LITMIR.BIZ

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was not still upset, then grinned wider and said, “Even so, I reserve the right to be given a present.”

      A few days later, she took him to a small shop in Soliman Pasha Street and picked out a silver chain with an ankh. It was not expensive, but she was thrilled. Wright gave the gold necklace to his wife, who naturally was delighted with it.

      The day before, he had arrived at Odette’s apartment before her and let himself in. He poured himself a glass of whiskey and stretched out on the sofa, savoring it. When Odette turned up, he became a slave to his passion and for the first time showered her with kisses before they’d even spoken a word. After making love, they simply lay together on the bed. He loved it when she rested her head in the hollow between his arm and his chest. He could feel her hot breath and leaned to kiss her smooth hair.

      After a short while, she roused herself, gave him a quick kiss and then looked at him and asked, “You seem a little distracted this evening . . .”

      “Do I?”

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Problems at work . . .”

      “Tell me about them.”

      “It’s nothing specific. It’s just that from time to time I carry out surprise inspections of the staff at the Club, and I always find some gross violations of policy.”

      “What a fine general manager you are!”

      “Yes. I always think that the Egyptian’s capacity to work as well as his moral values are completely different from our own.”

      Odette pulled away from him slightly and gave him a disapproving look.

      “I can’t believe that is how you think.”

      “Why?”

      “It’s racist.”

      “I’m not a racist. I’m just speaking the truth. Egyptians are lazy, dirty and liars too.”

      “Well, if they’re so awful, why do you live among them? Why don’t you go back to clean and efficient England?”

      “My work obliges me to live in Egypt.”

      “Oh, really! How terrible that must be for you! How can you put up with the villa you live in with your family, your grand car and your fabulous salary?”

      “Odette, don’t mock me. Obviously, my job does afford me some perquisites, but were it not for that I wouldn’t be able to bear life in this country for a single day.”

      “I just don’t understand why Europeans come here to pillage the country and suck the blood out of the Egyptians, all the while despising them. You sound just like Winston Churchill, who considers the British occupation of Egypt to be a moral duty.”

      As she ranted, he turned red with anger. He sat up against the headboard, looking rather odd as he, still completely naked, lit his pipe. With some anger in his voice, he retorted, “Well, if you insist on ruining our night, let me tell you that I am in complete agreement with Churchill. Britain, or any civilized European country, is making a huge sacrifice in sending its military to a backward land like Egypt or India. I don’t know how much longer Britain will consider it a duty to bring civilization to the barbarians.”

      “It really infuriates me that a decent man like you can believe that. The British are simply robbing Egypt and stealing its resources. That’s the truth of the matter. The British are thieves.”

      “Can you deny that the British occupation has helped to modernize Egypt?”

      “The only modernization the British have carried out is that which helps them to fleece the country. The British built the railways to transport troops and to filch Egyptian cotton. Their administrative systems enable them to control all economic activity. Do you know how resolutely Lord Cromer opposed the establishment of the Egyptian University? British colonial policy will never change and can be summed up in two words: organized theft. And I can cite plenty of facts and figures.”

      He gave her a look of irritation and then said sarcastically, “I don’t understand how you can defend Egyptians so enthusiastically. Do you consider yourself Egyptian?”

      “I was born in Egypt, but I have French citizenship. It was my grandfather who moved from Lebanon to Egypt.”

      “So you’re Lebanese?”

      “Does everyone have to belong to a particular country?”

      “I can’t imagine a person with no nationality.”

      “Nationalities are a fascist way of thinking aimed at forcing people into a narrow and stupid sense of belonging. It makes some people feel superior to others and perpetuates hatred and war.”

      “But at the end of the day people need to belong to one country or another.”

      “That’s pure fantasy. I pay no heed to nationality or religion. I was born Jewish, but I am a total atheist. I am neither Egyptian nor Lebanese nor French. I am just a human being.”

      “Well, I am a British citizen.”

      “The Britain you belong to has committed terrible atrocities in Egypt, India and Africa. Britain’s victims number in the thousands.”

      “Well, you can’t pin that on me personally.”

      “You don’t even see the contradiction. When your government does something good, you are proud of it, but when it commits a crime, you wash your hands of it.”

      “I have always been proud of being British.”

      “Hitler was proud of being German too, and he had the Jews incinerated.”

      Wright seemed on the verge of completely losing his temper and shouted, “I’m fed up with your lecturing. All right. Britain has committed some awful crimes against the people in her colonies, just as Hitler carried out the holocaust against the Jews, but what are the Jews doing to the Arabs in Palestine? What are the Haganah gangs doing to Arab women and children? Are they tossing flowers at them?”

      “If you could only believe in humanity, it would help you to see things. As a human being, I condemn the holocaust just as much as I condemn the slaughter of Arabs by the Haganah gangs.”

      They sat in silence for a long while, the only sound that of Wright puffing on his pipe. Finally, he put it down and took Odette’s hand, kissing it and whispering, “Can’t we end this argument?”

      He smothered her hand in kisses and then started for her neck.

      She pulled away from him, whispering almost dejectedly, “I don’t know how I ever got involved with someone so dyed-in-the-wool!”

      Still embracing her, he whispered, “I may be dyed-in-the-wool, but I love you.”

      KAMEL

      I threw myself straight into the job. I did not think of the consequences. I was like someone who shuts his eyes and jumps in at the deep end. I decided to distribute the pamphlet in the dead of night. Until three in the morning, the streets of Sayyida Zeinab would still be swarming with people and the denizens of the coffee shops, and I knew that plainclothes police would be out and about. After four o’clock in the morning, the first clusters of people would appear on their way to morning prayers. I decided to go between three and four in the morning, starting with our own street. I went from building to building, climbing to the top floor and then leaving a pamphlet at each door as I descended. I completed a number of buildings in our street and then continued to another.

      I avoided going into any building with lights on. I must have done at least twenty buildings and was so absorbed in my task that I did not notice time pass until I reached into my bag and realized there were only a handful of flyers left, which I decided to leave in front of the closed Cinema al-Sharq. I had just one copy left in my bag. That was my single error. I crossed the street by the police station and walked in front of the Sayyida Zeinab Mosque as I made my

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