No One Sleeps in Alexandria (12 page)

“No. I just forget. I always forget. Sometimes I say to myself, Dimyan, you’re unemployed—why don’t you go to Georgius the Martyr, that’s Mari Girgis, he might find you a permanent job. Then I forget, even though I know about Mari Girgis’s many miracles. Muslims sometimes come to him on his anniversary and ask him for help. Mari Girgis is a big saint. You know the saints, of course. You know that the Alexandria city council once tried to demolish the mosque of Abu al-Darda to make way for the streetcar line, but anyone who raised a pickax against the building was paralyzed. So they left it in its place, and now the streetcars go around it. And, as the song tells us, I know that al-Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi used to liberate the Muslim captives from the enemies. You’re from Tanta, so you know the story better than I do. Besides, brother, I’m confused: Mari Girgis has performed miracles and al-Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi and Abu al-Darda all have made miracles. They’re all right. So why the distinction between Copts and Muslims?”

Dimyan fell silent for several moments then said, “I have an idea. What do you say I go to Mari Girgis and ask him for work, and you go to Abu al-Darda or Abu al-Abbas and ask for work? Or, how about the other way around—maybe Mari Girgis is angry with me because I’ve stayed away from him too long.”

Magd al-Din did not expect Zahra to cry in such sorrow when she heard the cannon fired in the evening to announce that the following day would be the first day of Ramadan. I le felt the same sorrow and the same need to burst out crying but he pulled himself together. He knew the difference between Ramadan in a big city and Ramadan in their village, where everyone and everything was sympathetic and friendly. A light tap on the half-closed door made Zahra quickly dry her tears.

Khawaga Dimitri and his wife came to wish their neighbors well on the occasion. As Khawaga Dimitri sat down on the sofa next to Magd al-Din, the latter said, “You’re making me fall in love with Alexandria.”

Khawaga Dimitri said with pride, “Alexandria is an ancient city, Mr. Magd al-Din.”

Magd al-Din felt the profound meaning alluded to by his neighbor. It was the tenth of October, and today he had begun work at the Ahliya Weaving Company, a job he hoped would last a long time. Who knows? Maybe this city would open up her kindly heart to him, though he had yet to see it.

“How about a walk now?” asked Khawaga Dimitri. “Ramadan is the month for staying up late.”

“Come and listen to the radio with us,” suggested Sitt Maryam to Zahra.

Magd al-Din went out with Dimitri, and Zahra went with Sitt Maryam into her well-lit room. She saw the room glowing white and the two daughters radiant with delight. The sewing machine was in the middle of the room. Sitt Maryam sat on the chair in front of the sewing machine, while Zahra sat on the sofa with Yvonne. Camilla sat on the opposite sofa looking at Zahra with surprised delight.

Zahra no longer felt shy. She asked Camilla why she was looking at her with such surprise, and Camilla answered, “Because you’re so beautiful!”

Everyone laughed. Sitt Maryam, obviously pleased, said what she usually said about Camilla, “Watch out, Zahra—Camilla’s mischieyous!”

There were some light taps on the half-open door. There was a cool, refreshing breeze. Camilla got up to open the door, then shouted happily, “It’s Sitt Lula!”

Sitt Maryam’s face lit up and so did Yvonne’s. Zahra found herself gazing at Sitt Lula, the well-proportioned blonde with a ruddy complexion. She was wearing a green batiste gown with a floral design and green velvet slippers, but nothing on her head. Her hair shone like radiant amber. As she sat down, Lula said, “My old man went out to spend the evening with his friends at the café, using Ramadan as an excuse.”

“Us, too—our men went out,” said Sitt Maryam with a smile “We’re all in the same boat.”

Everyone laughed, including Zahra this time. Camilla turned on the radio and Abd al-Wahhab’s voice flowed from it. It was obvious that Camilla loved him. The song, “His eyelids teach the art of love” made the girl sway her head to its Spanish swing and laugh. Suddenly she shouted, “Chestnuts!”

Everyone fell silent. Zahra was surprised as everyone listened for the muffled voice echoing in the street. It was the voice of the chestnut vendor, whose words were jumbled, but everyone knew that it was he. He was gone for most of the year, then reappeared again with the beginning of winter. Yvonne went down and bought five piasters’ worth, and Camilla quickly set out a large spirit stove and began to roast the chestnuts. Zahra knew what they were; Magd al-Din had often bought them in Tanta. When Lula took a chestnut and placed it in her mouth for a few moments, her mouth looked very beautiful and her teeth very white. Zahra felt she was in front of an extraordinary woman and watched her as she ate the chestnut slowly with great delight.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, then said, “How great it would be to have chocolate-covered chestnuts! They call it marron glacé, Camilla.”

“Oh, I love
marron glacé.”

That was the first time that Zahra had heard the word. She did not show any surprise, but kept it inside. She wondered at Camilla being so merry and full of joy, and her sister Yvonne so quiet and poised. The Lord really works in mysterious ways!

Abd al-Wahhab’s song came to an end, and Camilla got up to turn the tuner knob on the radio, saying “I’ll find some more Abd al-Wahhab,” and indeed found him on another station. She recognized the music. “Oh, what a wonderful song! Sitt Lula!”

Zahra surmised that there was familiarity between Lula and Camilla. She did not understand the difficult song. She had often heard ¡t in the village and would move away from the radio or turn it down or off. She never understood the song. Camilla volunteered to explain it to her. All that Zahra got out of the explanation was that Sitt Maryam was happy with her daughter and her boldness. But Zahra herself did not understand Camilla’s explanation, and could only pretend to be impressed, “Really, all of that in the song?”

Everyone laughed, then Camilla shouted “Amm Mahmud!” “Again, even in Ramadan?” Lula said.

Amm Mahmud’s voice rang out from the street, “Latest! Latest! Read all about it!” Camilla took half a piaster from her mother and went out quickly. Yvonne explained to Zahra that Amm Mahmud came around whenever an extraordinary event took place, selling a printed sheet with the details of the incident before the newspapers published it. Zahra made the gesture of warding off evil by pretending to spit down the front of her gallabiya and said, “God protect us!”

Camilla came in silently.

“Read it,” her mother said, smiling.

“It would be better if Yvonne read it,” Camilla answered.

Yvonne held the printed sheet and read silently, then blushed and said with affected nonchalance, “It’s nothing. A lady’s married to two men at the same time.” Lula hit herself on the chest in fear and made the same gesture to ward off evil more than once.

“Tear up the sheet and throw it in the garbage,” was Sitt Maryam’s calm reaction.

Magd al-Din noticed that there were many children who had gone out in the street despite the dark and the absence of streetlights. He walked with Khawaga Dimitri in the other direction toward Karmuz.

“A plague on England and Germany on the same day,” said Khawaga Dimitri. “We get nothing out of it but inflation and darkness.”

The stores were open, doing business by the light of candles or small kerosene lamps. Some owners were bold enough to turn on one or more electric bulbs, but the lights were all inside. What little light escaped outside enabled the children to play and the passers-by to walk. Most people came out to buy food for suhur, the late-night meal of Ramadan, and for the following day. Magd al-Din saw a European-style bakery and thought of buying some bread, but Dimitri told him that the bakery stayed open all night long; they could buy the bread on their way back. For now they should go first to Karmuz Bridge to buy tobacco.

Immediately after the bridge was a store with a white facade and windows of shining glass. The light came from a small white lamp. The salesman had a white, ruddy face and wore a white coat. Magd al-Din noticed that the store carried many brands of cigarettes, molasses-cured tobacco for the narghile, and regular bulk tobacco. Dimitri bought tobacco for a piaster and remarked, “Fresh Turkish tobacco with a refreshing taste.”

Magd al-Din bought the same and decided he would be a regular customer at the store, since bulk tobacco was better than that in packets.

On their way back, Magd al-Din looked from the bridge to the Mahmudiya canal, now dark on both banks. He saw many barges and ships moored there. He realized that there would be many work opportunities for the unemployed the following day. In Ban Street the kids had lit their lanterns in disregard of civil defense instructions and went door to door asking for the customary treats, or sat in small groups chatting and playing. Dimitri did not wish to go back so soon and suggested to Magd al-Din, “How about a cup of coffee? This would give the women the chance to stay up.”

Magd al-Din thought it would be a good opportunity for Zahra to overcome her sorrow. He went into the cafe adjacent to Gazar Pastry Shop. It was filled with patrons drinking tea and coffee and playing backgammon, dominos, and cards by the light of small lamps. Dimyan was playing dominos with another person, while three other men sat with them. As soon as Dimyan saw Magd al-Din and Dimitri he got up to welcome them. Magd al-Din said, “You’re staying up too, Dimyan?”

“Ramadan encourages one to stay up, Sheikh Magd!” was his reply.

As they all sat down, Dimyan shouted, “As of tomorrow, with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the people’s restaurants will open their doors to the poor to break their fast. That’s the king’s order. So the poor can be guaranteed to eat for a month. Long live the king and long live Ali Mahir too! “

A man sitting in the far corner added his own dedication: “And long live the singer Muhammad Abd al-Muttalib and Sitt Fathiya Ahmad!”

The advent of the month of Ramadan did not cause the Egyptian government to relax the emergency and civil defense measures. On the contrary, they were tightened. Alexandria, like other municipalities, instituted nighttime and daytime air-raid drills. The prices of some commodities, especially fuels such as kerosene, gasoline, and natural gas, were raised. Some commodities, such as cooking oil, were removed from price-control lists, and people complained loudly. Flour mills began to add more than the legal limit of corn meal to wheat flour. As a result of the strict enforcement of civil defense regulations, no permits were issued for the erection of the tents or temporary pavilions for entertainment or religious events that people were used to having in the squares, outside the mosques, or other such places during Ramadan. For city dwellers, this year’s Ramadan was less cheerful than usual.

In the big world outside, the naval war was still raging. The exploits of the legendary German battle cruisers
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau,
which attacked British convoys, filled the world. The two battle cruisers seemed like ghosts; no one knew when they would appear, and after they had struck, they disappeared in the deep waters of the Atlantic. And so did the two pocket battleships
Admiral Graf Spee
and
Deutschland.
During reconnaissance flights, the Luftwaffe launched the first raid over France. French fighter planes chased and shot down some of the German planes. That new development caught the world’s attention; German planes were now capable of going beyond Alsace-Lorraine. Fears increased when German deployments extended from the French to the Dutch borders. The Germans said the French borders were too narrow and that they needed to reinforce their troops. They also said Germany had no designs on the Netherlands. Jaffa oranges appeared in the markets in Alexandria. It was said that the abundant crop in Palestine could not be exported to Europe because of the war, and that was why the fruit was so cheap.