Children of Gebelaawi (61 page)

a single man able to stand agai nst them. ( He kissed Qaasim's

bleeding chin.) Your cleverness has saved us.

Qaasi m ordered two men to stay on guard at the top of the

path and sent two others after the fleeing enemy to obtai n

news. Then he, Saadiq and Hassan limped their painful and

weary way back to the battlefield, where only the corpses of the

dead remai ned. It had been a bloodbath - and what a

bloodbath! Eight of his men had been killed and ten of the

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enemy, besides Guzzler. Not one of his surviving men was

without a fracture or a wound. They retired to their huts and

the women began tending their injuries, while the huts of the

dead resounded with crying and wailing. Badria came up sadly

and i nvited them to go to the hut for their wounds to be

washed. Then Sakeena came, carrying lhsaan who was crying

loudly. The sun was pouring down its heat from the zenith, and

in the sky kites and crows circled or hovered and swooped. The

air was heavy with the smell ofblood and dust. Ihsaan could not

stop crying, but no one took any notice of her. Even the

gigantic Hassan seemed to be reeling. Saadiq murmured:

- May God have mercy on our dead!

Qaasi m said:

- May God have mercy on both the living and the dead!

Hassan's spirits began to revive and he said:

- Soon we shall win our victory, and the Alley wil l say

goodbye to the age of blood and terror.

Qaasim said:

To hell with terror and blood!

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

Never before had the Alley witnessed such a disaster. The

men came back silent, dazed, exhausted and with eyes downcast behind leaden eyelids. They found that news of the defeat had gone before them and the tenements throbbed with the

sound of wai ling and breast-beating. The story spread round

neighboring alleys, and the terrible reputation of our Alley

became the talk of malicious tongues. It became clear that all

the Desert Rat families had fled their sector, fearing reprisals.

Their houses and shops were empty, and no one doubted that

they wou ldjoi n the victorious son of their sector, adding to his

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numbers and his strength. Grief hung over the mourning

Alley, but it was a grief that breathed out hatred and resentment and a longing for revenge.

Some men from Gebel's sector began talki ng about who

should be Strongman of the Alley, and soon the same question

was being asked in Rifaa's sector. Bad feeling spread like dust

in a sandstorm. Trustee Rifaat heard what ideas were spawning

and sent for Pi lgrim Grim and Bruiser to meet him. They

arrived, each surrounded by his strongest men, so that the

Trustee's drawi ng room was packed. Each party occupied one

side of the room, as if it were no longer safe for them to mix

with their neighbors. The Trustee saw the meaning of this and

grew still more worried. He said:

- You know a disaster has struck us, but we're not dead yet,

we're not finished yet. We still have the strength to win, as long

as we stay united. Otherwise it's goodbye to us.

One of the Gebelite men said:

- We shall strike the last blow, as sure as day follows night.

Pilgrim Grim complained:

- If they weren't in their stronghold on the jebel they'd all

be dead.

A third man spoke:

- Guzzler faced them after a long, hard march that was

enough to bri ng a camel to its knees.

The Trustee asked impatiently:

- Tell me how united you are.

Bruiser replied:

- We're brothers, than k God, and we'll stay that way.

- That's what you say, but if you come in such numbers it

shows how you mistrust each other.

Pilgrim Grim said:

- No, it's because of everybody's thirst for revenge.

The Trustee stood tensely, his eyes darting from face to grim

face, and said:

- Be honest! You have one eye on each other and one eye

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on Guzzler's vacant post of Chief Strongman. The Alley will

know no peace as long as this lasts. What I'm most afraid of is

that cudgels will come into it and you'll all be destroyed - a

tasty morsel for Qaasim to gobble up.

Several voices exclaimed together:

- God forbid!

The Trustee said i n a loud, clear voice:

- There are now only two sectors: Gebel's and Rifaa's.

There 's no need for one strongman over both. Let us agree on

that and be one force against the emigrants.

For a few moments there was an awed silence; then several

voices said wi thout enthusiasm:

- Yes ! Yes!

Bruiser said:

- We'll be content with that, though we have always been

the lords of the Alley.

Pilgri m Grim said truculently:

- Let's accept but without any than ks. There are no lords

and commoners here, especially since the Desert Rats wen t

away. Who can deny that Rifaa was the noblest man our Alley

has known?

Bruiser retorted furiously:

- Pilgrim Grim ! I know what's going on in your mind.

One of the Rifaaites was about to speak, bu t the Trustee

thundered:

- Tell me whether or not you're going to be men. If any

news of your weakness gets out, the Desert Rats will sweep

down from thejebel like wolves. Tell me, can you stand united,

or must I look somewhere else?

Several men, scattered about the room, shouted:

- Qu iet! Shame on you all! Our Alley is on the brink of

losi ng everything!

They looked submissively at the Trustee. He said:

- You 're sti ll superior in numbers and strength, but don' t

attack the jebel again. (They looked puzzled. He went on:) We

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must besiege them on the jebel. We'll mount a guard on the

two paths leading up, and either they'll die of hunger or they'll

be forced to come down to you and you' ll destroy them.

Bruiser said:

- That's the answer. That's what I told poor Guzzler but he

thought a siege wou ld be cowardice and refused to do anything but attack.

Pilgrim Grim said:

- That's the answer all right. But we must put it off till our

men have rested.

The Trustee called on them to make a pact of brotherhood

and cooperation and they shook hands and swore oaths.

It was plai n to everyone in the following days that Bruiser

and Pilgrim Grim were treating their followers more harshly,

to cover up the traces of their defeat. They spread the word i n

the Alley that, but for Guzzler's stupidity, Qaasim would have

been destroyed without difficulty; Guzzler's i nsistence on

climbing the jebel had upset his men and sapped their strength

and courage, so that they had met the enemy in the worst

possible condition. People believed what they were told, and

anyone who showed any doubt was insulted and cursed and

beaten. As for who should be Strongman of the Alley, no one

was allowed to talk about it at all, at least not openly; but many

discussed in the hashish dens who would succeed Guzzler after

victory.

I n spite of the agreement and the oath, an atmosphere of

mistrust developed. Each strongman was on his guard, and

neither would move from his headquarters wi thout a crowd of

followers. However, preparations for the day of vengeance did

not stop for a single moment. They agreed that Bruiser and his

men should camp by the path from Muqattam Bazaar and that

Pilgri m Gri m should camp with his men by the Citadel path.

They would stick to their positions - a lifetime if need be ! The

women would do all the buying and selling and wou ld bring

them food.

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The evening before they were to set out, they gathered in

the various hashish dens, bringing jugs of ale and wine, and

they went on smoking hashish and getting drunk till late in the

night. Pilgrim Grim 's men said goodnight to him in front ofhis

tenement-house in Rifaa's sector, leaving him in a high state of

merriment and exultation. He pushed open the door and

staggered down the passage humming: 'What is my first-oh .. . '

But he did not finish. A figure leapt at him from behind, put

one hand over his mouth, and plunged a knife into his heart

with the other. The body shuddered in his arms and he

lowered itwithou t a sound and laid it ou tgently on the ground,

motion less in the pitch darkness.

9 0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A terrible uproar woke the Alley very early next morni ng.

Wi ndows opened and heads appeared, turning quickly towards the tenement-house in which lived Pilgrim Grim, strongman of Rifaa's people. A large crowd had gathered,

shouting and wailing. The entry passage of the house was

packed with men and women. There was much asking of

questions and giving of explanations, but from the many eyes

red with crying it was clear that the news was very bad. People

hurried over from every tenement-house and every hovel, and

soon Bruiser arrived with his retinue. The crowd parted for

them and they reached the passageway. Bruiser shouted:

- What a disaster ! Oh Pilgrim Grim! If only I could have

been your ransom!

The cryi ng and the wai ling and the questions stopped, but

he didn't hear a single friendly word. He spoke again:

- A foul plot! No strongman would be guilty of such

treachery, but Qaasim, the shepherd, he's a beggar, not a

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strongman. I shan't be happy till I've thrown his body to the

dogs.

A woman shouted sarcastically:

- Congratulations, Bruiser, Strongman of the Alley!

He scowled. Those nearest to him were silent, but there was

a murmuring from further back. He bellowed:

- Women had better keep their mouths shut on this dark

day.

The woman spoke again:

- Let those who have ears hear!

There was uproar. When it had died down Bruiser said:

- A cunning plot! Hatched in the dark to drive a wedge

between us!

Another woman shouted:

- Plot indeed! Qaasi m and his Desert Rats are on the jebel,

and Pilbrrim Grim was murdered here in the midst of his own

people and his ambitious neighbors.

Bruiser yelled:

- A mad woman ! Anybody who listens to her is mad. Ifyou

go on like this we'll soon be killi ng each other as Qaasim has

planned.

A jug smashed at Bruiser's feet. As he and his men retreated,

he said:

- The bastard knew how to spoil things between us.

He went off at once to Trustee's House. The uproar grew

worse after he had gone. Two men - a Rifaaite and a Gebeli te

- started a violent quarrel, two women followed sui t, and

urchins from the two sectors began fighti ng. A war of words

broke out, with torrents of abuse pouring from the windows.

Confusion ruled the Alley till the men of each sector had

regrouped, brandishing their cudgels. The Trustee left his

house, surrounded by servants and henchmen, and made his

way to the poi nt between the two sectors. He shouted at the top

of his voice:

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Children of Gebelaawi

- Come to your senses! Anger is going to blind you to your

real enemy, Pilgrim Grim's murderer.

One of the Rifaaites shouted:

- How do you know that? Which of the Desert Rats would

have dared come into the Alley?

Rifaat yelled:

- Why would the Gebelites have killed Pilgrim Grim today

when they most need him?

- Ask the culprits, don' t ask us.

- The Rifaaites will never submit to a Gebelite strongman.

- They'll pay dearly for his blood.

The Trustee shouted again:

- Don'tfitin with the plot, or you 'll see Qaasim descending

on you like the plague.

- Let Qaasim come if he wants to, but Bruiser isn 't going

to be strongman over us.

The Trustee was in despair.

- We're fin ished. We'll be ruined.

There were shouts of:

- Ruin is better than Bruiser.

A stone was flung from Rifaa's sector and landed among the

men of Gebel's sector, who replied in kind. The Trustee

retreated hastily. Stones flew in both directions. In no time the

two sectors were involved in a bloody battle, extending even to

the rooftops, where women pelted each other with bits of brick

and stone and clay and wood. The battle lasted a long time,

although the Rifaaites were fighting without their strongman

and many of them fell before Bruiser's unerring blows.

Women began shouting from the windows, but their cries

were lost i n the noise of the battle. However, they could be seen

pointing in horror, now to the east and now to the west. People

turned to look, and saw Qaasim in front of the Great House

bearing down with a party of his men brandishing their

cudgels, while Hassan approached from the opposite direction with another party. Warning shouts rang out, and events 394