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?"
"Oh no. They are country people and very pious. They would never do that."
Shaking his head sadly, Zaita commented, "The days are over when people left the jewelry of their dead in the grave."
"Those were the days!" sighed Dr. Booshy.
They walked in darkness and silence as far as Gamaliya, passing two policemen on the way, and then drew near Nasr Gate. Zaita took a half cigarette from his pocket. Dr. Booshy was horrified by the lighted match and reminded his companion, "You couldn't have chosen a worse time to have a smoke."
Zaita paid no attention. He walked along, muttering as though to himself, "There's no profit in the living and very few of the dead are any good!"
They walked through Nasr and turned along a narrow path lined on both sides with tombs, enshrouded in awesome silence and heavy gloom. After they had gone a third of the way down the path, Zaita said, "Here's the mosque."
Dr. Booshy looked about carefully, listening a moment or two, and then moved off toward the mosque, taking care not to make a sound. He examined the ground near a wall at the entrance until he came across a large stone. From under the stone he lifted a small spade and a package containing a candle. He then rejoined his companion and they continued on their way. Suddenly he whispered, "The tomb is the fifth one before the desert path." They hurried on, Dr. Booshy gazing over at the graves to the left of the path, his heart pounding wildly. Presently he slowed down and whispered, "This is the tomb." Instead of stopping, however, Dr. Booshy hurried his friend along while giving instructions in a low monotone. "The walls of the burial place overlooking this path are high and the path isn't safe. The best thing for us to do is to skirt through the graves from the desert side and then climb over the back wall of the tomb to where the grave is in the open courtyard."
Zaita listened carefully and they walked in silence until they reached the desert path. Zaita suggested they rest on the roadside curb, from where they could see the path. They sat side by side, their eyes searching the terrain. The darkness and desertion were complete. Behind them as far as the eye could see graves were scattered over the ground, and although this adventure was not their first, Dr. Booshy's nerves and pounding heart were weighted with fear. Zaita remained quite calm. When he was sure the path was clear, he instructed the doctor, "Leave the tools, go to the back, and wait for me there."
Dr. Booshy rose quickly and crept between the graves toward the wall. He kept close to it, feeling his way carefully along in the darkness that was broken only by starlight. He counted the walls until he reached the fifth. He stood still, looking about him like a thief; then he sat down cross-legged. His eyes could detect nothing suspicious nor did he hear a sound. However, his uneasiness increased and he grew more and more anxious. Soon he saw Zaita's shape appear a few arm's lengths away and he rose cautiously. Zaita eyed the wall for a moment and then whispered, "Bend down so I can get on your back."
Putting his hands on his knees, Dr. Booshy did as he was told, and Zaita climbed on his back. He felt the wall, gripped the top, and sprang up lightly and easily. He dropped the spade and the candle into the courtyard, extended his hand to Dr. Booshy, and helped pull him to the top of the wall. Together they jumped down and stood at the base gasping for breath. Zaita picked up the spade and the package. Their eyes were now accustomed to the dark and they could see fairly well by the faint light from the stars. They could even see the courtyard quite clearly. There, not far from them, were two tombs side by side, and on the other side of the courtyard they could see the door leading out to the road along which they had come. On each side of the door was a room, and Zaita, pointing toward the two sepulchers, asked, "Which one?"
"On your right…" whispered Dr. Booshy, his voice so low that the sound scarcely left his throat.
Without hesitating, Zaita went to the sepulcher, followed by Dr. Booshy, whose whole body was trembling. Zaita bent down and found the ground still cold and damp. He dug his spade carefully and gently into the earth and set to work, piling up the soil between his feet. This was not new to him, and he worked briskly until he had uncovered the flagstones that formed a roof over the entrance to the vault of the sepulcher. He drew up the hem of his gown, gave it a good twist, and tied it up around his waist. Then he grasped the edge of the first flagstone and pulled it up, straining with his muscles until it stood on edge. With Dr. Booshy's help, he drew it out and laid it on the ground. He then did the same with the second flagstone. The uncovered hole was now sufficient for the two of them to slip through and he started down the steps, muttering to the doctor, "Follow me!"