebelaawi came and looked on her face, then

shrouded her reverently, his keen eyes filled wi th anguish.

Hardly had Ad ham 's life returned to normal than a sudden

change came over U mayma, for which he could see no reason.

It started with her givi ng up her visits to the garden, which did

not please him as he had sometimes thought i t would. He

asked her why she had stopped coming and she made various

excuses such as work or tiredness. He noticed that she did not

welcome him with the old ardor, and that when he made

advances to her , she accepted them without real passion, as

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Adham

though she were humori ng him reluctantly. He wondered

what could be the matter. He had already been through

something like this himself, but his love had sustained him and

conquered it. He cou ld have been harsh with her, and wanted

to very much at ti mes, but her fragi lity and paleness and her

politeness held him back. Sometimes she seemed u nhappy

and sometimes confused. One ti me he caught a look of

repulsion on her face, and he was both angry and sad, and said

to himself: ' I' ll be patient a while; either she'll i mprove, or to

hell wi th her! '

He went to his father's study one day to present the month's

accoun ts. Gebelaawi glanced through them casually, then

asked:

- What's wrong?

Adham looked up at him in astonishment.

- Nothing, Father.

Gebelaawi's eyes narrowed and he said quietly:

- Tell me about Umayma.

Adham lowered his eyes from his father's piercing glance.

- She's all right. Everything's fine.

Gebelaawi said impatien tly:

- Tell me what's wrong.

For a time Adham was si lent, believi ng his father omni-

scient. Then he confessed:

- She's changed very much and seems cold.

A strange loo k came into his father's eyes:

- Have you quarrel led?

- Never!

Gebelaawi smiled con tentedly:

- Be gentle wi th her, you ignorant fellow, and don't make

advances to her ti ll she asks you to. Soon you will be a father.

6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ad ham sal in the Trust office receiving the new tenants, one

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Children of Gebelaawi

by one. They were queuing up, the first i n front of him, the last

at the back of the garden house. When the last tenant came,

Adham asked brusquely without lifting his head from the

ledger:

- Your name?

A voice rep lied:

- ldrees Gebelaawi.

Adham looked up fearfully and saw his brother standing

before him. He leapt up to defend h imself, watching him

warily. But Idrees 's appearance was new and unfamiliar. He

was poorly dressed and seemed peaceable and u nassuming,

sad and sincere, changed like a starched garment steeped i n

water. The sight of him drove out of Adham's heart any

remaining anger, though he did not feel completely at ease.

With a mixture of mistrust and hope he exclaimed:

- ldrees!

I drees nodded and sai d with amazing gentleness:

- Don't be afraid. I'm simply your guest i n this house, if

your generosi ty can stretch to that.

Could these friendly words really come from ldrees? Had

suffering tamed him? 1-Iis meekness was just as disconcerting

as his former ruden ess. Wou ld treating him as a guest not still

be defying his father? But he had come uninvited. Adham

found himself motioning ldrees to take a seat beside him.

They sat looki ng at each other strangely, till ldrees said:

- I slipped in with that crowd of tenants so as to be able to

speak to you alone.

- Did anybody see you?

- Nobody from the house saw me, you can be sure of that.

I haven't come to spoil your happiness, but to throw myself on

your mercy.

Adham looked away, deeply moved. The blood rushed to

his face. ldrees went on:

- Perhaps you 're amazed at the change in me. Maybe

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Adham

you're wondering: 'Where have his pride and boastfulness

gone?'. I want you to know that I 've suffered more than a man

can bear, but in spite of all that I haven't behaved like this with

anybody but you. A man like me can only forget his pride i n the

presence of somebody gentle.

- I pray God to make things easier for you and for us. What

has happened to you has spoilt life for me and made me

miserable.

- I ought to have known that from the begin ning, but I was

mad with rage. Then drink took away my honor. Living as a

tramp and a parasite put out the last spark of humani ty i n me.

Did you ever know your big brother to act like that?

- Never! You were the best of brothers and the noblest of

men.

Idrees said in an agonized voice:

- Those were the days! Now I know nothing but misery. I

wander about the desert dragging a pregnant woman after me,

swallowing i nsults everywhere and making my living by being

hateful and making enemies.

- You break my heart, my brother.

- Forgive me, Ad ham. That's you as I 've always known you.

Didn 't I hold you in my arms when you were little? Didn't I

watch you as a child and as a you ng man , seei ng your fi ne,

noble character? Damn anger, wherever it flares up!

- Damn it indeed!

Idrees sighed and spoke as if to himself:

- For the wrong I've done you, I deserve worse than I got.

- I pray that God may make things easier for you. You know

I've never given up hope of you returning. Even when our father

was at his angriest, I risked talking to him about your situation.

ldrees smiled, showi ng teeth that had become dirty and

yellow.

- That's what I felt. I said to myself, if there was any hope

of our father relenti ng, it wouldn't happen without your help.

Ad ham's eyes shone as he said:

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Children of Gebelaawi

- I 'll be guided by your generous spirit. Don ' t you think the

time has come to speak to our father about the matter?

Idrees shook his dishevelled head hopelessly.

- One day older, one year wiser! And I'm not evenjust one

year older than you but ten years. I know that our father will

forgive anything except bei ng humiliated. He'll never forgive

me after what has happened. I have no hope of coming back

to the Great House.

There was no doubt that Idrees was right, which depressed

Adham. He murmured wretchedly:

- What can I do to help you?

Idrees smiled again:

- You needn't think about helping me with money. I ' m

sure you 're a n honest Trustee, a n d I know that if you helped

me in that way, it wou ld be out of your own pocket, which I

couldn't accept. You're already a husband and you ' ll soon be

a father. No, it isn ' t poverty that has driven me to come. I'm

here to tell you how I regret what I let myself say about you, and

to win back your friendship, and also because I have a favor to ask.

Adham looked at him anxiously and asked:

- Tell me the favor.

Idrees brought his head close to his brother's, as if afraid

that the walls might overhear.

- I wan t to be sure of the future, now that I've ruined the

present. I ' m going to be a father too; and what's to become of

my chi ldren?

- You ' ll find me ready to do anythi ng I can.

Idrees put his hand affectionately on Adham's shoulder.

- I want to know whether my father has cut me out of his

will.

- How could I know anything about that? But if you wan t

m y opinion .. .

Idrees cut h i m short impatiently:

- I'm not aski ng for your opinion; I want your father's.

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Adham

- But you know perfectly well he doesn't tell anybody what

he has in mind.

- But he'll certainly have written it into the Trust Deeds.

Adham shook his head and said nothi ng. ldrees repeated:

- Everythi ng is in the Deeds.

- I know nothing about it. You know that nobody in the

house knows anything about it. My job as Trustee is completely

under my father's directi on.

ldrees gave him a melancholy look.

- The Deeds are in a fat leather-bound book. I once saw it

when I was a boy, and asked my father what was in it. At that

time I was the apple of his eye, and he told me it contained

everything abou t us. We didn't talk about it any more, and

when I did want to ask abou t it he wouldn't let me. I have no

doubt now that my fate's already fixed in i t.

Ad ham felt that he was in a tigh t corner.

- God only knows !

- It's in the private chamber off your father's bedroom.

You must have seen the li ttle door at the far end of the left hand

wall; it's always locked, but the key's kept in a tiny si lver box in

the drawer of his bedside table. The fat book itself is on a table

in the private chamber.

Adham raised his th in eyebrows in confusion and muttered:

- What are you after?

ldrees said with a sigh:

- If there 's any peace of mind left to me in this world, i t

depends o n my knowing what's signed a n d sealed about m e i n

the Deeds.

Adham, relieved, replied:

- The simplest thing for me will be to ask him straight out

what's in the Ten Clauses.

- He wouldn 't tel l you . He'd be angry. He'd probably thin k

worse of you for it. Or he'd guess the real reason for your

question and lose his temper. How I'd hate you to lose your

father's confidence as a reward for your ki ndness to me. He

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Children of Gebelaawi

certainly doesn' t mean to reveal his Ten Clauses or he'd have

told us all what they are. No! The only safe way to the Deeds is

the one I 've described to you. It'll be very easy at daybreak,

when your father walks in the garden.

Ad ham 's face grew pale.

- What a wicked thing you've asked me to do!

Idrees masked his disappoin tment with a fain t smile.

- It's not a crime for a son to fi nd out the things that affect

him in his father's Deeds.