Children of Gebelaawi (29 page)

several times as if he had never been there in his life, but he

suffered a deep longing for his mother. The strongmen -

Hamooda, Lionheart, Barakaat and Quicksilver - saw him

but did not beat him up as they did the rest of Hamdaan's

people, only getting in his way and maki ng fun of his bag.

One ti me Thudclub met him. He stared at Gebel coldly,

barred his way and asked:

- Where have you been hiding?

- In the wide world.

Thudclub spoke aggressively:

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Gebel

- I'm your strongman and I've a right to ask you anything.

You have to answer.

- I answered you as best I could.

- And what's brought you back?

- Whatever it is that brings a man back to his own alley.

- I wou ldn 't have come back if I ' d been you.

He lunged suddenly at Gebel, who would have been caught

if he had not ju mped aside, controlling his temper. At that

moment the gatekeeper of Trustee's House called to him.

Gebel turned towards him i n surprise, then walked over to

him. They mel in [ron l of the house and shook hands warmly.

The man asked how thi ngs were with him, then told him that

her Ladyship wanted to see him. Gebel had been expecting

this i nvitation ever since he first showed himself in the Alley;

his heart had told him it was sure to come. It would have been

impossible for him just to call at the house, because of the way

in which he had left it. Quite apart from that, he had decided

not to seek a meeting, so that nei ther the Trustee nor the

strongmen cou ld suspect what was coming.

Scarcely had he entered the gate than the news was all over

the Alley. As he walked to the veranda he glanced quickly

around the garden with its tall mulberry and fig trees, its rose

bushes and flowering shrubs in every corner. The familiar

scents had disappeared with winter. A soft, still light like that

of evening shone as if distilled from the spread of whi te cloud.

He walked up the steps, fighting back a swarm of memories. He

went i nto the drawing room and saw seated at the far end Lady

Hudaa and her husband, waiting for him. He looked at his

mother and their eyes met. She stood up for an emotional

greeting. He bent over her hands and kissed them, and she

kissed him tenderly on the forehead, bringing pangs to his

heart. He turned his face to the Trustee and saw him si tting

there in his cloak, eyeing them both coldly. He offered him his

hand and the Effendi half stood up to shake it, then hastily sat

down again.

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Hudaa ran her eyes over Gebel with mixed surprise and

concern at his appearance, h is lean body clothed in a shoddy

jellaba with a coarse belt, his worn-out shoes, the dirty cap over

h is tousled hair. Her eyes spoke her grief at his state and at the

life he had contented h imself with. Her h igh hopes seemed to

have come to nothing. She motioned him to sit down, and he

took a seat beside her. She herself sank into her chair as if

exhausted. He understood what she felt and told her in a

confident voice about his life i n Muqattam Bazaar, his work

and his marriage. He spoke with satisfaction ofthat life, in spi te

of i ts harsh ness. His words upset her.

- Live as you please ! Bu twhy didn ' t you make my house the

first you came to when you returned to the Alley?

He was tempted to tell her that his real goal in returning was

her house, but he pu t off saying so because the moment was

not suitable and because he had not yet recovered from the

emotion of the meeting. He answered:

- I wanted to come to your house, but I didn't have the

courage to enter it after what had happened.

The Effendi asked him coldly:

- Why did you come back if life elsewhere was so good?

Hudaa gave her husband a reproachful look, which he

ignored. Gebel said with a smile:

- Perhaps I came back, sir, because I wanted to see you .

Hudaa reproached him:

- But you didn' t come and see us till we sent for you, you

ungrateful creature.

Gebel looked down .

- Believe me, whenever I remembered the circumstances

that drove me to leave this house, I cursed them from the

bottom of my heart.

The Effendi looked at him suspiciously and was about to ask

him what he meant, but Hudaa got in first:

- You heard, of course, that we had pardoned Hamdaan's

people for your sake?

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Gebel realized that it was time for these well-bred pleasantries to end, as had been fated from the beginning, and for the struggle to begi n. He said:

- The tru th is that they're suffering a degradation worse

than death, and several of them have been killed.

The Effendi gripped his prayer beads tightly and shouted:

- They're criminals and they got what they deserved.

Hudaa waved her hand hopefu lly and said:

- Let's forget all about the past.

The Effendi persisted:

- Qi dra's blood couldn 't be shed with impu nity.

Gebel said stubborn ly:

- The real crimi nals are the strongmen.

The Effendi stood up nervously and addressed his wife:

- You see what happenswhen I give way to you about asking

him i nto our house?

Gebel said wi th determi nation:

- It was my intention to come to you in any case, sir;

perhaps it's because I real ize how much I owe this house that

I waited ti ll I was invited.

The Trustee looked at him with fear and suspicion.

- What do you want out of coming?

Gebel faced the Effendi boldly, knowing full well that he was

opening the door through which a furious storm wou ld burst,

but his experience in the desert had given him unshakable

courage.

- I 've come to demand the rights of Hamdaan 's people to

the Trust and to a secure life.

The Effendi's face darkened wi th rage, and Hudaa's mouth

hung open in despair. The Trustee glared as he said:

- Do you really dare to talk like that agai n? Have you

forgotten how the disasters fell on your people one after the

other after your stupid old head-man dared to come with these

idiotic demands? I swear you 're mad, and I don 't waste my time

on madmen.

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Hudaa said tearfully:

- Gebel, I was going to ask you and your wife to come and

live with us.

Gebel said firmly:

- I 've simply passed on to you the wishes of one whose

wishes can't be refused, your Ancestor and ours, Gebelaawi.

The Effendi studied Gebel carefully, bewildered. Hudaa

stood up anxiously and put her hand on Gebel's shoulder,

saying:

- Gebel, what's come over you?

Gebel said wi th a smi le:

- I'm well, thank you !

The Effendi protested:

- Well? You 're weii? What's happened to your intelligence?

Gebel said calmly:

- Listen to my story and judge for yourself.

And he told them what he had told Hamdaan's people.

When he had fi nished, the Effendi said, peering suspiciously

into his face:

- The Founder hasn't left his house since he withdrew

from the world.

- But I met him in the desert.

He asked ironically:

- And why didn't he tell me of his wishes?

- That's his secret; he knows best.

The Effendi laughed scornfully.

- Conjuri ng is the right job for you; but you 're not content

with simple tricks; you wan t to juggle with the whole Trust.

Gebel remained calm.

- God knows I 've spoken nothing but the truth. Let's

consult Gebelaawi himself, if you can, or the Ten Clauses.

The Effendi's rage burst forth. He scowled, and his limbs

trembled as he shouted:

- You cu nning thief, you shan ' t escape your horrible fate,

not even if you nee to the top of the Jebel.

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Gebel

Hudaa wailed:

- Oh misery! I never imagined you 'd bring me all this

sorrow, Gebel.

Gebel asked in amazement:

- All this just because I've demanded my people's lawful

rights?!

The Effendi screamed at the top of his voice:

- Quiet! Cunning devil! Dope-head! Alley of dope-heads!

Sons of bitches! Get out of my house! Come back with your

drivel, and you and your people will be slaughtered like lambs.

Gebel scowled furiously and shouted:

- Mi nd the anger ofGebelaawi doesn 't catch up with you !

The Effendi sprang at Gebel and punched him i n his broad

chest with all his might, but Gebel stood the blow stoutly, then

turned to Hudaa and said:

- I only respect him out of respect for you.

He turned his back on them and left.

3 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hamdaan's people expected the very worst. Henna disagreed with the general view and thought that, as long as Gebel was head of 1-Iamdaan 's people, Lady 1-Iudaa would not allow

them to be destroyed. However, Gebel himself did not share

Hen na's view. He mai ntained that when the Trust was threatened, no one cou nted, neither Gebel nor anyone else, however close to the Effendi. He reminded them of their Ancestor's wish that they should be strong and ready to face disasters.

Digger told people how Gebel had been rolling in luxury and

had thrown it aside of his own free will for their sakes; it would

not be right for anyone to let him down. If they used force and

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i t did not succeed, it could not make things any worse for them

than they already were.

The fact was that Hamdaan 's people were afraid and their

nerves were on edge, but in their despair they found strength

and purpose. They kept repeating the proverb: 'May as well

hang for a wolf as a sheep. ' Radwaan the bard alone kept saying

sadly: 'If the Founder wished, he'd proclaim the truth and

decide in our favor and save us from certain destruction. '

When Gebel heard about this h e was furious a n d stormed

round to see him. He seized him by the shoulders and shook

him till he almost fell from his seat. He roared: ' Is this what the

bards are like, Radwaan? You recite the stories of the heroes

and sing to the music of the rebec, but when things get nasty

you bolt to your holes and spread doubt and despair. Damned

cowards ! (Then, turning towards those seated arou nd:)

Gebelaawi has not honored any other sector as he has honored

yours. If he hadn 't thought of you as being his family in a

special way, he wouldn't have met me and spoken to me. He

shi nes his light on our path, and he's promised to help us. I'm

goi ng to fight, by God, even if I have to fight alone! '

But i t seemed he was not alone; every man and every woman

supported him. They all expected an ordeal and seemed not

to care abou t the consequences. Gebel had taken over the

leadership of his sector spontaneously, as the result of events

that he had neither intended nor arranged. Hamdaan himself

had not tried to prevent this but had been happy to give up a

position that would become the target for an unrestrained

attack.

Gebel did not stay in but went about as usual, against

Hamdaan 's advice. He expected trouble at every step, but not

one of the strongmen molested him. He was amazed at this.

The only explanation he could think of was that the Effendi

had kept quiet about their meeting in the hope that Gebel in

return wou ld say no more about his demands, so that it would

be as though nothing had happened. Behind this policy he saw

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Gebel

Hudaa's sad face and her faithful mother-love. He was afraid

that if her love lasted it would hurt him more than her

husband's harshness. He thought for a long time about what

must be done to poke the fire back i nto life.

Strange things began to happen in the Alley. One day a

woman 's cries for help were heard from a cellar. It turned out

that a snake had sli thered between her feet and she had rushed

out into the road. Some men volunteered to search for it and

wen t into her home with their sticks. They hunted it down and

killed it with a hail of blows. They threw it into the road and

urchins snatched it up and played with it noisily. This was not

an unusual event in the Alley, but hardly an hour had passed

before another scream for help was heard from a house at the

end nearest to Gemalia. No sooner had night fallen than there

was uproar in a tenement-house in Hamdaan 's sector when

somebody saw a snake; but it disappeared before anyone cou ld

catch it, and all efforts to find it came to nothing. Then Gebel

himself offered to fetch it out, using what he had learnt from

Balqeeti. Hamdaan's people talked of how Gebel had stood

naked in the courtyard and spoken to the snake in a secret

language till it came obediently.