They entered the apartment without speaking and Hatim turned on the lights, saying cheerfully, “The house is horrible without you.”
Abduh suddenly drew close to him, embraced him, and tried to take off his clothes so that he could make love to him. He was in a hurry to get the job done but Hatim understood his haste as a sign of his longing for him and laughing a happy coquettish laugh whispered, “Be patient, Abduh!”
He hurried into the inner rooms while Abduh opened the bar, took out a bottle of whisky, and poured himself a large glass, which he polished off at one gulp without water or ice. He felt an urgent need to get drunk and, in the short time that it took Hatim to pretty himself up, had emptied a number of glasses into his belly. The alcohol took immediate effect. He could sense the blood surging passionate and hot through his veins, and the feeling took possession of him that he was strong and capable and that nothing could stop him from doing what he wanted. Hatim came out of the bathroom wearing rose silk pajamas over his naked body and walked slinkily to the kitchen, returning with hot food, which he placed on the table, and poured himself a glass of whisky, which he slowly sipped, provocatively licking the edge of the glass with his tongue. Then he put his hand on Abduh’s strong arm, and sighed, “I’ve missed you so much.”
Abduh removed his hand and said in a drunken voice, “Hatim Bey, we made a deal. Tonight’s our last night. Tomorrow morn, each goes his own way, roight.”
Hatim smiled and, passing his fingers over Abduh’s thick lips, said, in playful imitation of his accent, “Roight, you Sa’idi you.”
This time Abduh could not contain himself, pounced on Hatim, and picking him up like a child despite his laughing protests and provocative cries, threw him down on the bed, pulled off his pants, and threw himself on top of him. He made love to him violently, ravishing him in a way he had never done before and causing Hatim to scream out loud more than once from the pleasure and the pain. Abduh slaked his lust in Hatim’s body three times in less than an hour without uttering a single word, as though he were enthusiastically performing an unwelcome task in order to be quit of it. When they were done, Hatim lay stretched out naked on his stomach and closed his eyes in an ecstatic swoon, like one who was drugged or asleep and wanting never to awake from his delicious dream. Abduh meanwhile remained stretched out staring at the ceiling and smoked two cigarettes without saying a word. Then he jumped up and started putting on his clothes. Hatim, becoming aware of what he was doing, pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed and asked him anxiously, “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
Abduh said this with indifference, as though the matter was closed. Hatim got up, stood in front of him, and said, “Stay here tonight and go tomorrow.”
“I’m not staying one minute.”
Hatim hugged his naked body to him and whispered, “Stay the night, for me.”
All of a sudden, Abduh pushed him so hard that Hatim fell into the chair next to the bed. His face turned red and he shouted furiously, “Have you gone crazy? What do you think you’re doing, pushing me?”
Abduh replied defiantly, “Each goes his own way now.”
Abduh’s clear statement, which proved that his plan had failed, angered Hatim. He said, “We agreed you’d spend the night.”
“What we agreed to I’ve done and I owe you nothing.”
“Who exactly do you think you are?”
Abduh didn’t answer and finished dressing in silence so Hatim went on with even greater rancor, “Answer me! Who do you think you are?”
“A human being, just like you.”
“You’re just a barefoot, ignorant Sa’idi. I picked you up from the street, I cleaned you up, and I made you a human being.”
Abduh took a slow step toward him, looked at him for a while with his drink-reddened eyes, and then said threateningly, “Look. Watch out you don’t get rude with me. Got it?”
But Hatim had lost control of himself and as though touched by some satanic urge that was pushing him to the limit, he looked Abduh up and down contemptuously and said, “Have you taken leave of your senses, Abduh? With one telephone call I can send you to hell.”
“You can’t.”
“I’ll show you whether I can or not. If you go now, I’ll call the police and tell them you robbed me.”
Abduh almost answered him but instead shook his head and moved toward the door to leave. He felt he was the stronger and that Hatim could do nothing to implement his threat. He stretched out his hand to open the door of the apartment, but Hatim grabbed onto his gallabiya and shouted, “You’re not going!”
“Let go of me, I’m warning you!”
“When I tell you to stay, it means stay!”
As Hatim cried out these words, he clung tenaciously to the neck of the gallabiya from behind. Abduh turned around, easily pulling away his hands, and slapped him hard on the face. Hatim stared at him for a moment, eyes bulging madly. Then he shouted, “You’d strike your master, you dog of a servant? I swear by your mother’s life, no job and no money! First thing, I’ll call the bank and stop the check. You can boil it and drink the water.”
Abduh stood for a moment in the middle of the room while things sorted themselves out in his mind. Then he let out a hideous noise, something like the roar of an angry wild animal, and fell on Hatim, kicking him and punching him. He grabbed hold of him by the neck and started beating his head with all his might against the wall till he felt the blood spurting hot and sticky over his hands.
Later, in the police report, the neighbors mentioned that around four o’clock in the morning they had heard shouts and screams issuing from Hatim’s apartment but had not interfered because they were aware of the nature of his private life.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
So let them fight in the way of God
who sell the present life for the world to come;
and whosoever fights in the way of God and is slain, or conquers,
We shall bring him a mighty wage.
How is it with you,
that you do not fight in the way of God,
and for the men, women, and children, who, being abased,
say, “Our Lord, bring us forth from this city whose people are evildoers,
and appoint us a protector from Thee,
and appoint us from Thee a helper?”
Sheikh Bilal recited from the chapter called “Women” in a sweet, mellifluous voice that affected those who were praying behind him. Holy awe took possession of them and they repeated after him the Prayer of Obedience in humble submission. The dawn prayer came to an end and Sheikh Bilal sat telling his prayer beads as the brothers came to him one by one to shake his hand with love and respect. When Taha el Shazli bent down over him, he pulled him gently toward him and whispered, “Wait for me in the office. I’ll catch up with you there right away, God willing.”
Taha set off straight for the office, asking himself why the sheikh wanted to see him. Radwa was always saying that she loved Sheikh Bilal like her father, but did she love him so much that she’d report to him what her husband had said about him? If she had done so she would have a painful reckoning with him. He would never forgive her; a wife had to be the faithful guardian of her husband’s secrets. If the sheikh asked him about what he’d said to Radwa, he wouldn’t lie. He would repeat it in front of him and take the consequences. What could the sheikh do to him? The most he could do was to throw him out of the camp. So be it. What was the point of his staying in the camp to eat, drink, sleep, and do nothing? If the sheikh was not going to let him join the gihad, it would be better to throw him out of the camp to return to where he’d come from.