The Cheapest Nights by Yusuf Idris

Author:Yusuf Idris [Idris, Yusuf]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

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What begins as fun sometimes suddenly takes an unexpected turn and ends in earnest, like this discussion with Shohrat. It raised a new issue. He did not know her husband. He did not even remember whether his name was Saleh or Mahmoud although he had asked her once. Nor did he know what he did for a living. All he knew was that he had sired her three children and that for this reason there must be something between them. What was it? He wanted to know only because he had placed himself between them. He had to know which of them she loved better.

“Who do you love better, me or your husband?” he asked her bluntly one day as they lay in bed. He was sorry the moment the question was out and would have changed the subject had he not been so keen to know the answer.

He was vexed when she said nothing. She just looked down and smiled. What did that mean? Surely she would have told him if it was him she loved better. Suddenly he was filled with a childish fury. The slut. What did she see in a man who could not even support her? Should he sack her and put an end to this issue? But he knew he was not up to facing the consequences. She had become a habit with him. She knew his ways and catered to his needs and he rather enjoyed the pleasant rut of his life with her. And then there was that irresistible pull she had on him. Perhaps it was a question of time. After all, she had spent years with her husband and only a few days with him. He would teach her how to love him, that destitute creature with a melaya, he would teach her yet. It became an obsession. How to subjugate this woman, how to dominate her.

His anger kept mounting until he thought he would burst.

He did not burst. An hour later he was sitting in his study submerged in the files of forty lawsuits that were coming up before him in the morning. He had forgotten all about Shohrat and her husband and when he ordered her to make him tea it was in the same tone as he ordered Farghali to call in a witness.

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