Yasin laughed loudly. He remarked, 'What a daring boy you are… Weren't you afraid when you were surrounded by their legs?'
'Not at all,' Kamal boasted. Then he said with feeling, 'How handsome they are! I've never seen anyone more handsome before. Blue eyes… golden hair… gleaming white skin. They look like Aisha!'
He suddenly ran off to the study, where he raised his head to see the picture of Sa'd Zaghlul on the wall next to those of the Khedive Abbas II, Mustafa Kamil, and Muhammad Farid. When he returned he said, 'They're a lot better-looking than Sa'd Pasha'.
Fahmy shook his head sadly and remarked, 'What a traitor you are… They bought you with a piece of chocolate. You're not so young you can be excused for saying that. Pupils in your school are dying as martyrs every day. May God grant you failure'.
Umm Hanafi had brought in the brazier, coffeepot, cups, and the container with the coffee. Amina began to prepare the coffee for the time-honored session. Everything had returned to normal except that Yasin had begun to think once more of his angry wife. Kamal went off by himself and took the chocolate out of his pocket. He began to remove its gleaming red wrapper. Fahmy’s attempt to make him feel bad seemed to have been in vain, for in his heart there was nothing but contentment and love.
60
Yasin’s marital problems became more complex. They were more momentous than anyone had expected. Before al-Sayyid Ahmad knew what was happening, Muhammad Iffat appeared in the store the day after Zaynab had fled. Even before he freed his hand from al-Sayyid Ahmad’s handshake of greeting, he said, 'Al-Sayyid Ahmad, I've come to you with a request. Zaynab must be divorced today. Before tomorrow, if possible'.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad was staggered. Yes, he had been totally disgusted by Yasin’s behavior, but he had never thought it would inspire an honorable man like Mr. Muhammad Iffat to request a divorce. He had certainly not imagined that these 'errors' would require a divorce. Indeed, it had never occurred to him that a request for divorce would come from the wife. It seemed to him that the world had been turned upside down. He refused to believe the man was in earnest. In the gracious tone that had so often captivated the hearts of his friends, he said, 'I wish the brothers were here to observe you hurling this harsh language at me… Listen to me. In the name of our friendship I forbid you to mention the word 'divorce.''
He examined his friend’s face to gauge the impact of his words on him but found Muhammad Iffat frowning glumly in a determined way that boded ill. He began to sense the seriousness of the situation and to feel pessimistic. He invited his visitor to have a seat. Mr. Iffat sat down but looked even glummer. Al-Sayyid Ahmad knew him to be a stubborn, intractable man. When he got angry, affection and kindness were useless. All ties of kinship and friendship were ripped apart by the cutting edge of his wrath.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad said, 'Declare the oneness of God… and let’s talk calmly'.
Muhammad Iffat replied, in a tone he seemed to have borrowed from the angry fire of his cheeks, 'Our friendship is not in question, so let’s leave it out of this. Your son Yasin is not fit to live with. I ascertained this after learning everything. How patient the poor girl has been… She kept her worries to herself for a long time. She hid everything from me. Then she revealed it all after her heart was broken… He stays out all night and returns at dawn so drunk he can't walk straight. He has scorned her and rejected her. What has been the result of all her patience? She catches him in her house with her servant'. He spat on the ground before continuing: 'A black maid!.. My daughter wasn't made for this. Absolutely not, by the Lord of Heaven. You know better than anyone else how I feel about her. No… by the Lord of Heaven. I would not be Muhammad Iffat if I kept quiet about this'.
It was the same old story but with a new element that stunned and shocked him: Mr. Iffat’s statement that Yasin 'returns at dawn so drunk he can't walk straight'. Had he learned his way to the bar as well? When? How?… Oh, he did not have time to think about it or to be upset. He needed to control his emotions. The hour required calmness and control. He had to take charge of the situation to ward off any irreparable damage. He observed in a sad voice, 'What distresses you distresses me twice as much. Unfortunately, none of the disgraceful actions you have mentioned ever reached me or came to my attention, by God, except the last incident. I have disciplined him more severely for that than any other father would have thought permissible. What can I do? I have subjected him to stern discipline since he was a boy. Beyond our wills, there are the devils and the world of the flesh, which mock our determination and spoil our best intentions'.
Avoiding al-Sayyid Ahmad’s eyes by looking at the desk, Muhammad Iffat replied, 'I have not come to blame you or to criticize you. You are a model father who can be imitated but never equaled. But that does not alter the distressing fact that Yasin has not turned out the way you wished. In his current condition he is not fit for married life'.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad protested, 'Not so fast, Mr. Muhammad'.
The other man corrected himself while remaining resolute: 'In any case, he is not a fit husband for my daughter. He will find some woman who accepts him with his faults, but not her. My daughter was not made for this. You know better than anyone how I feel about her'.
The proprietor moved his head close to his friend’s and said in a low voice and with a hint of a smile, 'Yasin’s not unusual as husbands go. Lots of them get drunk and boisterous and do things they shouldn't'.
Muhammad Iffat frowned to make it clear he would not allow the situation to be turned into a joke. He answered sternly, 'If you're referring to our group or to me in particular, it is true that I get drunk, become rowdy, and take lovers, but I refrain from wallowing in the mud. We all do. A black maid… Is my daughter destined to share a husband with her in a polygamous marriage? By the Lord of Heaven, no. She will not be Yasin’s wife and he will not be Zaynab’s husband'.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad perceived that Muhammad Iffat, perhaps like his daughter, might be ready to forgive many things, but not Yasin’s attempt to have both the girl and her black maid. He knew Muhammad Iffat was of Turkish descent and stubborn as a mule. He happened to recall the words of his friend Ibrahim al-Far the day he told him he was asking for Zaynab’s hand for his son Yasin. The man had observed, 'She’s a fine girl from a good family. Muhammad is our brother and friend. His daughter is our daughter. But have you thought carefully about the girl’s status with her father? Have you considered the fact that Muhammad Iffat does not allow the tiniest speck of dust to settle on her?' Although that was true, al-Sayyid Ahmad had found it difficult to judge matters by any standards but his own and had always boasted that Muhammad Iffat, despite his atrocious temper, had never gotten angry with him even once throughout their long friendship.
He said, 'Take it easy. Don't you see we're all made of the same stuff, even if the details differ? A black maid and a female vocalist-aren't they both women?'
Muhammad Iffat flew into a rage. He pounded on the edge of the desk with his fist. He burst out: 'You don't mean what you're saying. A servant’s a servant and a lady’s a lady. Why don't you take servants for mistresses then? Yasin’s not like you. I'm sorry my daughter’s pregnant by him. I hate for my grandchild to have such filth in his veins'.
The last sentence stung al-Sayyid Ahmad and he was enraged, but he was able to suppress his anger by using the forbearance he lavished on his acquaintances and friends, the strength of which was matched only by that of his irascibility with his family. He replied calmly, 'I would like to suggest that we postpone this conversation to some other time'.
Muhammad Iffat said angrily, 'I want my request carried out immediately'.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad was extremely vexed. There was nothing unsavory about divorce as a solution, but he was apprehensive about his lifelong friendship, and it was hard for him to admit defeat. Was he not the man whose mediation people requested to settle disputes and mend quarrels between friends and spouses? How could he accept defeat and divorce when he was defending his own son? What good were his forbearance, diplomacy, and finesse?
'I attempted to strengthen our friendship through this marriage tie between our families. How can I accept a weakening?'
His visitor answered disapprovingly, 'Our friendship is not in doubt… We're not children, but my honor is not going to be sullied'.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad asked gently, 'What will people say about a marriage that doesn't even last a year?'
