Children of Gebelaawi (21 page)

a few piasters.

Hamdaan was about to answer her when he saw 'Dumpling'

arriving with a scowl on his dust-covered face. He watched him

coming till he stood in the doorway of the cafe and shouted:

-Damn that tyrant, Qidra! Qidra's the worst tyrant of all.

I asked him to let me put off payment for a day, so that God

could provide, and he threw me down and knelt on my chest

till I couldn't breathe.

From the back of the cafe came the voice of 'Digger':

-Come and sit beside me, Dumpling. God almighty damn

the bastards! We're the rightful masters of this Alley, yet we're

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beaten like dogs. Du mpling can't find the money for Qidra,

and Henna goes about selli ng oranges, though she can 't see an

arm 's length in front of her. Where's your courage, Hamdaan,

son of Adham?

Dumpling looked towards the doorway, and Henna echoed:

- Where's your courage, son of Adham?

Hamdaan shouted:

- Be off with you, Henna! You 're fifty years too old for

marriage; why are you so keen on talking to us men?

She jeered:

- What men?

Hamdaan frowned, bu t Henna spoke again before he could,

and seemed apologeti c:

- Let me hear the bard, sir.

Digger said bi tterly to the bard:

- Tell her how Ham daan 's people have been trampled on

i n this Alley.

The bard smiled and said:

- Careful, Digger; careful, master !

Digger protested:

- Who's the master round here? The master beats people,

bullies people, murders people; you know who the master is!

The bard said anxiously:

- And what if we sudden ly find Qidra or another of those

devils standing in the middle of us?

Digger said sharply:

- They're all chi ldren of Idrees.

The bard said in a hushed voice:

- Careful, Digger, or we'll find the cafe tumbling about our

ears.

Digger rose from his seat, strode up the cafe and sat down

to the right of Hamdaan on his bench. He tried to speak but

his voice was drowned by the shouts of some urchi ns who had

descended like locusts outside, swearing at one another.

Digger yelled at them:

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- You li ttle devi ls! Don 't you have any holes to bolt to at

n ight?

But they did not care what he yelled, and he leapt up as if

stung by a scorpion and hurled himself at them. They ran off

down the Alley squealing. Women's voices shouted from

windows opposite the cafe: 'For God's sake, Digger! ' 'You've

frightened the chi ldren.' He shook his fist furiously and wen t

back to his seat, sayi ng:

- It's enough to drive you to distraction; no peace from the

brats, no peace from the strongmen, no peace from the

Trustee !

Everyone agreed with this. Hamdaan's people had lost their

rightful share of the Trust. They were dragged ever deeper i n

filth a n d misery. They were in the power of a strongman who

was not even one of them but came from the lowliest sector:

Qidra, who stalked abou t proudly among them, beating up

whomever he wished and getti ng protection money as he

pleased. And so the patience ofHamdaan 's people had snapped

and waves of revolt raged round them.

Digger turned to Hamdaan and said:

- We all agree, Hamdaan. We're your people, and there

are lots of us; our origi n is well known, and our right to the

Trust is as good as that of the Trustee himself.

The bard moaned:

- 0 God, let this night pass safely!

Hamdaan drew the cloak rou nd himself and his peaked

eyebrows bristled.

- We've said again and again, something must happen; I

smell it in the air now.

'Lamplighter' Ali called out his greetings as he entered the

cafe, gathering up the skirts of his jellaba, and with his grey cap

tilted over his forehead. In a moment he was saying:

- Everybody's ready, and if it needs money everybody will

pay, even the beggars.

He squeezed in between Digger and Hamdaan, calling for

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tea without sugar. The bard called his attention with a cough.

Lamplighter Ali smiled, slipped his hand i nto the breast of his

jellaba, pulled out a purse, opened it, and took out a small

package which he threw to the bard. Then he p laced an

enquiring hand on Hamdaan's thigh, and Hamdaan said:

- We're heading for a trial.

Henna said:

- We're doi ng the best thing.

But the bard said as he unwrapped the package:

- Think of the consequences.

Lamplighter Ali said sharply:

- Nothi ng cou ld be worse than our present state, and there

are plenty of us, which should count. The Effendi can' t

pretend not to know where we come from and how closely

related we are to him and to the Founder of the Trust.

The bard gave Hamdaan a meaningful look.

- There's no shortage of solutions.

Hamdaan said, as if to answer him:

- I have a daring idea.

All eyes were on him as he said:

- We should appeal to the Trustee.

Abdoon said as he brought Lamplighter's tea:

- A great move ! And after that there will be graves to dig.

Henna laughed and sai d:

- Listen ! Out of the mouths of babes .. !

Bu t Hamdaan insisted:

- We must go; let's all go together.

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A great crowd of l-Iam daan 's people, both men and women,

collected in front of Trustee's House, headed by Hamdaan,

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Digger, Mulehead, Dumpling, Lamplighter Ali and Radwaan

the bard. Radwaan thought Hamdaan should go alone, to

avoid any appearance of rebellion and to guard against its

consequences; bu t 1-Iamdaan said to him simply: 'To kill me

would be easy, bu t to ki ll all my people is something they

cannot do.'

The whole Alley turned out to see the crowd, especially their

closest neighbors. Women poked their h eads out of windows,

eyes peered from under baskets and over barrows, and young

and old crowded rou nd, asking each other what Hamdaan's

people were after.

Hamdaan seized the brass knocker and banged on the gate.

After a little while it was opened by the gatekeeper with his

gloomy face, and the scent of jasmine wafted out. The

gatekeeper looked uneasily at the crowd and asked what they

wanted. 1-Iamdaan kit stro nger for havi ng his people behind

him. l-Ie said:

- We want an audience with his Honor the Trustee.

- All of you?

- None of us is better fitted to meet him than the others.

- Wait while I ask if you may come in.

He tried to close the gate, bu t Digger forced his way in,

saying:

- It wi ll be more dignified if we wai t inside.

The rest trooped in after him, and Hamdaan was carried

along with them in spi te of his an noyance at Digger's initiative.

The demonstrators moved along the trellised path through

the garden to the veranda. The gatekeeper shouted:

- You must get out!

Hamdaan said:

- Guests can't be turned out. Go and tell your master.

The man glared and his lips moved in silent protest, then he

turned and hurried to the veranda. They followed him with

their eyes till he disap peared behi nd the curtain over the

doorway. Then some kept their eyes fixed on the curtai n whi le

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others let their gaze wander round the garden, taking in the

fountain ringed with palms, the trellised vines, the jasmine

climbing up the walls. They looked around, but with uneasy

feelings, and their eyes soon returned to the curtain over the

doorway ofthe drawi ng room.

The curtain was thrown back, and out stalked the Effendi

himself, scowling horribly. He came with short angry steps till

he stood at the top of the steps. All that could be seen of him

outside his bulky cloak was his furious face, his camel-hide

slippers and the long string of prayer-beads in his right hand.

He cast a contemptuous look at the demonstrators, then fixed

his eye on Hamdaan, who said very politely:

- A very good morning to you, your Honor.

He acknowledged the greeting with a wave of his hand and

asked:

- Who are these people?

- Hamdaan 's people, your Honor.

- Who gave them leave to enter my house?

Hamdaan said cu nningly:

- Its their Trustee's house, so it's their house as they're

under his protection.

The Effendi 's expression did not soften, and he said:

- Are you trying to make excuses for your bad manners?

Digger was annoyed by Hamdaan's politeness and said:

- We're one family, we're all children of Adham and

Umayma.

The Effendi said angrily.

- That's ancient history. Thank God some people know

their place.

Hamdaan said:

- We suffer from poverty and ill treatment and we've

agreed that we shou ld appeal to you to put an end to our

sufferings.

At this Henna said:

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- Upon my word, what we live on would disgust a cockroach.

Digger added, his voice rising:

- Most of us are beggars. Our children are hungry. Our

faces smart from the strongmen's blows. Is that any way to treat

the children of Gebelaawi, who have a right to his Trust?

The Effendi's hand tightened on his prayer-beads and he

shouted:

- What Trust is this?

Hamdaan tried to prevent Digger from speaking, but the

words poured out as if he were dru nk:

- The great Trust! Don 't get angry your Honor! The great

Trust that belongs to everybody in our Alley from the highest

to the lowest, that i nclu des every holding in the desert round

about: Gebelaawi 's Trust, your Honor!

Anger burned in the Effendi 's eyes, and he shouted:

- This is my father's Trust and my grandfather's; you have

no claim on it. You pass rou nd your fairy stories and believe

them, but you have no proof - no evidence.

Several voices, including those of Digger and Henna, spoke

up clearly:

- But everybody knows.

- Everybody? What does that mean? If you all told each

other that my house belonged to one of you, would that be

enough to take my house from me, you fools? A real alley of

dope-heads! Tell me when one of you ever had a piaster of the

Trust's revenue.

Silence reigned for a while, then Hamdaan said:

- Our fathers used to receive ...

- Can you prove i t?

- They to ld us, and we believe them.

The Effendi shou ted:

- Lies upon lies! Ki ndly leave, before I throw you out.

Digger said firm ly:

- Tell us about the Ten Clauses.

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Children of Gebelaawi

The Effendi shoULed:

- And why should I tell you about them? Who are you?

What have they to do with you?

- We should be beneficiaries of the Trust.

At this point the voice of Lady Hudaa, the Trustee's wife,

came from behind the door:

- Leave them and come in; don't make yourself hoarse

argui ng with them.

Henna said:

- Use your good influence, madam.

Hudaa spoke in a voice that trembled with rage:

- You aren't going to get away with daylight robbery.

Henna said angrily:

- God forgive you, madam! The truth is with our Ancestor

who has locked the gates on himself.

Digger threw his head back and shouted thunderously:

- Gebelaawi, come and see the state we're in; you've left us

at the mercy of the merciless.

His voice echoed powerfully, so that some of them thought

it must have reached the old man in his house, but the Effendi

cried in a voice choking with fury:

- Get out! Get out at once!

Hamdaan sai d sadly:

- Come on then.

He turned and went towards the door and they followed

him si lently, even Digger; but he raised his head and shouted

again with all his force:

- Gebelaawi ! '

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Livid wi th rage, the Effendi went back into the drawing

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