Children of Gebelaawi (66 page)

instinctively from the bars. What had brought him? I t was lucky

he lived in Rifaa's sector and had Fisticuff as a protector,

Fisticuff who was so taken with his 'presents'. The strongman

came up and stopped in front of Shakroon's cafe. He examined Awaatifs face as he said:

- One coffee without sugar.

A woman at her window burst out laughing and another

called:

- What makes the Qaasimite strongman ask for coffee at

the beggar's cafe?

Harpstrings seemed unconcerned. Awaatif brought him

the cup and Arafa's heart turned over. The strongman waited

for his coffee to cool, grinning lewdly at her with flashi ng gold

teeth. Arafa mentally promised him a dreadful beating.

Harpstrings took a sip and said:

- Bless your lovely hand!

She was as afraid to smile as she was to frown. Shakroon

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looked at them i n alarm. Harpstrings gave her a five piaster

piece and she put her hand in her pocket for the change, but

h e did not seem to expect any and wen t back to the Qaasimite

cafe. Awaatifwas unsure what to do, and Arafa called to her i n

a low voice:

- Don ' t go to him!

- And his change?

Shakroon rose i n spite of his weakness, took the change and

wen t to the cafe. A little later the old man came back to his seat

and was soon laughing helplessly. His daughter begged him to

stop. He stood up again, faced the Great House and shouted:

- Gebelaawi ! Gebelaawi !

I n windows and doorways, cafes and basements all eyes were

on him. Urchins hurried towards him. Even the dogs were

watching him. He shouted:

- Gebelaawi ! How long are you goi ng to stay silent and

hidden. Your commandments are ignored and your money's

wasted. In fact you're being robbed, just like your children,

Gebelaawi.

The urchi ns cheered and many people guffawed. The old

man wen t on yelling:

- Gebelaawi can't you hear me? Don't you know what's

happened to us? Why did you punish ldrees, who was a

thousand times better than our strongmen? Gebelaawi !

At that, Harpstrings came out of the cafe, bellowing:

- Watch i t, you old fool !

Shakroon screamed a t him:

- Damn you, you rotten crook!

People murmured anxiously: 'He's had it.' Harpstrings

came at him, bli nd with rage, and punched him on the head.

He staggered and would have fallen if Awaatif had not caught

him. Harpstrings saw her and retreated to his place. She spoke

through her tears:

- Let's go home, Father.

Arafajoi ned her to help hold him up, but the old man tried

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A raJa

feebly to push them away, breathing heavily. The bystanders

were silent. A woman called from a window:

- It's your fault, Awaatif, he should have stayed at home.

Awaatif sobbed:

- What could I do?

Shakroon murmured feebly:

- Gebelaawi ! Gebelaawi !

9 8 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A little before dawn, wailing shattered the stillness. People

realized that Shakroon must be dead. lt was not a strange event

for the Alley. 1-larpstri ngs' cronies said: 'To hell with him! He

had bad manners, and that was the death of him.' Arafa said to

Han ash:

- Shakroon has been killed, like so many others in our

Alley. The murderers don 't even try to hide their crimes, and

nobody dares complain or bring a single witness.

- What a disaster! Why did we ever come here?

- It's our Alley.

- Our mother left it broken-hearted. Damn it and its

people!

Arafa persisted:

- But it is ours.

- It's as if we were making up for sins we didn't commit.

- The worst sin of all is to give up.

Hanash said despairingly:

- The experiment with the boule failed on the jebel.

- But it'll succeed next time.

When Shakroon 's bier was carried out, only Awaatif and

Arafa followed it out of the tenement-house. Everyone was

astonished at Arafa's taking part in the funeral. They whis-

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pered about the amazing boldness of that mad magician. Still

more astonishi ng, Harpstrings joined the funeral procession

when it was in the middle ofQaasim's sector. What cheek! How

shameless! He showed no embarrassment and even said to

Awaatif:

- Long may you live, Awaati£1

Arafa realized that this was an introduction to the coming

proposition. Meanwhile in the twinkling of an eye an important change came over the funeral procession; the friends and neighbors who had hung back out of fear hurried to join i n

and soon filled the road. Harpstrings said again:

- Long may you live, Awaati£1

She looked at him defiantly and said:

- You kill the man and then attend his funeral.

Harpstrings retorted, loudly enough for many to hear:

- That was once said to Qaasim.

Several voices said:

- For God's sake ! The hour of our death is in the hand of

God!

Awaatif shou ted:

- My father was killed by a blow from your hand.

Harpstrings replied:

- God forgive you, Awaati£1 If I'd really hit him he'd have

died on the spot; but in fact I didn't hit him, I just gave him a

fright; everybody will bear witness to that.

People said hastily:

- He gave him a fright. His hand didn't touch him. God

blind us if we lie!

Awaatif cried out:

- God of vengeance!

With a forbearance that was to become proverbial,

Harpstrings said:

- God forgive you, Awaati£1

Arafa leaned over and half whispered to her:

- Let the funeral carry on peacefully.

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A raJa

Before Arafa knew what was happening, one ofHarpstrings's

men called 'Snapsnout' hit him in the face and shouted:

- You son of a crazy bitch ! Who told you to stick your nose

in between her and the chief?

Arafa turned in amazement and was hit again harder than

the first time. Another man punched him; a third spat in his

face; a fourth seized his collar; a fifth pushed him over so that

he fell on his back. A sixth said as he kicked him:

- You 'll be buried at Qarafa if you go near her.

He lay on the ground for a while, dazed, then gathered his

strength and stood up in considerable pain, wiping the dirt

from his face and his jellaba. A crowd of urchins had surrou nded him and began chanting: 'The calf is down - fetch the knife.' l ie li mped back to his basement, mad with rage.

Hanash looked at him sadly and said:

- I told you not to go.

He screamed furiously:

- Shut up! Damn them!

Hanash said gently but firmly:

- Take your eyes ofT that girl, or it's goodbye to us.

Arafa thought for a while, staring at the ground, then

looked up with a determi ned expression and said:

- You 'll see me married to her sooner than you think.

- That's sheer madness.

- And Fisticuff will lead the wedding procession.

- You might as well soak your clothes in alcohol and throw

yourself in the fire.

- I'm going to try the experiment with the bottle again

tonight in the desert.

He was confined to his basement for several days, but kept

in touch with Awaatif through the barred wi ndow. Then he

met her secretly, after the period of mourning was over, in the

entry passage of her tenement-house. He said blu ntly:

- We'd better get married straight away.

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She was not surprised at his proposal but said sadly:

- If I say yes to you, it will cause u nbearable trouble.

- Fisticuff r..as agreed to take charge of the ceremony, and

you can see what that means.

Preparations were made with great secrecy till everything

was ready. The Alley learned without anywarning thatAwaatif,

daughter ofShakroon, had married the magician and moved

to his home, and that Fisticuff, the Rifaaite strongman, had

witnessed the wedding. Many people were astounded, and

others asked how it had come about; how had Arafa dared to

do it, and how had he persuaded Fisticuff to give it his blessing?

As for the old and wise, they said: 'There will be trouble.'

9 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Harpstrings and his men gathered i n the Qaasimite cafe,

and Fisticuffhe::.rd of this and met his men in the Rifaaite cafe.

The rest of ti1e Alley knew of the two gatherings, and the air

became tense, and very soon out went the peddlers and

beggars and urchi ns from the area between the two sectors,

and down came the shutters on shops and windows. Harp strings

led his men into the Alley, and Fisticuff did likewise. The coals

of evil poured out their hatefu l fumes and one poke would be

enough to m;:oke them burst into flame.

One good man shouted from a rooftop:

- What's made you men angry? Think, before there's

bloodshed!

Looking 1-Iarpstrings i n the eye, Fisticuff bellowed in the

fearful silence:

- We aren't angry. There's nothing for us to get angry

about.

Harpstrings retorted furiously:

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A raja

- You 've acted as no colleague should, sir. No strongman

can approve of what you've done.

- An d what have I done?

Harpstrings spoke as much with his eyes as with his mouth:

- You've protected a man who was defying me.

- All he did was marry a lonely girl after her father's death,

and I attend the weddi ng of every Rifaaite.

- He's not a Rifaaite, and nobody knows who his father was;

not even he does. Perhaps you are his father, or maybe I am or any beggar i n the Alley.

- But now he's living in my sector.

- Only because he found a basement.

- So what?

Harpstrings yelled:

- Don ' t you know you've acted as no colleague shou ld?

Fisticuff shouted:

- There's no need to yell, sir. It's not worth a cock fight.

- Perhaps i t's worth just that.

In a tone of voice that commanded readi ness, Fisticuff

roared:

- God give me patience!

- Fisticuff, watch out for yourself!

- Damned bastard !

- Damned bastard!

The cudgels would have been raised but for a voice that

bellowed:

- Shame on you, men !

They turned to see Saadallah, Strongman of the Alley,

making his way through the Rifaaites till he stood in the space

cleared between the two sectors. He commanded:

- Put down your cudgels!

Down went the cudgels like heads in prayer. Saadallah

looked first at Harpstrings, then at Fisticuff, and said:

- I don 't want to hear a word. Break up peacefully. A bloodbath for the sake of a woman? How unmanly!

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The men broke up i n silence. Saadallah went back to his

house. Arafa and Awaatif in their basement could not believe

that the night would pass peacefully. They had watched what

wen t on outside with pounding hearts and pale faces. Their

throats had stayed dry unti l they heard Saadallah's voice with

i ts unanswerable authority. Awaatif sighed deeply, and said:

- What a cruel life !

H e wanted to reassure her a little, and said, tapping his

head:

- I work wi th this, like Gebel - and like Qaasim, the crafty

schemer.

She swallowed - with difficulty - and asked:

- Do you think there can be any lasting safety?

He hugged her, making a show of cheerfulness.

- If only every couple was as happy as us!

She buried her head in his shoulder, catching her breath,

and whispered:

- Can things stop there?

He puffed.

- It's never safe beside a strongman.

She raised her head.

- I know that, but I have a wound that won't heal till I see

him dead.

He knew who she meant and he looked thoughtfully i nto

her eyes and said:

- In a case like yours, there has to be revenge, but that won ' t

be the end. Our safety i s threatened notjust because Harpstrings