Blood & Ink by Stephen Davies

Author:Stephen Davies
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448187836
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd

Shirtless I recline beside the shrine of Tamba-Tamba, watching videos on my phone, alone. Even lying on my front like this, my back still stings. If anything, it’s getting worse.

Aside from the physical pain, there is the question which has bothered me all afternoon. Why didn’t I simply tell Redbeard that Kadi changed my ringtone?

‘Peace be upon you, Loppa-Loppa!’ calls Jabir. He and Omar are heading my way through the deepening dusk. Jabir holds a tin of paint and a blackened brush. Omar’s water bottle is slung over his shoulder, and he carries a large glass jar of something dark.

I stop the video. ‘Peace be upon you too,’ I say. ‘Where have you been?’

‘Censoring,’ says Jabir. ‘Blotting out pictures on billboards and walls. Men, women, cows, that sort of thing. Pictures are against God’s law.’

‘You missed my punishment.’

‘We heard about it,’ says Omar. ‘We brought you some honey.’

My back hurts so much I can hardly think straight, and it takes me a second or two to remember what honey is. ‘Thanks,’ I say. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘It’s not for eating,’ says Omar. ‘It will reduce the swelling and stop your stripes getting infected.’

Omar hangs his water bottle on one of the rodier palm bundles that protrude from the wall of Tamba-Tamba’s shrine. He kneels down beside me and opens the glass jar. My lash wounds prickle and smart as he drizzles the honey across my back.

‘Al-Nahl verse sixty-nine,’ whispers Omar. ‘There issues from the body of the bee a liquid of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind.’

There are tears in my eyes, but not of pain. ‘Thank you, Omar. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

Jabir picks up my phone. ‘What were you watching?’ he asks.

Before I can stop him, he presses ‘Play’.

‘Give me that!’ I reach across to grab the phone, but I’m too late. The video is playing.

‘Two hundred francs? We could get a bag of real white men’s ears for that!’

‘Nice!’ whoops Jabir. ‘Who are they?’

‘It’s those girls from La Détente,’ says Omar, craning his neck to look. ‘Why were you filming them, Ali?’

‘Because they’re troublemakers.’

Jabir whistles. ‘They certainly are,’ he says. ‘Hey, you should show this to Zaarib. They’ll get twenty lashes for walking in the marketplace unveiled.’

‘I filmed it ages ago,’ I lie. ‘These days they both wear veils.’

Jabir returns the video to the beginning and presses ‘Play’ again. ‘Veils were first ordained because of girls like that,’ he says. ‘Makes you crazy, doesn’t it?’

‘Avert your gaze from all forbidden things,’ quotes Omar. ‘Perhaps we should not be watching.’

‘Of course we should,’ says Jabir. ‘We need to recognise the troublemakers.’

‘Really?’ Omar gets to his feet. ‘And how will you recognise them, now that they’re wearing veils?’

‘By their voices,’ says Jabir. ‘I will make them repeat the phrase white men’s ears three times.’

‘Come on, you idiot. It’s time for sunset prayers.’

Omar and Jabir go off to find their prayer mats, leaving me alone.

How will I recognise her if she is wearing a veil?

I will recognise

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