Children of Gebelaawi (41 page)

in touch wi th me, when I ' m the most closely related to him?

He's confi ned to his room, and the gates of his house only

open when his provisions are brought. Nobody sees him, and

he sees nobody except his maid. And yet it's so easy for Gebel's

people to meet him or hear him !

Bayoomi said indignantly:

- They won't rest till they've taken over the whole Trust.

The Trustee was livid with rage and jumped up to give

orders, but he sank back and asked:

- Has he said anything about the Trust, or has he confined

himself to casting out devils?

- Like Gebel who confined himself to getting rid of snakes!

(Then, scornfully: ) What does the Founder have to do with

devils?

Ihaab stood up.

- I don 't want to suffer the fate of the Effendi.

Bayoomi i nvi tedjaabir, Handoosa, Khaalid and Melon head

to his hashish den and told them they must find a cure for the

madness ofRifaa son ofShaafiy. Melonhead asked with annoyance:

- Have you invited us just for that, chief?

Bayoomi nodded, and Melonhead was astonished and

shouted:

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- For him! The strongmen ofthe AIIey meet over a creature

who's neither male nor female? !

Bayoomi gave him a look of contempt:

- He's carried on his activities under your very nose, and

you didn ' t see any danger - and of course you never heard his

claims to have been i n touch with the Founder.

They exchanged glances through the smoke. Melonhead

was flabbergasted.

- The son of a bi tch ! What does the Fou nder have to do

with devils? Is our Ancestor an exorcist?

They began to laugh but stopped i n a moment at Bayoomi 's

scowl as he said:

- You 're a cocai ne-snorter, Melonhead. A strongman can

get drunk and smoke hashish, bu t snorting does him no good.

Melonhead defended hi mself:

- Chief! I was at An tar's wedding and twenty men came at

me with their sticks, and my face was covered with blood but I

didn't let my cudgel drop from my hand.

Handoosa said hopefully:

- Let's leave him to deal with the matter as he thinks best,

or he'll lose face. I hope to goodness he finds a better way than

attacki ng the madman. It would be beneath a strongman's

dignity to fight with such a creature.

Meanwhile the Alley slept, and no one knew what was

hatching in Bayoomi's hashish den. Next morning Rifaa went

out and fou nd Melonhead i n his path. He greeted him:

- Good morni ng, Melon head.

The man gave him a look of hatred and yelled:

- A black morning to you, son of an old baggage! You get

back home, and don't leave it or I'll smash your head in.

Rifaa was astonished.

- What's upsetting our strongman?

He yelled:

- You 're talking to Melonhead now, Master Up-in-the-Air,

not the Founder. That's enough fooling around; clear out!

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Rifaa

Rifaa was about to speak, but the strongman gave him a

shove that sent him staggering back against the wall. A woman

saw what happened and let out a scream that fi lled the Alley,

and other women took up the cry. Voices called loudly for help

for Rifaa. In the twi nkling of an eye many people were running

towards the spot, among others Zaki, Ali, Hussein and Kareem.

Then up came Shaafiy, and jawaad the bard feeling the way

with his stick. In no time the place was crowded with Rifaa's

friends, both men and women. Melonhead, who had not

anticipated any trouble, was surprised. He lifted his hand and

brought it down on Rifaa's cheek, and Rifaa took the blow

without any defence, but the bystanders shouted their distress

and were thoroughly roused. Some implored Melonhead to

leave him alone and others recou nted Rifaa's virtues. People

asked what had led to.the attack, and there were loud protests.

Melonhead exploded wi th anger and roared:

- Have you forgotten who I am?

The love for Rifaa that had brought them crowding round

gave them the courage to answer back to Melonhead's warning. A man standing at the front said:

- You 're our strongman, our leader; we only came to ask

your pardon for this good man.

A man in the middle of the crowd took courage from the

number of people and his position among them and shouted:

- You may be our strongman, bu t what has Rifaa done?

A third man shouted from the back, where he was safely

hidden:

- Rifaa is innocent. God help any man who stretches out a

hand to harm him !

Melonhead was beside hi mself with rage and he brandished

his cudgel above his head shouting:

- You women! I 'll make an example ofyou.

Women howled on all sides so that the scene was like a

funeral. There were bloodthirsty warnings. Stones began land-

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i ng in front ofMelonhead to prevent him from advancing. He

found himself in a nastier situation than he had ever known,

even in his worst dreams. He would rather die than ask the

other strongmen for help, and the shower of stones threatened to kill him. He showed that he was still the strongman by his silence, and his eyes blazed. The stones continued to fall

and the people went on defying him completely. Nothing like

it had ever happened to any of the strongmen.

Rifaa sudden ly moved across and stood in front of

Melonhead. He raised both hands to call for silence, then

shouted:

- Our strongman has done nothing wrong. I'm to blame.

There were looks of protest, but no one spoke. Rifaa said:

- Break it up before you become the objects of his anger.

Some people understood that he wanted to save Melon head's

honor as a solution to the crisis, and they dispersed. Others

followed, bewildered by the whole business, and the rest

hurried off for fear of being left alone with Melon head. The

sector was deserted.

5 7 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tension grew after this incident. What the Trustee most

feared was that people wou ld feel that in solidarity lay the

strength to withstand the strongmen. It was therefore necessary in his view to destroy Rifaa and those who had talked themselves into supporting him, though this needed the

agreement of Dungbeetle, strongman of Gebel's people, to

avoid causing a general battle. The Trustee said to Bayoomi:

- Rifaa is not as weak as you think. Behind him he has

friends who can save him in defiance of a strongman. What

would things come to if the whole Alley was as attached to him

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Rifaa

as his sector is? Then he would leave devi ls and declare that his

goal is the Trust.

Bayoomi poured out his anger on Melonhead. He shook

him violently by the shoulders and said:

- We left it to you, and look what you've done, you apology

for a strongman !

Melonhead gritted his teeth in resentment. He said:

- I' II rid you of him, even if it means killing him.

Bayoomi shouted:

- The best thing you can do is vanish from the Alley for

good.

Bayoomi then summoned Dungbeetle to meet him, but

Shaafiy, who was more frigh tened than ever, in tercepted him.

He had tri ed to persuade Rifaa to come back to the shop and

to give up the activities that were bringing such trouble upon

him; but this attempt had failed and he had come back

disappoi nted. When he learnt that Dungbeetle had been sen t

for by Bayoomi, h e stopped h i m and said:

- Dungbeetle, my dear sir, you 're our strongman and our

protector. They want you to give Rifaa up, but don ' t do it!

Promise them whatever they want, but don ' t give him up !

Order me to and I ' ll leave the Alley and take him with me, by

force if need be. But don ' t give him up!

Dungbeetle spoke guardedly:

- I know better than anybody what I have to do and what's

in the interest of Gebel's people.

The truth was that Dungbeetle had been afraid because of

Rifaa ever since he had heard of Melonhead's trouble; he had

said to himself that he was the one who must be on his guard,

not the Trustee or Bayoomi. He continued on his way and met

Bayoomi in his garden house. Bayoomi explai ned that he had

sen t for him in his capacity as strongman of Gebel's people to

come to an agreemen t over the problem of Rifaa.

- Don't underestimate him; events have proved his dangerous influence.

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Dungbeetle agreed with this, but he said:

- I hope he won't be attacked in front of me.

- We are men, my dear sir; our i nterests are the same. We

don 't attack anybody i n our own homes. The boy will come

before us now and I will question him in your presence.

Rifaa came in looking radiant and greeted them. He sat

down where Bayoomi indicated, on a cushion in front of them.

Bayoomi studied his beautiful, calm face wondering how this

gentle youth had become the source of frightening disturbances. He asked him in a harsh voice:

- Why have you left your sector and your people?

He said simply:

- None of them answered my call.

- What did you want from them?

- To set them free from the spirits that spoil their happi-

ness.

Bayoomi asked indignantly:

- Are you responsible for people's happiness?

- Yes, as long as I am able to give i t to them.

Bayoomi scowled.

- They've heard you say you despise power and glory.

- To show them that happiness lies not in their imaginings

but in what I'm doi ng.

Dungbeetle asked angrily:

- Doesn 't that mean you despise the people who have

power and glory?

Quite unruffled, he answered:

- No, sir; but it does mean that happiness is not the same

as their power and glory.

Bayoomi asked with a piercing look:

- They've also heard you say that this is what the Founder

wants for them.

His innocent eyes grew anxious.

- They say that? !

- And what do you say?

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Rifaa

He hesi tated for the first ti me.

- I speak according to my understanding.

Dungbeetle said sinisterly:

- Disasters can come from an addled brai n.

Bayoomi's eyes narrowed.

- But they also say you repeat to them what you've heard

from Gebelaawi himself.

His eyes were confused, and he hesitated again , then said:

- That's how I understand his words to Ad ham and Gebel.

Dungbeetle shou ted:

- His words to Gebel don 't bear interpreting.

Bayoomi grew still angrier and said to himself: 'You 're all

liars, and Gebel was the biggest liar of you all, you thieves. ' Out

loud he said:

- You say that you've heard Gebelaawi, and you say this is

what Gebelaawi wants; but nobody can speak in the name of

Gebelaawi except his Trustee and heir. lfGebelaawi wanted to

say anything he would say it to him. He is responsible for the

Trust and is the execu tor of its Ten Clauses. You idiot; how can

you despise power and glory and wealth in the name of

Gebelaawi when those are his very qualities?

Rifaa's open face showed signs of pain:

- 1 am speaking to the people of our Alley, not to Gebelaawi;

it is they who are possessed by spirits, and it is they who are

tormented by their desires.

Bayoomi bellowed:

- It's just that you are incapable of getting power and glory,

and you curse them because of that and in order to raise your

contemptible position - in the eyes of the idiots in our Alley

- above that of their masters; but once you've got them under

your thumb, you 'll use them to seize the power and the glory.

Rifaa's eyes widened in astonishment.

- My only aim is the happiness of the people of our Alley.

Bayoomi shouted:

- You cu nning bastard! You make people think they're

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sick, that we're all sick and that you alone in the whole Alley are

well.

- Why do you hate happiness when it's in your grasp?

- Cunni ng bastard! A curse on any happiness that comes

from the li kes of you !

Rifaa sighed.

- Why do people hate me when I 've never hated anybody?

Bayoomi screamed at him:

- You won ' t take us in as you've taken i n idiots. Stop taking

people in, and understand that my orders are not to be

disobeyed. Be thankful that you're in my house, oryou wouldn't

have got away i n one piece.

Rifaa stood up hopelessly, saluted them and left. Dungbeetle

said:

- Leave him to me!

But Bayoomi said:

- The lu natic has many friends, and we don't want a

bloodbath.

5 8 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rifaa set offhome from Bayoomi's house. The sky was veiled

in autumn cloud and a mild breeze stirred the air. As it was the

pickling season, people in the Alley were crowding round the