naked woman stood looking at them calmly and boldly, her mouth parted slightly as though greeting them, or rather him. Then voices suddenly made her realize that there were other people in the room. To the left of the entrance door she saw a row of chairs, half of them occupied by beautiful girls either half dressed or almost naked. Near the nude woman stood a man in a smart suit holding a pointer, its end resting on the tip of his shoes. Ibrahim Faraj noticed Hamida's confusion and reassuringly volunteered, 'This department teaches the principles of the English language…!'
Her look of utter bewilderment prompted him to make a gesture as though asking her to be patient. He then addressed the man holding the pointer. 'Go on with the class, Professor.'
In a compliant tone the man announced, 'This is the recitation class.'
Slowly he touched the naked woman's hair with the pointer. With a strange accent the woman spoke the word 'hair.' The pointer touched her forehead and she replied with 'forehead.' He then moved on to her eyebrows, eyes, her mouth, and then east and west and up and down. To each of his silent questions the woman uttered a strange word which Hamida had never heard before. Hamida asked herself how this woman could stand naked before all these people and how Ibrahim Faraj could look at her unclothed body with such calm indifference. Her uneasiness made her cheeks burn. She threw a quick glance at him and saw that he was nodding his approval of the intelligent pupil and murmuring, 'Bravo… bravo…' Suddenly he turned to the instructor. 'Show me a little lovemaking.'
The teacher approached the woman speaking in English, and she replied phrase by phrase in English until Ibrahim Faraj interrupted. 'Very good. Very good indeed. And the other girls?' he asked, gesturing toward the girls sitting on the chairs.
'Oh, they're getting better,' he replied. 'I keep telling them they can't learn a language just by memorizing words and phrases. The only way to learn is by experience. The taverns and hotels are the best schools. My lessons merely clarify information which may be muddled.'
Gazing over at his girls, Faraj agreed. 'You are right, quite right.'
He nodded goodbye, took Hamida's arm, and they left the room together, walking down the long corridor toward their two rooms. Hamida's jaw was set and her eyes reflected her mind's confusion. She felt an urge to explode, just to relieve her disturbed feelings. He kept silent until they were inside the room, and then he spoke softly: 'Well, I'm pleased that you have seen the school and its departments. I suppose you thought the curriculum a rather difficult one? Now you have seen the school's pupils and all of them, without exception, are less intelligent, less beautiful than you.'
She shot a stubborn, challenging glance at him and asked coldly, 'Do you think I am going to do the same as they?'
He smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Then he spoke: 'No one has power over you and no one wants to force you into anything. You must make up your own mind. However, it is my duty to give you the facts and then the choice is yours. What luck that I found such an intelligent partner whom God has endowed with both determination and beauty. Today I tried to inspire your courage. Tomorrow, perhaps, you will give me inspiration. I know you quite well now. I can read your heart like a sheet of paper. I can say to you now in all confidence that you will agree to learn dancing and English and master everything in the shortest possible time. From the beginning I've been honest with you. I have refrained from lies and deception because I have quite honestly fallen in love with you. When we met, I knew you could never be mastered or deceived. Do what you like, my darling. Try the dancing or decide against it, be brave or not, stay or return. In any case, I have no power over you.'
His speech was not ineffective, for now Hamida felt all her cares gone and her nervous tension subsided. He drew close to her and took her hands between his, pressing them gently.
'You are the most marvelous piece of good fortune life has ever brought me… How fascinating you are… how beautiful…'
He stared piercingly into her eyes and raised her hands — still clenched together — to his mouth and kissed the tips of her fingers, two by two. Each time his lips touched her, she felt as if an electric shock had pierced her nerves. She released a long breath in a kind of passionate sigh. He put his arms around her and drew her slowly to him until he could feel her young full breasts almost digging into his chest. He stroked her back gently, his hands moving up and down while her face remained buried in his chest.
Eventually he whispered, 'Your mouth,' and she slowly lifted her head, her lips already parted. He pressed his lips to hers in a long hard kiss and her eyelids drooped as if she were overcome by sleep. Picking her up like a child, he carried her toward the bed, the slippers falling from her dangling feet. He put her down gently and bent over her, resting on his palms, gazing hard at her flushed face. Her eyes opened and met his as he smiled down gently at her. Her gaze remained steady and seductive. However, he was in full possession of himself; indeed, his mind always moved faster than his emotions. He had decided on a particular course of action and he was not to be diverted from it. He got to his feet, restrained a sly smile, and said, 'Gently, gently. American officers will gladly pay fifty pounds for virgins!'
She turned to him in astonishment, the languid look having quite disappeared from her eyes. A look of shock and harsh determination replaced it. She sat upright on the bed, then sprang to the floor with amazing speed and made for him like an enraged tigress. Now all her vicious instincts were roused as she slapped his face with such force that the blow crackled through the room. He stood motionless for some seconds and then the left side of his mouth formed a sardonic smile. With lightning speed he struck her right cheek as hard as he could. Then he slapped her left cheek just as violently. Her face went white and her lips trembled, her whole body quivering and out of control. She threw herself onto his chest digging her clawed fingers into his neck. He made no attempt to defend himself. Instead, his full embrace almost crushed her. Her fingers gradually lost their hold and slipped from his neck, feeling for his shoulders. She clung to him, her head raised toward his face, her mouth open and trembling with passion…
27
The alley lay shrouded in darkness and silence. Even Kirsha's cafe had closed and the customers gone their separate ways. At this late hour Zaita, the cripple-maker, slipped through the door of the bakery, making his rounds. He went down the alley to Sanadiqiya and turned in the direction of the mosque of Hussain, almost colliding with another figure coming toward him in the middle of the road. The man's face was barely visible in the dim starlight.
Zaita called out, 'Dr. Booshy!.. Where did you come from?'
Panting slightly, the 'doctor' replied quickly, 'I was coming to see you.'
'You have some customers who want to be disfigured?'
In a near-whisper, Dr. Booshy answered, 'It's more important than that. Abdul Hamid Taliby is dead!'
Zaita's eyes shone in the dark. 'When did he die? Has he been buried?'
'He was buried this evening.'
'Do you know where his grave is?'
'Between Nasr Gate and the mountain road.'
Zaita took him by the arm and walked with him in the direction he was going. To make sure of the situation, he asked, 'Won't you lose your way in the dark?'
'Oh no. I followed the burial procession and took particular note of the way. In any case, we both know the road well, we've often been on it in pitch dark.'
'And your tools?'
'They're in a safe place in front of the mosque.'
'Is the tomb open or roofed?'
'At the entrance there is a room with a roof, but the grave itself is in an open courtyard.'
In a faintly sarcastic tone, Zaita asked, 'Did you know the deceased?'
'Only slightly. He was a flour merchant in Mabida.'
'Is it a full set or just a few?'
'A full set.'
'Aren't you afraid his family might have taken it from his mouth before he was buried?'
