his nervousness, he said, 'I sent an article to the magazine, and Mr. Adli Karim told me it would be here.'
She invited him to have a seat in front of her desk and asked, 'The title of the article, please?'
Still uncomfortable about dealing with this girl, he replied, 'Education According to Le Bon.'
She opened a file and flipped through some papers until she pulled out the essay. When Ahmad glimpsed his handwriting, his heart pounded. From where he sat he tried to read the red notation upon it, but she saved him the trouble, remarking, 'The note says, 'To be summarized and published in the section for readers' letters.''
Ahmad was disappointed. He looked at her for a few moments without saying anything. Then he asked, 'In which issue?'
'The next one.'
After some hesitation he asked, 'Who will summarize it?'
'I will.'
He felt annoyed but asked, 'Will it bear my name?'
She laughed and answered, 'Naturally. There is usually a statement to the effect that we have received a letter from the writer…' She looked at the signature on the article and continued: 'Ahmad Ibrahim Shawkat. Then we provide a full summary of your ideas.'
He hesitated a little before saying, 'I would have preferred for you to publish it in its entirety.'
Smiling, she replied, 'Next time, God willing.'
He looked at her silently and asked, 'Are you an employee here?'
'As you can see!'
He was tempted to ask what her qualifications for the position were, but his courage failed him at the last moment. So he inquired, 'What is your name, please, so I can ask for you by telephone, if I need to.'
'Sawsan Hammad.'
'Thank you very much.'
He stood up and bade her farewell with a wave of his hand. Before departing, he turned back to say, 'Please summarize it carefully.'
Without looking up she replied, 'I know my job.'
Regietting his words, he left the room.
129
Amal was in his study wearing a loose-fitting house shirt when Umm Hanafi came to tell him, 'Mr. Fuad al- Hamzawi is with my master'. He rose and hurried downstairs.
So Fuad had returned to Cairo after a year's absence. The distinguished public prosecutor from Qena district was home again. The friendship and affection that filled Kamal's heart were marred by an uncomfortable feeling. His relationship with Fuad was still marked by a struggle between loving affection and jealous aversion. No matter how hard he tried to elevate himself intellectually, his instincts always forced him back down to the petty mundane level. As He descended the stair she sensed that this visit would awaken happy memories but also rub the scabs off wounds that had almost healed. When he passed through the sitting room, where the coffee hour consisting of his mother, Aisha, and Na'ima — was in session, he heard his mother whisper, 'He'll ask for Na'ima's hand.'
Sensing his presence, she turned to tell him, 'Your friend's inside. He's so charming…. He wanted to kiss my hand, but I wouldn't let him.'
Kamal found his father sitting cross-legged on the sofa and Fuad in a chair opposite. The old friends shook hands, and Kamal said, 'Praise God for your safe return. Welcome, welcome! Are you on vacation?'
Smiling, al-Sayyid Ahmad answered, 'No, he's been transferred to Cairo. He's finally been moved back here after a lengthy absence in Upper Egypt.'
Sitting down on the sofa, Kamal said, 'Congratulations! Now we hope to see you more often.'
Fuad answered, 'Naturally. As of the first of next month we'll be living in al-Abbasiya. We've leased an apartment near the Wayliya police station.'
Fuad's appearance had not changed much, but he looked healthier. He had filled out, his complexion was rosier, and his eyes still had the familiar sparkle of intelligence.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad asked the young man, 'How is your father? I haven't seen him for a week.'
'Hishealth isn't as good as we'd wish. He's still sad about leaving the shop. But hopefully the person he found to take his place is doing a good job.'
Al-Sayyid Ahmad laughed and said, 'The shop now requires my constant attention. Your father, may God grant him a complete recovery and good health, took care of everything.'
Fuacl sat up and placed one leg over the other. This gesture attracted Kamal's attention and distressed him, for he considered it disrespectful to his father, even though al-Sayyid Ahmad gave no sign of having noticed. Was this how things were developing? Yes, Fuad was a prominent member of the judicial service, but had he forgotten who it was who sat facing him? Lord, as if that was not enough, he took out a cigarette case and offered it to al- Sayyid Ahmad, who graciously declined. Fuad's judicial career had really made him forget himself, but it was sad that his forgetfulness should extend to the person who had financed his career. Fuad's grateful memories seemed to have vanished in thin air as quickly as the smoke from his fancy cigarette. His gestures appeared quite natural and unaffected, for he was an executive who had grown accustomed to taking charge.
Al-Sayyid Ahmad told Kamal, 'Congratulate him on his promotion too.'
SmiLng, Kamal said, 'Congratulations! That's great. I hope I'll soon be able to offer you my best wishes for being named a judge.'
Fuad answered, 'That's the next step, God willing.'
Once a judge he might allow himself to piss in front of the man who sat before him now. The grade-school teacher would remain just that. Kamal would have to content himself with his busliy mustache and the tons of culture weighing down his head.
Looking at Fuad with great interest, al-Sayyid Ahmad inquired, 'How is the political situation?'
Fuad answered with satisfaction, 'The miracle has happened! A treaty has been signed in London. I could not believe my ears when I heard the radio announce Egypt's independence and the termination of the four restrictions Britain had placed on our independence in the last treaty. Who would have anticipated this?'
'Then you're happy with the treaty?'
Nodding his head as though personally responsible for the decision, Fuad replied, 'On the whole, yes. Some oppose it for legitimate reasons and others do so in bad faith. When we consider the circumstances in which we find ourselves and remember that despite the bitterness of the Sidqy era our people endured it without rebelling against him, we must consider the treaty a positive step. It abolishes the 'reserved points' Hmiting Egyptian independence, prepares the way for an end to the capitulations granting special privileges to foreigners, limits the future presence of foreign troops, and restricts them to a certain region. Without any doubt, it's a great step forward.'
Al-Sayyid Ahmad was more enthusiastic and less knowledgeable about the treaty than Fuad. He would have liked the young man to agree more decisively with him, and when that did not happen, he insisted, 'In any case, we must remember that the Wafd have restored the constitution to the nation and brought us independence, even if this has taken some time.'
Kamal reflected that Fuad had always been lukewarm about politics. Perhapshe still was. But he did seem to favor the Wafd.
'For a long time I was politically engaged in a most emotional way,' Kamal reflected. 'But now I don't believe in anything. Not even politics is exempt from my insatiable doubt. Yet no matter what my intellect does, my heart pounds with nationalist fervor.'
Fuad laughingly remarked, 'In periods of unrest, the judicial system quails, and the police take precedence. Thus times of unrest are also times of police power. If the Wafd returns to rule, the judicial system will regain its rightful place and activities of the police will be limited. The natural state of affairs is for the law to have the final say.'
Al-Sayyid Ahmad commented, 'Can we forget the Sidqy era? Soldiers used truncheons to assemble citizens on election days. Many of our distinguished friends were ruined and went bankrupt as a result of their loyalty to the
