Children of Gebelaawi (24 page)

Lionheart shook the ash ou t i n the brazier and passed the

pipe back to Barakaat, sayi ng:

- God help you, 1-lamdaan!

Their harsh laughter blended wi th the croaking of the frogs

and they wagged their heads threateningly. A gust of win d

rattled the dry leaves. 1-Iamooda clapped h i s hands together

and said:

- The matter is no longer a dispute between Hamdaan and

the Trustee; it's a question of the honor of the strongmen.

Thudclub thumped his cushion again and said:

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Children of Gebelaawi

- No strongman has ever been killed by his alley before.

His face grew so fierce with anger that his companions

became afraid of him and avoided any word or movement that

might draw his fury on them. Silence fell, disturbed only by the

gurgle of the pipe and an occasional cough. Then Barakaat

asked:

- And if Qidra comes back in spite of our suspicions?

Thudclub said angrily:

- I ' ll shave my moustache off, you son of a dope-head.

Barakaat was the first to laugh ; then they were silent again.

They pictured to themselves the carnage - sticks cracking

down on skulls, blood staining the ground, screams from

windows and roofs, dozens of men dying. A tigerish blood-lust

burned i n them, and they exchanged cruel looks. They did not

care abou t Qidra himself, indeed they had not even liked him.

In fact none of them had any liking for the others. They were

u nited only by a common interest in terrorizing people and

defendi ng their own position. Lionheart asked Thudclub:

- And now?

- I'll have to go back to the Trustee as agreed.

3 1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thudclub announced:

- Your Honor, Hamdaan's people have ki lled their

strongman, Qidra.

He fixed his eye on the Trustee, and at the same time he

could see Lady Hudaa on his right and Gebel on her right. The

news did not seem to surprise the Effendi for he said:

- I've heard reports of his disappearance, but have you

really given up hope of finding him?

The afternoon light through the door of the drawing room

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Gebel

threw Thudclub's ugliness into relief.

- He won't be seen again if I know anythi ng about such

tricks.

Hudaa said nervously, looking at the face of Gebel who was

staring at the far wall:

- If i t's true that he's been killed, that's dangerous.

Thudclub clasped his hands tightly together.

- And it calls for a terrible punishment, or it's goodbye to

us all.

The Effendi toyed with his prayer-beads.

- It's a question of our prestige.

Thudclub said:

- It's a question of the whole Trust.

Gebel broke his silence:

- Perhaps it's only an allegation.

Thudclub was furious at this, and he said:

- There's no need for us to waste time talking.

- Prove that he's been murdered.

The Effendi tri ed to sound forceful to hide his doubts:

- Nobody in our Alley would disappear this way unless he'd

been killed.

The gen tle autumn breeze could not sweeten this atmosphere of ugly schemi ng. Thudclub bellowed:

- The crime cries out for action, and its voice will be heard

in the neighboring alleys. Talking is just a waste of time.

But Gebel persisted:

- The men of Hamdaan are under house arrest!

Thudclub laughed, but only wi th his voice, and said scorn-

fully:

- A pretty puzzle!

Then he settled back in his chair and challenged him with

a piercing look.

- All you care about is clearing your people.

Gebel made an effort to control his temper, but his voice was

angry as he said:

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Children of Gebelaawi

- I care for the truth. You attack people for the slightest

reason, often for no reason at all. All you want now is permission to plu nge peaceful people into a blood bath.

Thudclub's eyes blazed with fury:

Your people are cri minals. They killed Qidra when he was

defendi ng the Trust.

Gebel turned to the Effendi and said:

- Sir, don ' t let this man slake his thirst for blood.

The Effendi said:

- If we lose our prestige we shall lose our lives.

Hudaa asked Gebel:

- Do you want us to be buried alive in our own Alley?

Thudclub said in disgust:

- You forget the people who have been so good to you and

remember the cri minals i nstead.

Gebel's anger mounted till he could no longer control it.

He shouted at the top of his voice:

- They're not cri minals, although our Alley is crammed

with criminals!

Hudaa gripped the end of her blue shawl. The Effendi's

nostrils opened wide and his face went white. Thudclub took

courage from these signs and said with hatred and scorn:

- Your excuse. for defending the criminals is that you're

one of them.

- Your attack on the ' criminals' is unbelievable when

you're the chief cri minal in our Alley.

Thudclub leapt to his feet, his face terrible to see.

- If it wasn 't for your place in this household, I'd tear you

to pieces where you si t!

Gebel spoke with a dreadful calm that betrayed the emotion

within:

- You 're raving, Thudclub!

The Effendi shouted:

- How dare you both in front of me!

Thudclub said wickedly:

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Gebel

- I'm only defending your prestige.

The Effendi's fingers almost burst his string ofprayer-beads.

He said to Gebel:

- I will not allow you to defend Hamdaan.

- This man is telling lies about them for his own ends.

- Leave me to judge that.

There was a brief pause. From the garden came the carefree

sound of bird-song, but in the Alley there was a wave of cheers

and jeers. Thudclub smiled and said:

- Do I have your Honor's permission to punish the culprits?

Gebel was sure the fateful hour had come, and he turned to

Hudaa and said despairi ngly:

- I find myself forced to join my people i n their imprison-

ment and to share their fate.

Hudaa cried out:

- Oh, how my hopes are disappointed!

Gebel hung his head in confusion, then felt an urge to look

at Thudclub and saw him smiling a hateful smi le. His lips

tightened in anger and he said:

- I have no choice, but I'll never forget your kindness to

me.

The Effendi eyed him coldly and said:

- I must know whether you are for us or against us.

Gebel spoke sadly, well aware that he was making the final

break with his present life:

- I owe everythi ng to your generosity, and i t's impossible

for me to be agai nst you. But it'd be shameful if I left my people

to be destroyed while I lived comfortably under your protection.

Hudaa was torlured by this crisis that threatened her as a

mother. She said:

- Thudclub, my dear sir, let's put off this discussion till

another time.

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Children of Gebelaawi

Thudclub scowled horribly. His eyes roved to and fro

between the Effendi and Hudaa, then he muttered:

- Anything could happen tomorrow i n the Alley.

The Effendi gave Hudaa a sidelong glance and asked:

- Answer me, Gebel, are you for us or against us? (Then, i n

a burst o f fury, without waiting for a n answer:) Either you stay

with us as one of us or you go to your people.

Gebel's fury boiled over, especiallywhen he saw the effect of

these words on Thudclub's expression. He said with determination:

- Sir, you 're driving me out. I ' m going.

Hudaa cried out in agony:

- Gebel!

Thudclub shouted:

- Before you stands the man as his mother gave birth to

him.

Gebel could stand no more. He jumped to his feet and

strode to the door of the drawing room. Hudaa leapt up, but

the Effendi held her back. In a moment Gebel was gone.

Outside, the wi nd had risen, making curtains flap and shutters

bang. The atmosphere i n the room was tense and oppressive.

Thudclub said quietly:

- We must get to work.

But Hudaa protested with nervous i nsistence:

- No! No! The blockade is enough for now. Don ' t you dare

let anything happen to Gebel!

Thudclub was not annoyed, for nothing cou ld upset him

after the victory he had just won. He gave the Trustee an

enquiri ng glance. The Effendi looked as though he were

chewing a lemon as he said:

- We'll talk about it another time.

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Gebel

3 2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gebel gave a parti ng look at the garden and the Trust office

and remembered the tragedy of Adham that was recited to the

drone of the rebec every evening. He went to the gate, and the

gatekeeper stood up for him:

- Are you going out again, sir?

- Dear old 1-lassanayn ! I'm going away for good.

The man gaped at him, then mumbled:

- Because of 1-Iamdaan's people?

Gebel hung his head in silence; the gatekeeper went on:

-Would you believe it! How can her Ladyship allow it? God

in Heaven! How wi ll you live, son?

Gebel crossed the threshold, looking towards the Alley

crowded with people and animals and garbage, and said:

- Like the people of our Alley.

- You weren't made for that.

Gebel smiled faintly.

- It was sheer chance that I was taken away from it.

l-Ie left the house, pursued by the gatekeeper's gloomy

warnings not to expose himself lo the anger of the strongmen.

The Alley stretched before his eyes wi th its bare earth, its

donkeys and cats, its urchins and its hovels. He realized how

great was the change in his life, what hardships awaited him

and what comfort he had lost. But anger masked his suffering,

and he seemed not to care about the flowers and the birds and

the mother-love.

He passed a strongman, Hamooda, who said sarcastically:

- If only you 'd lend us a hand to teach Hamdaan's people

a lesson !

He paid no auention, but made for a tenement-house in

Hamdaan 's sector and knocked on the door. 1-lamooda joined

him and said:

- What do you want?

- I am going back to my people.

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Children of Gebelaawi

Amazement filled Hamooda's narrow eyes and he seemed

not to believe his ears. Thudclub saw them as he was leaving

Trustee's House for his own, and he shouted to Hamooda:

- Let him go in; and if he comes out again, bury him alive!

Hamooda's astonishment vanished as the truth sank in, and

he smiled with stupid satisfaction. Gebel went on knocking till

windows opened in that tenement-house and in the ones next

door, and ou t poked the heads of Hamdaan, Mulehead,

Dumpling, Lamplighter Ali, Abdoon, Radwaan the bard and

Henna. Dumpling asked sarcastically:

- What does the noble gentleman desire?

Hamdaan enquired:

- Are you for us or against us?

Hamooda shouted:

- They've thrown him out and he's sinking back to where

he came from.

Hamdaan asked eagerly:

- Have they really thrown you out?

- Open the door, my dear Hamdaan !

Henna shrieked with joy and shouted:

- Your father was a good man, and your mother was a fine

woman.

Hamooda laughed and said:

- Congratulations on the old tart's evi dence!

Henna shouted angrily:

- What abou t your mother and her merry nights at

Hammaam e)-Su ltan?

She hurriedly closed the shutters and the stone that flew

from Hamooda's hand struck them with a noise that brought

cheers from nearby urchins. The door opened and Gebel went

into the steamy atmosphere with its strange smell. The people

welcomed him with embraces and there was a confusion of

kind words. But the welcome was cut short by the noise of

quarrelling from the back of the yard. Gebel saw Digger

arguing heatedly with a man nicknamed 'Triptoe'. He went

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Gebel

over and pushed hi mself between them, saying sternly: