Fatwa: Living With a Death Threat by Jacky Trevane

Author:Jacky Trevane [Trevane, Jacky]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781444753158
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2013-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

20

Behind Closed Doors

Samir made us very welcome. He was polite to me and got on very well with Omar, although they had different natures and were completely different to look at. Samir was very tall and well-built with thick, black hair and a moustache. He had piercing black eyes and his skin was dark. Omar’s skin was fair in comparison; he even had a few freckles. Although their hair was the same length and style, Omar’s was brown, almost auburn to match his eyes. Samir had a formidable look about him that I found very intimidating, whereas Omar was friendly and more approachable. It was hard to believe they were both twenty-four. Samir could have been ten years older.

They soon got into a routine of studying together, which left Karen and me to our own devices. Karen and Samir had the flat completely to themselves; Samir’s parents were dead and his two sisters had married and moved out. It was on the ground floor, with three large bedrooms and two reception rooms. It was sparsely furnished, with the exception of a huge ornate dresser in one of the living-rooms and a lavish dressing-table with an enormous mirror in a carved wooden frame in the main bedroom. The kitchen was overrun with cockroaches. The pipe had cracked and sewage from the whole block was constantly trickling down the outside of the pipe and ending up outside Karen’s kitchen. The stench was overpowering and put us off preparing food.

‘This is disgusting. You need a handkerchief over your face to even set foot in here,’ I said when Karen showed me round. ‘When are they going to fix it?’

Karen sighed. ‘Who knows? Two men did turn up last week, but then left again. All they ever say to Samir is bokra.’

I laughed. ‘You certainly learn how to be patient in this country. Everything is always bokra, and tomorrow never comes.’

Over the next week, Omar went back and forth from Papa’s flat to Samir’s, until we had all our possessions with us. The flats were only a few streets away from each other, in the same area of Cairo, and it would have been easy for any of the family to visit us, but no one came.

During the first week of living together, it was clear that Karen lived in fear of Samir. She was a quiet, gentle-natured girl, always softly spoken, yet he shouted at her constantly and ordered her about. When they were together she scuttled around him, fetching him this or that, her face pinched and nervous. I asked Omar why he thought Samir was like this towards Karen, but he only shrugged and told me not to interfere.

When she spent time alone with me she relaxed and was funny, intelligent and good company. It was a pleasure to paint each other’s nails. I had never painted my toenails before marrying Omar and I found it difficult to do it neatly. There was no choice in this matter; it was expected that when we went out we looked smart and that included make-up and nail varnish.

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