Alwan’s carriage rolls
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at her window. It is a principle of life that men follow beautiful women. Hamida wants to be seen being courted by a handsome man in a European suit, but tells him to go away before they are seen. He smiles, telling her this is not her quarter, she is different, and she is does not belong here. He cannot understand her wishing he were dead. She is on this earth to be taken and he is the one to take her. When she warns him not to take another step, he agrees but promises to wait for her every day, not at the café, lest people wonder, but on the street. Hamida walks on in a trance, thinking about his words. She senses he is a tiger about to pounce, but withholds judgment. If he is bad, she will make him sorry.
Although this would violate military regulations controlling rents, Booshy worried about an increase when Afify invites him to her flat. Like all the tenants, he dislikes the miser, who uses Hussainy to lean on delinquents. He is relieved when she explains she is getting married and cannot face a husband with missing and rotten teeth. He says extraction will take several days and her gums will have to dry and heal for six months before putting in a plate. Afify insists this is impossible. He agrees to make a gold plate and put it in immediately. Afify panics at the anticipated cost, but hopes it is true his rates are ridiculously low. No one asks where he gets plates; they care only that they are cheap. Booshy suggests £10, and when Afify balks, informs her angrily that others would charge £50. They haggle and agree on £8 and he leaves, cursing Afify for pretending to be young.
Afify has been seeing the world in a new light, filled with happiness that is inevitably expensive as she shops for furniture and clothing under Umm Hamida’s constant supervision. The house and the bride both need much “care, preparation, and repair”. Dye will cover any gray hairs caused by anxiety. Umm Hamida tells her not to worry about her tiny breasts and behind; slender is in fashion and there are recipes to fatten her up quickly. She has magic keys for everything. Days pass with the stingy widow tossing her savings at her wedding day. She makes donations at the mosque, gives alms, and lights candles to St. Shaarany. Umm Hamida is amazed at the sudden generosity and wonders if men are worth all this trouble.
Alwan’s carriage rolls into the alley and people gather to welcome him. He is a changed man: shrunken, sunken, pallid, bent, and scowling. The driver clears the way for him. Alwan is inwardly seething at the neighbors and holds the employees who kiss his hand responsible for his calamity. They are envious dogs. When manager Kamil Effendi Ibrahim appears, Alwan demands the books, bans smoking on the premises, and orders his water glass half cold and half hot. Ibrahim worries about the changes but also considers that God is just. In three hours, Alwan finds nothing wrong but vows to continue auditing until he finds proof of wrongdoing. He curses business friends and associates who arrive, knowing how they have envied him. Even his wife has resented his former good health.
Alwan cannot forget the terror of awakening to chest constriction and being unable to breath out. Put on medicine, he hovers for days between life and death, having rare lucid moments, shuddering at the prospect of dying. He tries to pray and make a declaration of faith, but is too weak. His spirit clings to the “fringes of life”. As the crisis
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