The Thief and the Dogs

"Always. And you were fantastic too. Why don't you go on the stage?"

"In the beginning I was really scared."

"But later?"

"I hope I was convincing, so he won't suspect me."

"He was so out of his mind with fear he wasn't capable of suspecting anything."

"Why do you need a gun and a car?" she asked, putting her head close to his.

"They're the tools of the trade."

"Heaven! When did you come out of jail?"

"The day before yesterday."

"And you're already thinking of doing that again?"

"Have you ever found it easy to change your job?"

Staring ahead at the dark road, visible only in the car's headlights, Nur made no reply.

At the turn, the hill of the Moqattam loomed nearer, like a chunk of the night more solid than the rest.

"Do you realize how sad I was," she said softly, "when I heard you'd been sent up?"

"No. How sad?"

"When will you stop being sarcastic?" She sounded a little annoyed.

"But I'm dead serious. And absolutely certain of the sincerity of your affection."

"You have no heart."

"They've got it locked up in prison, according to regulations!"

"You were heartless long before you ever went to jail."

Why does she harp on the subject of affection? She should talk to that treacherous woman, and the dogs, and the little girl who rejected me.

"One day we'll succeed in finding it," he said.

"Where will you stay tonight? Does your wife know where you are?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you going home then?"

"I don't think so, not tonight in any case."

"Come to my place."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yes, in Sharia Najm al-Din beyond the cemetery at Bab el-Nasr."

"Number?"

"There's only one house in the street; it's over a sackcloth store and right behind it is the cemetery."

"What a great location!" Said laughed.

Nur laughed too. "No one knows me there and no one's ever visited me. You'll find it on the top floor." She waited for his reply, but he was busy watching the road, which began to narrow between the hill and the houses that came after Sheikh Ali al-Junaydi's place. At the top of Sharia Darrasa he stopped the car and turned toward her.

"This is a good place for you to get out."

"Won't you come with me?"

"I'll come to you later on."

"But where are you going at this hour of night?"

"You go straight to the police station now. Tell them exactly what happened as if you had nothing to do with me and give them a description of a person completely different from me. Say he's fat, fair-skinned and has an old scar on his right cheek. Tell them I kidnapped you, robbed you, and raped you."

"Raped me?"

"In the desert at Zinhum," he went on, ignoring her exclamation, "and say I threw you out of the car and drove away."

"Are you really coming to see me?"

"Yes, that's a solemn promise. Will you be able to act as well in the police station as you did in the car?"

"I hope so."

"Goodbye then." And he drove away.

SEVEN

To kill them both — Nabawiyya and Ilish — at the same time, would be a triumph. Even better would be to settle with Rauf Ilwan, too, then escape, go abroad if possible. But who'll look after Sana? The thorn in my side. You always act impulsively, Said, without thinking, but you mustn't rush this time; you must wait until you've arranged things, then swoop like an eagle. But there's no point in delay either: you're a hunted man — you became a hunted man as soon as they knew you were coming out — and now, after the car incident, the search will be intensified. Only a few pounds in the wallet of the factory owner's son — another stroke of bad luck. If you don't strike soon everything will collapse.

Who'll look after Sana, though? That thorn again.

She rejected me but I still love her. Should I spare your unfaithful mother for your sake, then? I must find the answer right away.

He was hovering on foot in the pitch-darkness surrounding the house at the crossroads where two lanes met in Imam Way. The car was parked at the top of the road, back towards the Citadel square. Shops were closed, the road was deserted, and no one seemed to be looking for him: at such an hour every creature took shelter, blind and unsuspecting, in his hole. Said could easily have taken further precautions, but he was not going to be diverted from his purpose, even if it meant Sana's having to live alone all her life. For treachery, Mr. Rauf, is an abomination.

He looked up at the windows of the house, his hand clutching the revolver in his pocket.