had quickly changed in a way that had led to an estrangement and then a break.
Attempting to apologize for her question, Aisha said nervously, 'I don't know what made me ask about her.'
With obvious emotion, Amina said, 'You shouldn't think about her.'
When suspicions had first been voiced about her friend, Aisha had questioned their accuracy. She had argued that the engagement proposal had been kept secret and could not have reached Maryam's home. Thus the girl and her family would have had no reason to rejoice at their sorrow. Her mother had refused to see it that way, on the grounds that it was impossible for an important matter like an engagement to be kept from leaking to the interested parties. Aisha had not insisted on her opinion for long, fearing she would be accused of partiality for Maryam or indifference toward her late brother.
Confronted by her mother's passion, Aisha found herself forced to make up for her slip. She remarked, 'No one save God knows the truth, Mother. Perhaps she's innocent'. Contrary to her daughter's expectations, Amina's displeasure grew more intense. There were visible warning signs of anger that seemed out of character for her, since she was known for her calm and self-restraint. In a trembling voice she said, 'Don't talk about Mary am., Aisha.'
Khadija, who shared her mother's feelings, shouted, 'Let's not have anything to do with Maryam and her goings-on.'
Aisha smiled in confusion but said nothing. Yasin continued to be engrossed with his fingernails until this violent conversation was concluded. Encouraged by Aisha's statement, 'No one save God knows the truth, Mother,' he had been on the point of joining in, but had been silenced by Amina's quick answer in that unusual, trembling voice. Yes, he kept his peace and inwardly expressed his thanks for the blessing of silence.
Kamal had followed the conversation with concern, although his face did not betray his feelings. The period during which his love had weathered delicate and adverse conditions had imparted to him enough of an ability to act so that he could conceal his emotions and, if necessary, make people think he felt quite the opposite way. He remembered what he had heard about the alleged gloating of Maryam's family. Although he had never taken the accusation seriously, he recalled the secret message he had conv eyed to Maryam and the answer he had brought back to Fahmy. He had kept that old secret, continuing to guard it to honor his promise to his brother, out of respect for Fahmy's wishes. Kamal was amused and astonished that he had only recently grasped the meaning of that message as its ideas took on a new life within him. He had been a stone with obscure inscriptions carved on it, until love had come and solved the riddle.
He did not fail to notice his mother's anger. It was a new phenomenon, to which she had not been subject before the calamity. She was no longer the same. The change was not dramatic or constant, but from time to time she succumbed to angry spells she had never experienced or at least had never yielded to before. What could he say about that? It must be the wounded heart of a mother, about which he knew nothing except for some few insightshe had come across in his reading. He felt intense pain for her. But what explained Aisha's conduct or Khadija's? Was it fair to accuse Aisha of insensitivity toward the memory of Fahmy? He coulc not imagine or admit that. She was a benevolent person with a heart disposed to friendship and affection. Not without reason, she was inclined to think Maryam innocent. Perhaps since her heart was open to everyone, she felt nostalgic for the time when the girl had been her friend. Khadija had been swallowed up by married life. Her interests were limited to being a mother and housewife. She had no need for Maryam or anyone else. The only part of the past that meant anything to her was her attachment to her family and especially to her mother, in whose footsteps she was following. There was nothing strange in that.
'What about you, Mr. Yasin? How long will you remain a bachelor?' Ibrahim Shawkat asked, motivated by a sincere desire to clear the air.
Yasin jestingly replied, 'My youth has left me. It's too late for that now.'
In a serious tone, which showed he had not understood that Yasin was joking, Khalil Shawkat said, 'I got married when I was about your age. Aren't you twenty-eight?'
Khadija was upset by the reference to Yasin's age, for it indirectly revealed how old she was. She addressed Yasin sharply: 'Won't you get married and spare people having to talk about your bachelorhood?'
Aiming to please Amina more than anything else, Yasin answered, 'Given our experiences of the past few years, it's been necessary for a person to forget about his own desires.'
Khadija drew her head back as though a hand were shoving it. She cast him a glance as if to say, 'You devil, you beat me'. Then with a sigh she remarked, 'You're the limit! If you would just say that marriage doesn't suit you, that would be more truthful.'
To show her affection for him, Amina commented, 'Yasin's a fine man who stays away from marriage only if he's forced to. The fact is that it's time for you to think about getting married again, if only to comply with the teachings of religion.'
He had often thought of perfecting his compliance with Islam in this manner, not merely to try his luck again but out of a desire to wipe his honor clean of the blot it had gained when he had been forced, at the instigation of his father, to divorce Zaynab, because that was what her father, Muhammad Iffat, wanted. Then Fahmy had been slain, and Yasin had put off thinking about marriage. Eventually he had grown accustomed to the free life of a divorce. All the same he meant every word he said when he told Amina, 'Some situations are unavoidable. There's a right time for everything.'
Their reflections were suddenly interrupted by a screaming hullabaloo and din accompanied by rapid footsteps on the stairs. They looked questioningly at the door to the stairway. It was only a moment before Umm Hanafi appeared on the threshold, frowning and gasping for breath. She cried out, 'The children, my lady! Mr. Abd al-Muni'm and Mr. Ridwan are fighting. They threw pebbles at me when I tried to separate them.'
Yasin and Khadija rose, rushed to the door, and disappeared up the stairs. They were back again in a couple of minutes. Yasin had Ridwan by the hand and Khadija was pushing in front of her Abd al-Muni'm, whom she was halfheartedly punching in the back. The others noisily followed them. Na'ima ran to her father, Khalil, Uthman to Aisha, Muhammad to his grandmother Amina, and Ahmad to his father, Ibrahim. Khadija scolded Abd al-Muni'm and warned him he would never see his grandfather's house again. Pointing accusingly at Ridwan, who was sitting between his father and Kamal, the boy began to scream in a tearful voice, 'He said they're richer than we are.'
Ridwan shouted back, 'He's the one who told me that they're richer. Fie also said they own all the treasures hidden in the old city gate, Bab al-Mutawalli.'
Trying to calm his son, Yasin said with a laugh, 'Forgive him, son. He's a spitfire like his mother.'
Khadja could not help but laugh and asked Ridwan, 'Why quarrel over Bab al-Mutawalli when you have, sir, another ancient city gate, Bab al-Nasr, near your grandfather's house. You take that one and don't quarrel.'
Ridwan shook his head to show his dissatisfaction and replied, 'It's full of corpses, not treasures. Let him have it!'
Aisha spoke up then to implore and tempt them: 'Pray by the Prophet; here's a rare opportunity to hear Na'ima sing. What do you think about that suggestion?'
Approval and encouragement came from every corner of the room, and Khalil took Na'ima in his arms to set her on his lap. He told her, 'Let all these people hear your voice. My God… my God, don't be bashful. I don't like it when you are.'
Na'ima was overcome by shyness and buried her face in her father's chest until all that could be seen of her was a halo of gold.
Aisha happened to glance around and saw Muhammad attempting unsuccessfully to remove the beauty spot from his grandmother's cheek. She went and brought him back against his will before resuming her encouragement to Na'ima to sing. Khalil too kept after the girl until she whispered that she would not sing unless she could hide behind his back. He gave her permission, and she crept behind him on the sofa, crawling on all fours. A pleased and expectant silence fell on the room. The quiet lasted so long that Khalil almost lost patience, but then a charming, delicate voice could be heard, starting as a whisper. Gradually she gained courage and her tones became increasingly fervent as she sang: Turn aside here And come to me, You whom I love As you love me.
Small hands began to clap to the music.
75
